Top 5 movie picks for Sarasota-Bradenton: June 16-22

Summer movie season continues to roll on, as Pixar's latest film "Lightyear" heads to theaters. On the indie cinema side of things, multiple acclaimed Sundance Film Festival titles will be available to watch as well, including this year's U.S. Dramatic Audience Award winner "Cha Cha Real Smooth." That film will play both in theaters and on Apple TV+, with other new streaming service releases including a Netflix movie featuring the same director and co-star as one of this summer's biggest blockbusters. Here are this week's highlights.

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Summer movie guide: 15 biggest films to watch in theaters during May, June and July

1. 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

Cooper Raiff directs, writes and stars in this charming film, the follow-up to his impressive 2020 feature "S---house," about a college graduate living back at home with his mom and stepdad (Leslie Mann and Brad Garrett) who becomes a bar mitzvah party starter, befriending another mother (Dakota Johnson) and her autistic daughter. Apple scored last year's biggest Sundance crowd-pleaser, "CODA," which later won the Best Picture Oscar, and it seems like they may have pulled off the same feat twice, with "Cha Cha Real Smooth" winning the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award at this year's festival.

Where to watch: Apple TV+ and limited release in theaters including Burns Court Cinemas on Friday

2. 'Good Luck to You, Leo Grande'

Emma Thompson stars in this film directed by Sophie Hyde ("Animals") as a sexually inexperienced retired schoolteacher and widow who hires a sex worker (Daryl McCormack), eventually developing an emotional connection with him as well as a physical one. "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande" premiered at this year's Sundance, where it earned praise from critics, particularly the performance by two-time Oscar winner Thompson.

Where to watch: Hulu on Friday

3. 'Brian and Charles'

This feature-length adaptation of the 2017 short film of the same name stars David Earl and Chris Hayward (who also wrote the screenplay), respectively, as a lonely inventor in rural Wales and the robot he creates out of a washing machine and other spare parts. "Brian and Charles" premiered at this year's Sundance in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition and looks to be in the same vein of quirky, low-key comedy as the early work of "What We Do in the Shadows" filmmaker Taika Waititi.

Where to watch: Limited release in theaters including Burns Court Cinemas on Friday

4. 'Spiderhead'

"Top Gun: Maverick" director Joseph Kosinski and actor Miles Teller team up once again for this adaptation of a short story by George Saunders, following convicts (Teller and Jurnee Smollett) at a facility where they undergo experiments involving emotion-altering drugs, overseen by a pharmaceutical visionary (Chris Hemsworth.) "Top Gun: Maverick" was one of the better blockbusters in recent years, so it should be interesting to see Kosinski follow it up with a relatively smaller-scale film.

Where to watch: Netflix on Friday

5. 'Lightyear'

While the name will already be recognizable to Pixar fans, “Lightyear” isn’t about the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear voiced by Tim Allen, but rather a fictional character of the same name (voiced by Chris Evans) who the action figure is based on. Though the film’s premise and its trailers haven’t been too thrilling, and Pixar’s sequels and prequels tend to be weaker than their original concepts, the animation studio’s overall track record remains strong enough that it should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Where to watch: Theaters on Friday

Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota-Bradenton top 5 movie picks, June 16-22