OPENING THIS WEEK
"Trap" — OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT THE MULTIPLEX
This is a 2024 American psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill. Its plot follows a serial killer evading a large presence of police officers while attending a pop music star's concert with his daughter.
"Harold and the Purple Crayon" — OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT THE MULTIPLEX
Inside of his book, adventurous Harold (Zachary Levi) can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. After he grows up and draws himself off the book's pages and into the physical world, Harold finds he has a lot to learn about real life--and that his trusty purple crayon may set off more hilarious hijinks than he thought possible. When the power of unlimited imagination falls into the wrong hands, it will take all of Harold and his friends' creativity to save both the real world and his own. This is the first film adaptation of the beloved children's classic that has captivated young readers for decades.
"Kneecap" — OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT THE MICHIGAN
When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed 'low life scum' Naoise and Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, Kneecap fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound -- whilst their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic, Kneecap play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures. From director Rich Peppiatt.
"Coup!" — OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT THE MICHIGAN
Isolated on a seaside estate during the 1918 Spanish Flu, an entitled journalist (Billy Magnussen) and his socialite wife (Sarah Gadon) take in a mysterious grifter as a private cook (Peter Sarsgaard). When the plague descends on the island, the wily cook rouses his fellow staff to rebel and take over the mansion. Their wealthy employer suspects the cook’s coup is part of a more sinister agenda, and mind games between master and servant escalate into boisterous class warfare. From directors Joseph Schuman and Austin Stark.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Moonrise Kingdom" — PLAYS TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Late Night Classics Film series
The year is 1965, and the residents of New Penzance, an island off the coast of New England, inhabit a community that seems untouched by some of the bad things going on in the rest of the world. Twelve-year-olds Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) have fallen in love and decide to run away. But a violent storm is approaching the island, forcing a group of quirky adults (Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray) to mobilize a search party and find the youths before calamity strikes. From writer/director Wes Anderson.
"Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" — PLAYS TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Summer of Studio Ghibli 2024 Film Series
An epic masterpiece of sweeping scope and grandeur that remains one of the most breathtaking and exhilarating animated films of all time. Written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Hayao Miyazaki.
A thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire destroyed civilization, warring human factions survive in a world devastated by atmospheric poisons and swarming with gigantic insects. The peaceful Valley of the Wind is nestled on the edge of the Toxic Forest and led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, whose love of all living things leads her into terrible danger, as she fights to restore balance between humans and nature.
"Spaceballs" — PLAYS FRIDAY, AUGUST 2 AT 9:30 PM AND THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Late Night Classics Film series
In a distant galaxy, planet Spaceball has depleted its air supply, leaving its citizens reliant on a product called "Perri-Air." In desperation, Spaceballs leader President Skroob (Mel Brooks) orders the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) to kidnap Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) of oxygen-rich Druidia and hold her hostage in exchange for air. But help arrives for the Princess in the form of renegade space pilot Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his half-man, half-dog partner, Barf (John Candy). From writer/director Mel Brooks.
Still to come:
- "Army of Darkness" — Friday, August 9th and Thursday, August 15th
- "Eraserhead" — Friday, August 16th and Thursday, August 22nd
"The Wind Rises" — PLAYS SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 1:30 PM AND THURSDAY, AUGUST 8 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Summer of Studio Ghibli 2024 Film Series
The newest masterpiece from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki ("Spirited Away") comes a spellbinding movie beyond compare.
Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted and unable to be a pilot, he becomes one of the world’s most accomplished airplane designers, experiencing key historical events in an epic tale of love, perseverance and the challenges of living and making choices in a turbulent world.
Still to come:
- "Howl's Moving Castle" — Saturday, August 10th and Thursday, August 15th
- "The Secret World of Arrietty" — Saturday, August 17 and Thursday, August 22
"Despicable Me" — PLAYS SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 AT 1:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN (FREE FOR KIDS 12 & UNDER!!!)
Part of the Summer Classics Film Series
Supervillain Gru, a man who delights in all things wicked, hatches a plan to steal the moon. Surrounded by an army of little yellow minions and his impenetrable arsenal of weapons and war machines, Gru prepares to vanquish all who stand in his way. However, nothing in his calculations and groundwork has prepared him for his greatest challenge: three adorable orphan girls who want to make him their dad. From directors Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin, and starring Steve Carell.
"Speedy" — PLAYS TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)
Part of the Summer Classics Film Series
With live accompaniment from Andrew Rogers on the Barton Organ!
Chronically unemployed Yankees fan Harold "Speedy" Swift (Harold Lloyd) dates Jane Dillon (Ann Christy), a girl whose beloved grandfather, Pop (Bert Woodruff), runs a failing horse-drawn trolley business, in a rapidly changing city where the railway is becoming king. When a crooked railroad official steals Pop's last car, hoping to force him into a shutdown, Speedy must race against the clock to find the culprits, return the car in time, and keep the service running on schedule. From director Ted Wilde.
Still to come:
- "Blazing Saddles" — Sunday, August 11th at 1:30 PM and Tuesday, August 13th at 7:30 PM
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
Deadpool's peaceful existence comes crashing down when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. From director Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
After her husband's untimely death, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot flouts convention by assuming the reins of the fledgling wine business they had nurtured together. Steering the company through dizzying political and financial reversals, she defies her critics and revolutionizes the champagne industry to become one of the world's first great businesswomen. From director Thomas Q. Napper and starring Haley Bennett ("Cyrano", "Till").
This summer, the epic studio disaster movie returns with an adrenaline-pumping, big-screen thrill ride that puts you in direct contact with one of nature’s most wondrous—and destructive—forces.
From the producers of the "Jurassic," "Bourne" and "Indiana Jones" series comes Twisters, a current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster, "Twister." Directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Oscar® nominated writer/director of "Minari") the film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones ("Where the Crawdads Sing"), Glen Powell ("Top Gun: Maverick") and Anthony Ramos ("Hamilton") as equal forces, with opposing motivations, who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes.
In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree. From director Oz Perkins and starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage.
This is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to "Inside Out" (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screenplay written by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, and a story conceived by Mann and LeFauve.
The film stars Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan reprising their roles from the first film with Tony Hale (replacing Bill Hader as Fear), Liza Lapira (replacing Mindy Kaling as Disgust), Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kensington Tallman (replacing Kaitlyn Dias as Riley) joining the cast. It tells the story of Riley's emotions as they find themselves joined by new emotions that want to take over Riley's head.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org