By Anna HustedEBS FILM CRITIC
August:
A title with two ampersands and three beefcakes has me all giddy. That’s right, “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” is my most anticipated movie of the summer.
Catch up with “Hereditary,” watch the “Midsommar” trailer and then let me know if you get any sleep the rest of the week. “Midsommar” promises to scare you away from festivals forever. Although it appears to be set around the turn of the century, it takes place in contemporary Sweden. Director Ari Aster tells us not to expect the same level of scary as his blockbuster debut “Hereditary,” but expect to be spooked, nevertheless. “Midsommar” is slotted for a limited July release, but likely won’t see a wide release until August.
In “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” director Richard Linklater explores this strange in-between world after kids leave the nest. Starring Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig and a plucky Judy Greer, this film looks entertaining and enlightening.
I enjoy Bruce Springsteen, but a love for his revolutionary music shouldn’t be the only reason to see “Blinded by the Light,” a movie set in the 1980s about a British teenager who comes of age under The Boss’s influence. The primary reason is the lead Viveik Kalra, an up-and-coming actor with a lot of light himself.
“The Kitchen” may look like a “Widows” remake, but is based on the true story of 1970s mob wives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. “The Kitchen” boasts one of the best casts of the summer with Elisabeth Moss, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish filling leading roles.
September:
One can’t look at red balloons and yellow rain jackets the same after watching the brilliant and terrifying “It” of 2017. The follow up film, set 27 years later, “It Chapter 2” stars Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Skarsgard (the best Pennywise in my opinion) and Bill Hader. The “It” films speak real-life truth through its exploration of fear; we live in a fear-based culture, which can only be eradicated through love of self and others. Don’t let your fear of horror movies scare you away from a great film.
The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) has one of the best lines of the television series “Downton Abbey” when she asks one of her tenants, “What’s a weekend?” This series explored classism, family structure and feminism. Let’s hope the movie version brings the depth and wit.
“The Goldfinch” (based on the Pulitzer Prize novel of the same name) is about a boy who is adopted by an Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing. I haven’t read the book yet, but look forward to any film with Nicole Kidman, Ansel Elgort, Sarah Paulson and Jeffrey Wright dissecting class and wealth.
If you haven’t seen the first “Shaun the Sheep” movie I highly recommend it, although I don’t think it’s mandatory viewing for the second installment “Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.” Shaun is a sheep who wants to do more than eat and sleep. He loves his farmer and fellow sheep, but he gets bored so when an alien crash-lands on Mossy Bottom Farm, he takes it upon himself to help the alien get home. Crafted from incredible stop-motion animation, Shaun is one cute and determined sheep.
Anna Husted has a master’s in film studies from New York University. In Big Sky she can be found up on the hill or at the movies at Lone Peak Cinema. When not gazing at the silver screen or watching her new favorite TV show, she’s skiing, fishing or roughhousing with her cat, Indiana Jones.
