‘King Kong’ (May 1)
Peter Jackson’s love for the original, 1933 “King Kong” became part of his super-director origin story after the worldwide sensation of his original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. So it came as no surprise that he turned his attention next to this no-expense-spared 2005 remake. Unlike the story’s 1976 iteration, which updated the story to a contemporary setting, Jackson’s film keeps the original time frame intact, along with the surrounding story about a frustrated filmmaker (Jack Black), a would-be starlet (Naomi Watts) and the man who falls for her (Adrien Brody). (The titular great ape is played by Andy Serkis, a sensation as Gollum in the “Lord” movies.) “King Kong” isn’t as fleet-footed as it could be, but Jackson’s affection for the material is clear, and his first-rate cast goes all in — especially Watts and Serkis, who make their interspecies love story entirely probable.
‘Queen & Slim’ (May 1)
This 2019 romantic drama, written by Lena Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas, feels strikingly, urgently of its moment, telling the story of a Black couple (Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith) whose uneventful first date is interrupted by a bloodthirsty cop whom they kill in self-defense. They go on the lam, becoming folk heroes along the way, and this story about racist policing and social protest has grown only more pointed with time. Kaluuya and Turner-Smith are electric, teasing out the wrinkles and nuances of what could have been stock characters, and Matsoukas’s direction is, by turns, both dirt-on-the-floor realistic and surprisingly lyrical.
‘This Is 40’ (May 1)
Judd Apatow’s feature comedies have always had a messy streak — an interest in pursuing peculiar detours and character moments that separate his work from that of his more joke-oriented peers. That inclination came to its full flower with this 2012 comedy-drama, a semi-sequel to his hit “Knocked Up,” that focuses on the supporting characters Pete (Paul Rudd), Debbie (Leslie Mann) and their daughters, Sadie (Maude Apatow) and Charlotte (Iris Apatow). That Mann is Apatow’s real-life wife, and the younger Apatows are their daughters, gives you an idea of how personal the project is, with Apatow using the milestone birthdays of Paul and Debbie as a starting point for a funny and poignant examination of aging, monogamy, sex and family. Albert Brooks, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Segel are among the impressive supporting cast.
‘Waterworld’ (May 1)
Some movies are judged for what’s onscreen. Others, like this 1995 postapocalyptic adventure from the director Kevin Reynolds, are judged for what it took to get them there. “Waterworld” was the most expensive movie ever made at the time it was produced, and it was treated as an out-of-control fiasco by a scandal-thirsty entertainment press. But shooting on the water is no picnic — just ask Steven Spielberg, whose production of “Jaws” suffered similar setbacks — and the practical production that elevated those costs makes it a refreshing novelty now. Kevin Costner, with whom Reynolds had worked previously on “Fandango” and “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” is an appropriately sturdy anchor, and Dennis Hopper is a hoot as the cackling villain.
‘Wedding Crashers’ (May 1)
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson established themselves as something of a 21st century Abbott & Costello (or, at the very least, Cheech & Chong) with this bawdy 2005 smash directed and co-written by David Dobkin. Like other great comedy duos, Vaughn and Wilson are a smoothly compatible mismatch; Vaughn’s energy is cranked up, a sparking live wire, while Wilson is an easy-breezy roll-with-it type. They generate consistent laughs as two unapologetic bachelors who find that the best way to meet desperate women is to show up at weddings uninvited. The premise is inherently misogynistic, but the boys play it with giggly good cheer, while Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher provide fine counterbalance as the women against whom they meet their match.
