By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
If you can believe it, June will mark the fourth consecutive month without a comic book film being released. Maybe Disney and Warner Bros. have gotten the message that superhero fatigue is real. This opens the door for other box office contenders, but Pixar looks to be the clear favorite to win the month with all other films vying for second place. While the box office champion may be all but assured, there are also several early Oscar contenders worth mentioning this month.
June 7th
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After suffering from the near career ending mistake of slapping Chris Rock at the Academy Awards event, Will Smith returns to one of his more iconic roles with fellow castmate Martin Lawrence. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is the fourth film in the franchise featuring this comedy action duo that began in 1995. Both directors of 2020’s installment also return to helm this one, so continuity should not be a problem. Hopefully, these two aging actors have enough fight left in them for one more high-octane action flick.
Looking for a creepy horror film instead? “The Watchers” marks the directorial debut of Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of famed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan. She has shown capable promise, having directed several episodes of her father’s AppleTV+ series “The Servant,” but this will be her first real test to see if she has that x factor her father possesses. With talented actresses like Dakota Fanning in the cast, this has a legitimate chance of becoming one of the best horror films of the year.
June 14th
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Nine years after one of Pixar’s greatest films comes a sequel that is destined to be the June box office winner, if not one of the summer’s most popular movies. “Inside Out 2” is the long-awaited animated sequel that families will be lining up to go see. Many of the voice actors from the first movie will be returning minus Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling, but the director is brand new. In fact, Kelsey Mann is making her directorial debut so it would not be wise to expect the same magic to be captured, and Disney’s track record of late has been anything but magical.
June 21st
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Critically acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols (“Mud” and “Loving”) returns with another American tale set in the 1960’s. “The Bikeriders” actually premiered last year at multiple film festivals, but its mass release date was delayed to this year because of the SAG-AFTRA strike. The film features three Oscar nominees (Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, and Michael Shannon) and gives off a “Sons of Anarchy” vibe to it. With the level of talent involved, it should be a fairly safe bet that this will be a worthwhile movie.
imdb.com
Last year’s “Poor Things” was an Oscar winning success from writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos. This week, he brings audiences “Kinds of Kindness,” another Oscar contender featuring two-time Oscar winning actress Emma Stone and four-time Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe. Prepare for stunning visual creativity as well as a unique storyline that is typical of Yorgos’ films. This may very well end up being the best film of the summer.
June 28th
Don’t make a sound if you wish to live. “A Quiet Place: Day One” is the third film of this horror franchise but is considered more of a spin-off than an actual sequel to the first two films. Djimon Hounsou is the only returning cast member and is joined by the very talented Lupita Nyong’o. The director, Michael Sarnoski, is also new to the franchise, so there is the potential for continuity issues if his vision is vastly different from that of John Krasinski. It looks interesting with these creatures running amok in a big city rather than rural farmlands but approach this movie with caution.
Last but not least comes a sprawling western epic from none other than Kevin Costner. “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” is directed and co-written by Costner, who also stars in the lead role. While this is reminiscent of his Oscar winning efforts for 1990’s “Dances with Wolves,” don’t get too excited, he also directed and starred in “The Postman,” one of the worst western epics to ever grace the silver screen. Still, with an impressive cast and the fact that the 2nd chapter is already completed and will be released later this year, there seems to be enough confidence that this will be a good product, or at the very least a long, expensive nap.
