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Trailer: Wonder Woman
An Amazonian princess leaves her island home to explore the world and, in doing so, becomes one of the world's greatest heroes.
With the mercury dropping, there's no better time to break out the popcorn. Here's our pick of the season's best cinematic offerings.
Wonder Woman
Despite Hollywood's ongoing comic-book boom, there hasn't been a serious superhero blockbuster centred on a woman for more than a decade. Just as unbelievably, director Patty Jenkins hasn't made a feature since guiding Charlize Theron to an Oscar for Monster in 2003. In short, we're well overdue for this new look at the origins of the ageless Amazon princess with the magic lasso, played by former Miss Israel and sometime combat trainer Gal Gadot. While the action takes place during World War I, the subtext is bound to be scrutinised closely for topical significance – which, if the creative team is up to the challenge, presents as many opportunities as it does risks. June 1.
![Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle in <i>A Quiet Passion</i>.](/web/20170506224812im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/2/a/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvm2ij.png/1494016629557.jpg)
A Quiet Passion
Emily Dickinson lived a reclusive life in Amhurst, Massachusetts, the bulk of her poetry unknown till after her death – yet she felt, thought and wrote as intensely as anyone of her time. If there's a filmmaker who can do her justice, it might well be the great Terence Davies (Sunset Song), whose deeply wrought period pieces can be almost frightening in their emotional directness. Famously, Davies cast Gillian Anderson as an Edith Wharton heroine in The House of Mirth without ever having seen an episode of The X-Files. We can expect comparable revelations here from star Cynthia Nixon, who deserves to be known as much more than Miranda from Sex and the City. June 15.
Rough Night
Where comedy is concerned, American TV is currently outflanking mainstream movies, which is one reason to look forward to the feature debut of writer-director Lucia Aniello, part of the team behind the inspired Broad City. The plot involves a hen's night that goes horribly wrong; the promising ensemble cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Broad City's Ilana Glazer, and Kate McKinnon speaking in a dodgy but hilarious "Australian" twang. Men appear to be surplus to requirements, aside from Aussie model Ryan Cooper as the stripper whose accidental death launches the plot, and co-writer Paul W. Downs (Broad City's Trey) as the presumably clueless husband-to-be. June 15.
The Beguiled
This remake of Don Siegel's 1971 exercise in American Gothic is a departure for writer-director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), but also a logical development of her fascination with girlhood and the cloistered realms where innocence and corruption overlap. Colin Farrell steps into the boots of Clint Eastwood as a wounded soldier who finds himself a virtual prisoner in a Mississippi girls' school during the Civil War. Nicole Kidman is the school principal and repeat Coppola collaborators Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning are also on hand, as well as up-and-coming Australian teen star Angourie Rice, most recently seen in Jasper Jones. July 13.
![Nicole Kidman plays the principal of a Mississippi girls' school in <i>The Beguiled</i>.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170506224812im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/z/2/j/c/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1493948889381.png)
Nicole Kidman plays the principal of a Mississippi girls' school in The Beguiled. Photo: Ben Rothstein/Focus Features
Dunkirk
It's a measure of writer-director Christopher Nolan's ambition that a World War II epic centred on the Dunkirk evacuation seems a relatively simple project for him, compared with science fiction puzzles such as Inception and Interstellar. But Nolan has never been one to do things the easy way: his intricate script reportedly cuts between events on several different time scales, which makes it sound rather like Inception after all. If the patriotic nostalgia doesn't get too overpowering, this could be the biggest triumph yet for a filmmaker who has regularly combined virtuoso pulp storytelling with a covert loyalty to the avant-garde. July 20.
Baby Driver
Ansel Elgort from The Fault In Our Stars plays a getaway driver named Baby in this suitably titled heist movie from the ever-boyish Edgar Wright, whose previous cult favourites include Scott Pilgrim vs the World and a string of Simon Pegg collaborations such as Shaun of the Dead. Expect tight plotting, rhythmic cutting, absurdist ultra-violence and a carefully curated soundtrack, especially given the hero's habit of wearing headphones while on the job. The eclectic supporting cast includes Kevin Spacey as Doc, Jamie Foxx as Bats, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers as Eddie No-nose – yet more evidence of Wright's willingness to go the extra mile to keep us amused. August 10.
The Lost City of Z
James Gray (The Immigrant) is among the most introverted of US filmmakers, and we can presume this jungle adventure will be largely set in a landscape of the mind – as Grey himself has confirmed in interviews, citing precursors such as Lawrence of Arabia and Apocalypse Now. Charlie Hunnam from Sons of Anarchy stars as the real-life British explorer Percy Fawcett, mocked for his stubborn quest to discover a "lost" civilisation in the Amazon Basin. Sienna Miller plays his loyal wife, Robert Pattinson his assistant. In his determination to go his own way, Fawcett could be a proxy for Grey himself, a singular artist far less "classical" and more modern than critics typically claim. August 17.
![Charlie Hunnam stars as British explorer Percy Fawcett in <i>The Lost City of Z</i>.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170506224812im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/z/2/v/z/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1493949669202.png)
Charlie Hunnam stars as British explorer Percy Fawcett in The Lost City of Z. Photo: Aidan Monaghan/Amazon Studios/Bleecker Street
It
Stephen King's 1986 horror novel may have fuelled a wave of anti-clown propaganda, but there's no denying he tapped into a powerful archetype in the leering Pennywise, the face of an ancient evil that lurks in the sewers and preys on kids. The TV adaptation with Tim Curry left its mark on more than one generation (this writer saw it at a slumber party aged 13, which seems ideal). This new version stars Bill Skarsgard (brother of Alexander) and was originally to be directed by hotshot Cary Fukunaga (True Detective). His replacement, Andres Muschietti (Mama), will likely play it safer, but it should still be interesting to see how he copes with the book's complex flashback structure and unfilmable climax. September 7.
The Emoji Movie
Yes, this is the one where Sir Patrick Stewart voices a talking pile of poo. Join Gene (T.J. Miller from Silicon Valley), an emoji born without a fixed expression, as he embarks on an epic "app-venture" within a teenager's mobile phone in search of the code that will determine his true identity. Are we in for a deconstructive meditation on the digital age, or just a bunch of tired gags about texting? Director Tony Leondis (Igor) doesn't have much of a track record, but the involvement of talented screenwriter Mike White (Enlightened, The School of Rock) merits at least a tentative smiley face. September 14.
Blade Runner 2049
With its indelible noir vision of a rainy, overcrowded future LA, Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction thriller Blade Runner is a durable asset Hollywood was bound to monetise sooner or later. Scott is on board as producer for this long-promised sequel, passing the torch to director Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), no mean science fiction stylist in his own right. Leading man Ryan Gosling represents the new generation of enigmatic brooders, while original star Harrison Ford returns to the role of bounty hunter Rick Deckard – meaning we could finally get a firm answer to the long-debated question of whether Deckard is human or a "replicant" (that is, android) like those he hunts. October 5.
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