Movies to Get Excited About This Summer

By Brett Moriarty

 

As vaccination rates go up and Covid cases go down, states have pretty much opened up. With fewer regulations, we can all return to normal life one step at a time. For many of us, that includes returning to the magical place that is the movie theater. I do not know about everyone else, but I have surely missed grabbing a bucket of overly buttered popcorn and watching the newest film. You might also be wondering, what is there to watch in theaters now that there are so many streaming services? So, here is your ultimate guide to every movie coming out this summer and where you can find it.

 

In The Heights (In theaters and HBO Max – June 11)

In The Heights is a 2021 film that tells the story of a corner in the predominantly Dominican Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. The plot follows the members of the community as they pursue their dreams of a better life. It is based on the stage musical of the same name by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

 

Zola (In theaters – June 30)

Zola is based on an infamous Twitter thread in which Zola meets a sex worker named Stefani at a restaurant where she waitresses, and the two bond over pole dancing. Stefani then invites Zola on a cross-country road trip, where the goal is to make as much money as possible dancing in Florida strip clubs. Zola agrees and the film follows the wild two-day trip with Stefani, Zola’s boyfriend Derrek, and Stefani’s violent pimp, X. It stars Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Ari’el Stachel, Colman Domingo and Ts Madison.

 

Summer of Soul (In theaters – July 2)

Summer of Soul is a documentary that follows the Harlem Cultural Festival in the summer of 1969 to celebrate Black history, culture, music and fashion. The star studded cast includes old film from the festival as well as Chris Rock, Lin Manuel Miranda, Stevie Wonder, and more. 

 

Black Widow (In theaters  – July 9)

Black Widow  will be the 24th film to be included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the movie, Natash Romanoff (Black Widow who is played by Scarlett Johansson finds herself alone and forced to confront a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past following the events of Captain America: CIvil War. Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

 

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (In theaters – July 16)

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions follows survivors of previous escape rooms find themselves in a new and increasingly elaborate game filled with deadly traps. The film stars Holland Roden, Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, and others.

 

Space Jam: A New Legacy (In theaters and HBO Max – July 16)

LeBron James and his young son, Dom, get trapped in digital space by a rogue AI. To get home, James teams up with the Looney Tunes group for an intense basketball game against the AI’s digitized champions of the court.

 

 

Jungle Cruise (In theaters – July 30)

Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) enlists the aid of Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) to take her down the Amazon in his boat. The pair search for an ancient tree that holds the power to heal and change the future of medicine.

 

Free Guy (In theaters – August 13)

A bank teller named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) realizes he is a background character in an open world video game called Free City that will soon go offline. Guy becomes aware that when the game goes down, so does he and takes steps to make himself the hero and save the game before the developers shut it down.

 

Respect (In theaters – August 13)

Jennifer Hudson stars in Respect, an upcoming biographical musical drama that outlines the life of American singer and activist Arethra Franklin.

 

CODA (In theaters – August 13)

In Massachusetts, 17-year-old Ruby helps her Deaf parents and brother with the family fishing business. Ruby is apart of the choir at her high school. Her choirmaster encourages her to consider music school. After this recommendation, she has to decide between helping her family and pursuing her goal.

 

He’s All That (Netflix – August 27)

The film is a gender-swapped remake of She’s All That (1999) that stars Addison Rae, Tanner Buchanan, Myra Molloy, Madison Pettis, Peyton Meyer, Isabella Crovetti, and Rachael Leigh Cook. The plot follows Padgett Sawyer (Addison Rae) who accepts a challenge to turn the school’s least popular boy, Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan), into prom king.

 

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (In theaters – September 3)

Lastly, when Shang-Chi is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organization, he is forced to confront the past he thought he left behind. The film is apart of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and many more.

The New iCarly Reboot Without Sam

By Kate Kissell 

 

This past year fans grew ecstatic after hearing that Paramount Plus was rebooting Dan Schneider’s iCarly. On June 17th, the show’s release date, iCarly lovers around the world watched, including characters like Freddie, Carly, Spencer, and more. However, one main loss to the reboot is Jennette McCurdy’s decision to decline playing Sam, Carly’s best friend in the show, and taking part in the production once again. 

Although Jenette may have seemed content with the characters she was cast as throughout the years, it seems that her life as an actor did not bring her the satisfaction she wished for. She spoke of this and her retirement by saying, “I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it. My mom put me in it when I was 6 and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family. My family didn’t have a lot of money, and this was the way out, which I actually think was helpful in driving me to some degree of success.” SHe specifically expressed her embarrassment throughout her time as an actor by saying, “I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past. I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed.”

 

Miranda Cosgrove, the actor who plays Carly, touched on Jenette’s absence by saying “We touch a lot on the whole relationship with Sam and where Sam’s at in the pilot episode,” and continued by saying, “And then we mention her a little bit throughout the season, so we’ll definitely explain that on the show.” 

 

Either way, with or without the presence of one of the main characters from the original iCarly, fans are still excited to feel the nostalgia of their childhood.