14 Films To See In June

“Free State Of Jones”
Synopsis: As civil war divides the nation, a poor farmer from Mississippi leads a group of rebels against the Confederate army.
What You Need To Know: With the first big cinematic noise of 2016 being made when Nate Parker‘s slavery rebellion epic “Birth of a Nation” brought down the house at Sundance, it’s possible that Gary Ross’ passion project, made with the clout that “The Hunger Games” franchise gave him, could feel a little second-string. But advance word on “Free State of Jones” is strong, and not only is Matthew McConaughey still pretty golden, but his co-star Gugu Mbatha-Raw is a rapidly rising actress who could well give the breakout performance here. At the very least it will be interesting to see what Ross does with his relative creative carte blanche, as his heartfelt dramas “Pleasantville” and “Seabiscuit” were more than solid and while his efforts on the first ‘Hunger Games’ movie left a lot to be desired, he still successfully laid the groundwork for one of the more bearable YA franchises.
Release Date: June 24th

“Independence Day: Resurgence”
Synopsis: Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new threat.
What You Need To Know: The original “Independence Day” was absolutely massive — still, adjusted for inflation, the 39th biggest movie ever (ahead of “Home Alone,” “Back to The Future” and all three “Lord Of The Rings”), it’s remarkable and a little weird that it’s taken this long for Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion blockbuster to get a sequel (or in this case, a “Jurassic World”-style legacyquel). Will Smith opted out of the followup, but most of the survivors from the first movie are returning (including Judd Hirsch, because what the hell, right?), while the aliens now seem to specialize in dropping cities on top of other cities with some kind of gravity weapon. So far, the marketing hasn’t delivered the kind of iconic visuals that made the original such a hit — bigger isn’t necessarily better, guys — but Emmerich usually knows what he’s doing with this kind of mass destruction, and if it comes near the original (which doesn’t really hold up as a great movie so much as a pop cultural behemoth of its time) it should be a passable afternoon at the movies.
Release Date: June 24th

“Hunt For The Wilderpeople”
Synopsis: A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.
What You Need To Know: One of the more pleasant indie box office surprises from last year was “What We Do in the Shadows,” the New Zealand-set vampire comedy from writer/director/actor Taika Waititi. The film was damn funny, using several key members from “Flight Of The Conchords” (which Waititi worked on) and was equal parts “This Is Spinal Tap” and Bram Stoker. His latest already premiered at Sundance, where we surmised Waititi “seems to be a very pleasant individual who, in turn, makes very pleasant movies. [He] continues to ride that wave of pleasantry with ‘Hunt For The Wilderpeople’, a perfectly amicable dramedy that makes a concerted effort to avoid offending or provoking.” His next project will be a huge step up, as he’s been picked by Marvel to direct “Thor: Ragnarok.” We sure hope he’s able to bring something fresh to that film, but if not, there’s always his previous work and ‘Wilderpeople’ looks to fit that bill just fine.
Release Date: June 24th (Limited)

“Wiener-Dog”
Synopsis: Chronicles the life of a dog as it travels around the country, spreading comfort and joy.
What You Need To Know: Oh Todd Solondz, we don’t necessarily miss you often, but we do occasionally ache for your specific brand of horrifyingly awkward human encounters. Perhaps our cry was heard from the man himself, who, though he’s struggled for decades to get movies funded, has been making them at a more regular clip lately (even if “Dark Horse” was five years ago). We wish he didn’t have to struggle, but the fact he’s still producing is good for movies overall, even if the results can be mixed and perhaps lacking in the bite from his early successes “Happiness” and “Welcome to the Dollhouse.” After seeing it at Sundance, it was Solondz’s sensibility, which is still one-of-a-kind, that our critic praised: “He’s always had a good eye, which he uses to fill ‘Wiener-Dog’ with memorable images… he’s still pulling interesting ideas out of his oddball head.”
Release Date: June 24th (Limited)

Honorable Mentions:
We sadly lost Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski earlier this year. The iconoclastic auteur of the batshit insane, best known for cult film favorites like “The Devil” and body horror frenzy “Possession” (which is totally amazing), passed away at the age of 75. But he left one more gift for cinephiles in “Cosmos,” and after earning acclaim on the festival circuit last year, the movie will open on June 17th at Metrograph in New York City, rolling out to major markets in July. I can’t think of anything better to see if you’ll be in New York then.

If the arthouse siren song is tough to resist, there’s “The President,” from notable Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It hews closely to his previous work, “The Gardener.” “From Afar” was the big winner at Venice last year. And “The Fits,” from Oscilloscope, premiered at Sundance to some raves and we mentioned the filmmaker as one to look out for, since the film shows occasional visionary qualities.

“The Shallows” is about Blake Lively trying to survive a massive shark attack while stranded on a little rock. It looks terrifying, if not terribly simplistic, but a good survival tale + one that has shark danger in it? Sign me up. “The Phenom” is a baseball movie (another of my own cinematic soft spots), with Ethan Hawke as a hardass father to his son, who he wants to mold into a great player. We described it as “Whiplash” for baseball.

Then there’s all the documentaries that come out every month. And of the many, we’ve whittled a few down that could be worth your dollars: “Out Of Print” features plenty of fans gushing about LA’s New Beverly Cinema, but is a call to arms to keep 35mm presentation afloat. “Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made” is, well, exactly what the titles says. Will Frank Zappa prove to be as weird a movie subject as in life? “Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words” will give us a hint.

And on the tail-end there’s “Genius,” has a stellar cast, but not the best reviews. “Last Cab To Darwin” is a genial festival programmer. When we saw “Bang Gang” at BFI last year, we recommended that most of the cast are “worth keeping an eye on and the director being one to watch.” “Les Cowboys” is the directorial debut from talented French screenwriter Thomas Bidegain (“A Prophet“), while “Diary of a Chambermaid” starring Lea Seydoux should fill any fix for a French period drama.