ON THE BIG SCREEN
By Jenny Peters
BLACKkKLANSMAN
Not yet rated
BlackkKlansman, Spike Lee’s latest serio-comedy that’s chockablock with social commentary, triumphed at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prix prize. His fact-based flick uses Ron Stallworth’s memoir to tell his story; as a rookie cop in Colorado, Stallworth infiltrated the local Ku Klux Klan chapter, despite being an African-American. John David Washington (Denzel’s son) stars, along with Adam Driver, Alec Baldwin, and Topher Grace, who plays David Duke.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
PG
Imagine that Christopher Robin is all grown up, having put away his Winnie the Pooh bear (as well as Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, Rabbit, Piglet, and Owl). Next, imagine that he regrets giving up his special friends, but one day Pooh comes back into his life. That’s what the folks at Disney Studios imagined, and now this charming live-action movie is ready for kids of all ages to enjoy. Ewan McGregor stars as Christopher and Jim Cummings, whose voice has been Pooh’s before in countless Disney cartoons, brings him to life here, too.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS
PG-13
Constance Wu, who is hilarious on the TV sitcom Fresh Off The Boat, comes to the big screen in this much-anticipated romantic comedy based on the best-selling book of the same name. She’s an American bride-to-be who journeys to Singapore to meet her fiancé’s family, where her soon-to-be family turns out to be those crazy rich Asians. This funny movie has an all-star cast, including Michelle Yeoh, Ken Jeong, and Humans star Gemma Chan.
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS
Not yet rated
Sesame Street lovers, look out! Jim Henson’s son Brian has turned your favorite Muppet puppets on their heads with this irreverent, somewhat filthy crime comedy. Melissa McCarthy and Elizabeth Banks star alongside a slew of puppets from a television show (that aren’t quite the ones from your childhood) in this action caper that involves murder, mayhem and some hilarious riffs on what those puppets are doing when they are not on camera.
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME
Not yet rated
First, we love both Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis, two seriously funny gals. Second, we enjoy a movie that is written and directed by a woman (Susanna Fogel), because of the Hollywood reality that so few females get the opportunity to do that. So that puts The Spy Who Dumped Me way up on our list of movies to see this summer, especially since it’s a wacky comedy about two friends who end up inadvertently embroiled in international espionage. Add in the good-looking Sam Heughan (Outlander) as their co-star, and we’re already standing in the ticket line.
THE DARKEST MINDS
PG-13
Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the Academy Award-nominated director of Kung Fu Panda 2, takes the helm in this, her first live-action feature film. This futuristic tale follows a group of teens that have been quarantined because of the extraordinary powers they have developed; in their world, being different isn’t tolerated. Based on the favorite Alexandra Bracken novel, the movie delves into supernatural phenomena and the ways society copes with people who don’t fit the expected norm. Mandy Moore, Amandla Stenberg, Bradley Whitford and Gwendoline Christie star.
KIN
PG-13
Brothers Jonathan and Josh Baker are the force behind Kin, a feature-length flick based on the duo’s short film of the same name. Together they wrote and directed this action movie with an edge, as two brothers run from the law with a weapon that is apparently not of the earth. Where did the weapon come from and who are the strange soldiers who are on their trail, searching for it? You’ll have to go to the theater to find out the answers—and to see if the fabulous Baker boys are filmmakers to watch, too.
THE MEG
PG-13
What horrors lie deep beneath the sea? Dive to the depths of the ocean with The Meg, a scream-inducing tale that mixes up fear, sci-fi and a bit of romance. Jason Statham stars in this frightening flick designed to make you fear to go into the water, even though the sea monster he encounters is probably not real. But who knows what lurks beneath? Maybe Ruby Rose, Rainn Wilson, and Robert Taylor do, for they costar in this scary sci-fi underwater thriller.
