Richard Roeper on his most anticipated summer movies
Richard Roeper’s most anticipated flicks of the season
Forget the calendar and the cold, it’s summer movie time! Before this preview, let’s look back at my previous preview.
Just around this time last year, I told you how excited I was to see “Hereditary,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Sorry to Bother You” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Good picks, Rich!
Ah, but I also mentioned “Tag,” which turned out to be dopey and awful, “The Happytime Murders,” one of the worst movies of the decade — and “Under the Silver Lake,” which apparently is so underwhelming it was never even released in 2018. After a quiet, limited theatrical debut on Friday (but not in Chicago), “Silver Lake” gets the VOD treatment just three days later.
Maybe it’s so great they thought our heads would explode if we saw it last summer. Probably not.
Per the usual tradition, our annual summer movie preview includes some of the expected blockbusters — but also a few relatively smaller films that could turn out to be something special.
In chronological order:
‘Avengers: Endgame’ (April 25)
So there’s this whole seemingly unbeatable team of superheroes from all across the Marvel Universe — but after half their ranks were seemingly vanquished by the most formidable foe they’ve ever faced, it’s time to …
Oh come on. You already know everything there is to know about “Avengers: Endgame,” excepting the tiny detail of whether it’s any good.
This we know for sure: “Endgame” will gross billions of dollars worldwide, and some of the fan-geeks will love it and others will hate it, and more than few will get more worked up about this movie than just about anything that occurs in their actual, real lives in 2019.
‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ (May 3)
On the heels of the riveting and haunting docu-series “Confessions of a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,” Netflix is planning a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release for this fictionalized account of the notorious spree murderer, starring Zac Efron, an underrated actor who has the range to play the dashing, charming, duplicitous and thoroughly rotten sociopath Ted Bundy. Early word from Sundance was strong.
‘John Wick, Chapter 3: Parabellum’ (May 17)
Keanu Reeves’ stoic and stylish killing machine has become one of the most iconic action characters of the 2010s. Who saw that coming when the first “John Wick” was released in 2014?
One of the posters for “Parabellum” depicts Wick in a standoff with dozens upon dozens of armed foes.
I’d say Wick is a touchdown favorite in that matchup.
P.S. “Parabellum” is Latin for “Prepare for war.” They definitely should have just called it “John Wick 3: Prepare for War.” Why you making us do all this extra work of looking things up and stuff ?
‘Aladdin’ (May 24)
Come on. Aren’t you dying to see if the liveaction version of the 1992 classic can overcome the disastrous reviews for the first glimpses of Will Smith as the genie?
‘Rocketman’ (May 31)
The trailers for this Elton John biopic have
me equal parts excited and fearful. It could be exhilarating and colorful and fantastically great, or it could be … camp crap.
Then again, how could it possibly be any more banal and watered-down than “Bohemian Rhapsody”?
The talented Taron Egerton has the title role, with Jamie Bell as John’s legendary lyricist Bernie Taupin. Dexter Fletcher, who meshed well with Egerton on “Eddie the Eagle,” directs.
‘Late Night’ (June 7)
The invaluable Emma Thompson wrote, directed, produced and stars in this comedy about a veteran talk show host (Thompson) who hires her first female staff writer — played by Mindy Kaling, who was the only staff writer on “The Office” when she joined that classic show as a writer/performer at the age of 24.
The wonderful supporting cast includes Ike Barinholtz, Hugh Dancy and John Lithgow.
This sounds like it could be perfect, smart, summer escapist comedic fare.
‘Shaft’ (June 14)
Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson and Jessie Usher: That’s one, two, three generations of the bad mother-SHUT YOUR MOUTH.
‘Child’s Play’ (June 21)
Hey, it’s about time the millennials felt the same sense of terror we experienced when that creepy killing doll Chucky first started slicing and dicing people back in 1988. (At one point in “Child’s Play 2,” Chucky even jumped into the back of a Sun-Times delivery truck, yipes!)
The reboot stars Aubrey Plaza (whose April Ludgate from “Parks and Rec” must have loved the “Child’s Play” movies) and Brian Tyree Henry, who can do no wrong lately.
‘Toy Story 4’ (June 21)
That’s right: The terrifying, nightmare inducing Chucky, one of the most horrific children’s toys to come to life in motion picture history, returns to the big screen on the same date we welcome back the beloved Woody, Buzz Lightyear et al.
Suffice to say we’re probably never going to get a crossover of these two franchises.
I would rank “Toy Story 3” as among the best third-chapter films of all time, as it provided a seemingly perfect ending to Pixar’s brilliant franchise, so I’m a little apprehensive about “TS4,” especially after the teaser trailer debut of that “Forky” character, who came across like an “SNL” creation.
Ah, but this is Pixar, and this is “Toy Story,” so odds are better than good they’ll figure out a way to once again deliver the perfect summer blend of comedy gold and heart-tugging drama.
‘Yesterday’ (June 28)
Ask me to pick the summer 2019 movie I’m
most looking forward to, and I’ll go with this supernatural/comedy/musical/drama from the great Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “28 Days Later.”)
Himesh Patel stars as an unknown musician who is struck by a bus and wakes up finding the world exactly as it was, with one notable exception — no one has ever heard of the Beatles.
Can you imagine what he does? This could be the “Back to the Future” of its time.
‘The Lion King’ (July 19)
On the long, long, long list of Disney liveaction remakes of beloved animated classics, “The Lion King” might seem like the riskiest of all, given the enormous and lasting success of the 1994 original, which holds such a special place in the hearts of millions.
But with Jon Favreau (who helmed the acclaimed live-action/CGI reboot of “The Jungle Book”) behind the camera, a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba, Beyonce as Nala and James Earl Jones returning as Mufasa — not to mention those undeniably stunning visuals from the teaser trailer — we have high hopes for the arrival of this new “King.”
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (July 26)
Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, James Marsden and Dakota Fanning, is set against the backdrop of the Manson family murders of 1969.
The Troll Patrol dumped all over an early poster image and still photos, which is beyond ridiculous.
SETTLE. DOWN. You can’t judge a movie by its poster any more than you can judge a book by its cover.
‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ (Aug. 9)
Just as every Tarantino movie should be considered an event, so should every film by the prolific and versatile Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused,” “Waking Life,” “Boyhood”).
Based on the crackling good novel by Maria Semple, this is the story of a misanthropic mom (the great Cate Blanchett) who disappears, leaving her 15-year-old daughter (Emma Nelson) to figure out what happened to her. Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig and Judy Greer co-star, and it’s a shame we don’t live in a world where we don’t hear “Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig and Judy Greer co-star” at least once a year.
‘Good Boys’ (Aug. 16)
Co-produced by Seth Rogen, this sounds like a classic example of a “could go either way” summer release.
Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams star as 12-year-old best buddies who get entangled in a “Superbad”-esque series of misadventures.
Yes, it’s an R-rated movie about a bunch of kids not nearly old enough to get into an R-rated movie. From the actual MPAA rating: “Strong crude sexual content, drug and alcohol material and language throughout — all involving tweens.”
Something tells me this is not going to be a favorite of conservative commentators.