August 2008 Movie Releases

August 1
- America the Beautiful (limited)
- Frozen River (limited)
- In Search of a Midnight Kiss (limited)
- Midnight Meat Train (limited)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor***
- Sixty Six (limited)
- Swing Vote

August 6
- Bottle Shock (limited)
- Patti Smith: Dream of Life (NY)
- Pineapple Express***
- The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

August 8
- Beautiful Losers (NY; LA release: Aug. 29)
- Beer For My Horses (limited)
- Elegy (limited)
- Fly Me to the Moon
- Hell Ride (limited)
- The Perfect Game
- Red (limited)

August 13
- Tropic Thunder***

August 15
- Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (limited)
- Bachna Ae Haseeno (limited)
- Henry Poole is Here (limited)*
- Mirrors
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona

August 20
- The Rocker*

August 22
- Death Race***
- Hamlet 2 (limited; wide: Aug. 29)
- The House Bunny
- I Served the King of England (limited)

August 27
- Traitor

August 29
- Babylon A.D.***
- College
- Disaster Movie
- Goal! II: Living the Dream (limited)
- Sukiyaki Western Django (limited)
- Year of the Fish (limited)

AUGUST 1
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Director: Rob Cohen
Stars: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello (Full Cast)
Studio: Universal Pictures
The Plot: In the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick (Fraser) and Alex O'Connell (Ford) unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin (Li) -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard (Yeoh) centuries ago.
THE BUZZ: We never thought we'd see Stephen Sommers as an artiste, but when you replace him with Rob Cohen, he starts looking a little like Coppola, don't you think? Even with Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh on board, this feels like one expensive pay-per-view flick (okay, okay, the first trailer looks cool). Rachel Weisz weisz-ly dropped out, leaving poor Maria Bello to replace her. We hope Ms. History of Violence gets a nice down payment and a call from David Cronenberg soon. As for Mr. Fraser -- doesn't he have a sitcom deal yet? His summer of love up on the big screen can't last.

Swing Vote
Director: Joshua Michael Stern
Stars: Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer (Full Cast)
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Plot: When Bud Johnson (Costner) goes to cast his vote for the next U.S. president, a glitch affects his ballot, and protocol allows him to make up his mind at his own discretion. With the entire nation focused on his every move -- and, of course, his pending decision -- will the admittedly lazy Bud make an informed choice?
THE BUZZ: Kevin Costner recruits his famous friends for an aww-gee gander at the American political landscape which dramatically changed during the 2004 Presidential election, and moved into unprecedented territory this year. I don't need an Oscar winner to tune me up for November, though I think Swing State's trailer offers warm, fuzzy feelings which are pretty welcome. Less perplexing but definitely shocking is the notion that Disney cloned Abigail Breslin and cast her double in this movie.

The Midnight Meat Train
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura
Stars: Vinnie Jones, Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb (Full Cast)
Studio: Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment
The Plot: A photographer (Cooper) hunts down a serial killer (Jones) who preys upon travelers in the subways of New York City.
THE BUZZ: At MMT's Comic-Con preview last year, we learned that Mr. Barker came up with this story (and, clearly, its title) while under the influence of a pot brownie. No joke. Poor Leslie Bibb, in girlfriend mode here, tried in earnest to keep the momentum going from there, but even the stoniest stoners began to walk out of the conference hall after gleaning all they needed to know about this one: Mahogany, the name of Jones's character, ain't looking to be anywhere near as iconic as Candyman or Hellraiser. In fact, as MMT's unveiling date finally draws near, Lionsgate is considering a major-cities only release to be quickly followed up by the DVD push.

Frozen River [limited]
Director: Courtney Hunt
Stars: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott (Full Cast)
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
The Plot: A struggling single mom (Leo) reluctantly partners with a Mohawk Indian woman (Upham) to make money from running illegal immigrants across from Quebec into the U.S. While both women swear each trip will be their last, one particular run leads to an unexpected confrontation ...
THE BUZZ: An immigration drama set north of the U.S. something you don't see everyday, but curious as to why this Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning chiller is being released in the middle of summer, especially as distributor Sony Pictures Classics must be busy turning The Wackness into an indie summer hit.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss [NYC]
Director: Alex Holdridge
Stars: Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds (Full Cast)
Studio: IFC First Take
The Plot: Broke and alone on New Year's Eve, Wilson (McNairy) just wants to spend the rest of a very bad year in bed. But, when his best friend convinces him to post a personal ad, he meets a woman (Simmonds) bent on finding the right guy to be with at midnight.
THE BUZZ: Releasing a Manhattan-set romance is a smart move this season, and filmmaker Alex Holdridge's black-and-white confection looks to conjure up a sense of contemporary innocence that could be a Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist for us slightly older folks. (Note to said older folks: If you watch the trailer and are reminded of 90s-era indie films that's because executive producer Anne Walker-McBay has had Richard Linklater's back since Slacker.)

