The June Watchlist
If you can afford to donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, or the Black Visions Collective please do. They are two of the hard working groups doing great work in Minnesota in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. Those titles have links connected to them so you can donate.
Onto the much less important things.
May held much more new movies for me to watch because the annual Chattanooga Film Festival did it virtually this year over Memorial Day weekend. That’s where I first kissed MY WIFE so I will probably go to that or at least support them every year for the foreseeable future. It being a festival means a lot of them won’t be readily available but I will talk about some of them so if you see it in the future you can try them.
Attack of the Demons- Directed by Eric Power, with an amazing score, and South Parkesqe animation but with much more artistry. It was very fun and despite some wooden vocal performances by some it still nails a lot about the culture it depicts in small town festival life.
Koko-di Koko-da - Directed by Johannes Nyholm in a style that is akin to Funny Games with a splash of David Lynchian dream logic. I get tired of the groundhog day style restart your day or experience movies. But this one deals with grief and pain instead of hijinks. It won’t be for a lot of people, but those on it’s wavelength will get something.
Being Natural - Directed by Tadashi Nagayama and it is my favorite I saw this year. A small slice of life comedy that turns into something else entirely by the end. I really enjoyed this and it’s one of my favorites of the first five months of the year.
Jumbo - Directed by Zoé Wittock and starring Noémie Merlant from Portrait of a Lady on Fire as a woman who falls in love with an amusement park ride. It sounds silly but this is a tender and sympathetic portrayal of someone going through a tough time and feeling something they don’t understand. It is odd and occasionally funny, but it’s also more moving than it had any right to be.
The other new movies I saw were Capone, the Tom Hardy starring as late in life Al Capone movie. It is aggressively antisocial and not fun but Hardy is so committed, as is the movie, to making a nightmare of a film about having so much evil and regret in your dementia addled mind that I kind of fell for it. I can never recommend it unless you like difficult movies.
I finally saw one of the last movies to come out before shut down in Ben Affleck’s The Way Back. It is a good basketball coach movie, character study, and sports movie. It’s not great, but it’s the most like a washed dad I’ve felt this year enjoying this film.
Onto the new ones this month. It’s either a smaller release of things or there’s less information about what is coming out now.
JUNE 5th
SHIRLEY - Dir. Josephine Decker and Starring Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, & Logan Lerman.
HULU, & VOD
A biography of horror writer Shirley Jackson at a specific time in her life. Decker directs with such unique style I can’t wait to see how she handles this one. Her most recent film Madeline’s Madeline didn’t fully connect with me but I could see it hitting harder on a rewatch.
BECKY - Dir. Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion and Starring Lulu Wilson, Kevin James, and Joel McHale
VOD
Yep. I saw those names and raised my eyebrows too. This is a thriller where Kevin James wreaks havoc on a teenagers weekend with her father. Lulu Wilson is the best upcoming scream queen we have right now and I have no idea if this will be watchable but I’ll keep an eye out. I’m here for a Kevin James dark side renaissance if he can pull it off.
JUDY & PUNCH - Dir. Mirrah Foulkes and Starring Mia Wasikowska & Damon Herriman
VOD
A duo of puppeteers try to get their marionette show started again in an old fashioned town under control of the mob. Not sure how this will be but those two leads are typically great and I like this idea for a dark comedy crime film starring puppeteers as the heroes.
HAMMER - Dir. Christina Sparkes and Starring Will Patton and Mark O’Brien
VOD
A father helps his son run away from a drug deal gone wrong. Sounds simple and super indie based on the lack of info on this one. But these actors are good and it could be a hidden gem.
THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME - Dir. Oliver Megaton and Starring Edgar Ramirez, Michael Pitt, Anna Brewster, and Sharlto Copley
NETFLIX
A big action epic that is about a signal going out to the country where no one can commit crimes knowingly anymore. I don’t know much else but it sounds stupid, fun or maybe both and I’m in.
TOMMASO - Dir. Abel Ferrara and Starring Willem Dafoe
VOD
These two have had a quiet but meaningful partnership in recent years and I haven’t gotten to see any of them yet. Maybe this will be the first one. It only says it’s about an artist living with his family in Europe.
JUNE 12th
THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND - Dir. Judd Apatow and Starring Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, and Bel Powley.
VOD
Apatow coming out with a 135 minutes Pete Davidson movie is his biggest flex yet I think. It looks charming and fun and Pete seems to have taken acting seriously in this and looks better than he does on SNL. I like all the Apatow movies so I’m sure this won’t be any different.
DA 5 BLOODS - Dir. Spike Lee and Starring Chadwick Bozeman, Jonathan Majors, Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Isaiah Whitlock Jr., Melanie Thierry, Jean Reno and Paul Walter Houser
NETFLIX
When a Spike Lee movie comes out it is a special time. He got a lot of acclaim for BlacKkKlansman, not near one of his best movies, and now he’s back with an epic about veterans returning to Vietnam to get the remains of their former squad leader. Bring it on.
JUNE 19th
7500 - Dir. Patrick Vollrath and Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt
AMAZON PRIME
A movie that was shot years ago coming out on Amazon late doesn’t bode well for it’s quality but it’s an airplane thriller so I’ll take a bad one of those over most bad movies.
Wasp Network - Dir. Olivier Assayas and Starring Penelope Cruz, Ana De Armas, Wagner Moura, Edgar Ramirez, and Gael Garcia Bernal
NETFLIX
The story of five cuban prisoners who were imprisoned since the 90s by the US under charges of espionage and murder and it’s got a great cast and one of the best directors working. I haven’t heard much about it but I will watch anything Assayas makes.
JUNE 26th
IRRESTIBLE - Dir. Jon Stewart and Starring Steve Carell, Rose Byrne, Mackenzie Davis, Natasha Lyonne, Topher Grace, Chris Cooper, and Debra Messing
VOD
A democratic strategist convinces a veteran to run for mayor in a small midwestern town. I imagine it will be funny, cynical, and a movie that feels like it’s from the Obama years but I love Stewart and I’ll give it a shot.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF THE FIRE SAGA - Dir. David Dobkin and Starring Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan, and Dan Stevens
NETFLIX
This idea where Ferrell & McAdams play Swedish singers singing for their country and living a dream is enough for me. I don’t have a ton of hope for either of these two comedies I’ve talked about but I am hoping for a good time.
TV
JUNE 21st
PERRY MASON - Starring Matthew Rhys & Tatiana Maslany in a reboot of the classic series. Looks like a gritty version but these two leads are worth the time without anything else known about it.
HBO
JUNE 23rd
ERIC ANDRE: LEGALIZE EVERYTHING - Comedy special with the absurd stand up stylings of one of my favorite people. I got to see this show live last year right before he recorded this and it’s hilarious and completely stupid.
NETFLIX
JUNE 28th
I’LL BE GONE IN THE DARK - a six part true crime series based on the book by Michelle McNamara tracking the Golden State Killer.
HBO
After half the year is over I’ll post my 6 month favorites. There’s no doubt this will be the strangest year yet. Stay safe, go for walks, wear a mask, and be kind. Things are going to get worse before they get better. Call out the corrupt and elevate the oppressed. Hope to see you soon.