May’s busy period is over and now we’re in June. For a month that is peak school holidays and peak summer, I don’t actually have a lot of movies I’m enthusiastic about watching. But there’re a lot of holdover titles from May that are still in cinemas, so now’s your chance to do some catch-up if you haven’t had time to go to the movies. But be quick, because they’re probably on their way out, and won’t have good timings for much longer!
If you just want to know what movies are opening in June, click here!
But if you want to know *my* thoughts on the upcoming movies and which ones I’m watching, read on.
After you’ve finished, feel free to comment below and talk about which movies you’re watching, and why!
Movies I’m watching for sure
Toy Story 4 (20 Jun)
I thought Toy Story 3 ended beautifully, but even Pixar needs to make money, as seen from them mining their IP in recent years to give sequels to Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Then again, if Pixar had been against sequels, we wouldn’t even have gotten a Toy Story 2 or 3, and Toy Story 3 is one of my favourite Pixar movies, along with Up.
Toy Story 4 sees Woody, Buzz and Andy’s other old toys looking after their new owner Bonnie, and that means making sure Bonnie’s new toy Forky, which she made in Arts and Crafts, doesn’t run away, even though he’s having identity issues (because he’s a plastic fork, not a toy).
I sure hope Toy Story 4 is as good as the previous ones. Bunny and Duckie, who Buzz meets at the fairground while searching for Woody and Forky, are adorable, though a bit too mouthy to fit their image (they are voiced by Key and Peele).
Men in Black: International (13 Jun)
I’m not entirely sure why they revived the Men in Black series, but since they’re doing it with the Revengers, aka Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, I’m sure it’s going to be hilarious. Chris Hemsworth is such a goofball in his comedies and in real life!
It’s a good choice of actors, because I wouldn’t have watched it otherwise. I only watched the first movie, and that’s cause it was on TV.
Movies I’m watching – probably
Yesterday (27 Jun) (8 Aug)
An unsuccessful musician gets into an accident and wakes up in a world where the Beatles don’t exist. (I wonder how that happens, and I’ll be watching partly to see the magical explanation.) Anyway, guess who decides to take advantage of that fact?
Beyond this fantasy premise though, it’s a sweet romcom about a nobody who gets propelled into superstardom, and his best friend/manager who’s in love with him but is pushed away by his encroaching fame. The Beatles’ music is just the backdrop. Lead actor Himesh Patel is known for being in the British TV soap EastEnders, but not much beyond that. Lily James, Ed Sheeren and Kate McKinnon star too.
(Coincidentally, Lily James’ Cinderella co-star is starring in a music-related film of his own, and it’s the very next one I’ll be talking about.)
*edit*
As of 14 June, the movie has been moved to 8 August in Singapore.
Rocketman (13 Jun)
Rocketman is a musical fantasy about Elton John’s life, with his songs as the backdrop. So many music-related films are being released or put in development after the success of Bohemian Rhapsody! Rocketman was already in the works when Bohemian Rhapsody became hot, but it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re riding on that popular wave.
Anyway, it seems better than Bohemian Rhapsody, judging from reviews, and there are very early talks of Rocketman being a frontrunner for next year’s Oscars. (No complaints here about bad editing.)
Rocketman is directed by Dexter Fletcher, who took over the reins of Bohemian Rhapsody with two more weeks of shooting to go, after Fox fired original director Bryan Singer for repeated failures to turn up on set.
To be honest, I hadn’t been interested in this movie. I’m not a super big fan of Elton John, or music biopics (I didn’t watch Bohemian Rhapsody), and his balding days are really unattractive. However, Richard Madden (Robb Stark in Game of Thrones! The Prince in Cinderella!) *is* attractive as his manager/lover, and there’s a sex scene with the two of them.
I wonder if the local censorship board will even allow the film to be released. If it is, it’ll be rated R21.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix (5 Jun)
I don’t have much to say about Dark Phoenix, except that I’m very unenthusiastic about it. The X-Men franchise has lost its steam for me. Pity, because the cast is great, and they even got Jessica Chastain to be in a superhero movie! Even though she plays a villain.
But X-Men: Apocalypse was disappointing, and Dark Phoenix really doesn’t look any better. The constant delays in release dates didn’t boost my feelings about the movie. (It was originally scheduled on 2 November 2018, then 14 February 2019, before finally settling on 6 June 2019.)
I’ll likely watch it anyway for completion’s sake because I’ve watched all the main X-Men movies (except Logan), and this is the end of the entire series as released by 20th Century Fox.
Now that Fox is owned by Disney, therefore giving Marvel Studios back the X-Men rights, I can’t wait for Kevin Feige to reboot it several years down the line — along with Fastastic Four — and bring them into the fold of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
You can read my review of X-Men: Dark Phoenix here.
Movies I’m not watching, but I want to spotlight
The Dead Don’t Die (20 Jun)
This zombie comedy starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny and Selena Gomez looks as odd as a Wes Anderson or Coen brothers movie, but without most of Wes Anderson’s signature quirks. It’s directed by Jim Jarmusch, who is an auteur in his own right but one of the lesser known ones, cause his indie movies have never been nominated for any Oscars or Golden Globes. In fact, most of them were probably not released in Singapore.
I have not watched any of his movies, though I remember being very keen about Only Lovers Left Alive because Tom Hiddleston starred in it. (It was during the peak of his popularity in 2013, fresh off Loki in Thor and The Avengers, with Thor: The Dark World coming out end of that year. Only Lovers Left Alive was in competition at Cannes, so he was there to promote the movie.) It’s about two vampire lovers, played by Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, with Tom being a musician, and their love being tested when Tilda Swinton’s sister Mia Wasikowska crashes into their lives.
Anyway, I digress. I wouldn’t mind watching The Dead Don’t Die, but I know myself and I’m not going to watch it in cinemas. Nevertheless, putting my lackadaisal movie-going habits aside, the film looks good — or at the very least, interesting — and you should know about it. It doesn’t look like a movie that will be in cinemas for long though, so make haste to watch it in the first two weeks of its release!
As for the rest of the movies in June, I’m not watching them because they’re either too indie (The White Crow), too small to take note of (UglyDolls, The Queen’s Corgi, Anna) or too frightening for me (Annabelle Comes Home).
Now you’ve read my list, it’s your turn to share.
What are you watching in June?
