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Any bojack horseman fans?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Oh I'm sorry, Did I Break Your Conversation........Well Allow Me A Movie Thread by S&T
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YeaThe Giver
Gave me failure.
You see what they're trying to do and they manage to suck at it in EVERY scene. I know what The Dude was thinking or MerylThey must've just read a short description of their roles and got sold the concept by the director.
This movie didn't accomplish what it set out to do the same way F4 didn't.
2/8
The CW show?Anyone checked out the 100
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I seen it in my que just never checked the show out
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big j 33
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Watched Boys Don't Cry randomly today since it was on Sundance (I finished up watching the 2nd half of 500 Days of Summer, it had been awhile). I remember Boys Don't Cry being one of those movies that was tougher to watch. Worth watching for the performances and the story, but no desire to rewatch it.
Also caught Fantastic Four.. I posted my review in the Fox thread, but here it is again
Pretty disappointing top to bottom. The performances weren't bad, but they weren't really given anything good to work with. The screenplay started out decently, but fell off dramatically. The action was non-existent. I don't know what movie this could have been originally, but it was clearly butchered.
Also watched Hot Fuzz. It's been awhile and it's just as funny and awesome as before. I think I might prefer it to Shaun of the Dead. First, because I'm more of a fan of the buddy cop genre than zombie movies. Second, I always felt like the emotional beats of Shaun of the Dead were too... good? It's not a criticism, but those emotional moments with his mom, that kind of gets me. So I don't always want to watch it because I know that part will bum me out a bit. All of these movies (World's End too) are really just great movies.
A clever send-up of genres, entertaining action, hilarious chemistry between Frost and Pegg, well written and paced, and surprisingly adept in the dramatic moments.. The World's End in particular was excellent at the emotional side. They do a little bit of everything right.. I love those kind of movies.
Also caught Fantastic Four.. I posted my review in the Fox thread, but here it is again
Pretty disappointing top to bottom. The performances weren't bad, but they weren't really given anything good to work with. The screenplay started out decently, but fell off dramatically. The action was non-existent. I don't know what movie this could have been originally, but it was clearly butchered.
Also watched Hot Fuzz. It's been awhile and it's just as funny and awesome as before. I think I might prefer it to Shaun of the Dead. First, because I'm more of a fan of the buddy cop genre than zombie movies. Second, I always felt like the emotional beats of Shaun of the Dead were too... good? It's not a criticism, but those emotional moments with his mom, that kind of gets me. So I don't always want to watch it because I know that part will bum me out a bit. All of these movies (World's End too) are really just great movies.
A clever send-up of genres, entertaining action, hilarious chemistry between Frost and Pegg, well written and paced, and surprisingly adept in the dramatic moments.. The World's End in particular was excellent at the emotional side. They do a little bit of everything right.. I love those kind of movies.
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Mr Robot had me up for a while this morning. I shall finish it tonight.
sidenote: The phrase "cringe worthy" is cringe worthy. It's so overused.
sidenote: The phrase "cringe worthy" is cringe worthy. It's so overused.
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Mr. Robot is not cringe worthy but its also not that good
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I'd recommend a new Sundancetv program, Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter. It's a roundtable discussion with some of the best actors on tv and film now. I just watched the 2nd installment (it's available on demand). It regularly comes on at like Sunday @ 10am if you're up that early and want to watch something before preseason football.
The 1st ep was all women involving Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Lange, etc. 2nd ep was all men with David Oyelowo, Bob Odenkirk, Jon Voight, Clive Owen, etc.
Really good discussion/interview and insight on their careers, how they feel about what they're doing currently, and other stuff about the art.
I can't say much bad or good about it. Kinda blur for me on details. I'd say watch like 3-5 eps and judge for yourself.
The 1st ep was all women involving Taraji P. Henson, Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Lange, etc. 2nd ep was all men with David Oyelowo, Bob Odenkirk, Jon Voight, Clive Owen, etc.
