Sorry for posting this a day late, but it took me longer than expected to write.
THEATERS
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5th) – Marvel’s follow-up to their surprise 2014 hit, a film that made my top ten list that year. I’ve managed to avoid pretty much all the promotion for this movie, so everything should be fresh when I see it on Friday. It’s sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so that’s a good sign, and I have every expectation that this will be another hilarious and entertaining film. The original opened to $94 million and wound up grossing $333 million in the U.S. total. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this open to $150 million and gross over $400 million.
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword (May 12th) – This movie has some good things going for it: King Arthur and his sword is a good story, Charlie Hunnam should be a star some day, director Guy Ritchie has some pedigree, and the film seems to be cashing in on the popularity of “Game Of Thrones.” Unfortunately, the trailer looked pretty suspect and I have a feeling this movie is going to disappoint, both critically and at the box office. I predict Guardians holds the top stop for the second weekend in a row and King Arthur opens around $22 million with a $70 million total gross.
Snatched (May 12th) – Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn star as a mother/daughter combo that go on an exotic vacation and wind up having an adventure in the jungle. I listened to and enjoyed Schumer’s book as recently as last year, but it seems like she is already wearing out her welcome. Her recent stand up on Netflix was undeniably lackluster and general chatter about her tends to be more negative than positive. Plus the trailer for this movie didn’t look good. This movie has bomb written all over it. Schumer scored a hit with Trainwreck and that movie opened at $30M and grossed $110 domestically. I really expect Snatched to open around $8M and fizzle out around $26 million total. I’m still an Amy Schumer fan, but this is going to be a dud.
Alien: Covenant (May 19th) – Ridley Scott, director of the original Alien in 1979 and its 2012 prequel Prometheus, returns for the prequel sequel (pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve ever typed that!). Rather than try to act like this is something it’s not, the powers that be decided to just come out and directly label it as an entry in the Alien franchise because that makes the most sense when it comes to cash money. Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, xenomorphs? Can I buy my ticket yet? This film should gross better than Prometheus simply because it’s being marketed as an Alien movie. I say $70 million opening weekend and $230 million total gross, the latter of which could approach $300 million if the film is actually really good.
Baywatch (May 25th) – I was never asking for a Baywatch movie, but then I saw the casting of Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron, and the decision to make the film an R-rated comedy, and I felt like genius might be at work. I’ve long been calling Baywatch the surprise hit of 2017 and the tone of the trailer – which I only half watched because they spoil so much these days – looks spot on. If they follow the blueprint set forth by the 21 Jump Street movies, this movie should be a big hit. I think it will open somewhat modestly around $40 million and get some legs through word of mouth and gross over $200 million total.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 26th) – I remember being surprised by and really liking the first movie, but I can’t count myself as a big fan of this franchise. I’m not even sure if I’ve seen all of the movies to this point, but I don’t remember being too fond of any of the sequels, and the general public’s interest has waned too: the series peaked with Dead Man’s Chest in 2006 at $423 million, but the most recent entry, in 2011, On Stranger Tides grossed a relatively tame $223 million. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this movie, so I’m not sure a six year break has the public craving more Pirates Of The Caribbean. I will be at Disneyland a week before this film’s release, which is kind of cool, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to the movie. I suspect it will open solid around $70 million and probably gross around $260 million domestic.
NETFLIX:
While I didn’t watch either in entirety, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Gremlins were my go to films to fall asleep to in April and both titles are still streaming in May.
I watched three different comedy specials last month. Louis C.K.‘s 2017 Netflix show is hilarious. I also got around to watching the Jo Koy special that shot in Seattle and found it to be very funny. Lastly, I watched Kevin Hart‘s special and he continues to be absurdly overrated. I guess it was watchable… I didn’t turn it off or anything, but the funniest part was in the filmed intro interacting with Don Cheadle. The actual stand up wasn’t anything special.
Last month, my wife and I also completed “American Crime Story: The People Vs O.J. Simpson” and I thought it was excellent. While the case has been beaten to death, this show managed to bring something new to the table by offering perspectives from the various participants, rather than seeing everything through the media’s perspective. I had a hard time adjusting to seeing Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J., but Sarah Paulson was phenomenal as Marcia Clarke, and the guys that played Johnnie Cochrane and Darden also did great jobs. I highly recommend watching this show if you haven’t seen it yet.
And here’s what is new in May:
Chocolat (May 1st) – One of my favorite films of 2000, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, back when my tastes were more refined than they are now.
