Sicario: Day of the Soldado
I’m admittedly not a big fan of Sicario. I found it to be a rather shallow, posturing genre exercise that seems to be afraid to admit that it’s an exploitation movie. Granted, the movie was more or less saved by the top notch filmmaking from Denis Villeneuve, but it was never enough for me to warrant a revisit.
But I might have to consider that now that we have a new trailer for the sequel, the recently retitled, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, apparently taking all the wrong naming lessons from The Social Network.
Writer, Taylor Sheridan, is back as the screenwriter, but not Villeneuve. In his place is Italian filmmaker, Stefano Sollima. I’m honestly not familiar with his work (a couple films, mostly television), but he does has a movie literally titled “All Cops Are Bastards,” so I should maybe look into that.
As far as Day of the Soldado is concerned, it seems to capture the look and feel of the original perfectly. It does imply a more action heavy story this time around, so a part of me is wondering if this film is going to drop all pretense, and lean hard on slick, sleazy action. If so, it has my curiosity.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado comes out on June 29th.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
This just looks absolutely lovely, and a surefire way to make a blubbering mess out of me. Even if the talking head/archival footage format doesn’t seem to be breaking any new ground, I’m excited to see this. Mr. Rogers is one of those figures that will never not be significant, and I’d argue his teachings are more important now than they’ve ever been. And considering this is by Morgan Neville, the Oscar winner behind 20 Feet From Stardom, I think we’re in good hands.
I’d also like to bring attention to an upcoming film from Marielle Heller, who directed one of the beat films of 2015, The Diary of a Teenage Girl. She is going into production later this fall on You Are My Friend, which stars Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers. It’ll likely be released late next year, but it’s worth getting on your radar, especially as Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is released.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? will be out in select theaters on June 8th.
Deadpool 2
I wasn’t crazy about the first Deadpool. As someone who is only vaguely familiar with the comic book character, I found the idea of subversive, self-aware anti-hero was an interesting idea that was only half-way realized. With a solid rendition of the character placed in an otherwise painfully conventional story and equally an conventional sense of humor.
However, the inclusion of David Leitch as the director is an inspiring choice since I thought he did a pretty spectacular job with Atomic Blonde. The action certainly looks far more interesting than the previous one, and I’m digging the new supporting cast members. Though, any excitement I may have had was a bit soured when the allegations against T.J. Miller came out back in December, and it looks like nothing has been done to address that here. But I’m pretty sure the movie will movie will do very well despite that.
I still think replacing him with Christopher Plummer would be a brilliant move, and one that would totally work with Deadpool’s sense of humor.
Deadpool 2 hits theaters May 18th.
Under the Silver Lake
David Robert Mitchell, who wrote and directed The Myth of the American Sleepover, and It Follows, is back with a comedic neo-noir that seems to have echoes of films like The Big Lebowski and Inherent Vice with the increasingly absurd situations and characters our protagonist finds himself running into. I like this cast, I like the tonal playfulness here, and to top it all off, the composer of It Follows, Disasterpiece, will be back to score this film! It looks like a lot of fun.
Under the Silver Lake is set for release on June 22nd.
The Devil and Father Amorth
From the director of The Exorcist, William Friedkin, is this documentary where he follows Father Gabriele Amorth performing actual exorcisms. It’s a neat setup, and from the looks of it, Friedkin will be covering the subject from multiple angles, with interviews taken with both believers and non-believers.
I personally find this kind of stuff very fascinating, so I’m very curious to see what he is able to capture here. It may ultimately be nonsense, but it can, at the very least, be compelling nonsense.
The Devil and Father Amorth will be released in select theaters and VOD on April 20th.
Tag
Ah, so that’s why Hawkeye was missing from all that Infinity War promo.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this. Studio comedies can be very hit-and-miss, and while I do think the concept here has comedic potential, it doesn’t seem like they’re going as far as they could. This seems like the kind of thing that Adam McKay would’ve done in the mid-to-late 2000s, except this is coming from someone who has only done TV work.
I’m not entirely sold here, but I would love to be proven wrong. I adore old fashioned slapstick, so if someone is trying to bring that back, I’ll give it a chance.
Tag will be out on June 15th.
Action Point
Now this is more like it. I’m surprised Johnny Knoxville and his other Jackass cohorts haven’t really done this before, applying their slapstick stunt work within a fictional story. The pleasures of seeing them do terrible things to their bodies is an endless source of joy, so I’m very much into this.
And this has a weird thing this has in common with Tag, it’s also based on a true story. Weird, huh? It’s loosely based on a place called Action Park in New Jersey.
Anyway, Action Point will be released on June 1st.
The Titan
The first thing that hit my mind as I finished watching this trailer is that the filmmakers put an insane amount of thought into the background for this movie and setting up the stakes about saving the human race as we know it by venturing out into space to colonize Saturn’s moon, Titan…only to have the actual story boil down to one guy in the experiment turning into a monster and the resulting chaos that ensues. Seems like a waste, but if there’s some good stuff with the transformation, it could be fun, and maybe we’ll see a different side of Sam Worthington.
Also, you won’t have to wait long, The Titan hits Netflix on March 30th.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
I think this one definitely has some potential. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon are both very talented comedic performers, and I think the setup here is really compelling. But it does seem like one of those ideas that will live and die by the way it’s executed. If the improvisation is kept in control, and the overall structure is held solid, this could work.
I recall enjoying writer/director, Susanna Fogel’s debut film, Life Partners, when it came out in 2014, but I honestly don’t remember much. Perhaps a rewatch is in order, which you can also do since the film is currently available on Netflix.
The Spy Who Dumped Me will is released on August 3rd.
Loro
This teaser has been out for a couple weeks, but it sort of flew under most people’s radar, so I figured I’d bring it up here. It’s the latest film (a two-parter) from Italian director, Paolo Sorrentino, the man behind The Great Beauty, Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language film in 2014, and the amazing HBO show, The Young Pope.
Loro will be a biopic on the controversial Italian media tycoon and politician, Silvio Berlusconi, which seems like it will be right in Sorrentino’s wheelhouse. I’m really looking forward to this one.
The first part of Lorro will be out in Italy on April 24th, and the second on May 24th. Details on distribution here in the U.S. have not been released yet.
Those are all we have for today. Any favorites? Any concerns? Sound off the comments and let me know what you think!