Really good discussion/interview and insight on their careers, how they feel about what they're doing currently, and other stuff about the art.
Only a watched a few eps to check it out. It was okay and cool for a sci-fi where it's also a CW show so there's gonna be a lot of unknown teenage/early 20s hot actors and actresses that aren't that talented but the whole thing is aiming at a specific audience.YeaThe CW show?Anyone checked out the 100
I can't say much bad or good about it. Kinda blur for me on details. I'd say watch like 3-5 eps and judge for yourself.
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Is that the first season of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter? I remember seeing commercials for a similar show, might've been on IFC or Showtime / Cinemax. The concept is cool though.
Found it. It was called Dinner for Five and created and hosted by jon favreau. It says all 4 seasons are on youtube, will check out a few eps.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_Five
Found it. It was called Dinner for Five and created and hosted by jon favreau. It says all 4 seasons are on youtube, will check out a few eps.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_Five
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Honestly I couldn't really get into season 2 of true detective.. Just too much going on
Agree with what CP said about Colin and Rachel killing it.. But the dead weight of Vaughn and his girlfriend or whatever was too much.. They could have easily still had that plot line without them taking up so much time in the story and the show
Focus on his interactions with Colin's character, that's it.. Colin's character can fill in details after he starts confiding in Rachel's character
I don't need to know about them trying to have a kid.. All the stuff he has to do to get back in the life.. Hell look how little they showed the Mexicans and the impact they had
Or the yellow king in season 1
Too much dead weight killed it for me.. Shame to, because I liked what Collin and Rachel did.. And wish they explored riggins' character a little more if they needed filler
Agree with what CP said about Colin and Rachel killing it.. But the dead weight of Vaughn and his girlfriend or whatever was too much.. They could have easily still had that plot line without them taking up so much time in the story and the show
Focus on his interactions with Colin's character, that's it.. Colin's character can fill in details after he starts confiding in Rachel's character
I don't need to know about them trying to have a kid.. All the stuff he has to do to get back in the life.. Hell look how little they showed the Mexicans and the impact they had
Or the yellow king in season 1
Too much dead weight killed it for me.. Shame to, because I liked what Collin and Rachel did.. And wish they explored riggins' character a little more if they needed filler
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Zero reason that should have been a trilogy other than money..
I watched the first two just because they were on Netflix and I wanted something to watch... But you could really really REALLY feel that the source material was a 300 page book
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i watched 3 before the first two
it was hilarious how the first 10 minutes of 3 was the ending of the second movie
then the rest of the third movie was just one giant climax with every character ever popping out of no where to get some screen time like it was an allstar game
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Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Billy Ray Team For ‘Devil In The White City’ As Paramount Wins Auction
A killer role that Leonardo DiCaprio has wanted to play for a long time is finally coming to the forefront after Paramount just closed a splashy deal to acquire the Erik Larson book The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America. There was a big auction that had five studios chasing and three bidding aggressively–Universal and Fox were the others–before Paramount captured a package that has DiCaprio starring and re-teaming with his The Wolf Of Wall Street director Martin Scorsese. Billy Ray will write the script. Appian Way’s DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are producing with Stacey Sher, and Scorsese. This is a big one for recently minted Paramount Film Group president Marc Evans; it’s expected to be the next collaboration for DiCaprio and Scorsese, who’ve made five films together.
DiCaprio will play Dr. HH Holmes, a cunning serial killer believed to have murdered anywhere from 27 to 200 people at a time when the city of Chicago was enthralled with hosting the World’s Fair of 1893. Holmes constructed The World’s Fair Hotel, an inn more lethal than the Bates Motel, especially for young single women. The sociopath used charm and guile to lure guests into what became known as a “murder castle,” a haunt that had a gas chamber, crematorium and a dissecting table where Holmes would murder his victims and strip their skeletons to sell for medical and scientific study.
http://deadline.com/2015/08/leonard...he-white-city-billy-ray-paramount-1201496941/
Been meaning to read the book for years already. Gotta get on it this week.
darthska
Staff member
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Got a free rental from Family Video.
