The Movie Date: Indie June Picks

The Movie Date is a weekly feature where we discuss movies that may appeal to the YA audience. We are big fans of indie films at The Movie Date and Andrew is back to share some summer movie suggestions. First up are the June offerings we’ve got our eyes on- take it away, Andrew!


The Movie Date button

Disclaimer: Like most guys (and quite a few gals), my summer viewing schedule is full of spaceships, superheroes, and explosions. But the rest of the year, I do try to keep an eye on independent films, and Lucy was good enough to compile a list of this summer’s most promising indie candidates. Most of these are new to me, so all I can offer is my gut-feel reaction for what it’s worth. (Note: Absent from this list are The Fault In Our Stars and If I Stay, because these two very important YA fiction adaptations are being released by major studios, not independent distributors. See this top ten list for upcoming book adaptations.)

Movies to look out for this month:

NIGHT MOVES 5-30

night moves

Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard are a trio of nervous environmentalists preparing to blow up a hydroelectric dam. I’m always up for a small-scale thriller that goes off in odd, psychological directions (like last year’s Blue Caprice and The East), so this sounds fascinating to me. It’s not getting very good user reviews on IMDb right now, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt; I’ll watch Sarsgaard be scary and duplicitous in just about anything.

WE ARE THE BEST 5-30

we are the best

A trio of Swedish girls decides to form a punk band, even though they lack both instruments and talent. This one sounds full of win; always a fan of girl-punk dramas (The Runaways, Ladies And Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains, Josie and the Pussycats—no joke) as well as foreign rock films (All That I Love, No One Knows About Persian Cats). Plus I’m sure the shadow of imprisoned Russian rock trio Pussy Riot looms large over this project. Unskilled women have formed some great bands (the Slits, the Raincoats, the Go-Gos) so I’m curious to see where this go-goes.

OBVIOUS CHILD 6-6

obvious child movie poster

SNL alum Jenny Slate plays a hapless gal who finds herself dumped, unemployed, and pregnant just as Valentine’s Day falls. Not my cup of tea personally—maybe she should skip romance for a bit to get her life together?—and I honestly don’t remember Slate from Saturday Night Live, even though she was only on a few years ago. Seems to be a “pregnancy dilemma” film a la Juno, but surely she’ll carry to term as abortions are hardly date-night rom-com material? Then again, times change…

THEY CAME TOGETHER 6-27

they came together

This sounds like a blast: a rom-com spoof based on the You’ve Got Mail big-biz guy meets small-biz gal storyline. No one has more fun onscreen than Amy Poehler, and Paul Rudd’s always engaging, no matter how many comedies we see him in. Hilariously, the studio’s own synopsis of the film gives the whole storyline away: “amazingly, they fall in love, until they break up about two thirds of the way through.”

BEGIN AGAIN 7-4

begin again

Keira Knightley as a young singer-songwriter in New York improves the outlook of a wearied music-business executive (Mark Ruffalo). On paper it sounds like a bit of a retread of the wonderful Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. But since this is from John Carney, the Irishman behind the heartfelt songwriter saga Once, I have high hopes. Knightley can be hit or miss, but I’m a born-again Ruffalo believer, having just seen his amazing performance in The Normal Heart. Sign me up.

Will you line up to see any of these films this month? What is your must-see film this summer?

andrew sig

Ornament

3 thoughts on “The Movie Date: Indie June Picks

  1. BermudaOnion says:

    Those all look good to me!

  2. Begin again is probably the only that looks up my alley but I haven’t seen it yet!

  3. BEGIN AGAIN sounds amazing to me. I don’t see a ton of movies in the theatre anymore, but I’m really looking forward to THE FAULT IN OUR STARS this weekend – it’s a favourite novel of mine 🙂

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