In-Review: May 2024

It's not late, it's arrived exactly when it meant to

Hit Man, Netflix

In May, there was a narrative running in the Entertainment trades that the box office has been dismal this summer. Movies that were once thought to be box office winners like The Fall Guy or Furiosa, ended up disappointing when it came to box office receipts. The quality of the movies? It’s been great. Having seen many of the Summer releases thus far, I can’t say I’m disappointed in the quality of these movies. If you choose to go out the multiplexes, chances are you’ll find something worthwhile, but the numbers have thus far said that audiences are choosing to stay home.

Among the new releases I saw in May (The Fall Guy, Furiosa, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Garfield, Mars Express, I Saw the TV Glow) I was pleasantly surprised by most of them. The problem isn’t so much how entertaining these movies are, but rather they aren’t doing enough to distract from the many choices that streaming services can provide. It certainly doesn’t help that the Box Office of something like The Fall Guy when audiences can already purchase it for viewing at home.

Now that June has arrived and Bad Boys 4 lived up to series expectations ($55 million opening weekend), maybe the box office fortunes will turn. Disney certainly hopes so with the anticipated Inside Out 2 launching in theaters soon.

As for me, looking for more work opportunities continues to consume my days, as well as, additional freelance work. You’ll notice a paywall at the bottom of this post. After the paywall, I’ve included some links to articles I’ve enjoyed and a mini-review of Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, which is now available to stream on Netflix. I’ll continue to provide various articles free of charge, but if you want the full newsletter, please consider subscribing.

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Here are the movies I caught up with in May:

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Podcast

The latest episode of the It’s the Pictures podcast focuses on the filmography of director Richard Linklater. Listen to Evan Crean, Boston Globe’s Film Critic Odie Henderson, and I discuss his movies and his latest, Hit Man.

Bonus: I reviewed the upcoming Apple TV+ drama, Presumed Innocent for RogerEbert.com. Check out my review by clicking this link.

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Home Video Releases

First up are recent releases from the Criterion Collection

• La haine (1995) Available on 4K UHD for the first time

• A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (1934/1959) Now Available on Blu-ray

• Bound (1996) Coming Soon to 4K UHD

Criterion has been knocking it out of the park and I’ll have a review of these movies and a preview of their semi-annual 50% off sale that normally launches in July.

Coming soon from Shout! Factory is a new 4K Restoration of Joe Dante’s Matinee. It includes a new commentary track from the late Drew McWeeny and Eric Vespe, as well as, a boatload of special features. If you’ve never heard of the movie, Roger Ebert reviewed the movie favorably near its release in 1993. I’m looking forward to checking this one out since it stars John Goodman and he’s always been a favorite of mine. You can still purchase this one directly from Shout! Factory before its release on June 25th.

A film noir classic is headed home on 4K UHD disc for the first time, as Chinatown releases on June 18th for its 50th Anniversary. It’s easily one of Jack Nicholson’s most famous roles. This edition also includes the 1990 follow-up The Two Jakes, which was directed by Nicholson.