​What if the World changed in an instant?
 
One moment the world goes black and Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is hit by a bus. When he wakes up some things have changed. There’s no more cigarettes. No Coke. No Harry Potter and No Beatles. They never existed.

​As a failure of a singer/songwriter, Jack was about to walk away from music on that fateful day, but now he decides to bring the Beatles songs to a world which had never heard them before, sending him on a journey to stardom at the cost of his best friend and manager, Ellie (Lilly James).

​This quirky love story features the Beatles music but isn’t a biopic on the songwriters. It is more about following your dreams, even if you can’t see the dream in front of your face. The music is outstanding but the story misses the mark of a movie like Bohemian Rhapsody. Also most of the songs are snippets played, not the whole song, so just as you get your feet tapping, the song ends. Written by the mind behind Love Actually, Yesterday features a similar message of love and what’s important.

​Many of the laugh out loud moments come from Kate McKinnon (as the LA agent) being absurdly blunt. Each time she spoke was like nails on a chalkboard. Yesterday also featured Ed Sheeran as himself in his first acting role. Ed admitted in previous interviews that the Beatles were instrumental in his own songwriting style.

It was one of those just okay movies but is a movie for fans of the music and will be a good date night movie. And better yet, no zombies!

It’s the end of the world…
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Fracking caused the Earth’s poles to reverse, sending the rotation out of whack. Daylight lasts longer and the animals run wild. And the dead rise from their graves as zombies. Small town Centerville’s police force (Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Chloë Sevigny) must deal with the feeding frenzy of their former friends and loved ones. 

​Indie film, The Dead Don’t Die brings together director, Jim Jarmusch (who also wrote the screenplay) with some of his favorite actors who have appeared over and over in his many iconic films. Featuring big names such as Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez, Rosie Perez, Carol Kane, and Tilda Swinton, the movie lacks the polish of a big release movie. Meticulously slow pacing and awkward dialogue, the movie pushes a harsh commentary on the choices humans have made, and show that they deserve the end of the world. 

​With so many Easter Eggs and nods to horror movies, Star Wars, and the director’s early life, viewers will want to watch closely and most will miss them. Only through seeing the movie more than once or even Googling the Easter Eggs, will you understand what you missed. The Dead Don’t Die is not a comedy, no matter how silly the trailer appeared. It is a tough movie to watch as Murray and Driver seem to improvise their lines, certain key phrases are repeated over and over or how they break the 4th wall to discuss why Driver knows the movie will end badly. I could have written a more exciting movie. Maybe it was in Daniel Craig’s best interest for him to not be able to fit his cameo in. 

​Looking for a unique movie, one not a sequel… The Dead Don’t Die shows what a low budget and a little help of your friends can accomplish. 

It’s the summer of sequels…
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As a child Molly (Tessa Thompson) witnesses an alien encounter. Her parents’ memories were wiped but not hers and she spent over two decades trying to find the truth about aliens and the universe. When she finds the secret headquarters of Men in Black, she’s offered a job, becoming Agent M. Her first assignment is in London where there’s a mole in the international organization. 

​Men in Black: International reunites Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth from Thor: Ragnarok, as they try to recreate their winning chemistry. With return appearances by Frank, the pug, the worm guys and Emma Thompson as Agent O, the movie doesn’t have any of the original actors from the first movie. There is a nod to the earlier Men in Black movies with a painting on the wall in the International Headquarters. But even with the star power and featuring Steven Spielberg as one of the producers, the movie falls flat. 

​The movie has all the aspects from the first movie, fast cars, strange aliens and big guns but it feels like a copy rather than a unique movie. The movie becomes more of a vehicle for Hemsworth and Thompson but lacks the buddy aspect of the first one. However, the new character, Pawnie, steals the show. He is a living pawn who gets all the snarky comments and tells things like it is.

​With the numerous reboots and sequels, Hollywood needs to step up its game and add some new aspects to them in order to have them stand out. There are a lot of movies this summer to choose from, so avoid this one unless you are a Hemsworth fan. He does take his shirt off. 

​The last X-Men movie for a while…
When the X-Men are sent into space to rescue the space shuttle astronauts, something goes wrong and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) becomes infected with an unknown power, which amplifies her abilities and makes her the most powerful thing on the planet. Now it’s up to her friends to help her before she destroys the world. Toss in a few evil aliens and some wild special effects…You’ve got a reason for “family” to come together! Too bad there’s no Wolverine cameo.

​Bringing back the group from X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix wraps up the story arc for Jean and brings about some big changes to the X-Men franchise. We see where Erik/Magneto (   Michael Fassbender) has been and get another look at the rest of the gang- Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Nightcrawler, Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm, The Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Professor Xavier (James McAvoy). 

​While the movie also fits pretty well with the X-Men: Days of Future Past movies, however, it shatters the timeline for the three original movies-X-Men, X-Men 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. But that’s often been a complaint about the X-Men movies… they don’t always make logical sense. So come for the action and another chance to see the characters but don’t put too much thought into it.

​At times, Dark Phoenix feels like a lesser Captain Marvel movie, especially since Jean’s powers mimic Carol Danver’s. Unlike most of Marvel’s Avenger’s movies, there isn’t an extra credit scene. So no need to wait to see who was the hairdresser for Sophie Turner. But for fans of the series, they will enjoy seeing Jean’s whole storyline and since we know that nothing is truly ever gone… I’m sure there will be another X-Men movie in the future. 

Coming off the success of last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman weaves musical numbers into the life of piano man, Elton John.

​Told through the music and dance numbers we see Elton (Taron Egerton) in therapy for his many addictions sharing his story from his early years where he could hear a song and play it by ear to the height of his career, playing at Madison Square Garden.

This no holds barred look at Elton’s love life, suicide attempt, alcoholism and drug use paints a picture of a man looking for love. His childhood loneliness as he strives for his father’s attention to his search for a soul mate and the many bad choices he made. It pulls at your heartstrings as we see Elton come to grips with the mess he made in his life. Rocketman doesn’t skirt the issues, telling it as it is. With a sensual sex scene between Elton and John Reid and numerous instances of cocaine use, this movie isn’t for a young audience.

​Not a true biography, Rocketman tells Elton’s story from his point of view, so there’s bound to be discrepancies between his version and other’s. Elton’s stepmother and half-brothers have contradicted the movie’s portrayal of Elton’s father. It also plays a little loose with how Elton determined his now famous name.

Taron Egerton becomes Elton, even doing his own singing in the movie. During the credits, the movie shows photos of Elton alongside Taron and it’s hard to tell the difference. Directed by the man (Dexter Fletcher) who jumped in to Bohemian Rhapsody when Bryan Singer went missing, Rocketman features all the feels and Elton’s popular songs but in a unique way.
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A must for fans of the entertainer or his music.