The days are long, the weather hot, and the movies big. That's right it's summer and that means that the winter freeze on movies is over and we can look forward to the popcorn flicks, raunchy comedies, and the first of the Oscar contenders in theaters. Last year we saw huge sleeper hits like Guardians of the Galaxy, Best Picture winner Birdman, and the unfortunate blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction, what does 2015 have in store? Here's our Top 10 most anticipated movies of the summer!
Love & Mercy | Dir. Bill Pohland | June 5
Bill Pohland has produced critically acclaimed and Oscar winning movies like Brokeback Mountain, Food Inc., 12 Years A Slave, and The Tree of Life. However, Love & Mercy, a biopic about Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson, is his directorial debut. The film had a highly acclaimed premiere at Toronto, which brought the film a standing ovation and praise for Paul Dano and John Cusack's performances as the young and old Wilson. Critics from Hit Fix, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter all lauded the film for being unique from most biopics. If all that doesn't get you in the seats, maybe the dark and twisting story of Wilson will. From psychedelic experiences to scattered voices in his head, the film is as bold as it is entertaining.
Jurassic World | Dir. Colin Trevorrow | June 12
If you couldn't tell from my incessant fan-girling in my review of the trailer, I'm excited for this movie. Not only is it reviving an instant classic from the 90s, it's also stacked with incredible talent from Chris Pratt to Bryce Dallas Howard to Irfan Kahn. Plus, if that wasn't enough, the park is actually open! John Hammond's crazy and misguided vision actually became an actuality. The original movie became the highest grossing movie of all time when it was released in 1993, and while this reboot is probably not going to reach that success, I'm sure we have a blockbuster hit on our hands.
Inside Out | Dir. Pete Docter | June 19
There's very little Pixar can do wrong (the very little is probably just anything to do with Cars), but Pete Docter has yet to do wrong for Pixar. After massive hits in Monsters, Inc and Up, he's following up his successes with Inside Out, a film about what goes on inside your brain and why you make the decisions you make. The film had a roaring reception at Cannes this year with some critics calling it Pixar's best film of the decade. From it's inventive storyline and concept to the all-star cast and crew, Inside Out is looking to be the breakout animated film of the year.
Dope | Dir. Rick Famuyiwa | June 19
With a cast that boasts up and coming actors, a model, and a couple rappers, Dope sounds like it could either be an incredible and entertaining film or an experiment that has gone awry. However with incredibly promising reviews coming out of Cannes, including a 5-star rave review from The Guardian, the film proves itself to be more than a comedy with A$AP Rocky playing a drug dealer. Plus, with a cast that is mostly made up of minorities assuming the roles of a high school comedy formula that are often filled by white actors is refreshing. No disrespect to John Hughes, but there are more than just wealthy white kids dealing with teen issues.
Come back next month to see our picks for July!
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
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