What to see when your friends are at Avengers for the third time or...A Pretentious Guide to Summer Movies

While We're Young
Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver & Amanda Seyfried
(Now Playing)

Seen it. Hilarious in a perfectly subtle way and so fresh for the first two thirds that it makes up for the rather formulaic third act.  It's also the first vehicle Amanda Seyfried has been funny in since Mean Girls.


Aloha
Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams & Bill Murray
(5/29)

I may have watched this trailer a dozen times.  Unfortunately there was negative buzz surrounding the film in the Sony-hack emails and a delay in a release date is never a good sign.  But let's be real, I  would pay $8 to watch this cast in a cereal commercial.


Love and Mercy
Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks & Paul Giamatti
(6/5)

Music biopics have been done to death but with this dual past and present narrative of the subject (played by Dano and Cusack respectively), coupled with dramatic turns by Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti, I'd see it. 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
A bunch of people you've never heard of, Nick Offerman & Molly Shannon
(6/12)

This year's The Fault in Our Stars with a grittier, realist edge, made major waves at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

Inside Out
Amy Poehler, Diane Lane, Mindy Kaling & Bill Hader
(6/19)

I love movies that make you feel.  I love learning about how the brain affects us.  I love Amy Poehler and for the most part, Pixar.  Obviously, I'm beyond sold on this movie.

Paper Towns
The blind kid from The Fault in Our Stars & super-model, Cara Delevingne
(7/24)

Another big-screen adaptation of one of John Green's novels (The Fault in Our Stars) and for that reason alone, I'm in.


Southpaw
Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker & Rachel McAdams
(7/24)

You had me at Rachel McAdams but then when killed you 15 seconds into the trailer you lost me.  Antoine Fuqua (director of "Training Day") brought me back; and though boxing movies have been beaten to death, I'm willing to watch Jake Gyllenhaal take a turn at it.


Ricki & the Flash
Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer, Rick Springfield, Kevin Kline & Audra McDonald
(8/7)

Meryl Streep plays a rocker who returns to her family after abandoning them in pursuit of her dreams.  Her daughter is played by her real-life daughter, Mamie Gummer.  Rick Springfield plays Streep's bandmate.  Quintessential American director, Jonathan Demme is at the helm.  It's penned by the same screenwriter as Juno.  Again, Meryl Streep is playing rock and roll, what more do you want?!