WATCH/READ/PLAY: JUNE 2016
FILM & TV
Me Before You
Genre: Drama/Romance
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Charles Dance, and Janet McTeer
In short:Based on the Jojo Moyes’ novel of the same name, a young woman falls in love with a recently paralyzed man that she is taking care of. Every time I watched the trailer I got all happy and sniffly. I am happy to see the Khaleesi and Finnick Odair fall in love. I expect I will need tissues, many many tissues. (June 3rd)
Outcast - Series Premiere
Channel: CINEMAX
In short:The latest comic book-based series from Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman centers on a man (Patrick Fugit) who has been plagued by demonic possession for his entire life. (June 3rd)
Unreal Season 2 Premiere
Channel: LIFETIME
In short: B.J. Britt (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) joins returning stars Shiri Appleby, Constance Zimmer, and Craig Bierko for the critically acclaimed drama's second season. (June 6th)
Now You See Me 2
Genre: Action/Thriller
Stars:Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo
In short: The Four Horsemen resurface and are forcibly recruited by a tech genius (Daniel Radcliffe) to pull off their most impossible heist yet. Heist movie + magic = summer popcorn fun. (June 10th)
Warcraft
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Stars:Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper
In short: The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people, and their home. So excited. (June 10th)
BrainDead - Series Premiere
Channel: CBS
In short:The Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King return with a different kind of political thriller—one in which bugs are eating the brains of members of Congress and their staffers. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Tony Shalhoub star. (June 13th)
Finding Dory
Genre: Animation/Kids
Stars:Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Idris Elba, Kate McKinnon
In short: The friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish reunites with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the real meaning of family along the way. Yay Dory! (June 17th)
Swiss Army Man
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Stars:Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
In short: A hopeless man stranded in the wilderness befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home. This looks so weird and odd, perfect for me. (June 17th)
American Gothic - Series Premiere
Channel: CBS
In short: Steven Spielberg-produced murder mystery series centering on a Boston family comes from former Good Wife producer Corinne Brinkerhoff. (June 22nd)
Battlebots – Season 2 Premiere
Channel: ABC
In short: More robot versus robot action. Not sure if they are filming across the bay again, but if they are the Rogue and I should see if we can go to a taping. (June 23rd)
Independence Day: Resurgence
Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
Stars:Maika Monroe, Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum
In short: Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind's new space defenses be enough? (June 24th)
Roadies - Series Premiere
Channel:SHOWTIME
In short: Writer-director Cameron Crowe turns to TV for the first time, with a series that appears to be right in his wheelhouse. The hourlong Roadies (which Crowe is writing, producing, and directing, with J.J. Abrams also on board as a producer) centers on what transpires with the crew backstage at a series of concerts. The roadies will be actors (including Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino, and Imogen Poots), but the bands performing will be real, including The Head and the Heart in the opener.. (June 26th)
BOOKS
This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) by V.E. Schwab (June 7th)
In short: There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives. The first of two books.
The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash (June 14th)
In short: John Hughes meets Comic Con in this hilarious, unabashedly romantic, coming-of-age novel about a teenager who is trying to get his best friend to fall in love with him from the author of Three Day Summer. Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy...Archie and Veronica...Althena and Noth...Graham and Roxy? Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since. But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books. When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be...even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.
Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg (June 28th)
In short: Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes. During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences. From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.
The Girls by Emma Cline (June 14th)
In short: An indelible portrait of girls, the women they become, and that moment in life when everything can go horribly wrong—this stunning first novel is perfect for readers of Jeffrey Eugenides’s The Virgin Suicides and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged—a place where she feels desperate to be accepted. As she spends more time away from her mother and the rhythms of her daily life, and as her obsession with Suzanne intensifies, Evie does not realize she is coming closer and closer to unthinkable violence. Emma Cline’s remarkable debut novel is gorgeously written and spellbinding, with razor-sharp precision and startling psychological insight. The Girls is a brilliant work of fiction.
GAMES (Sadly no No Man’s Sky)
MIRROR’S EDGE CATALYST
Platform: PC, Xbox One, PS4
In short: This reboot/prequel to 2008's Mirror's Edge will delve into Faith's origins and will feature an original song from Chvrches. (June 7th)
MIGHTY NO. 9
Platform: PC, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo 3DS
In short: Comcept's crowdfunded spiritual successor to Mega Man. (June 21st)
LEGO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Platform: PC, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U
In short: I love the Lego games. So adorable. Plus the game will have adventures not in the film such as Han and Chewie’s adventures catching the Rathtars. (June 28th)
Did I miss anything?
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