Chose Bourne Legacy.
Yikes. :\
Chose Bourne Legacy.
Yikes. :\
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Its alright, just like the rest of these recent tv shows that surrounded by a mystery of what they will find while being cut off from the restOnly a watched a few eps to check it out. It was okay and cool for a sci-fi where it's also a CW show so there's gonna be a lot of unknown teenage/early 20s hot actors and actresses that aren't that talented but the whole thing is aiming at a specific audience.YeaThe CW show?Anyone checked out the 100
I can't say much bad or good about it. Kinda blur for me on details. I'd say watch like 3-5 eps and judge for yourself.
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They should give you a second free rental.
darthska
Staff member
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[quote name="Noskey"][quote name="DarthSka"]Got a free rental from Family Video.
Chose Bourne Legacy.
Yikes. :\[/quote]They should give you a second free rental.[/quote]Have you seen it? And the trilogy?
Legacy was... pretty rough.
First off, it seemed like it took forever to get started. Then when it got started, it's this completely new drug angle that was not mentioned in the original trilogy at all.
Just bad.
Chose Bourne Legacy.
Yikes. :\[/quote]They should give you a second free rental.[/quote]Have you seen it? And the trilogy?
Legacy was... pretty rough.
First off, it seemed like it took forever to get started. Then when it got started, it's this completely new drug angle that was not mentioned in the original trilogy at all.
Just bad.
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I love the original trilogy. I couldn't watch more than 20 minutes of Legacy.
jpzx
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Another 'Renner Planned Takeover Plan' that did not work.
jpzx
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Just finished watching No Country for old men..what the hell was the ending? I'm pissed man.
calibeebee
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does anybody able to get movie clips online other than youtube? I'm specifically looking for 2 scenes:
1. Scene from "The Fountain" where Hugh Jackman is yelling at the memory of his wife. The dialogue to this scene goes like this:
2. The second scene is from the movie "Stir of Echoes" . The part where Kevin Bacon is digging in the back yard and his wife is getting PISSED. He breaks out into this monologue about why he's digging, and his purpose in life etc.
dialogue:
Great thing about the Bacon scene is that he actually hurt his back really bad before shooting the pick-axe digging part and the director just kept making him do re-take after re-take and Bacon eventually got SUPER ******* pissed so the emotion you see coming from him is his real anger caught on film. Anyways, I'm putting together some monologues for a class and need some clips
1. Scene from "The Fountain" where Hugh Jackman is yelling at the memory of his wife. The dialogue to this scene goes like this:
Izzi: [as a vision of Izzi in 250![0]](/styles/default/xenforo/NTemojis/alien.gif "Alien 0]")
Finish it.
Tom Creo: Stop... Stop it!
[he rises from beside the tree and marches to her]
Tom Creo: What do you want? Leave me, leave me alone! Please, please... It's not my...
[kneels and breaks into sobs]
Finish it.Tom Creo: Stop... Stop it!
[he rises from beside the tree and marches to her]
Tom Creo: What do you want? Leave me, leave me alone! Please, please... It's not my...
[kneels and breaks into sobs]
2. The second scene is from the movie "Stir of Echoes" . The part where Kevin Bacon is digging in the back yard and his wife is getting PISSED. He breaks out into this monologue about why he's digging, and his purpose in life etc.
dialogue:
What do you want me to do, Maggie, you
want me to go inside, sit down in
front of the TV, drink eight or nine
beers till I fall asleep in the chair?
Like that? Maybe repeat the whole
thing tomorrow and the day after and
the day after and the day after and
the day after and the day after and
the day.....until I GRAB MY CHEST AND DIE?!
This is the MOST important thing that's ever
happened to me, the most important
things I've ever done in my life,
Maggie, my whole stupid life, AND YOU WAN'T ME TO JUST STOP?!
