New movies: ‘Summertime’ shines from beginning to end

Also worth seeing: Nicolas Cage excels in 'Pig'; Anthony Bourdain documentary 'Roadrunner'; feminist shoot-'em-up 'Gunpowder Milkshake.'

The summer of franchises, sequels, prequels and redos continues to storm once-shuttered megaplex theaters. Out Friday: Warner Bros./HBO Max looks for a slam dunk with its reboot of “Space Jam,” as does Columbia Pictures with the horror sequel “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions.”

But the indie scene is once again where things shine this weekend with the arrival of the latest bolt of energy from the director of “Blindspotting” and a wild female assassin thriller from Netflix topping our list of must watches. Other notables include a quirky Nicolas Cage movie that deserves to net him Oscar consideration, a moving tribute to Anthony Bourdain and even a dandy shark thriller from Down Under.

Here’s a roundup.

“Summertime”: There’s been a lot of talk about more diverse representation and the lifting up of voices that have too long been passed over not only by Hollywood but throughout our nation. Director Carlos López Estrada does something about it, handing a megaphone to 27 talented spoken-word performers from Los Angeles. And my how these young adults have something meaningful, passionate and powerful to say. “Summertime” is a galvanizing look at the lives of young adults for one eventful day as they navigate dreams, realities and anxieties. Presenting so many viewpoints and doing them justice presents quite a challenge, yet Estrada — who gave us one of 2018’s best films with the Oakland-centric “Blindspotting” — stitches these stories together expertly as he captures the essence of not only L.A.’s youth but a city itself — much as he did with Oakland. He also gave his talented cast of spoken-word performers an opportunity to individually shine, be it from dancing in the streets, standing up to a homophobe, demanding a burger in an overpriced veggie-forward restaurant, and even poignantly throwing shade at a belittling ex. What could have been a botched experiment morphs into something special, a scrappy feature that is electrifying from first frame to last. Details: 3½ stars out of 4; opens July 16 in area theaters; Estrada and poets Austin Antoine and Tyris Winter will appear that day at the 4 p.m. screening at the Landmark Shattuck Theatres in Berkeley and the 7 p.m. screening at the Embarcadero Cinemas in San Francisco.

“Pig”: After a slew of slop masquerading as cinematic entertainment, Nicolas Cage redeems himself with a career-high performance in a knockout film. Cage plays enigmatic Portland-area truffle hunter Rob, a quirky recluse who goes rooting around for the culprits who swiped his beloved swine. What sounds like a crackpot premise begets a bizarre revenge flick with epicurean leanings along with a curious fight club sequence that’s well-suited for the gourmand crowd. Debuting director/screenwriter Michael Sarnoski makes a grand cinematic entrance here and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. Alex Wolff again proves his mettle in a smaller role, but it is Cage who carries “Pig” with a measured performance in which his trademark outbursts pierce the soul. He’s magnificent. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters July 16.

“Roadrunner”: Morgan Neville thoughtfully revisits the career and troubled life of the late celebrity chef/ travel guide Anthony Bourdain. This entertaining but overlong documentary sensitively handles Bourdain’s tragic 2018 suicide at age 61. It’s no surprise given how Neville took such delicate care with American icon Mr. Rogers with his “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” But Neville concentrates more on how the complicated Bourdain went from chef to celebrity and influencer before the word influencer was a part of our vocabulary. That’s what makes it such a telling and intimate portrait. Details: 3 stars; in theaters July 16.

“Gunpowder Milkshake”: A group of female assassins/librarians target a secretive operation of macho jerks in director/co-screenwriter Navot Papushado’s killer neon noir, the perfect prescription for those longing for another “Kill Bill” or “John Wick.” Karen Gillan plays Sam, a hitwoman abandoned when she was 12  by her in-the-business mom (Lena Headey). Sam rubs out the wrong guy and that rubs The Firm — the company she works for — the wrong way. She enlists the aid of other henchwomen (Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino) to help save an 8-year-old girl (Chloe Coleman) whose dad she killed. The  numerous action sequences are breathtakingly choreographed and staged with the precision of a ballet, fluid and furious at the same time. No wonder Netflix is already talking about a sequel. Details: 3½ stars; available to stream July 14.

“Great White”: Director Martin Wilson hardly reinvents “Jaws” with his Australian shark thriller. But he does take a more novel approach than countless copycats, taking the time to put flesh and blood onto the bones of the human bait. That along with some Grade A underwater special effects and a dedicated cast make “Great White” an undemanding but worthwhile watch. The setup is rather ordinary: An attractive couple (Katrina Bowden and Aaron Jakubenko) book a rich couple (Kimie Tsukakoshi and Tim Kano) for a seaplane tour. When their water plane goes glug-glug due to a voracious shark, the party, which also includes cook/assistant Benny (Te Kohe Tuhaka), wind up adrift on a leaky life raft with hungry sharks swarming. What distinguishes “Great White” from numerous “Jaws” wannabes is that we do feel an emotional investment about who lives and who becomes chum. It’s a promising debut from Wilson. Details: 2½ stars, available to stream July 16 on multiple platforms.

“Downeast”: Many Hollywood productions stumble when trying to authentically depict small town communities and their complicated inhabitants. But director/screenwriter Joe Raffa does it with poise for his taut crime thriller set in a fishing community in Maine. Much like last year’s bigger-budgeted “Blow the Man Down” on Amazon Prime, Raffa’s feature shows the dark side of Maine as a guilt-ridden lobster fisherman (Greg Finley, who also came up with “Downeast’s” storyline) gets trapped in a tug-of-war with drug-dealing mobsters while doing something about a high school crush. While the budget is obviously slim, quality remains high, from the concise direction to the uniformly strong acting and production details. Most welcome is the absence of a preposterous narrative twist. “Downeast” never goes for cheap and fake thrills, staying true to its battered and bruised characters. I’m eager to see what Raffa comes up with next. Details: 3 stars; available to stream on various platforms.

“Dachra”: A  distinctive setting and unsettling atmosphere punctuate this bold but derivative horror debut from Abdelhamid Bouchnak. The Tunisian filmmaker brings grit and a reverence for American horror stories to a rather routine story about three journalism students digging into places they shouldn’t. For an assignment, they pursue the backstory about a notorious institutionalized patient who has a habit of biting nurses. Their snooping leads to “Blair Witch-”like shenanigans going down deep in the woods. Bouchnak takes much too long to get to his destination, but once he strands his characters with unfriendly townsfolk, he hits us hard with satisfying twists and buckets of gore. Details: 2½ stars, available to rent on various platforms.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.