Weekend Watch - June 2023 Recap
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we are taking a look back at the month of June, making note of the films worth keeping an eye on that got a wide release in the U.S. in its thirty days. June has been a fairly disappointing month as of late, giving us such heaters as Hustle, Eurovision Song Contest: The Legend of Fire Saga, Luca, and Toy Story 4 – none of them bad films, but none truly in contention for the best films of their respective years. This June was different, giving audiences three really solid films (two all-time greats) in the midst of all the mediocrity. You have to go back to June of 2014 with the release of Edge of Tomorrow, How to Train Your Dragon 2, 22 Jump Street, and The Fault in Our Stars to get a June with this much heat all in one month. As always with recaps, we’ll be breaking the films into three categories – Sure Things, Possible Things, and Long Shots. Let’s get into it.
Long Shots:
Elemental: While it certainly wasn’t the worst animated release of the month, it wasn’t in the top two as it marked another drop in consistency for Pixar. It’s difficult to see such a well-intentioned film do so poorly, but it seems that audiences and critics agree that it just doesn't have that classic Pixar magic that endears the story to its viewers. It could still luck out with some success after its streaming release, so keep an eye on it.
The Flash: Another of June’s disappointing blockbusters was DC’s Flash movie. It leans so heavily on nostalgia that it makes audiences fairly happy but keeps critics low on the product due to its middling story. Some surprise visual effects nominations or a potential sudden surge in box office support could spell a bit more success, but I’d be surprised.
The Blackening: The horror comedy opened to higher reviews than most people anticipated, marking it as a sure thing for cult classic lists but still a long shot for much else. Its blend of genres don’t necessarily spell the success that it’ll need to see once awards start dropping to make it a true all-time great.
Extraction II: Chris Hemsworth’s action thriller sequel has proven to be an even bigger crowd-pleaser than his first. Netflix has found its niches in animation, romantic comedies, and movie star action thrillers (we’ll see if they can break into another when Rebel Moon drops later this year). Hemsworth’s sequel falls solidly into that third category, marking one of the streamer’s best offerings in the genre so far but probably still not an all-time great.
Asteroid City: Wes Anderson’s latest film has his fans buzzing, and that’s about it. It looks great and has his typical writing quirks that make him so popular in his lane. Unfortunately, wider audiences and critics haven’t been super high on this film, and with so many other well-produced films still to come this year, it’s believable that this’ll be left off most award nominations just like his last film (The French Dispatch).
No Hard Feelings: This film has done better than anyone gave it credit for, and that’s due purely to the two actors heading the thing up. Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman have brought back the raunchy romantic comedy with a vengeance, keeping audiences laughing and critics happier than usual in such films. It’s still hard to see it making much more of a splash than this though.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: The last of June’s disappointments came on its final weekend. It’s a fine action film but a half-hearted Indiana Jones film, and we’re left with a box office flop that sends the saga out with more of a whimper than a trumpet blast.
Possible Things:
Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed: Max’s documentary about Rock Hudson and the contrast between his public ladies’ man persona and private LGBT+ lifestyle checks a lot of the boxes that the great documentaries do, but it happens to have released the same year as many other actor-centric documentaries also about relevant issues, so it’ll probably fall by the wayside even though it is pretty solid.
Nimona: I mentioned Netflix’s success in the animation department earlier, and this graphic novel adaptation is the perfect example. With a unique animation style, fun voice actors, and a quality story, this film marks itself as the current underdog to watch in the best animated movie of 2023 race (behind another June release that we’ll get to in a few minutes). Don’t let the other great animated film of this month be your only one of the year – give Nimona a shot as well.
Blue Jean: The British film about a closeted teacher under threat of being outed in the 1980s got its American release this month to a continuation of its success from across the pond. Critics and audiences have been solidly high on it. Unfortunately, this looks like a year with little room for much prolonged indie success, and that will probably be limited to just a couple of films that most likely won’t be this one. But it’s still better than most of the other June films, so keep an eye on it.
Sure Things:
Past Lives: Since its festival release earlier this year, Celine Song’s film about longing, immigrants, and memory has had people buzzing. With its theatrical release, that buzz has only grown, pleasing audiences and critics with its moving and realistic portrayal of its story. Song’s direction and writing and the performances have all garnered praise and will probably make some noise down the line as well (I’m rooting for a spouse showdown in the Original Screenplay category between Song and her husband Justin Kuritzkes who wrote the upcoming film Challengers, but we’ll see).
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: This film already looks to be the best animated film of the year, with some going so far as to call it the best animated film of all time and even calling for it to win this year’s Best Picture awards. The follow-up to Sony’s first Spider-Verse film has succeeded in living up to the hype, and I’m excited to see where it ends up.
