MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
In Hollywood, Memorial Day weekend is typically the start of summer hit season, or at least it was prior to the pandemic. Last summer season, regardless of the very best efforts of the “Quick & & Furious” crew and Marvel’s “Black Widow,” no blocks were busted. However this year, “Physician Strange” and “Top Weapon: Maverick” have actually primed the pump. And critic Bob Mondello says there are more where those originated from.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Somewhere in the Rockies, snow falling carefully as we hear the pitter-pat of raptors in the woods.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “JURASSIC WORLD: RULE”)
ISABELLA SERMON: (As Maisie Lockwood) Blue had a baby. That’s difficult.
MONDELLO: In “Jurassic World: Dominion”…
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION”)
CHRIS PRATT: (As Owen Grady) Hey, lady.
SERMON: (As Maisie Lockwood) You look similar to your mother.
MONDELLO: … Jurassic Park is long gone, and we share the entire planet with dinosaurs. As always, bad folks have designs on them – in this case, on the infant. It’s good that Chris Pratt still has a relationship with its mom.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “JURASSIC WORLD: RULE”)
PRATT: (As Owen Grady) I promise you, I am going to get her back.
MONDELLO: That’s a promise Pratt takes seriously. And if Pratt is Jurassic World’s raptor whisperer …
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “JURASSIC WORLD: RULE”)
PRATT: (As Owen Grady) I made a pledge we would bring her house.
JEFF GOLDBLUM: (As Dr. Ian Malcom) You made a promise to a dinosaur?
PRATT: (As Owen Grady) Yeah. Why?
MONDELLO: … In the Marvel Universe, he’s ended up being a Thor whisperer to a superhero who’s all of a sudden all about peace and love.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER”)
PRATT: (As Star-Lord) Remember what I told you – you ever feel lost, just look into the eyes of individuals that you love – not me.
CHRIS HEMSWORTH: (As Thor) What? I was just listening.
MONDELLO: You can forgive the Viking god for being a bit distracted in “Thor: Love And Thunder.”
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER”)
HEMSWORTH: (As Thor) Jane?
MONDELLO: Turns out he’s not the only one who can hurl a hammer.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER”)
HEMSWORTH: (As Thor) The old ex-girlfriend.
NATALIE PORTMAN: (As Jane Foster) What’s it been, like, three, 4 years?
HEMSWORTH: (As Thor) Eight years, 7 months and six days – offer or take.
MONDELLO: There are likewise 2 movies in which teenagers believe a superhero might be hiding in plain sight – “Secret Headquarters” and “Samaritan.” And the directors of the last 2 “Avengers” motion pictures, the Russo siblings, are obviously intending to begin a various sort of franchise with their CIA thriller. In “The Gray Male,” Chris Evans is an assassin …
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “THE GRAY GUY”)
CHRIS EVANS: (As Lloyd Hansen) Wish to make an omelet? You have actually got to eliminate some individuals.
MONDELLO: … Who pursues assassin Ryan Gosling.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “THE GRAY MAN”)
ANA DE ARMAS: (As Dani Miranda) You injure?
RYAN GOSLING: (As Court Gentry) I imply, my ego’s a little bruised.
MONDELLO: Gosling is the title’s gray male, so I’m guessing his ego will recuperate. Another assassin-on-assassin movie, “Bullet Train,” discovers Brad Pitt determined to play good, although he’s the just one of 5 employed killers on the super-fast train who isn’t equipped.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “BULLET TRAIN”)
BRAD PITT: (As Ladybug) You stabbed me?
BAD BUNNY: (As Wolf) I will destroy your life the method you ruined my own.
PITT: (As Ladybug) Man, I don’t even understand you.
MONDELLO: If all this sounds a little frantic, rest assured there are gentler summer season movies. In the funny “Brian And Charles,” Brian might occasionally want to eliminate the mechanical guy he’s built.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “BRIAN AND CHARLES”)
DAVID EARL: (As Brian) A really, extremely cheeky robotic.
CHRIS HAYWARD: (As Charles) Cheeky.
MONDELLO: But you can inform he and Charles have a bond.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “BRIAN AND CHARLES”)
HAYWARD: (As Charles) Saucy bot.
EARL: (As Brian) Cheeky bot?
HAYWARD: (As Charles) Saucy bot being in the front, Brian.
EARL: (As Brian) Stop stating front.
HAYWARD: (As Charles) Front. Front. Front. Front. Front.
