Free State of Jones R
Matthew McConaughey grew a beard to play rebel Newton Knight, a Southerner fighting the Confederacy during the Civil War. Having survived the 1862 Battle of Corinth, Knight leads a group of Jones County, Miss., farmers and slaves in an armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Even as war rages on, Knight declares Jones County to be its own free state. However, Knight’s remarkable story doesn’t end there, and it’s one that might well earn McConaughey an Oscar nomination. Interestingly, Knight’s life has inspired accounts by various historians, some of whom have axes to grind.
Independence Day Resurgence 3D PG-13
Twenty years after directing Independence Day, Roland Emmerich returns with a sequel introducing a new generation of heroes. Using recovered extraterrestrial technology, mankind prepares a fleet of fighter pilots, but this time the invaders arrive in larger ships (much, much larger!), equipped with antigravity devices and other unknown technologies. Since Will Smith wanted $50 million dollars to reprise his role, his character has been written out, and Liam Hemsworth (as pilot Jake Morrison) is in. Jeff Goldblum (scientist David Levinson) returns in an expanded role, providing ample opportunity for snappy one-liners. The trailer reveals plenty of the jaw-dropping special effects that are the meat and potatoes of summer blockbusters.