I WON'T STOP, I WON'T STOP!
want me to go inside, sit down in
front of the TV, drink eight or nine
beers till I fall asleep in the chair?
Like that? Maybe repeat the whole
thing tomorrow and the day after and
the day after and the day after and
the day after and the day after and
the day.....until I GRAB MY CHEST AND DIE?!
This is the MOST important thing that's ever
happened to me, the most important
things I've ever done in my life,
Maggie, my whole stupid life, AND YOU WAN'T ME TO JUST STOP?!
I WON'T STOP, I WON'T STOP!
Great thing about the Bacon scene is that he actually hurt his back really bad before shooting the pick-axe digging part and the director just kept making him do re-take after re-take and Bacon eventually got SUPER ******* pissed so the emotion you see coming from him is his real anger caught on film. Anyways, I'm putting together some monologues for a class and need some clips
big j 33
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Finally caught Nightcrawler.. people weren't kidding, Jake destroyed the role. One of the better performances I've seen recently.. he played a sociopath perfectly, I was disgusted by him by the end of the movie.
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watched a little of hannah and her sisters earlier. solid film from what i saw. classic neurotic woody allen. some really funny lines.
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Late on it but
[h2]15 Films to See in August[/h2]
15. Fort Tilden (Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A comedy about Allie and Harper and their needlessly difficult journey to the beach.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Brooklyn-set indie dramedies are often dime a dozen at your local film festival, but every so often one seems to rise above the pack. Such was the case at last year’s South by Southwest Film Festival where Fort Tilden premiered, picking up the Grand Jury Prize in its narrative category. Over a year later, Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers‘ debut, which looks to have perceptive wit and a vibrant cast of newcomers, will arrive in theaters.
14. Digging For Fire (Joe Swanberg; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: The discovery of a bone and a gun send a husband and wife on separate adventures over the course of a weekend.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Another year, another film (or two) from Joe Swanberg. While that output may hint at diminishing returns, we said in our review, the director “keeps getting better and better. A few years ago, Swanberg seriously stepped up his game with his highest-profile film yet, Drinking Buddies. The filmmaking, structure, and acting is all polished in that film, and the same goes for the writer-director’s latest, Digging for Fire. Co-written by the film’s star Jake Johnson, this marks another step forward in Swanberg’s evolution as a filmmaker.”
13. American Ultra (Nima Nourizadeh; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: A stoner – who is in fact a government agent – is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: While Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are earning a great deal of praise for their roles in The End of the Tour and Clouds of Sils Maria, respectively, the two recently embarked on an Adventureland reunion that doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. Coming from Project X director Nima Nourizadeh and Chronicle scribe Max Landis, expectations are high (sorry) for American Ultra, but hopefully it’ll be some late-summer fun.
12. Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton and Richard Goleszowski; Aug. 5th)
Synopsis: When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Continuing from their most famous franchise, Aardman Animation’ Shaun the Sheep follows our titular character, first debuting in Wallace and Gromit‘s A Close Shaveback in 1995. As he went on to get its own TV show in 2007, after nearly 100 episodes, he’s getting the feature-film treatment. With strong reviews after its U.K. release, it’ll finally arrive in U.S. theaters this month.
11. Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray; August 14th)
Synopsis: The group NWA emerges from the streets of Compton, California in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes pop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: While most biopics seem to take the standard by-the-numbers approach of capturing the story of their subject, the N.W.A. drama Straight Outta Compton looks to be doing things quite differently. With cinematography by frequent Darren Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique and direction from F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job), the early word is fairly strong.