MONDELLO: Other comedies include “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul,” embeded in a Black Atlanta megachurch, and “Easter Sunday,” in which comedian Jo Koy demonstrates how his Filipino household fuels his standup act.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “EASTER SUNDAY”)
LYDIA GASTON: (As Susan Valencia) Joseph, are you coming for Easter?
JO KOY: (As Joe Valencia) I do not understand, Mommy. I’m really hectic. I just tested for this pilot.
GASTON: (As Susan Valencia) You’re going to be a pilot?
KOY: (As Joe Valencia) A network pilot for, like, a television show.
GASTON: (As Susan Valencia) Ah, you’re playing a pilot on the television program.
KOY: (As Joe Valencia) No, a legal representative.
GASTON: (As Susan Valencia) You could have been an attorney if you just applied yourself.
MONDELLO: Likewise based upon real life, “The Phantom Of The Open” – the story of an ordinary man who heard someone say on television that you can do anything you set your mind to and dealt with right then and there.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN”)
MARK RYLANCE: (As Maurice Flitcroft) I’m going to at the British Open.
MARK LEWIS JONES AND JOHANN MYERS: (As Cliff and Willie) Golf?
UNKNOWN ACTOR # 1: (As character) You’ve never even played bloody golf prior to, Father.
RYLANCE: (As Maurice Flitcroft) Mind your language on the course. Flippin’ heck (ph).
MONDELLO: Likewise pursuing a relatively unattainable dream, a widowed 1960s maid in “Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris” – her dream’s a Christian Dior gown.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS”)
LUCAS BRAVO: (As Andre Fauvel) Please, let me escort you out.
LESLEY MANVILLE: (As Ada Harris) No, no, no. Hold on a minute. I saved every cent scrubbing floorings so I can by this frock.
LAMBERT WILSON: (As Marquis de Chassagne) Excuse me, but it would be my honor to have you view the collection as my visitor.
MONDELLO: Go into the one in charge.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS”)
MANVILLE: (As Ada Harris) Who’s that bloke?
WILSON: (As Marquis de Chassagne) That’s the master himself, Mr. Dior.
MANVILLE: (As Ada Harris) He appears like my milkman.
MONDELLO: And another British widow chooses to offset a life time of sexual dullness in “Best of luck To You, Leo Grande” by hiring a male escort. Being an ex-teacher, Nancy comes prepared.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “ALL THE BEST TO YOU, LEO GRANDE”)
EMMA THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) So I have actually made a list of things that I wish to get through.
DARYL MCCORMACK: (As Leo Grande) Oh, I think we’ll definitely make a significant damage in it.
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) Great. That’s excellent. Great.
MONDELLO: Nancy is played by Emma Thompson, Leo by Daryl McCormack.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE”)
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) You will only be the 2nd man I have ever had sex with. Oh, God.
MCCORMACK: (As Leo Grande) Now, Nancy …
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) This is crazy.
MCCORMACK: (As Leo Grande) Nancy.
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) It’s dreadful. It’s incorrect.
MCCORMACK: (As Leo Grande) Nancy.
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) Yes?
MCCORMACK: (As Leo Grande) Let’s go to bed.
THOMPSON: (As Nancy Stokes) OK.
MONDELLO: “All The Best To You, Leo Grande” was a hit at the Sundance Movie Fest this year, as was the charmer, “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” about a 22-year-old whose life modifications when his mommy makes him take his little brother to a bat mitzvah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH”)
COOPER RAIFF: (As Andrew) I can’t think college is over.
ODEYA RUSH: (As Macy) You have a job now, or …
RAIFF: (As Andrew) We’re not enabled to talk about jobs at the bat mitzvah celebration.
RUSH: (As Macy) So you either do not work, or you have a bad job.
BRAD GARRETT: (As Stepdad Greg) Just how much does a celebration starter get paid, I wonder.
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE HORN HONKING)
RAIFF: (As Andrew) I have a bad task, yeah.
MONDELLO: For those eagerly waiting for the third season of “Bridgerton,” there will be a Regency outfit funny at the multiplex that’s every bit as diverse. It’s called “Mr. Malcolm’s List.”
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “MR. MALCOLM’S LIST”)
ZAWE ASHTON: (As Julia) If we were to allow him to find that you have a list and he does not fulfill the requirements on your list, that would be a perfect sort of poetic justice.
