Summer Preview: The 25 Must-See Films (IndieWire)
Previous post was major movies coming out this summer. Now let’s check out IndieWire’s list of the top 25 indie films to see this summer:
The summer movie season isn’t exactly best known for independent film. With billions of dollars set to be spent on the countless sequels (“Shrek 4,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”), remakes (“The Karate Kid,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street”), adaptations of video games (“The Prince of Persia”), adaptations of TV shows (“MacGruber,” “The A Team”), and sequels of adaptations of TV shows (“Sex and the City 2”), one wonders how much space is really going to left over for the littler guys.
But, while summer will never be the independent film hotbed that is the fall, in recent years there have actually been quite a few indie breakouts during the studio’s favorite months. Last year, for example, summer brought the eventual best picture winner in the middle of June (“The Hurt Locker”), the best documentary winner in August (“The Cove”), and a bunch of specialty financial success stories in films like “(500) Days of Summer,” “Food, Inc.,” “Away We Go,” “Moon,” “In The Loop,” and “The September Issue.”
That said, summer can be a particularly risky time to release an independent film, partially due to the mass amount of studio pictures with huge advertising budgets that are bogarting three or four screens (or more) in some multiplexes. So, it’s also important to look outside the box office. A lot of great films are going to come and go this summer and even if they are destined for meager grosses, they might still deserve moviegoer attention. It just might be hard for some to find that attention, given the plethora of “Sex and the City 2” and “Iron Man 2” ads blocking the view.
So in an attempt to help remedy that, indieWIRE is offering this list of 25 specialty films coming out this summer that demand moviegoer consideration, a supplement to iW’s film calendar that additionally mentions a few dozen more (check out specific listings for May, June, July, and August, including more information on al). From human centipedes and trash humpers to Joan Rivers and Jean-Luc Godard, a summer indie preview:
Here is the list of their top 25:
1. The Kids Are All Right (July 7; Focus Features)
2. I Am Love (June 18; Magnolia Pictures)
3. Cyrus (July 9; Fox Searchlight)
4. & 5. Restrepo (July 2; National Geographic) and Winter’s Bone (June 11; Roadside Attractions)
6. The Human Centipede (April 30; IFC Films)
7. Wild Grass (June 25; Sony Pictures Classics)
8. I Killed My Mother (July 30; Regent Releasing)
9. Trash Humpers (May 7; Drag City)
10. Please Give (April 30; Sony Pictures Classics)
11. The Killer Inside Me (June 13; IFC Films)
12. The Oath (May 7; Zeitgeist Films)
13. Dogtooth (June 25; Kino International)
14. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (June 11; IFC Films)
15. & 16. Get Low (July 30; Sony Pictures Classics) and Mother and Child (May 7; Sony Pictures Classics)
17. Daddy Longlegs (May 14; IFC Films)
18. Micmacs (May 28; Sony Pictures Classics)
19. Ondine (June 4; Magnolia)
20. Life During Wartime (July 23; IFC Films)
21. & 22. Breathless: 50th Anniversary Restoration (May 28; Rialto) and Two In The Wave (May 19; Lorber Films)
23. The Tillman Story (August 20; The Weinstein Company)
24. Kisses (July 16; Oscilloscope Laboratories)
25. Twelve (July 2; Hannover House)
The IndieWire review is great, providing brief, key info on each movie. For example, here’s what they have to say about the #1 movie on the list The Kids Are All Right:
What’s The Deal? Lisa Cholodenko (“High Art,” “Laurel Canyon”) details a tempestuous summer in the lives of Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore), a couple anticipating their daughter Joni’s move to college. Joni (Mia Wasikowska) has just turned 18, and her younger brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) wants her to make use of her newfound status as a legal adult to seek out the sperm donor who fathered the two of them. Enter Paul (Mark Ruffalo), who immediately hits it off with his newfound biological children and in turn begins to send the family into quite the emotional tailspin.
Who’s Already Seen It? 15 critics gave it an average of A- on the film’s criticWIRE page.
Why is it a “Must See”? This is a really great film and one that’s very difficult not to fall in love with. An endearing, genuine and sharply funny portrait of a modern American family, “Kids” should provide the perfect alternative for summer audiences looking for something with a little more substance than typical studio fare. If Focus plays its cards right, this could end up a considerable sleeper hit… and might just stick around for awards season.
For more, hit the link.
What movies on the list are you excited to see this summer?