AUGUST 6
Pineapple Express
Director: David Gordon Green
Stars: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole (Full Cast)
Studio: Columbia Pictures
The Plot: After mega-stoner Dale Denton (Rogen) witnesses a corrupt cop commit a murder, he and his dealer (Franco) hit the road in an attempt to outrun the squad of police officers who want them dead.
THE BUZZ: M.I.A.'s incredible single "Paper Planes" is one of the many amazing components of P.E.'s redband trailer, an instant Internet phenomenon and the first testament we have to the rather brilliant bag of talent that is director David Gordon Green (making his big-studio debut), co-stars Seth Rogen (who co-wrote/exec-produced with his crony Evan Goldberg) and James Franco (taking a much-needed comedic turn), and producer Judd Apatow (who can safely put Walk Hard behind him). Add hottie Amber Heard, Bill Hader (who we think is playing a cop ... again), Gary Cole, and Rosie Perez to the mix, trim the leaves and stems, and keep the marketing on high until August, and you have Superbad's raunchier big brother ...

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
Director: Sanaa Hamri
Stars: America Ferrera, Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn (Full Cast)
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Plot: Best friends Lena (Bledel), Carmen (Ferrera), Bridget (Lively) and Tibby (Tamblyn) -- all of whom are having different experiences during their first year of college -- reunite in a Grecian seaside town in order to locate their missing pair of magical jeans.
THE BUZZ: Hardcore fans will want to know this sequel is actually an adaptation of the fourth book in the amazingly popular series, not the second. And if you're wondering how the producers got Rory Gilmore, Joan of Arcadia, Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty to reteam, the answer's simple -- contractual requirements. The Emmy-bound Ferrera was none too pleased, we hear, and we can't imagine the rest relish playing youthful college freshmen; only Lively is age-appropriate, and she has a new CW series to focus on. Still, Sanaa Hamri, of the wildly underappreciated rom-com Something New, is at the helm, giving all those Trav-Pants-ers a glimmer of hope.

Bottle Shock
Director: Randall Miller
Stars: Chris Pine, Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman (Full Cast)
Studio: Freestyle Releasing
The Plot: Paris, 1976: A struggling California vineyard enters a blind wine-tasting test, hoping to pull off a surprise win in the typically French-dominated competition.
THE BUZZ: I wonder for how much longer Randall Miller (Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School) will remain a truly independent filmmaker, since he is one of the better mainstream storytellers working without a major-studio connection. Perhaps Bottle Shock's predicted success holds the answer to his future endeavors. This Sundance hit (in a year where that festival failed to generate many buzz-worthy movies) should generate word-of-mouthfeel due to Miller's ability to deftly handle ensemble casts (supporting BS players include Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodríguez, and Eliza Dushku) and to build anticipation. Don't expect to be surprised by this one, but there should be an effective antidote to every comic-book adaptation and shoot-em-up we see during the summer ...

AUGUST 8
Hell Ride [limited]
Director: Larry Bishop
Stars: Larry Bishop, Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen (Full Cast)
Studio: Dimension Films
The Plot: Pistolero (Bishop), leader of the Victors biker gang, looks to exact his revenge on the Six-Six-Sixers, a band of bikers led by the infamous Billy Wings (Jones) who recently offed a Victor in cold blood.
THE BUZZ: While Harvey Weinstein tropes from runway to international runway, somewhere along the line he forgot about a spectacular failure called Grindhouse. As much as we love Larry Bishop's voyeuristic biker fantasies, whoever put the gears in motion for this one is clearly out of touch with the multitude of ways in which a cult movie can be re-routed around a theatrical release. Some writers loved the ride, but more of them know that QT could comb through his collection and put his stamp on a dozen better exploitation flicks than this one. And at least a quarter of them probably star Michael Madsen. Here's the redband trailer, in which Madsen appears to shoot up his residence from Kill Bill.

The Perfect Game
Director: William Dear
Stars: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Moises Arias (Full Cast)
Studio: Lionsgate
The Plot: In 1957, a baseball team from Monterrey, Mexico looks poised to become the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series.
THE BUZZ: William Dear's sports drama was called up from the minor leagues by Lionsgate for an August release which, if targeted right, could be one of those surprise successes that reaches the top 10 in its debut. Head over to the official site to learn more about this true story, and to watch the production's version of a teaser trailer, which is more like a 7-1/2 minute demo reel people create when they are looking to finance their indie movie-making dreams.