MONDELLO: Hollywood isn’t all brilliant and positive in heat. In “Crimes Of The Future,” David Cronenberg will check out a surgery-obsessed society where advancement’s in a kind of overdrive.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “CRIMES OF THE FUTURE”)
VIGGO MORTENSEN: (As Saul Tenser) They don’t like what’s happening with the body, in specific what’s happening with my body, which is why I keep sufficing up.
MONDELLO: While Cronenberg peers inward, Jordan Peele seeks to present-day Hollywood …
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “NOPE”)
DANIEL KALUUYA: (As James Haywood) What’s a bad miracle?
MONDELLO: … And to the skies in his latest sci-fi scary impressive. It’s called “Nope.”
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “NOPE”)
KEKE PALMER: (As Jill Haywood) Yeah. Nah, nah, nah.
MONDELLO: Nope would likewise work as a title for two culture-clash dramas – “The Forgiven,” in which Ralph Fiennes incorrectly thinks wealth and advantage can secure him after he accidentally eliminates a regional teen in Morocco, and “Where The Crawdads Sing,” in which a lady who’s grown up separated in a North Carolina marsh discovers herself on the other side of the economic divide. Even the genie-in-a-bottle fantasy “3 Thousand Years Of Yearning” has its dark side.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF YEARNING”)
TILDA SWINTON: (As Alithea Binnie) There’s no story about wishing that is not a cautionary tale.
MONDELLO: However gladly, there are likewise fantasies developed for households.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “LIGHTYEAR”)
EVANS: (As Buzz Lightyear) Buzz Lightyear objective long, stardate 3901 – after a complete year of being marooned, our first hyperspeed test flight is a go.
UZO ADUBA: (As Leader Alisha Hawthorne) Who are you talking with?
EVANS: (As Buzz Lightyear) Uh, no one.
ADUBA: (As Leader Alisha Hawthorne) You were telling again.
EVANS: (As Buzz Lightyear) I was not.
MONDELLO: Pixar’s “Lightyear” is sort of “Toy Story 5,” and the “Minions” prequel, “Rise Of Gru,” totals up to “Despicable Me 5.”
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU”)
TARAJI P HENSON: (As Belle Bottom) This puny, little child thinks he can be a villain.
STEVE CARELL: (As Gru) I am quite despicable.
MONDELLO: And the animated “DC League Of Super-Pets” comes from the Superman-Batman world. All of which makes the snail hero of “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On” feel disarmingly fresh.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON”)
JENNY SLATE: (As Marcel) My cousin went to sleep in a pocket, which’s why I don’t like the saying everything comes out in the wash since sometimes it doesn’t – or often it does, and they’re just, like, a completely various individual.
MONDELLO: “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On” is what you may call an arthouse family movie aimed at critical audiences that may also appreciate, say, the documentary “Bitterbrush” about two Midwest cattlewomen …
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “BITTERBRUSH”)
COLIE MOLINE: Possibly I’ll simply be so proficient at it, I’ll end up being a millionaire and can purchase my own cattle ranch.
MONDELLO: …”Official Competition” about a pair of Spanish actors who have very different styles …
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “OFFICIAL COMPETITION”)
ANTONIO BANDERAS: (As Felix Rivero, speaking Spanish).
OSCAR MARTINEZ: (As Ivan Torres, speaking Spanish).
MONDELLO: …”Neptune Frost,” an Afro-futurist musical from Rwanda …
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “NEPTUNE FROST”)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) Once upon a time, (non-English language spoken)…
MONDELLO: … Or the biopic “Eiffel” about the man who developed that famous tower.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “EIFFEL”)
ROMAIN DURIS: (As Gustave Eiffel, speaking French).
MONDELLO: However it’s a biopic from Baz Luhrmann that has the industry abuzz this summer season.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “ELVIS”)
UNKNOWN ACTOR # 2: (As character) He’s a young vocalist from Memphis, Tenn. Offer a warm Hayride welcome to Mr. Elvis Presley.
MONDELLO: The once-and-future king will be played by Austin Butler, with Tom Hanks as his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “ELVIS”)
UNIDENTIFIED STAR # 3: (As character) Get a hairstyle, buttercup.
(LAUGHTER)
TOM HANKS: (As Colonel Tom Parker) In that moment, I viewed that slim boy change into a superhero.
(SOUNDBITE OF TUNE, “BABY LET’S PLAY HOME”)
AUSTIN BUTLER: (As Elvis Presley, singing) Well, you may go to college. You may go to school.
MONDELLO: Worth anticipating, right?
I’m Bob Mondello.
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Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/30/1102070630/a-preview-of-this-summers-biggest-movies