Don’t Think Twice (May 1st) – A solid comedy about an improv group dealing with one of their members becoming famous.
Forrest Gump (May 1st) – An all-time classic now available to stream whenever you want.
“Sense8”: Season 2 (May 5th) – Haven’t seen the first season and this series is pretty deep on my list of shows to get around to.
Norm MacDonald: Hitler’s Dog, Gossip, & Trickery (May 9th) – Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the old “SNL” alum, but I’ll give this a watch.
“Master Of None”: Season 2 (May 12th) – I really enjoyed the first season from comedian Aziz Ansari and I will definitely be watching this.
“Sherlock”: Series 4 (May 15th) – Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are back as Sherlock Holmes and Watson. I’ve seen the first three series, but I will probably rewatch them before getting around to this.
The Place Beyond The Pines (May 16th) – A highly touted film starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper that I didn’t like as much as the critics. I will give this another shot.
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt“: Season 3 (May 19th) – Still haven’t seen an episode of this yet, but it seems to be well liked.
Inglorious Basterds (May 22nd) – A Tarantino masterpiece that is always worth revisiting.
Southpaw (May 24th) – Haven’t seen this boxing drama starring Jake Gyllenhall yet, but maybe I will watch it now.
War Machine (May 26th) – A Netflix original film about war and starring Brad Pitt? That’s enough for me to be intrigued.
“House Of Cards”: Season 5 (May 30th) – After a disappointing season 3, the show came back strong last year and I’ll be tuning in again.
Doctor Strange (May 30th) – More Benedict Cumberbatch… this time as the mystical Marvel superhero. Funny and entertaining and definitely worth another viewing.
Sarah Silverman: A Speck Of Dust (May 30th) – I haven’t seen a ton of Sarah Silverman stand up, but I’d currently count myself as a fan so I’m interested to see how she does with this special.
MUSIC:
My entire April was spent listening to the new albums by Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar, both of which are highly enjoyable, at worst, and potentially classic, at best. Kendrick continues to keep a stranglehold on the #1 spot in the current hip-hop world with another incredibly strong release and Joey Bada$$ stepped it up a notch, rapping his ass off on a 12 track album where every song is either good or great. I did give The Chainsmokers album a full listen and while I found it to be pretty pleasant the only songs I remember now are “Paris” and “It Won’t Kill Ya.” As suspected, I didn’t get around to listening to much of anything else new, including the surprise release from Wale. When I wasn’t listening to K.dot or Joey, I was listening to The Notorious B.I.G. and DMX (write up coming soon) for my Rapper Profiles series.
Brother Ali – All The Beauty In This Whole Life (May 5th) – Once upon a time Brother Ali was my favorite rapper in the game. This was probably circa 2004 to 2007, on the heels of three consecutive amazing releases. Since then, he’s released a couple of LPs, a couple of EPs, and a number of “loosies,” and while it has all been mostly good, it doesn’t quite compare to the amazing content he was releasing in the mid-2000s. Ali has been mostly absent from the music scene since 2012, so it will be interesting to see what he has to offer in 2017. I have heard one song so far and I really liked it.
Logic – Everybody (May 5th) – Logic has released an album every year since 2014 and all of his stuff has been pretty good, if not spectacular. I didn’t give his last album a ton of play, but he’s still on my list of emcees I’m checking for.
B.O.B. – Ether (May 12th) – I liked the Adventures Of Bobby Ray back in 2010, but I haven’t really been checking for B.O.B. since then. I’ll add this, but it will have to grab me pretty quick to keep it in rotation.
Faith Evans & The Notorious B.I.G. – The King & I (May 19th) – New Biggie content? In 2017? 20 years after he died? The album is supposed to have both well known and unheard B.I.G. verses, but I’d say the chances of this being any good are pretty slim. Still, I’m intrigued enough after looking at the tracklist that I’ll be checking it out.
Snoop Dogg – Neva Left (May 19th) – I really liked Bush and the Snoopzilla album with Dam-Funk, but I didn’t give Coolaid much play, as every song that came up randomly in shuffle was kind of weak. I wouldn’t consider myself much of a Snoop fan these days, but he’s still plenty capable of making good music. I’m not sure what the album cover featuring a picture of a young Snoop from 1992 is supposed to indicate, but I have to admit it’s pretty cool.
Some other notable release dates that I don’t know much about, but will probably add to my library: Harry Styles – Harry Styles (May 12th), Machine Gun Kelly – Bloom (May 12th), Linkin Park – One More Light (May 19th)
The Bat Cave 