Fanboys Anonymous

Welcome to another edition of 6 Flicks Picks, wherein I list all of the upcoming films scheduled to be released in the United States for the month that is about to begin and break down which ones I'll be watching in theaters, which I'll wait to rent at home, and which I'll be skipping out on entirely. After going through the list, I'll choose which six films stand out to me as the ones I want to see the most, even if there are more or fewer than six that interest me.

Note: The list below is based primarily off the expanded nationwide USA release dates on IMDB as well as some other random outlets if possible, so some information may be different. If I am missing some of the limited releases or the dates conflict in some fashion, please let me know in the comments below and any adjustments and corrections will be made!

Without further ado, another new month means another new set of films, so what's coming soon to theaters in May 2016?



Captain America: Civil War

Synopsis: Political interference in the Avengers' activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man.

Will I watch? = Yes

A Bigger Splash

Synopsis: The vacation of a famous rock star and a filmmaker is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.

Will I watch? = No

Elstree 1976

Synopsis: Actors and extras reminisce about their time on the set of Star Wars and how making the film affected their lives

Will I watch? = Yes

Pelé: Birth of a Legend

Synopsis: Pele's meteoric rise from the slums of Sao Paulo to leading to Brazil to its first World Cup victory at the age of 17 is chronicled in this biographical drama.

Will I watch? = No

Band of Outsiders

Synopsis: Two crooks with a fondness for old Hollywood B-movies convince a languages student to help them commit a robbery.

Will I watch? = No

Dark Horse

Synopsis: An inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men's club who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorse

Will I watch? = No

Being Charlie

Synopsis: Charlie is a troublesome 18-year-old who breaks out of a youth drug treatment clinic, but when he returns home to Los Angeles, he's given an intervention by his parents and forced to go to an adult rehab. There, he meets a beautiful but troubled girl, Eva, and is forced to battle with drugs, elusive love and divided parents.

Will I watch? = No


Money Monster

Synopsis: In the real-time, high stakes thriller Money Monster, financial TV host Lee Gates (George Clooney) and his producer Patty (Julia Roberts) are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor (Jack O'Connell) takes over their studio.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Darkness

Synopsis: A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation with a supernatural presence in tow.

Will I watch? = No

Love & Friendship

Synopsis: Lady Susan Vernon takes up temporary residence at her in-laws' estate and, while there, is determined to be a matchmaker for her daughter Frederica -- and herself too, naturally.

Will I watch? = No

The Lobster

Synopsis: In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.

Will I watch? = Maybe

High-Rise

Synopsis: Life for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.

Will I watch? = Yes

Last Days in the Desert

Synopsis: An imagined chapter from Jesus' forty days of fasting and praying in the desert. On his way out of the wilderness, Jesus struggles with the Devil over the fate of a family in crisis.

Will I watch? = No

Search Party

Synopsis: A pair of friends embark on a mission to reunite their pal with the woman he was going to marry.

Will I watch? = No

Dheepan

Synopsis: Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

Will I watch? = No

Kill Zone 2

Synopsis: Undercover cop Kit (Wu Jing) becomes a junkie in order to catch Mr Hung (Louis Koo), the mastermind behind a crime syndicate. When the operation goes sour and Kit blows his cover, his supervisor and uncle Wah (Simon Yam) decides to terminate the operation. When Kit disappears without a trace, Wah defies the order from his commanding officer and tracks Kit to a prison in Thailand. Thai Police officer Chai (Tony Jaa) becomes a prison guard in order to raise money for his daughter who has leukemia. He's assigned to keep an eye on Kit. Even though Chai and Kit are in opposing positions and they don't speak a common language, Kit turns out to be a suitable bone marrow donor who can save Chai's daughter. While Chai is determined to keep Kit alive, the warden Ko (Zhang Jin) wants him dead to ensure the smooth operation of the prison, which is the front for Mr Hung's organ trafficking business. Mr Hung shows up in Thailand so he can use his younger brother's (Jun Kung) heart in a heart transplant to save his own life. The stage is set for a showdown...

