what to watch movies: Most years in early spring, Hollywood is figuring out how to sustain its box-office momentum. This year, January was so disappointing that film companies would have to restart moviegoing from scratch.
Fortunately, they have many strategies. Here are 6 Movies that seem promising:
Dune: Part Two, March 1.
This continuation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi saga is easily the classiest entry in a season that includes a fifth Mad Max, a tenth Planet of the Apes, and a monster mashup that qualifies as both King Kong 13 and Godzilla 38. Hollywood’s guiding principle is that what’ll work is what’s worked, which means sequels. Timothée Chalamet finally gets to ride a big sandworm as we rejoin Paul Atreides and Zendaya’s Chani in the midst of their uprising on the desert planet Arrakis. Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, and Florence Pugh make their debuts.
Love Lies Bleeding, March 8.
Rose Glass’s thriller about love, sex, blackmail, and murder follows an introverted gym manager (Kristen Stewart) who falls in love with an ambitious bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian from The Mandalorian). They’re going to flee to Vegas together, but the gym manager’s crime boss father (Ed Harris, sporting a truly scary haircut) has other ideas.Sundance late-night audiences and critics reacted enthusiastically.
Monkey Man, April 5.
Is Dev Patel an action hero? That’s how he views himself, as he’s not only the star, but also the co-writer and director of this John Wick-inspired vengeance thriller. He portrays Kid, an unnamed member of an underground combat club who trains tirelessly to avenge his mother’s death. Jordan Peele as producer and combat choreographer Brahim Chab (who has worked with Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme) support Patel’s directorial debut.
Civil War, April 12.
Alex Garland, known for his dystopian thrillers 28 Days Later and Ex Machina (which he also directed), created this politically charged drama that follows journalist Kirsten Dunst into an unsettling near future. A US president refuses to resign, 19 states have seceded from the Union, and a “Western Forces” army is marching on Washington, D.C., for a Fourth of July clash.
Sasquatch Sunset, April 12.
This year-in-the-life chronicle of North America’s last Sasquatches Movie may be the craziest of the spring’s comedy, which is saying something in a season that includes Problemista, IF, and The American Society of Magical Negroes. It stars Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, and a number of other celebrities you may not recognise because their faces are wrapped in fur and they only talk in grunts. The film, directed by the Zellner brothers David and Nathan, is absurdist, grandiose, experimental, and widely regarded as both amusing and tragic.
The Fall Guy, May 3.
David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Bullet Train) directs an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling as a semi-retired stunt coordinator. Gosling’s character, Colt, has been dragged in to work on a Movie featuring the world’s biggest action actor, Tom Ryder (a parody on Tom Cruise?), for whom he previously doubled. When Ryder goes missing, Colt is forced to use his stunt abilities to bring him back, even though he is standing in for him and being directed by Colt’s ex-girlfriend (Emily Blunt). Action (and comedy) ensues, and the trailer suggests that it will be very outrageous.