Monday, July 30, 2012

August Movies to See and to Skip

July has been the month of super heroes, namely the Spider-Man reboot, and the final chapter of the Batman reboot.  The Amazing Spider-Man showed promise for a new franchise, while The Dark Knight rises was hit with a real life tragedy the film aptly concluded the films reboot (although there may be more).  Ted which opened at the end of June carried out some big R rated numbers and made audiences laugh all the way to what will be a 200 million dollar domestic gross.  

So what's in store for August?  August is usually the month where Hollywood transitions from the bombastic summer explosions to the real transition month of September.  August always feels like the Summer leftovers, but this month has an interesting array of films that may excite movie fans.

August 3rd
Total Recall (2012)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Both films seem unnecessary.  Total Recall was fine the first time, and this version with Collin Farrell, Jessica Biel, and Kate Beckinsale gets worse every time I see the preview.  The Wimpy Kid  films get bad reviews and the gross is so small, why are they making another one? Good question, but there is no good answer.  I am glad I am going to San Francisco this weekend.



August 10th
The Bourne Legacy
The Campaign
Hope Springs 

With Matt Damon stepping away from the franchise, or well not being brought back, I was hesitant about the future of these films.  The truth of the matter is that Bourne is the American James Bond; he is interchangeable or well there is a lot to do with this CIA project, and Jeremy Renner, and writer/director Tony Gilroy should meet the challenge (Gilroy wrote Supremacy-the best Bourne film).  The Campaign looks terrible, even punching a baby looks stupid.  Hope Springs will bring out Streeps hardcore mom fans, but the film looks suburban painful.



August 17th
The Expendables 2
ParaNorman
Sparkle
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Cosmopolis (limited opening NYC/LA)

What a weekend! I have to admit Expendables 2 looks fun!  I am down. Sparkle is also the last film with Whitney Houston, but the marketing has been poor on this film this will be interesting.  ParaNorman looks weird, and not in a good way.  Timothy Green looks like typical Disney films that are so sacrine and sweet it's as if you just ate a lemon.  Cosmopolis looks pretty cool, and who doesn't love a good David Cronenberg flick?



August 24th 
Premium Rush
Hit and Run

Premium rush has my main man JGL (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and a solid cast but the premise never sold me.  Hit and Run looks like one of the worst films I have ever seen.



August 31st
Lawless (Opens 8/29)
The Possession

Lawless look solid, while The Possession looks scary as hell. I am down for Lawless, but the end of August and early September are so crazy for me I will not be sad to miss either of these movies.




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