Ryan Gibbs’ Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies
- Love and Mercy (dir: Bill Pohlad, June 5)
The story of the great Brian Wilson has long warranted the biopic treatment. Wilson, who turned his group the Beach Boys from icons of surf music to the most innovative American pop act of the 1960s, retreated from the spotlight at the height of his career. Love and Mercy documents two starkly different portions of the troubled genius’ life: the production of the landmark Pet Sounds as he begins to fall into mental illness and the 1980s, where he is under the care of the infamous therapist Eugene Landy, who controlled his life and career at that point. The film uses two different actors – Paul Dano and John Cusack – to play Wilson at the two different parts of his career. The rave reviews the film has received on the festival circuit over the past year, and the enthusiastic endorsement from Wilson himself, makes Love and Mercy out the be the film to look out for this summer for music obsessives.
- Ricki and the Flash (dir: Jonathan Demme, Aug. 7)
This film’s interesting premise (an aging rock star attempts to reconnect with the husband and daughter she abandoned decades ago) and attached big names have me very excited about this. The script is from Diablo Cody, whose work has been more hit (“Young Adult,” “Juno” despite its faults) than miss (“Jennifer’s Body”) in my opinion. In the director’s seat is Demme, who has become very selective with the films he choses to attach himself to. The film stars Meryl Streep and her real-life daughter Mamie Gummer, and it’s first time the two have appeared in a film together since 1986’s Heartburn, filmed when Gummer was a toddler. The film should be another worthy entry in Streep’s celebrated filmography and if the buzz is to be believed, could be her 20th Oscar nomination come January.
- The Avengers: Age of Ultron (dir: Joss Whedon, May 1)
I hope my list of mostly arthouse fare doesn’t make me seem like i’m above superhero films. The Avengers was one of the most exciting cinematic experiences of the past decade, and while I’ve been less than thrilled with most of the MCU Phase II movies (barring Guardians of the Galaxy), i’m still looking forward to Age of Ultron. For all its build-up as 2015’s Big Event Movie, i’m still expecting this to be a terrific popcorn flick and I’m curious to see if the film provides the early seeds of the Civil War storyline that may provide an interesting arc for Phase 3.
- The End of the Tour (dir: James Ponsoldt, July 31)
There has been a lot going against The End of the Tour, a film that recounts journalist David Lipsky’s summer following the celebrated writer David Foster Wallace on his book tour for his magnum opus Infinite Jest. Jason Segel seemed like an odd casting choice, and fans of Wallace revolted at early production photos that seemed to reduce him to an eccentric white dude wearing a do-rag. Wallace’s estate also blasted the film and refused to have anything to do with it. However, I greatly enjoyed Lipsky’s book, And Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, which acts as the source material for this film, and i’m willing to give the film a chance despite its initial bad press.
- Results (dir: Andrew Bujalski, May 29)
Andrew Bujalski’s previous effort, Computer Chess, was one of my favorite films of 2013; an unexpected mash of different genres that practically required an immediate second viewing. Previews for his new film Results make it out to be a bit more conventional than Computer Chess, but i’m quite excited to see what the director (who also helmed the terrific Funny Ha Ha) does next, especially with the buzz Cobie Smulders has been getting for her lead role.
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