10. She’s Funny That Way (Peter Bogdanovich; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: When established director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson) casts his call girl-turned-actress Isabella “Izzy” Patterson (Imogen Poots) in a new play to star alongside his wife Delta (Kathryn Hahn) and her ex-lover Seth Gilbert (Rhys Ifans), a zany love tangle forms with hilarious twists.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: After premiering nearly a year ago at Venice, the latest film from Peter Bogdanovich will finally arrive this month. We said in our review, “The contemporary is overrated; sometimes, we have to look back in order to move forward; the new is always found in the old. These are some of the obvious mantras of Peter Bogdanovich, quite possibly the most misunderstood filmmaker in all of American cinema. (Just read Vincent Canby’s dumfounded reviews of the otherwise brilliant Saint Jack and They All Laughed.) The plot of his latest film, She’s Funny That Way, is a wish-wash of knots and tangles where, through sheer coincidence, the characters end up whimsically encountering each other. “A city of eight million people and everybody knows everybody.”
9. The Gift (Joel Edgerton; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: A young married couple’s lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husband’s past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after more than 20 years.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: When it was first announced Joel Edgerton‘s debut would be a Blumhouse production, it was our sincere wish that it would sway closer to his Blue-Tongue roots of dark, daring dramas and less the conventional, fairly cheap horror the company has made an empire out of. Thankfully, it looks our wish came true as reviews thus far have been surprisingly positive for The Gift and we’ll have ours up later this week.
8. The Mend (John Magary; Aug. 28th)
Synopsis: A comic drama about rage, doubt, lust, madness, and other brotherly hand-me-downs.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: “John Magary‘s The Mend… that was a movie that just fired me up,” director Michael Tully told us last year. It’s messy, like life itself, like a Margaret or Listen Up Philip, like a really good, true New York story. Not just sort of, “We’re privileged kids wandering around Brooklyn.” It actually had a real old-school New York drunk and sloppy grime to it.” After a long festival tour, it’ll finally arrive in theaters at the end of the month.
7. Call Me Lucky (Bobcat Goldthwait; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: Barry Crimmins is pissed. His hellfire brand of comedy has rained verbal lightning bolts on American audiences and politicians for decades, yet you’ve probably never heard of him.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: While Bobcat Goldthwait is well-known for his comedy, one can see streaks of underlying darkness in his work, making for the perfect fit to tell Barry Crimmins‘ story. We won’t say much about what unfolds, but we did say at Sundance, “Crimmins, a tough-nosed, politically-minded comedian, founded two comedy clubs in Boston and helped foster the careers of many now-famous comedians, including Goldthwait himself. All the while, Crimmins was harboring demons from his past, which gradually crept into the forefront of his life, both on and off the stage. As these revelations come to light in the film, what begins as a semi-serious, mostly-funny portrait of a never-was becomes something much more dramatic and much more important.”
6. Z For Zachariah (Craig Zobel; Aug. 28th)
Synopsis: In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Perhaps the most appealing triumvirate of actors this month comes with Craig Zobel’s Compliance follow-up Z For Zachariah. Led by Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine, we said in our review, “the film’s reach does not exceed its grasp, remaining an entertaining microcosm of that universal extinct to keep going no matter what. According to Zobel, the strong survive and the praying comes after.”
5. The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Marielle Heller; August 7th)
Synopsis: A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother’s boyfriend.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: One of the most accomplished debuts of the year is Marielle Heller‘s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, based on Phoebe Gloeckner‘s 2002 graphic novel of the same name. We said in our review, “One doesn’t need to be a female or have had intercourse with their mother’s boyfriend to connect with The Diary of a Teenage Girl. This seemingly wild story, including drugs and plenty of sex before the age of 18, is actually fairly universal. Seeing the world through Minnie’s eyes holds one’s attention from beginning to end, but once one exits the theater, it’s impossible not to reflect on the decisions we’ve all made as a teenager — namely the mistakes.”
4. Ricki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: A musician who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, looking to make things right with her family.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: The sort of treat one might imagine we’d get in the middle of awards season, this month brings a new Jonathan Demme-directed (his first major feature in 7 years),Diablo Cody-written film starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Although the marketing hasn’t exactly sold a knock-out drama, all the early buzz says otherwise, and we can’t wait to see the results.