Elegy [limited]
Director: Isabel Coixet
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz (Full Cast)
Studio: Red Envelope Entertainment
The Plot: Renown professor David Kepesh (Kingsley) finds his life thrown into disarray by Consuela Castillo (Cruz), a well-mannered student who awakens her teacher's sense of sexual possessiveness.
THE BUZZ: We've never read the Phillip Roth novel, though we understand while Kingsley's life falls apart in the wake of his affair with Cruz, she returns years after the events with a whopper of a revelation. But with Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me) directing a Nicholas Meyer (The Human Stain) screenplay, this feels like way too much psychodrama for us ... We'd rather: (1) celebrate the fact that the film finally got a release date; (2) watch Kingsley smoke marijuana in The Wackness this summer; (3) look at photos of Cruz in, like, every issue of Vanity Fair.

AUGUST 13
Tropic Thunder
Director: Ben Stiller
Stars: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. (Full Cast)
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution
The Plot: While shooting a big-budget war movie, a group of actors (Stiller, Black, Downey Jr., and others) are forced to become soldiers in a real-life conflict.
THE BUZZ: Want to get people to forget about Owen Wilson dropping out of this project? Easy, just put the formerly troubled Robert Downey Jr. in some potentially controversial make up and litter the Net with your kinda-awesome-but-not-quite-there-yet trailer. And then? Sprinkle a Tom Cruise cameo on top and layer a now-standard red-band trailer on top and you have some late-summer hotness kicking up. It's great to see Stiller back behind the cameras, gunning for a hard R rating, and assembling an epic cast of characters (and production budget) that few actor-directors can fetch. We wish those Epic Movie dudes would aim this high.

AUGUST 15
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Director: Dave Filoni
Stars: (Full Cast)
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Plot: Filling the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, this animated tale chronicles the on-going intragalactic battle involving the Jedis of the Republic and the battle droids of the Trade Federation.
THE BUZZ: Could this be the Droids movie we never waited for? Truly, die-hard SW fans are ignoring this movie and focusing on the "Clone Wars" tv show, which IMDb TV editor Melanie McFarland previews in her awesome blog which you should read ...

Mirrors
Director: Alexandre Aja
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart (Full Cast)
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
The Plot: An ex-cop (Sutherland) and his family are the target of a evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.
THE BUZZ: This unspeakable evil found a crack in Fox's summer schedule, and while I think Alexandre Aja's latest assault on the senses might come and go faster than an episode of "24," the movie's best bet for traction with late-season audiences might be this boundary-pushing red-band trailer. Click on it only if you want to see Amy Smart pull apart her face.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem (Full Cast)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
The Plot: Two girlfriends (Hall and Johansson) on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter (Bardem), fully unaware that his ex-wife (Cruz), with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.
THE BUZZ: Hey, did you hear that Woody Allen has made a fun, breezy, holiday postcard of a movie, one in which Rebecca Hall reunites with her Prestige castmate, then outperforms her? That's the report from Cannes; however, all those stories you heard about a ménage a trois here and a sex scene between Scarlett J. and Penélope C. there turn out to be less frothy than for what you would hope (and, I have to say, more innocent than anything Allen would imagine privately). Though, as you would expect, Cruz owns the movie upon her entrance, one who eviscerates the Americans before bursting into tears, eyeliner streaming down her beautiful face ...

Henry Poole Is Here [limited]
Director: Mark Pellington
Stars: Luke Wilson, , George Lopez (Full Cast)
Studio: Overture Films
The Plot: Henry Poole (Wilson) abandons his fiancée and family business to spend what he believes are his remaining days alone ... until the discovery of a "miracle" by a nosy neighbor ruptures his solitude and restores his faith in life.
THE BUZZ: Mark Pellington is excellent at making TV programs (The United States of Poetry, Cold Case) and decent when creating music videos (Pearl Jam and a host of other rockerz), but when it comes to his movies (Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies), perhaps he needs more time perfecting his craft. Well good luck with Henry, an underdog comedy-drama hybrid starring was-I-ever-truly-a-movie-star Luke Wilson that yawned it's way through Sundance earlier this year, with most reviewers citing Pellington's heavy-handed handling of the themes of faith and redemption. And the trailer reveals yet another shameless attempt to Abigail Breslinize everything.

Fly Me to the Moon
Director: Ben Stassen
Stars: Trevor Gagnon, Philip Bolden, David Gore (Full Cast)
Studio: K2 Communications
The Plot: Three houseflies get launched into outer space when they sneak aboard Apollo 11's historical lunar mission.
THE BUZZ: Flushed Away in space? This latest 3D offering hails from Europe where it was considered quite the success story…in Belgium. Getting a Desperate Housewife and an Apollo astronaut to ride along could help its chances to blast off Stateside. As for the buzz on Buzz? Anyone who gets away with punching a guy could only benefit from a cutesy cartoon to soften his image.

