Jake Johnson

June 9 is gonna be a big day in 2017: not just this writer’s birthday, not just the funniest numerical date of the year (6/9 — nice), not just the release of well-pedigreed indies Beatriz at Dinner and It Comes at Night. The day will undoubtedly be dominated by the grand debut of Universal’s remake of The Mummy starring box-office king of summer Tom Cruise and breakout star Sofia Boutella. We’ve seen the trailer, we’ve pored over the scoop that Cruise’s mummy-fighting hero will also himself be a walking-dead type, and we’ve pondered the larger implications of Universal going all-in on a connected universe of monster movies. And today, a pair of new tidbits with slake our thirst for new Mummy details.

Joe Swanberg’s filmography is a fascinating evolutionary timeline; with each new film, the former mumblecore pioneer (and occasional agitator) has showcased increasing maturity. Win It All is his most grown-up film to date — despite the fact that it centers on the all-too-familiar man-child archetype. For his latest effort, Swanberg reunites with Digging for Fire star and co-writer Jake Johnson, who pulls double duty once again, this time with much more consistent results.

Joe Swanberg’s Win It All is yet another forward step in the ongoing maturation of a filmmaker previously known as a mumblecore icon. Win It All is a low-key comedic drama that delivers big laughs, courtesy of star and co-writer Jake Johnson, who previously worked with Swanberg on Digging for Fire and Drinking Buddies. In their latest collaboration, Johnson plays a directionless gambling addict (hence the wry title) who falls in love with a single mother (played by Aislinn Derbez) and struggles to get his act together. It’s an incredibly familiar (and some might say tired) formula, sure, but Johnson and Swanberg still manage to make it entertaining, hilarious and heartfelt, through and through.

To understand why I’m more excited than most for The Mummy, it’s important to make a list of all the things that I’m a sucker for. Tom Cruise movies? Check. Trailers or commercials that use the Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint it Black’ as a musical cue? Check-check. Movies where soldiers fight monsters? Check-check-check. In fact, if you do the math, the only thing on my Hollywood wishlist that the second The Mummy trailer doesn’t deliver is a John Wick-style gunfight, and there’s still time. One of those might still find its way into the final movie.

Well, if the Friends all had to get on with their lives eventually, it stands to reason New Girl couldn’t stay new forever. The once-breakout comedy is likely to come to an end after Season 6, according to star Jake Johnson, though a potential finale is at least in place.

The SXSW Film Festival starts tomorrow(!) and to kick it off early, Netflix has premiered three whole trailers for their offerings at the fest: Everybody’s out to get Melissa Leo, Jake Johnson goes on a desperate gambling spree, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau just can’t catch a break.

Every year, when the bottom drops out of the summer movie season and audiences decide to stay home and watch television instead, some well-meaning critic will publish an article asking if cinema is dead. And every year, I pose the same question in response: “Is Tom Cruise still an action star?” As long as Tom Cruise is running across multiplex screens — fighting rogue nations, government consiparcies, and even the occasional mummy — there is still hope for cinema. Then, when Cruise’s career is done and Hollywood is in ashes, then, cinema, you have my permission to die.

Let’s get this on the record: I am not a very big fan of Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World. Too many of the characters seemed to be vague recreations of people from the first Jurassic Park movie; with nobody there for audiences to really connect with, the film feels more like a disjointed series of dinosaur set pieces than a truly engaging story. That being said, my wife loves every movie in the Jurassic Park franchise, so I will happily continue to see them with her until we find a way to actually clone dinosaurs and they wipe us off the face of the earth. There is no such thing as a bad movie dat

We’ve gone at least several hours without a high-profile Netflix original series release, and have our next fix lined up as early as September 22. In the meantime, sneak a dirty little peak at Joe Swanberg’s new star-studded comedy on love and sex, as Netflix makes things Easy next week.

Just when you thought you had a handle on Netflix’s upcoming series, in swoops Joe Swanberg with a star-studded anthology series about modern sex and love. See Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman and so, so many more in the first teaser and photos from Netflix’s Easy September premiere!