Keeping you up to date with the cinema releases this month. To check out previous months scroll to the archives at the bottom of this page and click on the month you want.
Best Movies in August 2011
1. The Interrupters
2. The Guard
3. The Skin I Live In
4. Cowboys & Aliens
5. Super 8
6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
7. The Help
Action/Fantasy/Thrillers
Super 8 (5th August)
After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town and investigate into the creepy phenomenon. Spielberg and J.J.Abrams working together should provide a good entertaining movie. Go watch.
Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within (12th August)
Former Captain and now Lt Col. Roberto Nascimento, who, after a disastrous BOPE operation on a prison riot, gets caught in a bloody political dispute that involves not only the Public Safety Department, the State governor and State Military Police, but also paramilitary groups known as milícias. Action and a plot as well. Broke Brazilian box office records so should be worth a look in.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (12th August)
Unrelated to the previous Planet of the Apes movie, this is an origin story set in present day San Francisco. A man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One of the big blockbusters for the month.
Cowboys & Aliens (17th August)
Daniel Craig leads a posse of cowboys against an alien invasion in Arizona, 1873 in an attempt to stop them from taking over the world. Novel idea this from director Favreau of the Ironman series. I will be intrigued to see if it works.
Conan the Barbarian (26th August)
The tale of Conan the Cimmerian and his adventures across the continent of Hyboria on a quest to avenge the murder of his father and the slaughter of his village. This looks terrible, particularly the way in which everyone seems to be coated in make-up and immune to injury. It should be avoided at all costs!
Animations/Children
Mr. Popper's Penguins (5th August)
Jim Carrey plays a businessman who begins to change after he inherits six penguins. As he transforms his apartment into a winter wonderland, his professional side starts to unravel while his relationship with his family improves. A month for children's movies in August with Mr. Popper's Penguins leading the way.
The Smurfs (10th August)
We all know of the Smurfs. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the tiny blue critters out of their village, they tumble from their magical world and into ours.
Whether they can make this transition to our world and a feature length film remains to be seen. I for one doubt it. One for the kids but likely to offer nothing in entertainment value for parents, fans or adults.
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D (19th August)
Retired agent Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) gets back into action and recruits her two stepchildren to stop a super-villain known as the Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) from taking over the planet. Like most film franchises, the movies progressively get worse the more that are released. This movie shows no sign of breaking that trend. Give it a miss.
Comedy
The Guard (19th August)
An unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.This looks like my cup of tea with a blend of comedy and action done well. Worth a trip to the cinema.
The Inbetweeners Movie (19th August) [trailer]
Following on from where the very successful British comedy series left, Will, Neil, Simon and Jay our four socially troubled eighteen-year-olds from the south of England go on holiday to Crete. A love it or hate it type film that I doubt I will pay for but definitely want to see at some point.
Drama/Documentary
The Help (10th August)
A look at what happens when a southern town's unspoken code of rules and behaviour regarding race and status is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship. Drama done well with a vein of comedy running through it.
Project Nim (12th August)
Project Nim tells the story of a chimpanzee taken from its mother at birth and raised like a human child by a family in a brownstone on the upper West Side in the 1970s.One of those documentaries that was just too intriguing not to include.
The Interrupters (12th August)
Documentary following a year in the life of a Chicago non-profit organisation whose mission is to work to resolve issues of conflict and violence. Hard hitting story that just tops my list for best movie of the month.
In a Better World (19th August)
While his parents divorce, their bullied son Elias forms a bond with a new student that puts him in potential danger. As the lives of two Danish families cross each other, this extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait. In Danish.
One Day (24th August)
After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together and sometimes are not. One for the romantics amongst us.
The Skin I Live In (26th August)
A foreign film following a brilliant plastic surgeon haunted by past tragedies who creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession. In Spanish and the best foreign film of the month if that is your cup of tea.
Horror
Final Destination 5 (26th August)
It's back again. The franchise that, unlike most of the characters it depicts, just won't die. Same template as usual starting out on a collapsing bridge this time around. Someone has a vision and Death comes-a-calling. The only twist I can see: if they kill someone else then they will survive... or will they? Ingenious deaths but too repetitive to be called entertainment.
'Best' of the Rest
The Devil's Double (12th August) : Saddam Hussein's son's body double. Action/Drama.
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie (19th August) : The less said the better. Documentary.
The Caller (26th August) : Sinister phone link to the past. Horror.
The Divide (28th August) : 9 strangers trapped together in an apocalypse. Sci-Fi/Thriller.
Archives
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