JULY
THE FAREWELL: Billi’s (Awkwafina) Chinese grandmother has terminal cancer, but she must never know. Keeping the secret and saying goodbye is harder than Billi could have imagined under the ruse of a wedding to gather the family. It’s hilarious and heartfelt and surprisingly based on writer/director Lulu Wang’s own life. Truth truly is stranger than fiction and oftentimes more entertaining.
SWORD OF TRUST: Did the South win the Civil War? Cynthia’s (Jillian Bell) now deceased grandfather certainly thought so as she collects the one item she inherits from him — his battle sword. Co-written and directed by Lynn Shelton and co-starring comedian Marc Maron, this promises to be a hilarious look at two very difficult subjects.
THE LION KING: Disney is at it again turning a beloved animated film into a live action one. The master of the CGI-human amalgam (think “The Jungle Book”), this just might make the original just a distant memory.
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD: Quentin Tarantino takes a stab at telling the story of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Rick Dalton’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) stunt double in the heyday of Hollywood. Nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, we may see this film come awards season.
AUGUST
LUCE: Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter’s (Tim Roth) adopted son from the war-torn state of Eritrea, Luce (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), may not be the boy they thought he was. The all-star student’s credibility is put into question by a devoted high school teacher, threatening all of their futures.
ONE CHILD NATION: Filmmakers Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang delve into China’s history and the ramifications of their one-child policy. The social experiment had unpredictable consequences that have shaped the country for generations to come.
WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE: Award-winning writer and director Richard Linklater adapts Maria Semple’s novel of the same name into a thrilling mystery about a mom who disappears to reinvent and reconnect with her lost identity. Starring Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, and Laurence Fishburne, this one has been on my radar for months now.
Watch for release dates as some films open earlier in New York and Los Angeles than in other cities and towns.
WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE image credit MediaMax Online EPK.TV