2015 Preview: July

We’re now halfway through both the Summer Movie Season and 2015 as a whole, which has already given us some incredibly entertaining films, including ‘Jurassic World’, which now holds the record for the biggest opening weekend of all-time both domestically and worldwide and is the third film of the year to join the billion dollar club. While we probably won’t get another film this summer that will match those numbers, there’s still quite a lot to look forward to, especially when it comes to this July. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 7 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the lineup of films that are hitting theaters in July. Quite a lot to talk about this month so let’s get started…

JULY 1- The month actually starts out early on Wednesday the 1^st with the return of a classic 80’s film franchise and the sequel to one of 2012’s big summer hits.

*Director Alan Taylor (‘Thor: The Dark World’) continues the ‘Terminator’ franchise with ‘Terminator: Genisys’ (And yes that spelling is intentional). Basically the film re-tells the original story of the first ‘Terminator’ film but from a new perspective. In a future where humanity is at war with machines, the human resistance, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), uncover a plot by Skynet to send a Terminator back in time to kill John’s mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). One of Connor’s soldiers, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to go back in time to save her but when he travels back in time to the year 1984, he finds that things are now different and that Sarah is now trained in combat by another Terminator (played by series star Arnold Schwarzenegger), who has been protecting her since she was a child. The film also stars J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith.

*The sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s hit Summer 2012 film ‘Magic Mike’, which was based around the experiences of star Channing Tatum’s time as a stripper when he was younger, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, directed by the first film’s first assistant director Gregory Jacobs, once again sees Tatum in the role of veteran stripper “Magic” Mike Lane. In this film, Mike and his fellow strippers travel to Myrtle Beach for ‘one last show’. Also reprising their roles alongside Tatum are Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Adam Rodriguez, among others. Newcomers to the cast include Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Donald Glover.

JULY 10- While this week will no doubt be dominated by an animated spin-off, there will also be a horror film and a sci-fi film hitting theaters this weekend as well.

*A spin-off of the hit animated films ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Minions’ is a prequel centering on the group of yellow henchmen known as ‘Minions’ before they met their ‘leader’ Gru. Primarily focusing on a trio of Minions named Bob, Kevin, and Stuart, the film follows the three Minions as they try and find a new master. The film’s voice cast includes Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton.

*The latest Blumhouse production, ‘The Gallows’ follows a group of students who attempt to resurrect an old play that hadn’t been done in 20 years ever since the last run-through ended up in the death of a student. But this then results in some other students attempting to stop the production.

*Ben Kingsley and Ryan Reynolds star in director Tarsem Singh’s latest film, ‘Self/less’. Kingsley plays a wealthy aristocrat who, on the verge of dying, undergoes an operation that transfers his soul into the body of a younger man (Reynolds). But while promised that the body is an ‘empty’ vessel, he soon learns that his new body did have a life before, which leads him into uncovering a conspiracy.  

JULY 17- On one side we have the latest from Marvel Studios while on the other we have a Judd Apatow comedy.

*Despite some early production issues stemming from the departure of original director Edgar Wright, Marvel Studios brings us the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Ant Man’, now under the direction of Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a criminal who gets a ‘second chance’ when he is approached by his mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to help steal back valuable technology from his company with the help of special technology of his own that allows the user to shrink in size but also gain strength. The film’s cast also includes Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, and Michael Pena.

*Comedian Amy Schumer teams up with director Judd Apatow for ‘Trainwreck’. Schumer, who also wrote the film, stars as a career-driven woman who finds herself unable to commit to a relationship having been ‘taught’ that ‘monogamy isn’t realistic’ by her father. However, that all changes when she meets a doctor (Bill Hader) while on an assignment for her job. The film also stars, among others, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Vanessa Bayer, and LeBron James.

JULY 24­­- Probably the biggest week of the month, this week will see the release of a film from the writer of ‘Fault in Our Stars’, a video-game inspired action comedy, and a Jake Gyllenhaal starring boxing drama.

*Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John Green (‘The Fault in Our Stars’), ‘Paper Towns’ centers on a high-school student named Quentin (Nat Wolff) who heads out on a journey with his friends when his ‘girl next door’ Margo (Cara Delevingne) goes missing.

*Directed by Chris Columbus (first two ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Harry Potter’ films), ‘Pixels’, based off of a 2010 short film of the same name, revolves around an alien invasion of Earth in which the aliens use famous video-game characters (e.g. Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.) to attack Earth. Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage star as a group of former video game champions who are enlisted by the President (Kevin James) to defeat the aliens. The film also stars Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski, and Brian Cox.

*Jake Gyllenhaal stars in director Antoine Fuqua’s latest film, ‘Southpaw’, written by ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter. Gyllenhaal plays boxer Billy Hope, whose life goes downhill when his wife (Rachael McAdams) is accidentally killed during an altercation with another boxer. When his daughter ends up getting taken away from him, Billy starts a comeback with his new trainer (Forest Whitaker) in an attempt to reunite with his daughter. The film also stars Naomie Harris, 50 Cent, and Tyrese Gibson.

JULY 31- The follow-up to a comedy classic hits theaters early on Wednesday while the fifth film in a highly successful action franchise closes out the month.

*Opening early on Wednesday July 29^th is ‘Vacation’, the fifth installment of the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ series. This time around, the film centers on the now grown-up son of Clark and Ellen Griswold (both Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprise their roles in cameo appearances), Rusty (Ed Helms), as he takes his family; his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons James and Kevin (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins, respectively), on a trip to Walley World, the same place he went to on vacation with his parents and sister 30 years earlier. The film also stars Leslie Mann as Rusty’s sister Audrey and Chris Hemsworth as her husband.

*Regular Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (writer on films like ‘Valkyrie’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and director of ‘Jack Reacher’) takes on the fifth installment of the highly successful ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, and Simon Pegg all reprise their roles from previous installments as Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell, William Brandt, and Benji Dunn, respectively, as they take on one last mission; to take down the mysterious organization known as ‘the Syndicate’ while also dealing with the impending disbandment of the IMF. The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris.

And those are the films that will be hitting theaters this July. Check back next month for Part 8 as we’ll be closing out summer with the films of August.

2014 Preview: July

To be completely honest with you folks, July 2014 doesn’t really look that appealing to me. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a couple of films coming out this month that I’m interested in but overall this is sort of feeling like one of the weakest Julys in recent movie history. But hey I could be wrong and that doesn’t mean that I won’t be doing a preview post for this month so let’s get started on doing just that. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films set to come out during 2014. This is Part 6 of 11 (previously 12) and today we’ll be looking at the films that will be hitting theaters during the month of July. I know I just said that I felt that this month’s lineup was pretty weak, but there are still a few noteworthy new releases this month.

FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND- Independence Day Weekend will see the release of three new wide releases, all of which are opening two days early on July 2^nd. Plus, on July 4^th, there’s one limited release hitting theaters that I feel is noteworthy to mention.

*A few weeks ago, director Scott Derrickson (‘Sinister’) was hired to direct the upcoming Marvel film ‘Doctor Strange’. Meanwhile, his latest film, ‘Deliver Us from Evil’, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer hits theaters this weekend. Based on a 2001 book called ‘Beware the Night’ by Ralph Sarchie and Lisa Collier Cool which was based on Sarchie’s eyewitness account, the film stars Eric Bana as Sarchie, a cop from New York who teams up with a renegade priest (played by Edgar Ramirez) to deal with a case involving demonic forces.

*Originally developed by Disney, ‘Earth to Echo’ (now distributed by Relativity Media) centers on a group of kids who come across a little alien who is in need of their help.

