20 movies you shouldn't sleep on this summer

Joanna Hogg’s drama about a young filmmaker (Honor Swinton Byrne) caught in a bad relationship with a manipulative, drug-addicted lout (Tom Burke) is already beginning to make its way through art houses across the U.S. and should be near the top of every cinephile’s list for non-multiplex viewing. Byrne’s equally talented mother, Tilda Swinton, also appears as does the great Richard Ayoade. But the real story here is Hogg, who’s one of the most exciting directors working today.

Joe Talbot’s tragicomic debut feature about the housing crisis in San Francisco was a standout at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and could very well make some noise during awards season. Jimmie Fails stars as an SF native who reclaims his family’s one-time home when its current residents move out. Though the house is priced well beyond Fails’ means, he’s desperate to have a place to call his own in a city he loves but can no longer afford.

Emma Thompson stars in this Sundance 2019 favorite as a veteran late-night talk show host who hires her first female staff writer (Mindy Kaling, who also wrote the screenplay) to combat accusations that she’s “woman who hates woman." Kaling’s job is to drag this obstinate, showbiz dinosaur into the 21st century, which may be an altogether impossible feat. Acclaimed indie filmmaker Nisha Ganatra is working with a first-rate supporting cast that includes John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy, Max Casella and Amy Ryan.

This one’s for anyone who appreciates oiled, finely sculpted African-American male bodies in the shamelessly altogether — and for those who’d like to see an uplifting documentary about a community brought together and strengthened by what turns it on. Specifically, this is about the exploits of the New Jersey-based stripping outfit The Nasty Boyz and its faithful clients.

Jake Scott’s “American Woman” didn’t blast off as expected at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, but there’s been persistent buzz about Sienna Miller’s performance as an irresponsible single mother/grandmother forced into a parenting role once again when her daughter mysteriously disappears. Scott’s film boasts an impressive supporting cast of Christina Hendricks, Amy Madigan and Macon Blair and was shot by veteran cinematographer John Mathieson, so at least the rural Pennsylvania locations will look spectacularly grim.

Jim Jarmusch seems poised to have his biggest U.S. box office hit by far with this deadpan zombie comedy starring, among many others, Adam Driver, Bill Murray and Selena Gomez. Though the film didn’t exactly wow critics at last May’s Cannes Film Festival, most felt it was an agreeably deadpan complement to George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead," in which the undead are drawn to the mundane habits that defined their unremarkable lives.

The 88-year-old Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author of “Beloved," “Song of Solomon” and “Tar Baby” takes center stage in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s documentary about Morrison’s life and brilliant work. The writer’s illuminating, often powerful reminiscences are intercut with commentary and praise from friends and contemporaries like Angela Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Mosley, Fran Lebowitz and Russell Banks.

The multitalented Jessie Buckley might just be on the cusp of international superstardom thanks to her enormously appealing performance in Tom Harper’s uplifting dramedy about an ex-convict mother of two who is hellbent on heading to Nashville to find fame and fortune as a country music singer. The film may be rigorously formulaic, but it plays the tune with conviction — and Ms. Buckley can flat-out belt.

When British skipper Tracy Edwards assembled the first-ever all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, she was subjected to no shortage of sexist ridicule from her male peers — all of whom looked jealous when she wound up placing second in 1989. Edwards’ struggles and triumphs are recounted in Alex Holmes’ (thus far) well-received documentary.

Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” was probably the most divisive horror film of 2018, generating screams or derisive chuckles depending on your audience. Now he’s back with a new, ultra-creepy-looking nightmare about a young couple (Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor) who attend a summer festival in Sweden that isn’t quite as innocuous as is it first appears. Given the film’s setting, almost all of the horrific events take place in broad daylight. Aster is a unique talent, which makes this a must-see even if you weren’t completely on board with “Hereditary."

Veteran documentarian Nick Broomfield has courted controversy throughout his career with salacious films like “Kurt & Courtney” and “Biggie & Tupac." His most recent work is apparently an intimate, deeply moving portrait of the 50-year romance/friendship shared by songwriter Leonard Cohen and the free-spirited Marianne Ihlen. Even if you’re not a Cohen fan, the opportunity to check out never-before-screened footage shot by D.A. Pennebaker should be enough to get you to the theater. 

Up-and-coming writer-director Riley Stearns follows up his criminally underseen “Faults” with a black comedy about toxic masculinity. Jesse Eisenberg stars as a meek accountant who begins taking karate lessons after getting thrashed by a motorcycle gang. Eisenberg’s journey of self-improvement takes a twisted turn when he discovers that his mentor/sensei (Alessandro Nivola) hosts evening sessions that get well out of hand. Stearns’ film received rave reviews at the 2019 South by Southwest festival. 

Lulu Wang’s multi-generational dramedy about a Chinese family that conspires to keep its grandmother’s impending death a secret from the soon-to-expire party by throwing a hastily arranged wedding earned excellent reviews at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Awkwafina and the great Tzi Ma lead this ensemble piece that has the makings of a surprise summer hit.

As a founding member of Phish, Trey Anastasio is the jam-band guitar god of the post-Grateful Dead era, and if you’re a fan you don’t need to know that there’s a documentary about his life and creative process coming out this July. But if you’ve never gotten deep into the band’s mind-expanding vibe, you might want to give this film a look if only to gain insight into a musician who’s touched more lives than most people realize.

The 77-year-old rock-and-roll legend has seen it all — Woodstock, Altamont, prison, etc. – and as is made abundantly clear in A.J. Eaton’s acclaimed documentary (produced by Cameron Crowe), he is fixin’ to see a little more before his time on this planet is through. This is an unvarnished assessment of a life teeming with triumph and regret. Crosby isn’t out to burnish his reputation; he means to own it.

As it grows ever more difficult to eke out a life as a journalist, it increasingly falls to those who still practice the trade to make a case for their relevance, if not their very existence. Avi Belkin’s “Mike Wallace Is Here” holds up one of the most feared and revered investigative journalists of television’s golden age in the hopes of reminding a jaded public that a world without reporters holding the powerful to account would be a scary place indeed. 

Indie-film veteran Bart Freundlich has never made an above-average movie, but he nevertheless continues to attract top-tier talent to his films. Freundlich’s remake of Susanne “Bird Box” Bier’s 2006 drama stars his wife, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams and Billy Crudup and still got par-for-the-course Freundlich reviews at this year’s Sundance. It’s probably a mediocrity, but it’s hard to ignore a film with that cast.

Richard Linklater’s long-awaited adaptation of Maria Semple’s comedic mystery novel feels like the kind of star-studded prestige project that should debut at a fall festival; that it’s skipping Vienna, Telluride, Toronto and New York in favor of a mid-August debut gives you the feeling that this is more “Eat, Pray, Love” than an awards contender. Still, the combination of Linklater, Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne and Billy Crudup has us intrigued.

Victor Kossakovsky’s documentary about the awesome force of water was appropriately shot in crystal-clear 96-frames-per-second, and much like the experiential films of Godfrey Reggio (“Koyaanisqatsi” and “Powaqqatsi”), “Aquarela” doesn’t require intrusive narration from a major movie star to get its disquieting point across. The planet isn’t in peril. We are.

Playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo’s filmmaking debut scored mostly raves at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and evidently features the breakout leading role Jillian Bell has been chasing since “22 Jump Street." Bell plays a “hot mess” of a New Yorker who tries to turn her life around via running. It may not sound like much of a premise, but the early reviews and the presence of Bell are more than enough to launch this into must-see territory.