Will I watch? = No (way to oversell on the pitch)

Sunset Song

Synopsis: The daughter of a Scottish farmer comes of age in the early 1900s.

Will I watch? = No

What We Become

Synopsis: A family of four is quarantined in their home as a virulent strand of the flu spreads into town and they are forced to the extreme to escape alive.

Will I watch? = No


Angry Birds

Synopsis: Find out why the birds are so angry. When an island populated by happy, flightless birds is visited by mysterious green piggies, it's up to three unlikely outcasts—Red, Chuck, and Bomb—to figure out what the pigs are up to.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Synopsis: After a sorority moves in next door that is even more debaucherous than the fraternity before it, Mac and Kelly have to ask for help from their former enemy, Teddy.

Will I watch? = Yes

The Nice Guys

Synopsis: Private eyes investigate the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncover a conspiracy.

Will I watch? = Maybe

Weiner

Synopsis: An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and the landscape of today's political landscape.

Will I watch? = No

Ma ma

Synopsis: In the aftermath of a tragedy a woman, Magda, reacts with a surge of newfound life that engulfs her circle of family and friends.

Will I watch? = No

Holy Hell

Synopsis: An inside look at a West Hollywood cult formed by a charismatic teacher in the 1980s that eventually imploded.

Will I watch? = Maybe, but doubtful


X-Men: Apocalypse

Synopsis: With the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

Will I watch? = Yes

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Synopsis: Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter.

Will I watch? = No

Chevalier

Synopsis: In the middle of the Aegean Sea, six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the journey, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear on his smallest finger the victory ring: the Chevalier.

Will I watch? = No

As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM

Synopsis: A retrospective look at the life and work of influential electronic music DJ, Adam Goldstein, known as DJ AM.

Will I watch? = No


Which films make the cut? Well, this is an easy month. With so few choices to make and pretty much every film being either on my list that I would want to see in 2016 or something I wouldn't mind seeing, it's a shame more months don't have a better selection like this!

Honorable Mentions: I'm sure at some point, I'll be watching The Nice Guys, Money Monster and The Lobster as they all seem interesting in various ways. I don't like quirkiness as a lovable factor for films (see: why I don't like Wes Anderson films) but The Lobster has an intriguing premise, The Nice Guys has a lot of buzz behind it where I'm not as worried about people liking it just because it's set in a different time period. Money Monster in general just sounds good, but it also sounds like it doesn't need to be seen with an audience.

6. Angry Birds — In theory, I hate the idea of this movie, but after watching the trailer, I found it a lot more charming than I thought I would. I'm pleasantly surprised that they were able to get me to turn around and consider seeing it, and I'm sure I'll be checking it out in some fashion down the line.

5. Elstree 1976 — It's about Star Wars. Sold. Bring on Rogue One and Episode VIII already!

4. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising — The first film was funny, and this one looks interesting as well. At the very least, they've added a multitude of good looking women to it, so if I'm in store for laughs and eye candy, what's to complain about?

3. High-Rise — This movie was recommended to me by a friend several months ago, and I was worried it wouldn't get a United States release. Now that it will be, I'm pumped to watch it, as the story matches up with my favorite type of thriller film: one where the tension is about the unknown rather than constantly having to be in a perilous situation. For example, I enjoy watching a movie like Ex Machina or Shutter Island or even Mulholland Dr. (even though I still don't understand what the hell went on in that film) more than Gravity where every scene is just "I hope she doesn't die!" Very curious about what this movie has to offer and Tom Hiddleston is great, so I'm all-in.

2. X-Men: Apocalypse — After X-Men: Days of Future Past, I'm excited for this movie even though there are elements that I'm a bit anxious about, such as the look of Apocalypse and some casting decisions (namely Sophie Turner). This is an opening night viewing for sure.

1. Captain America: Civil War — I bought tickets for this in April. More than almost any other movie in 2016, I'm so hyped for this. Reviews have been extremely positive, too, which only helps. #TeamCap.