Now that the semester is complete, it means I can finally turn my brain off (more so than it already is) and watch as many television shows and movies as humanly possible. But with the exorbitant price of movie popcorn these days, it means I have to be a little picky about what films I go see on the silver screen. So without further ado, here are the movies I’m most looking forward to this summer:
1. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" (May 27)
“Alice in Wonderland” is one of my guilty-pleasure films, because even in a nonsensical universe, the plot makes no sense. But Tim Burton’s adaptation was a fun, quirky adventure, so I’m hoping “Alice Through the Looking Glass” can capture the same spirit. In the sequel, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) revisits Wonderland only to find her friend, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), is even madder than usual. To save him, Alice confronts Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and borrows his Chronosphere to travel back to the past.
2. "Finding Dory" (June 17)
I already wrote an article several weeks ago for Odyssey explaining my worries concerning “Finding Dory,” and those doubts still stand. However, I refuse to allow my faith in Pixar to be shaken, and with otters this cute, it’s impossible not to want to see the film when it hits theaters. What makes this day extra special is that I will be turning 21, so I might just be the only person who’d rather watch fish swimming than have my first drink.
3. "Free State of Jones" (June 24)
The last major movie about the American Civil War was “Lincoln” in 2012, which won Daniel Day Lewis a third Oscar. Perhaps Matthew McConaughey is hoping for the same result. In “Free State of Jones,” McConaughey portrays the real-life Newton Knight, who led an armed rebellion of poor farmers and slaved against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi.
4. "Swiss Army Man" (June 24)
I have so many conflicting thoughts about this movie. On one hand, it’s Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe together as the main leads; on the other hand, the film is about Hank (Dano), a man stranded on an island, who discovers a washed-up corpse with a magical power (Radcliffe). The power? Farting. In fact, Hank’s brilliant idea is to use the corpse as a farting surfboard to escape the island. Most critics think “Swiss Army Man” might be the strangest film they’ve ever seen, as Peter Debruge for “Variety” says: “This movie wears its weirdness as a badge of honor.”
5. "The Secret Life of Pets" (July 8)
Every movie with talking animals inevitably has the characters running away from Animal Control: “Homeward Bound”, “Shaun the Sheep,” and “Over the Hedge” to name a few. I think “The Secret Life of Pets” has the chance to be the best one yet, though, with its terrific character designs and patented Illumination stylized humor.
6. "The Founder" (August 5)
There have been a recent string of movies that take powerful CEOS and portray their neurotic rise to power: “The Social Network” (2010) with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, “Steve Jobs” (2015), the titular character and former CEO of Apple, and now we have “The Founder” with Ray Kroc of McDonald’s. Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, the man who took over the McDonald brothers’ small restaurant and turned it into the most iconic fast-food franchise in the world during the 1950s. As Kroc says in the movie: “McDonald’s is the new American church.”
7. "Kubo and the Two Strings" (August 19)
If you like animation, then “Kubo and the Two Strings” is a must-see. The artwork is gorgeous, and the fact that it’s stop-motion makes it ever more visually stunning. Out of all the films Laika has created—“Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, and “The Boxtrolls”—this one by far looks like their greatest achievement. In the film, Kubo (Art Parkinson) undertakes a dangerous quest to find his father’s samurai armor to save his village, battling monsters and spirits along the way.
Honorable mentions:
"The BFG" (July 1)
"Café Society" (July 15)
"Pete’s Dragon" (August 12)