*Melissa McCarthy teams up with her husband, director Ben Falcone, for ‘Tammy’, a film in which she stars as the titular Tammy who goes on a road trip with her grandmother Pearl (Susan Sarandon) after losing her job and finding out that her husband is cheating on her. The film also stars Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd, and Sandra Oh.

*Coming out in limited release and slated to air on CNN later this year, ‘Life Itself’ follows the life of world-renowned film critic Roger Ebert, who sadly passed away more than a year ago on April 4, 2013. The documentary is directed by Steve James, director of the award-winning 1994 documentary ‘Hoop Dreams’.

JULY 11- Only one new release this week, and this just so happens to be my most anticipated film of the month.

*2011’s surprise hit ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ gets a sequel in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ with Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield’) taking over for Rupert Wyatt as director. Taking place a decade after the events of the previous film, in which a devastating virus was unleashed on the world, this film centers on the developing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar (portrayed of course through motion capture by Andy Serkis) as they soon come into conflict with a group of humans who have been able to survive the virus. The film’s human cast includes Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, and Gary Oldman.

JULY 18- Four new releases this week, including an animated sequel, a horror-thriller sequel, and an R-rated comedy.

*Originally intended for a direct-to-video release, 2013’s ‘Planes’ was instead released in theaters and grossed a little over four times its $50 million budget, resulting in a sequel, ‘Planes: Fire and Rescue’, being put in development, and it opens in theaters this weekend. In this film, Dusty Crophopper (again voiced by Dane Cook) learns that he can no longer race due to a damaged engine, resulting in him joining a wildfire air attack team as they battle a massive wildfire. Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, and Teri Hatcher, among others, reprise their roles from the previous film and are joined in this film by Ed Harris and Julie Bowen.

*Director Rob Reiner’s latest film, ‘And So it Goes’, stars Michael Douglas as a realtor who finds out that he has to take care of his granddaughter, one that he had never knew existed, which results in him having to enlist the help of his neighbor (played by Diane Keaton).

*Last June, ‘The Purge’ was a sizable hit on just a $3 million budget resulting in the announcement of a sequel, ‘The Purge: Anarchy’, again directed by James DeMonaco and produced by Michael Bay’s production company ‘Platinum Dunes’. This film focuses on a group of five people; a couple who find themselves trying to get home, a mother and daughter forced out of their home, and a man (Frank Grillo) seeking revenge for the death of his son as they all team up in order to survive the annual Purge, the one night every year when crime is legal and all emergency services are suspended.

*Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel reunite with their ‘Bad Teacher’ director Jake Kasdan for ‘Sex Tape’, in which they play a couple trying to spice up their love life. They decide to make a sex tape but they find themselves running into trouble when the video ends up leaking to the internet via the Cloud. The film also stars Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Jack Black, and Rob Lowe.

JULY 25- A pair of big-budget blockbusters close out the month along with a Woody Allen film opening in limited release.

*After January’s ‘The Legend of Hercules’, director Brett Ratner helms the second of two major films this year based around the mythical hero Hercules. This film, ‘Hercules’, stars Dwayne Johnson in the titular role and is based off of the graphic novel ‘Hercules: The Thracian Wars’ by Steve Moore. In the film, Hercules is sought after by the King of Thrace (John Hurt) for help in defeating a warlord. The film also stars Rufus Sewell and Ian McShane.

*The final major release of the month is ‘Lucy’, directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as the titular Lucy, a woman who finds himself having to work for the Taiwanese mob as a drug mule with their product implanted into her body. However, the drug ends up leaking into her system which ends up giving her superhuman abilities. The film also stars Morgan Freeman.

*Also opening in limited release this weekend is Woody Allen's latest film, 'Magic in the Moonlight'. Colin Firth stars as a magician in the 1920's who travels to the French Riviera to unmask a supposed spiritualist (Emma Stone) who might be exploiting a rich family. 

And those are the films set to come out during July 2014. Check back next month for Part 7 where we’ll be closing out the summer movie season by looking at the films hitting theaters in August.