Meat at the Movies: ‘Dunkirk’ Could Be One Of The Best Movies Of The Year

So the major movie out this weekend is Dunkirk, the new film from director Christopher Nolan. Nolan is one my favorite directors working today. He's responsible for movies like Memento, The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar - nobody right now is making movies on the same scale and of the same quality as he does. This movie sees him taking on World War II, focusing on the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before the Nazis take hold of the city. And I have heard nothing but incredible things about this movie, that it's a tense, tight thriller that's a visceral experience. Nolan recommends seeing the movie in 70mm IMAX to get the full experience, because the movie is an assault of visual and audio work that deserves to be seen and heard in the best conditions possible, and critics are agreeing with that. Now, around here most people will probably have to settle for the normal movie theater, but the movie should still play like gangbusters. It features an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, and Mark Rylance, and even Harry Styles, former member of pop band One Direction, is in this movie and from what I hear, he's great! This has potential to be one of the best movies of the year, and I can't wait to see it this weekend.

Also out this weekend is a movie that I feel like I'm excited about and nobody else is - It's called Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. This is a new sci-fi epic starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevigne, and it's the new movie from director Luc Besson, whose work is kind of hit or miss for me but when he hits, he hits hard - He directed movies like La Femme Nikita, The Professional, and more recently Lucy with Scarlett Johannsson, but most relevant here is probably The Fifth Element, another totally bonkers sci-fi movie that I think this movie looks like a spiritual successor to. Reviews have been kind of mixed, but even the negative ones admit that the movie is visually incredible and looks great in 3D, and that the imagination on display is something to behold. It's kind of insane that this huge, expensive sci-fi movie based on a property no one in America knows and starring two actors that aren't big names is being made at all, and that's what makes this pretty exciting to me. Valerian probably won't be for everyone, but for people who like this kind of bold sci-fi fantasy, I think it's definitely one to try to see in the theater - I predict it'll develop a cult following in a few years, and you can say you were there from the beginning.

So you've got two really exciting options this weekend, and until next time we'll Meat at the Movies.