3 Best Movies to Watch by Nick Rutherford

Staff & contributors

A quirky and lovely coming of age film, the Kings of Summer celebrates the beauty and madness of adolescence and the sheer joy of long summer days. The plot follows three teenage friends, who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. The house soon becomes a microcosm of their relationships with each other and the world at large, prompting conflict and mirroring their own transformations as they grow. Simple yet powerful, the Kings of Summer has a lot to say.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alison Brie, Angela Trimbur, Austin Abrams, Brady Novak, Brian Sacca, Christine McBurney, Craig Cackowski, David Gragg, Derick Mayes, Eric Frank, Erin Moriarty, Eugene Cordero, Gabriel Basso, Gillian Vigman, Hannibal Buress, Jeffrey Grover, Joel Thingvall, Kumail Nanjiani, Lili Reinhart, Logan Fry, Marc Evan Jackson, Maria Laskowski, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Megan Mullally, Michael Cipiti, Moises Arias, Nathan Keyes, Nick Offerman, Nick Robinson, Nick Rutherford, Nicole Tubbs, Peter Karinen, Priscilla Kaczuk, Taylor Nelms, Theresa Wylie, Thomas Middleditch, Tony Hale

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Rating: R

After being held captive his whole life, a man sets out to finish the only show he's ever seen. Thoughtfully written with a creative cast; it is not a film you would expect to laugh at and enjoy so thoroughly with such an unconventionally dark premise. However, it is a hilarious, wholesome, and loving film that will leave your heart feeling warm.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alexa Demie, Andy Samberg, Angella Joy, Beck Bennett, Chance Crimin, Chris Provost, Claire Danes, Gerry Garcia, Greg Kinnear, James Anthony Green, Jane Adams, John Forker, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Joseph Paul Branca, Kami Christiansen, Kate Lyn Sheil, Kim Fischer, Kyle Mooney, Marilyn Miller, Mark Hamill, Matt Walsh, Michaela Watkins, Nick Rutherford, Nikolas Mikkelsen, Ryan Simpkins, Teresa Duran-Norvick, Tim Heidecker, Yvonne D Bennett

Director: Dave McCary

Rating: PG-13

, 2023

What a waste of a premise, and what a waste of Woodley’s talents. Based on the short story “The Robot Who Looked Like Me” by Robert Sheckley, Robots has some clever things to say about the state of advanced tech and its role in society, but its clumsy, heavyhanded approach fumbles the execution. There’s an awkward and unfinished feel to Robots that doesn’t make anything about it believable—not the technology, not the convoluted story, and certainly not the romance. And except for Woodley, none of the characters seem likable. The male-dominated cast makes constant jokes about fatness and femininity, presumably for the sake of satire, but they end up participating in the very things they’re supposedly calling out. It’s not nearly as smart nor as charming as it thinks it is, and if you’re looking for an alternative, I would recommend the far superior German film I’m Your Man, which accomplishes everything Robots tries to be and more. 

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction

Actor: Barney Burman, Case Matthews, Casey Messer, Charles Grisham, Chelsea Edmundson, David Grant Wright, Emanuela Postacchini, Hank Rogerson, Jack Whitehall, Jackamoe Buzzell, Keith Campbell, Kevin Foster, Leslie Fleming-Mitchell, Nick Rutherford, Paul Jurewicz, Paul Rust, Richard Lippert, Samantha Ashley, Samantha Gonzalez, Shailene Woodley, Tiffany Adams

Director: Anthony Hines, Casper Christensen

Rating: R