Looking Forward to in May 2019
Booksmart
Coming of age stories might be in the best state they have ever been, and Booksmart is here to continue that run on May 24th. Premiering at SXSW to rave reviews, Booksmart is the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde. One of the couple films this year been touted as, “the next Superbad,” the movie follows two best friends, Amy and Molly, in their final days as High School seniors. They are the kind of students who are more serious in actual academics and aren’t the party type. Right before graduating, however, they make it their mission to attend a party. Along the way, they learn a lot about themselves, each other as friends and other students which they have ignored their whole lives. This will be one of the funniest films this year, but it also provides a very sweet story of two female friends with a lot of the sensibilities of today’s society.
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival is one of the biggest and the most prestigious film festival that happens every year and worth highlighting. With the lineup of movies recently being released, Cannes will unveil some of the most anticipated films coming out this year. Such films include Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don’t Die, Parasite by Bong Joon-Ho, and Matthias et Maxine directed by Xavier Dolan. One of the best things about Cannes is the multitude of films they choose from all over the world. Other notable premieres playing at the fest are Rocketman, a musical film about the life of Elton John starring Taron Egerton, as well as the Nicholas Wending Refn helmed Amazon series, Too Old To Die Young, which will be showing it’s first two episodes.
Detective Pikachu
Already being hailed by the fortunate few who have seen it as the best video game movie of all time, Detective Pikachu is one movie we are dying to see. Based on the Pokemon brand but more specifically the actual game Detective Pikachu, the film follows a talking Pikachu voiced by Ryan Reynolds. Alongside him is Justice Smith playing Tim Goodman the son of a police officer who goes missing. Funny enough, that Pikachu is linked to his father's disappearance, so they work together in order to solve the mystery. Slowly, the marketing has won me over, from the tone of the movie to the the distinctive, gritty look of its Pokemon. Live-action Pokemon is something audiences may not have been ready for, but they’ll have no choice come May 10th. Personally, I’m also glad that we are getting Pokemon from all the generations since rather than only focus on the original generation.
Easy - Season 3 (Netflix)
Indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg’s low key, naturalistic films can be hit-or-miss on the big screen, but with Easy the writer/director has found a winning formula. In its first season, each episode of Easy explored a different character’s anxieties in intimate detail. The second season introduced more characters while also returning to some familiar faces from the first season in a way that brought greater depth to those stories. Swanberg borrows from his filmmaking background to craft episodes that feel more like short films than TV; however, in sequence with the rest of the series, Easy creates a picture of modern life that’s complicated, nuanced and rewarding in unexpected ways. Past episodes of the show have starred Jake Johnson, Dave Franco, Zazie Beats, Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Marc Maron, Danielle Macdonald, Aubrey Plaza and others. The Netflix series returns for a third and final season on May 10th. (Excerpt by Zachary Shevich)
Game of Thrones Season Finale (HBO)
One of the most ambitious, far-reaching shows ever made for television wraps its 8-year run on May 19th. Who will claim the Iron Throne when all is said and done? Since its debut in 2011, Game of Thrones has been the subject of widespread attention as well as plenty of theorizing about its end game. Showrunners David Benioff & D.B. Weiss will need to tie up a myriad of loose ends in order to satisfy a hungry fanbase ready to hyper-analyze every second of the show. There are only a couple episodes remaining of the biggest show on TV and the end is sure to inspire a lot of conversation and debate. Will fans be happy with the show once it’s all over or will Thrones become synonymous with shows like Lost and The Sopranos which had controversial series finales. (Excerpt by Zachary Shevich)
Godzilla: King of Monsters
The continuation of the kaiju universe comes in the form of Godzilla: King of the Monsters and it’s bound to big an epic event. The history of Godzilla is super rich and being able to see some of the classic kaiju monsters like Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah come face to face with the main man is something that hasn’t happened for generations of Godzilla movies. Not to mention the cast that was assembled is quite impressive; Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, Ken Watanabe, and Milly Bobby Brown are just some of the actors in this movie. With this many talented actors, here is hoping that we get well fleshed out characters with enough epic action from the monsters. Michael Dougherty has directing duties and it seems he is very passionate about the property. He mainly has worked in the horror genre (Trick ‘r Treat, Krampus) which, to be fair, is a key element in a movie about giant monsters wreaking havoc on the world.
John Wick: Parabellum
The third installment in what has become a beloved action franchise, John Wick: Parabellum hopes to put its stamp on the newly iconic film series. Director Chad Stahelski returns to this assassin filled world after having taken solo directing duties in John Wick 2. With a $14 million bounty on his head, John Wick must continue to fight for his life against the world's top assassins. Returning to the cast are Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane, and Lance Riddick, while new characters played by Halle Berry and Jason Mantzoukas are joining the film. Parabellum has the potential to cement John Wick as one of the best action franchises ever. Keanu might be best known as Neo in The Matrix, but John Wick could challenge that title for a new generation.