Upcoming Movie Roundup -- August

Well, this looks like a generally dull month of new movie releases. The most potentially interesting movie, Elysium, just got an R rating, which is disappointing to me because I try to stay away from R-rated movies as a general rule. Sadly, the strong rating is also a good sign for the movie's quality. If I get to a theater this month it'll most likely be to play catch-up. Unless I take a sudden fancy to some surprise hit, or perhaps read and love this series of books...

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Releasing on the 7th; PG.
Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) and friends are back for round two. With the addition of fan-drawing actors Nathan Fillion, Anthony Head and Stanley Tucci. And I must say, it's working on me. I almost want to see this for Nathan Fillion alone. I saw The first film on a whim because it was free, and I enjoyed it. (Never mind that it was late and my brothers were cracking jokes about it the whole time.) Cheesy, a little immature, but definitely fun. So I'm mildly interested in the franchise now, but I have never read the books, and I will not go to theaters to see this one unless I have. By the trailer, I'd say they at least made an effort to kick it up a notch, and I did mention Nathan Fillion right?




Paranoia
Releasing the 16th; PG-13.
Liam Hemsworth leads a office mystery/thriller. The lesser Hemsworth (as he will probably always be to me) stars as a usual, unusually good-looking guy who get caught in the middle of a corporate war between Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford. Mystery, danger, drama and action ensues. Apparently. This movie looks good, in the most purely superficial sense of the word. It's pretty and glossy but as to a meaningful plot, it doesn't look quite as promising. (The trailer appears to summarize the whole movie excluding the ending.) The cast is what interests me most; Oldman and Ford are always great, and though he is the lesser one, Hemsworth isn't bad either, and I'm really interested to see if he can pull off being the action hero. Still, the cast isn't enough to convince me to see it, (especially if the film is as inappropriate as the trailer implies) but if the plot surprises and turns out better than it appears to be, or if Hemsworth surprises and holds up against his villainous co-stars, I may surprise, and take an interest.




Austenland
the 16th, limited; PG-13.
Cazy-Austen-fan Keri Russel saves up her money and goes on a Austen retreat, where people live how they would have in those days. Hilarity and romance may or may not ensue. This movie is like a good-news/bad-news scenario. Good news: it's made specifically for people who love Jane Austen. Bad news: it's really more like a spoof of Austen, and it's produced by Stephanie Meyer. (What...?) J. J. Feild plays the apparent hero... named Henry, which is both good, because I like Feild, and bad, because that reference is a bit too obvious for me. I want to see it because of it's Austen connection, but I'm afraid it could easily wander into territory that is a bit (for lack of a better word) sacrilegious. Early reviews on RT are pretty negative, which supports my theory, but, then again, Bret McKenzie (Figwit!) is also in it, so... maybe I'll have to give it a watch sometime after all.




Bonus: I'm mentioning "The Way, Way Back" again, since I still haven't seen it because its still not in my theater. (And because there's nothing else I want to talk about.) Since it's original release in the beginning of July, I've been tracking reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Turns out, bad idea, because I'm dying to see it more than ever, and who knows when I'll get the chance. Reviews on RT are generally glowing, saying that if you're tired of half-hearted summer action flicks full of numbing explosions from beginning to end then this movie is like a beautiful breath of fresh air. A truly funny and moving coming-of-age story with top-notch performances all around, and Sam Rockwell tearing it up in his most Rockwell-iest role ever. I must. See. This. Movie!



What new releases are you looking forward to this month?