3. Tom at the Farm (Xavier Dolan; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A grieving man meets his lover’s family, who were not aware of their son’s sexual orientation.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: After exploring themes of love, matriarchal bonds and everything in between, Xavier Dolan‘s fourth feature, Tom at the Farm, certainly doesn’t abandon those, but views them through a vividly different lens. Marking the first time he adapted another work, the drama comes from Michel Marc Bouchard‘s play, blending psychological thriller elements with unexpected humor for a thoroughly unsettling plunge into a nightmare of fear and intolerance.
2. Mistress America (Noah Baumbach; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A lonely college freshman’s life is turned upside down by her impetuous, adventurous soon-to-be stepsister.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: It may be the last month of the summer, but what’s easily the funniest film of the season will arrive shortly. We said in our review, “Mistress America is an old-fashioned screwball comedy of sorts: well-meaning, packed with snappy dialogue, and not a mean-spirited bone in its body. Nobody is out to hurt anybody in this movie, nor does it have to poke fun at anyone for laughs. Baumbach and Gerwig let the characters behavior provide the jokes, and Gerwig, in particular, is a joke machine. Not a single delivery or piece of physical comedy misses the mark.”
1. Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry; Aug. 26th)
Synopsis: Two women who grew up together discover they have drifted apart when they retreat to a lake house together.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: After delivering one of the best films of last year, Listen Up Philip, Alex Ross Perry returns with perhaps an even more well-crafted film. Queen of Earth is a perfectly acted and executed small-scale psychological drama that’s enrapturing from the first scenes. We said in our review, “The similarity to The Shining is no coincidence as Queen of Earth pays extensive tribute to vintage psychological thrillers. Even on a strictly aesthetic level – from the font of its titles (an old-fashioned, slender cursive in matte pink), to the luscious grain of the 16mm film stock and the lack of any props such as smartphones or laptops that would locate the story in the present – the film aligns itself with an earlier era of filmmaking. The most obvious homage is to Roman Polanski, signaled explicitly through the salad that Catherine leaves to rot on her nightstand, a clear reference to the rabbit from Repulsion.”
[h2]15 Films to See in August[/h2]
15. Fort Tilden (Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A comedy about Allie and Harper and their needlessly difficult journey to the beach.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Brooklyn-set indie dramedies are often dime a dozen at your local film festival, but every so often one seems to rise above the pack. Such was the case at last year’s South by Southwest Film Festival where Fort Tilden premiered, picking up the Grand Jury Prize in its narrative category. Over a year later, Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers‘ debut, which looks to have perceptive wit and a vibrant cast of newcomers, will arrive in theaters.
14. Digging For Fire (Joe Swanberg; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: The discovery of a bone and a gun send a husband and wife on separate adventures over the course of a weekend.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Another year, another film (or two) from Joe Swanberg. While that output may hint at diminishing returns, we said in our review, the director “keeps getting better and better. A few years ago, Swanberg seriously stepped up his game with his highest-profile film yet, Drinking Buddies. The filmmaking, structure, and acting is all polished in that film, and the same goes for the writer-director’s latest, Digging for Fire. Co-written by the film’s star Jake Johnson, this marks another step forward in Swanberg’s evolution as a filmmaker.”
13. American Ultra (Nima Nourizadeh; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: A stoner – who is in fact a government agent – is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: While Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are earning a great deal of praise for their roles in The End of the Tour and Clouds of Sils Maria, respectively, the two recently embarked on an Adventureland reunion that doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. Coming from Project X director Nima Nourizadeh and Chronicle scribe Max Landis, expectations are high (sorry) for American Ultra, but hopefully it’ll be some late-summer fun.
12. Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton and Richard Goleszowski; Aug. 5th)
Synopsis: When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: Continuing from their most famous franchise, Aardman Animation’ Shaun the Sheep follows our titular character, first debuting in Wallace and Gromit‘s A Close Shaveback in 1995. As he went on to get its own TV show in 2007, after nearly 100 episodes, he’s getting the feature-film treatment. With strong reviews after its U.K. release, it’ll finally arrive in U.S. theaters this month.
11. Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray; August 14th)
Synopsis: The group NWA emerges from the streets of Compton, California in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes pop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.
Trailer
Why You Should See It: While most biopics seem to take the standard by-the-numbers approach of capturing the story of their subject, the N.W.A. drama Straight Outta Compton looks to be doing things quite differently. With cinematography by frequent Darren Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique and direction from F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job), the early word is fairly strong.
10. She’s Funny That Way (Peter Bogdanovich; Aug. 21st)
Synopsis: When established director Arnold Albertson (Owen Wilson) casts his call girl-turned-actress Isabella “Izzy” Patterson (Imogen Poots) in a new play to star alongside his wife Delta (Kathryn Hahn) and her ex-lover Seth Gilbert (Rhys Ifans), a zany love tangle forms with hilarious twists.
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Why You Should See It: After premiering nearly a year ago at Venice, the latest film from Peter Bogdanovich will finally arrive this month. We said in our review, “The contemporary is overrated; sometimes, we have to look back in order to move forward; the new is always found in the old. These are some of the obvious mantras of Peter Bogdanovich, quite possibly the most misunderstood filmmaker in all of American cinema. (Just read Vincent Canby’s dumfounded reviews of the otherwise brilliant Saint Jack and They All Laughed.) The plot of his latest film, She’s Funny That Way, is a wish-wash of knots and tangles where, through sheer coincidence, the characters end up whimsically encountering each other. “A city of eight million people and everybody knows everybody.”
9. The Gift (Joel Edgerton; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: A young married couple’s lives are thrown into a harrowing tailspin when an acquaintance from the husband’s past brings mysterious gifts and a horrifying secret to light after more than 20 years.
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Why You Should See It: When it was first announced Joel Edgerton‘s debut would be a Blumhouse production, it was our sincere wish that it would sway closer to his Blue-Tongue roots of dark, daring dramas and less the conventional, fairly cheap horror the company has made an empire out of. Thankfully, it looks our wish came true as reviews thus far have been surprisingly positive for The Gift and we’ll have ours up later this week.
8. The Mend (John Magary; Aug. 28th)
Synopsis: A comic drama about rage, doubt, lust, madness, and other brotherly hand-me-downs.
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Why You Should See It: “John Magary‘s The Mend… that was a movie that just fired me up,” director Michael Tully told us last year. It’s messy, like life itself, like a Margaret or Listen Up Philip, like a really good, true New York story. Not just sort of, “We’re privileged kids wandering around Brooklyn.” It actually had a real old-school New York drunk and sloppy grime to it.” After a long festival tour, it’ll finally arrive in theaters at the end of the month.
7. Call Me Lucky (Bobcat Goldthwait; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: Barry Crimmins is pissed. His hellfire brand of comedy has rained verbal lightning bolts on American audiences and politicians for decades, yet you’ve probably never heard of him.
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Why You Should See It: While Bobcat Goldthwait is well-known for his comedy, one can see streaks of underlying darkness in his work, making for the perfect fit to tell Barry Crimmins‘ story. We won’t say much about what unfolds, but we did say at Sundance, “Crimmins, a tough-nosed, politically-minded comedian, founded two comedy clubs in Boston and helped foster the careers of many now-famous comedians, including Goldthwait himself. All the while, Crimmins was harboring demons from his past, which gradually crept into the forefront of his life, both on and off the stage. As these revelations come to light in the film, what begins as a semi-serious, mostly-funny portrait of a never-was becomes something much more dramatic and much more important.”
6. Z For Zachariah (Craig Zobel; Aug. 28th)
Synopsis: In the wake of a disaster that wipes out most of civilization, two men and a young woman find themselves in an emotionally charged love triangle as the last known survivors.
