10.The Gray Man (July 15 theaters/July 22 streaming):
I'm curious to see what a non-MCU Russo Brothers blockbuster looks like and a globetrotting spy action thriller with an absurd ensemble cast led by Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Rege Jean-Page and Indian megastar Dhnaush (in his Hollywood debut) indicates that this will at the very least be a project where the fruits of Netflix's zillion dollar investment will be visible on screen.
9.Hustle (June 8):
2 and a half years after the release of Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler is heading back to dramatic acting with this Netflix basketball drama from We the Animals director Jeremiah Zagar. While Hustle undeniably has the framework of a relatively generic sports underdog story (Sandler plays a disgraced NBA scout that tries to revitalize his career by helping a talented Spanish player played by current Utah Jazz forward Juancho Hernangomez make into the league), Zagar and Sandler have more than enough talent and creativity between them to elevate this project beyond the familiarity of its premise.
8.Bodies Bodies Bodies (August 5):
Critics and audiences went nuts for Bodies Bodies Bodies at its SXSW premiere back in March and the trailer that was released last week teased a bloody, pointed satire that gives its young female cast (Amandla Sternberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Senott, Chase Sui Wonders, Myha'la Herrold) ample room to shine.
7.Emily the Criminal (August 12):
If the Safdie Brothers comparisons that were frequently made following Emily the Criminal's Sundance premiere earlier this year are true, this could be in contention for my favorite movie of the entire summer. Aubrey Plaza's explosive intensity as a performer is wildly underrated (see Ingrid Goes West, Legion and Black Bear) and casting her as the lead in a scuzzy crime thriller is the type of masterful casting choice that could help propel Emily the Criminal to greatness.
6.Men (May 20):
Surrealist sci-fi/horror mad scientist Alex Garland's (Ex Machina, Annihilation) stuff is always worth checking out and I'm stoked that he's giving budding industry heavyweight Jessie Buckley and underrated character actor Rory Kinnear an all-too-rare opportunity to anchor a project.
5.The Black Phone (June 24):
Universal saw how well The Black Phone played on the horror festival circuit last fall and opted to push it to June from its initial late January/early February dates. The release of an excellent second trailer and another round of enthusiastic critical reactions following a screening at CinemaCon last week only further elevated the position of Scott Derrickson's latest on this list. Derrickson is terrific at creating tension/creepy atmospheres and if the trailers/early reactions are any indication, Ethan Hawke turned in one hell of a performance as the film's serial killer villain.
4.On the Count of Three (May 13):
Hallelujah, Jerrod Carmichael's directorial debut is finally set to be released from whatever purgatory MGM/Orion/Annapurna has been holding it in for the past 15 months!!! On the Count of Three made a lot of waves at the 2021 edition of Sundance and its ballsy subject matter (suicide) feels like something that an artist that is as smart, sensitive and morbidly hilarious as Carmichael will do a terrific job at exploring.
3.Nope (July 22):
About all we know about Nope at this point is that aliens are somehow involved in the plot, the budget/scope is significantly larger than either of Jordan Peele's previous directorial entries and Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun play the main characters. This is all the information I need to be giddy about attending an opening weekend screening.
2.Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8):
Thor: Ragnarok turned a bottom-tier MCU property into the belle of the ball and proved that a director is able to put their personal stamp on a movie that is part of a rigidly constructed franchise. With Taika Waitii returning to the director's chair, Christian Bale joining as the primary villain and Marvel being shockingly coy about the storyline, Love and Thunder could end up being a shockingly wild ride that shakes up what an MCU movie is capable of achieving.
1.Bullet Train (July 29):
Experiencing the unhinged, chaotic genius of Ambulance in a theater was a glorious reminder of how incredible action movies play in that massive space. David Leitch's assassins doing battle on a speeding train picture has a great chance to further prop up the genre's depressingly small 2022 theatrical slate and potentially ensure its long-term survival if it enjoys the financial success that Ambulance failed to have. Even if it flops, watching Leitch's reliably electric fight scenes and an awesome ensemble cast (Brad Pitt, Brian Tyree Henry, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Joey King, Andrew Koji, Zazie Beetz, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Karen Fukuhara, Bad Bunny, Masi Oka, Sandra Bullock) engage in said fighting on the big screen should be a really fun time.
Also Looking Forward to Watching:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6)
Happening (May 6)
Montana Story (May 13)
Pleasure (May 13)
Emergency (May 20 theaters/May 27 streaming)
Top Gun: Maverick (May 27)
Crimes of the Future (June 3)
Watcher (June 3)
Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10)
Cha Cha Real Smooth (June 17)
Lightyear (June 17)
Spiderhead (June 17)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (June 24)
The Forgiven (July 1)
The Princess (July 1)
Not Okay (July 29)
Resurrection (August 5)
Secret Headquarters (August 5)
Day Shift (August 12)
Beast (August 19)
Me Time (August 26)
Samaritan (August 26)
The Man from Toronto (TBD)
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