READERS’ POLL. It’s August 17, and I’m just a week away from packing for Venice and Toronto—where, with any luck, the real good stuff finally starts rolling in and the fall season kicks off with some highs.
What was the best film you saw this summer? Drop your picks in the comments, and I’ll tally the results to share later this week.
Might as well turn this into a summer wrap-up, too. Despite the barrage of IP that hit theaters nearly every Friday these past four months, I still managed to find ten genuine highlights—diamonds in the muck. Proof, at least, that the movies aren’t all bad.
In fact, flaws and all, Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” was one of the best major studio movies I saw this summer, alongside Zach Cregger’s “Weapons” (#1), the Philippous’ “Bring Her Back,” Andrew DeYoung’s “Friendship,” and, for sheer ballsy intent, Ari Aster’s “Eddington” and Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later.”
Internationally, three flat-out great films were released between May and August: Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “April,” and Boris Lojkine’s “Souleymane’s Story.” Seek these titles out.
I’ll give you a tenth summer highlight, next week brings the release of Michael Angelo Covino’s ‘Splitsville,’ a riotous comedy of marital distress starring Covino, Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, and Kyle Marvin. It tore the house down at Cannes, and I can only hope this hilarious Neon-distributed indie finds the theatrical audience it deserves.
I should note, I wasn’t the biggest fan of one of the summer’s best-reviewed indies, Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby, which currently holds an 89 on Metacritic. The film, shot with deeply felt eye for comic detail by Victor, is filled with the quirks and story beats that have turned the token “Sundance movie” into its own cliche.
Now it’s your turn. What were your summer highlights?