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Why You Should See It: Perhaps the most appealing triumvirate of actors this month comes with Craig Zobel’s Compliance follow-up Z For Zachariah. Led by Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine, we said in our review, “the film’s reach does not exceed its grasp, remaining an entertaining microcosm of that universal extinct to keep going no matter what. According to Zobel, the strong survive and the praying comes after.”
5. The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Marielle Heller; August 7th)
Synopsis: A teen artist living in 1970s San Francisco enters into an affair with her mother’s boyfriend.
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Why You Should See It: One of the most accomplished debuts of the year is Marielle Heller‘s The Diary of a Teenage Girl, based on Phoebe Gloeckner‘s 2002 graphic novel of the same name. We said in our review, “One doesn’t need to be a female or have had intercourse with their mother’s boyfriend to connect with The Diary of a Teenage Girl. This seemingly wild story, including drugs and plenty of sex before the age of 18, is actually fairly universal. Seeing the world through Minnie’s eyes holds one’s attention from beginning to end, but once one exits the theater, it’s impossible not to reflect on the decisions we’ve all made as a teenager — namely the mistakes.”
4. Ricki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme; Aug. 7th)
Synopsis: A musician who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, looking to make things right with her family.
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Why You Should See It: The sort of treat one might imagine we’d get in the middle of awards season, this month brings a new Jonathan Demme-directed (his first major feature in 7 years),Diablo Cody-written film starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Although the marketing hasn’t exactly sold a knock-out drama, all the early buzz says otherwise, and we can’t wait to see the results.
3. Tom at the Farm (Xavier Dolan; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A grieving man meets his lover’s family, who were not aware of their son’s sexual orientation.
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Why You Should See It: After exploring themes of love, matriarchal bonds and everything in between, Xavier Dolan‘s fourth feature, Tom at the Farm, certainly doesn’t abandon those, but views them through a vividly different lens. Marking the first time he adapted another work, the drama comes from Michel Marc Bouchard‘s play, blending psychological thriller elements with unexpected humor for a thoroughly unsettling plunge into a nightmare of fear and intolerance.
2. Mistress America (Noah Baumbach; Aug. 14th)
Synopsis: A lonely college freshman’s life is turned upside down by her impetuous, adventurous soon-to-be stepsister.
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Why You Should See It: It may be the last month of the summer, but what’s easily the funniest film of the season will arrive shortly. We said in our review, “Mistress America is an old-fashioned screwball comedy of sorts: well-meaning, packed with snappy dialogue, and not a mean-spirited bone in its body. Nobody is out to hurt anybody in this movie, nor does it have to poke fun at anyone for laughs. Baumbach and Gerwig let the characters behavior provide the jokes, and Gerwig, in particular, is a joke machine. Not a single delivery or piece of physical comedy misses the mark.”
1. Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry; Aug. 26th)
Synopsis: Two women who grew up together discover they have drifted apart when they retreat to a lake house together.
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Why You Should See It: After delivering one of the best films of last year, Listen Up Philip, Alex Ross Perry returns with perhaps an even more well-crafted film. Queen of Earth is a perfectly acted and executed small-scale psychological drama that’s enrapturing from the first scenes. We said in our review, “The similarity to The Shining is no coincidence as Queen of Earth pays extensive tribute to vintage psychological thrillers. Even on a strictly aesthetic level – from the font of its titles (an old-fashioned, slender cursive in matte pink), to the luscious grain of the 16mm film stock and the lack of any props such as smartphones or laptops that would locate the story in the present – the film aligns itself with an earlier era of filmmaking. The most obvious homage is to Roman Polanski, signaled explicitly through the salad that Catherine leaves to rot on her nightstand, a clear reference to the rabbit from Repulsion.”
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have not seen either movie but i have a strong feeling that man from uncle will be better than american ultra
