The first half of summer 2016 is officially over and on the whole, it greatly exceeded my expectations with a number of very pleasant surprises (Central Intelligence, Now You See Me 2) and truly brilliant films (The Nice Guys, Popstar). The final two months of the season have the potential to be even better with a loaded slate that features intriguing blockbusters, indie films and oft-kilter, mid-budget fare. Here are the 10 films I'm most excited to see for the rest of July and August.
10.The Infiltrator (7/13):
Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston making his poetic return to the drug-driven crime drama genre has the potential to be a prime piece of gritty, smart counterprogramming to the blockbusters currently flooding the marketplace.
9.Don't Breathe (8/26)
I loathed Fede Alvarez's 2013 remake of Evil Dead, but Don't Breathe looks like such an intense and welcome departure from the supernatural horror films that have dominated the genre's landscape over the past several years that I'm willing to give his work another shot.
8.Cafe Society (7/15)
Cafe Society sees Woody Allen returning to the world of period comedies (this film is set in the 1930's) after last year's ambitious, but ultimately failed experiment with modern drama in Irrational Man. The cast is one of the most stacked Allen has ever assembled (Jeese Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, Steve Carrell, Corey Stoll) and the vibe from the trailer implies that Allen is in full quirky, romance mode here, which is never a bad think for fans of his work
7.Don't Think Twice (7/22)
Stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia tackles the fascinating, ultra-competitive and often underappreciated world of comedy improv groups in his second directorial feature. With Birbiglia's notoriously smart writing and a cast led by Keegan-Michael Key, Community's Gillian Jacobs and Birbiglia himself, Don't Think Twice could end up being the brightest, under-the-radar indie gem of this summer.
6.Ghostbusters (7/15)
I've soured a bit on this widely-scorned reboot of the iconic 1984 comedy in recent weeks after seeing a bunch of weak commercials and the horrific new trailer that was attached to Finding Dory. That being said, I still have enough faith that this cast and writer/director Paul Feig can deliver a quality comedy to be pretty damn excited to see the finished product.
5.Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (out now)
This is clearly cheating a bit since this was released on Thursday night, but I'm including it anyways since I've been highly anticipating it for a while now. The past couple of months have been excellent for R-rated comedies and with four gifted comedic actors in Adam DeVine, Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza leading the charge and an excellent premise rife with comedic potential, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is in prime position to extend summer 2016's hot streak.
4.Star Trek Beyond (7/22)
There are plenty of question marks surrounding the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek franchise (can Justin Lin keep the spirit of this series that J.J Abrams started alive, are the underwhelming trailers indicative of the film's quality or merely just bad advertising, will the various subplots surrounding the Enterprise crew and the villains that split them apart lead to a convoluted story, etc). However, the quality of the first two films in the franchise and the addition of Idris Elba to the film's strong returning cast is enough for me to overlook the potential red flags and still get really excited for this film.
3.War Dogs (8/19)
Jonah Hill, Miles Teller and director Todd Phillips are looking to spice up the dog days of summer with a fact-based dark comedy about two 20-something arms dealers (Hill and Teller) who land a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm U.S. allies in Afghanistan. The amount of talent on board with this project is staggering and if it's executed properly, this could very well end up being one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences of the year.
2.Sausage Party (8/12)
Seth Rogen and co.+R-rated animated film=Guaranteed over-the-top vulgar insanity that I can't wait to experience.
1.Suicide Squad (8/5)
I've written extensively over the past few months about my overwhelming excitement for David Ayer's villain-focused superhero film Suicide Squad. All I can do now is sit back and pray that the actual film delivers the chaos and excitement the trailers have offered up in droves.
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