It may have just turned to spring, but as far as the movie year goes, we are officially in the summer. Furious 7 earned an estimated $143.6 million at the box office, placing it in as the 9th biggest opening of all time. Since this is proof that you were at the theater this weekend watching the latest installment in the crazy action franchise, here are some news items you may have missed:

Manoel de Oliveira 1908–2015

As announced on April 2, legendary Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira passed at the age of 106. Most known for I’m Going Home, the man made films all the way to the end, with 8 shorts and features released after his 100th birthday. de Oliveira got his start in the 1930s with documentary shorts, with this first feature released in 1941. It really wasn’t until the 2000s, though, that he really hit his stride with films like I’m Going Home, Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl and The Strange Case of Angelica. He is an inspirational case that shows you are never too old to make amazing art. Richard Brody has a great remembrance of the filmmaker at the New Yorker.

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross Return to Sketch Comedy on Netflix

The biggest news for Netflix this weekend is the season 4 announcement of House of Cards, the weirdest news is the possibility of a Full House renewal, but the best news is the pseudo-Mr. Show reunion, first reported by Deadline. With Bob and David will get four, half-hour episodes and an “making of” feature. Odenkirk went on to star in a hit cable program, Cross directed his first feature this year, but the duo was better together with hilarious sketches like “Titannica,” “The Teardrop Awards” and “Mustmayostardayonnaise.”

Groundhog Day Is the Next Hollywood Hit Set for Broadway

It used to be that the biggest plays and musicals on Broadway would be adapted for big-screen Hollywood success, but recently the trend has reversed. The Evil Dead, Rocky, The Silence of the Lambs and Heathers have all made surprising turns to the stage. According to the Hollywood Reporter, cult comedy Groundhog Day will make the jump in 2017. A musical version of the Harold Ramis-Bill Murray collaboration may just work, though it is hard to see how you can present the quick-cutting jokes and intricate time loop without the use of editing. We do need a definitive song about that pesky Punxsutawney Phil, though, so that may be worth it.

Japan Rebooting Godzilla, Too

At the end of last year, Japanese production legends Toho announced that they were also working on a Godzilla reboot. Gareth Edwards’s film was met with mixed praise, but the film no doubt showed how much power the giant lizard monster still has on-screen. No plot details are set for the new Japanese version, but we now know that it will be directed by anime filmmakers Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, who are best known for films in the popular Evangelion and Titan series. A crazy, anime style action flick might be a great counter to the dower, character-based American film. The 29th version of Godzilla is set for 2016 and is expected to be released theatrically in the U.S.

Machete Will Kill Again… In Space

All good exploitation film franchises end up in space. Robert Rodriguez’s blood-soaked actioner Machete should be no different. The film that started as a spoof trailer in Grindhouse opened solidly before a sub-par sequel – taking Danny Trejo to kick ass in orbit may be the only thing that can save the franchise. In an interview with the Halloween Daily News, the immortal character actor confirmed that Machete Kills in Space will begin shooting this year. The film will be directed by its creator, Robert Rodriguez, and is rumored to co-star Mel Gibson and Lady Gaga, which makes sense given the setting.

Trailer of the Week: Amy

From the director of the amazing found-footage documentary Senna, the life and death of singer Amy Winehouse will be explored in Amy. Winehouse’s rise came quickly and was met with both popular and critical praise, but was marred by drug abuse and ultimately tragedy. The story of an unlikely star is set for a U.K. release on July 3. Check out the film’s first trailer below.

We may seem like reclusive budget-shirking obscure film enthusiasts over here at Way Too Indie, and well, some of us are, but we’re not living in any dark holes and far be it from of us to say that a film that had a little money behind it isn’t worth our notice. So here we are, covering our bases. In The Monthly Mainstream we’ll look at what’s doing well at the box-office (and secretly hoping it’s an indie darling) and all those major releases that demand our attention in the name of pop culture.

The first real month of the summer big-budget movie extravaganza! May treated us to some money-infused film fun.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 kicked off the month with an overly involved and schizophrenic plot that is of course fun and dizzying to look at but really only delivers an electric background for Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone to stand in front of and showcase their real-life chemistry. At least it’s not Spider-Man 3? At any rate, it’s beginning of the month release date gave it the ground to win the monthly box-office, but we don’t imagine it will outlive some of the other releases in May. Godzilla crept up real close to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in numbers but everyone’s favorite oft-remade monster did better in its opening weekend than everyone’s not-so-favorite oft-remade comic hero.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Godzilla is a fantastic update on the franchise, getting back to the root of what made the films so popular throughout the 50’s and 60’s, the grandeur of the King of the Monsters juxtaposed with the struggles of interesting people. Granted the people are far less interesting to watch than Godzilla is and therefore he should have been given a lot more screen time, but it’s still a very fun watch and an excellent reboot from Gareth Edwards. Staying firmly within the theme of franchises, the next big film pushed on us this past month was X-Men: Days of Future Past. This follow-up to 2011’s X-Men: First Class origin story invites the old X-Men gang back showing the dire situation in the future where the mutants are being hunted and killed by robots designed to outmatch them at every turn. The only way to re-write history is to send Logan (fan-favorite Wolverine) back into his younger self in the 70’s to prevent Raven/Mystique (another fan favorite, hey J-Law) from making a mistake that will butterfly effect the dire future the X-Men face. Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise is refreshing and the film has a great balance of action and fun with some fantastic uses of slo-mo and plenty of laughs at the expense of the 70’s setting.

Godzilla

Rounding off the month’s explosions, though of a much more magical variety, is Disney’s revisionist tale Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie. We can all agree the woman excels at bad-assery, but the film’s attempt to put a dash of feminism in with a large helping of fantastic imagery, while milking fairy tale nostalgia (of the variety that still keeps horribly written TV show Once Upon a Time going) does not appear to be the magical potion for a well-made film. At any rate the spectacle of it all seems to be just distracting enough to have critics torn on whether or not the film is worth seeing.

Looking ahead in the lovely month of June, we continue to see bedazzled performances. Tom Cruise’s Edge of Tomorrow, YA sap-fest The Fault in Our Stars, the highly anticipated sequel to the clever and cute How to Train Your Dragon, summer screamer The Purge: Anarchy, and then at the end of the month, gearing up for the 4th of July, we’ll be treated to Michael Bay’s way of showing patriotism: destroying America with Transformers: Age of Extinction. And don’t forget to see festival favorite Snowpiercer at the end of the month. So far we’ve all been pretty impressed over here.

Enjoy the pageantry of summer at the movies, but don’t forget to make time for a few indie June goodies. This month has some great options (many of which are on VOD) including Obvious Child, Ping Pong Summer, Venus in Fur, and documentary The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz.

Stay cool folks!

May Box Office Domestic Grosses

1. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony) – $192,735,902
2. Godzilla (Warner Brothers) – $174,439,686
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past ( Fox) – $90,823,660
4. Neighbors (Universal) – $128,966,365
5. Maleficent (Disney Buena Vista) – $69,431,298

2014 Year-To-Date Box Office Domestic Grosses

1. The LEGO Movie (Warner Brothers) – $255,436,997
2. Captain America: The Winter Solder (Disney Buena Vista) – $255,176,550
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony) – $192,735,902
4. Godzilla (2014, Warner Brothers) – $174,439,686
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past (Fox) – $162,020,201