It's been 20 years since the original became the biggest movie of 1996, Independence Day: Resurgence sees the aliens return to try to finish the job they started.
Humanity has had 20 years to prepare, but so have they. It is up to original cast members Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and newcomers Liam Hemsworth, Sela Ward, Jessie Usher and Maika Monroe to fight off the latest invasion. You can see both movies as a double feature in the Xtreme auditorium on Thursday, June 23 starting at 5 p.m.
Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, The Age of Adaline) gets to show her acting chops in The Shallows as she is the lone star of the movie whose co-star is a shark. She stars as a young medical student who loves to surf and finds a beautiful and secluded lagoon which she thinks is a dream come true. What she doesn’t know is that it is the feeding ground for a great white shark becoming stranded only 200 yards from shore. To survive, she must use all of her will, ingenuity, resourcefulness and fortitude.
In Free State of Jones, Matthew McConaughey is eyeing up another Oscar in this Civil War historical drama based on the true story of a rebellion against the Confederacy in Jones County Mississippi. He plays farmer and runaway rebel soldier Newt Knight who inspires a rebellions of slaves, former soldiers and others who band together to create their own territory of freedom. Even though McCanaughey is the star, director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games) also focuses on the large ensemble cast of characters that join Knight in the rebellion.
The Neon Demon is an internationally produced thriller about an aspiring model (Elle Fanning) who moves to Los Angeles and is accepted into an agency to begin a promising career. However, her beauty and youth are put in jeopardy by the women she becomes associated with in the industry who will stop at nothing to get what she has. Also starring Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone and Keanu Reeves, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Maggie’s Plan is a dramatic comedy starring Greta Gerwig as a woman who hasn’t had much luck with relationships and decides to have a baby on her own. But her plan becomes derailed when she falls for an unhappily married man (Ethan Hawke). The fantastic supporting cast includes Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader and Wallace Shawn.
I do not mention Landmark Cinemas Encore enough as it is a great place to see older movies at a cheaper price. This week they are opening Sing Street, a critically acclaimed musical comedy-drama about a boy who starts a band to impress a girl. It is from the writer-director of Once and Begin Again and if you have seen either of those infectious movies, Sing Street should be on the top of your must-see list.