There’s a lot out this weekend, but if you know anything about this blog’s unofficial film editor, it’s that the only thing I care about is Melissa McCarthy. (Only two people in America liked Tammy, and I’m one of them!) If you need me Saturday, I’ll be sitting dead center at my hometown cineplex in front of America’s greatest comedian. If you need two movies this weekend, Gabrielle Union’s Breaking In, the perfect Mother’s Day thriller, opens today, too.
Higher Power is a science fiction film about a scientist who kidnaps a man in an effort to save the world.
Filmworker Filmworker is a documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s longtime collaborator Leon Vitali.
Revenge is a “hypnotic slab of body horror.” (I wonder if a woman would say the same, knowing the plot.) An American socialite, on a trip with her rich, French lover, is pushed off a cliff (by her lover!! the French millionaire!!) when one of his friends rapes her. She survives and kills the bastards.
The Day After is a Korean dramedy about a woman who mistakenly believes that her husband is having an affair with his secretary.
The Seagull stars Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening and Corey Stoll. It’s the Chekov play.
Breaking In stars Gabrielle Union as Shaun in the perfect Mother’s Day thriller. When four men break into Shaun’s deceased father’s high-tech film, she must battle the three pieces of shit to protect her kids.
Lu Over the Wall is a Japanese animated film about a lonely middleschooler who meets a mermaid. Lu is my summer aesthetic.
Beast is a psychological thriller about a woman who falls for a man who is maybe, probably, definitely a murderer.
Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat is a documentary about Basquiat’s teenage years in 1970s New York City. Featuring never-before-seen footage, NYT calls it “beguiling.”
The Escape stars Gemma Arterton and Dominic Cooper. Arterton is a married woman with young children who buys a one-way ticket to Paris following the revelation that she is deeply unhappy. Like Tully but even sadder.
Life Of The Party is Melissa McCarthy’s latest comedy, and I am taking the bus to DC this weekend so we can see it, thank you for asking. Directed by Ben Falcone and written by Falcone and McCarthy, McCarthy stars as a housewife who goes back to college when her husband dumps her, and her daughter is on the same campus and surprisingly cool with it. Recommended for all Scholars, except Fiona, who is downright horrified by the premise. Jacki Weaver, Maya Rudolph, and Gillian Jacobs also star!
Anything stars Matt Bomer as Freda, a transgender sex worker and John Carroll Lynch as a widower who falls in love with his neighbor. The film is based on the 2007 play; you can read more about it here.
Raazi is an Indian period-thriller about an Indian woman sent to Pakistan as a spy in the 1970s.
Mountain is an Australian documentary about the world’s high peaks. With narration from Willem Defoe
Amazon Prime releases Rocky & Bullwinkle, season one.
Netflix releases Bill Nye Saves the World, season three:
And The Who Was? Show season one debuts.