AUGUST 20
The Rocker
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Stars: Rainn Wilson, Josh Gad (Full Cast)
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
The Plot: Two decades after he was kicked out of his famous rock 'n' roll group, Robert 'Fish' Fishman (Wilson), an over-the-hill drummer, pounces on a second chance at coercing his way into a garage band fronted by his newphew (Gad).
THE BUZZ: Before seeing this movie's awesome trailer, I thought the concept would best be served by a digital short starring Andy Samberg. But then? Said trailer arrived, and I noticed the screenplay was co-written by one of the creative minds behind The Larry Sanders Show (Maya Forbes) and one of Wes Anderson's cronies (Wallace Wolodarsky). Maybe August isn't the summer dumping ground it used to be.

AUGUST 22
Hamlet 2 [limited]
Director: Andrew Fleming
Stars: Steve Coogan, Elisabeth Shue, Catherine Keener (Full Cast)
Studio:
The Plot: High school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Coogan) looks to bring his Shakesperian sequel to the stage despite the obstacles in his path -- namely, a classroom full of disinterested students, potential budget cuts, and his own lack of talent.
THE BUZZ: One of few buzz-generating films at Sundance earlier this year, H2 grabbed headlines for its pricey acquisition and warmly received reviews. Having seen the film, I can assert that it's worth seeing as another example of Coogan's ability to rise above any material he's handed, but its by-the-numbers story arc and surprisingly unfunny songs (seeing that "South Park"'s Pam Brady is the co-writer) certainly don't add up to anything all that memorable. Coogan pushes the envelope; sadly, he's mostly alone in the endeavor, except for a ballsy turn by Elisabeth Shue, playing an alternate-future version of herself. However, something tells us this could be a hit with the younger generation.

Death Race
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson (Full Cast)
Studio: Universal Pictures
The Plot: Former NASCAR champ Jensen Ames (Statham) is framed for the murder of his wife, and subsequently sent to a notorious prison overseen by a warden (Allen) who has created the country's most popular sport: a kill-or-be-killed car race in which her inmates compete for their freedom.
THE BUZZ: Whoa, the Transporter faces off against Jason Bourne's oppressor? One good thing is: since this is set in a Paul W. S. Anderson universe, Jason Statham and Joan Allen will probably make out at some point. Here's another: At least Sly Stallone didn't lobby to star in this re-envisioning of his 1975 cult action flick. First Showing has a first look (actually, they just reprinted Empire Magazine's photospread) at the action, which we imagine Anderson is envisioning as a potential franchise. And check out the curiously sexy trailer, complete with a sequence that makes me realize how Anderson is getting to make his proposed Spy Hunter movie after all ...

The House Bunny
Director: Fred Wolf
Stars: Anna Faris (Full Cast)
Studio: Columbia Pictures
The Plot: A Playboy bunny (Faris) who was recently booted from the mansion winds up becoming the new house mother for a sorority in jeopardy.
THE BUZZ: Can you plagiarize yourself? That's the question that screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith seem to be positing with this comedy, which lifts so much from Legally Blonde that we wouldn't be surprised if Bruiser the dog made an appearance. This is even so much like LB that we bet it's the talented star who makes it watchable. And while we love Faris to pieces, and are glad she's getting the lead roles these days.... something a little different wouldn't hurt on the resume!
And total US Weekly babe alert: "American Idol"'s Katharine McPhee and celeb progeny Rumer Willis too?! OMG -- where do we pick up the free L'Oreal make-up bags?

The Longshots
Director: Fred Durst
Stars: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer (Full Cast)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
The Plot: Eleven-year-old Jasmine Plummer (KeKe Palmer) looks to become the first female to play in the Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history.
THE BUZZ: Fred Durst directs Ice Cube in a family comedy? That's fine, but Durst better never don a red ballcap and chinos again, and Ice Cube is fully aware that his street cred is long gone. So let's turn our attention to KeKe Palmer, the endearing star of Akkelah and the Bee who takes center stage here and is -- wait for this -- attached to portray Roxanne Shante, the legendary disser/rapper in the indie Vapors. Suddenly she's more bad-ass than her co-star and her director combined. Here's the trailer, which looks perfectly harmless and all, but still makes me wonder if girls will be attracted to this story.

AUGUST 29
Disaster Movie
Director: Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer
Stars: Carmen Electra, Vanessa Minnillo, Nicole Parker (Full Cast)
Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment
The Plot: Over the course of one evening, an unsuspecting group of twenty-somethings find themselves bombarded by a series of natural disasters and catastrophic events.
THE BUZZ: Hey, who ordered a second project from the Date Movie guys? I certainly didn't, and I thought Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's diminishing spoof returns (Date remains their most successful endeavor) might have reached their end with Meet the Spartans. Alas, the sophomoric-comedy duo have managed to churn out another 2008 mid-level hit that will probably double its investment after two weeks in general release. And I have to give them some sort of credit for making Carmen Electra a genuine movie star ... right? Take that, Nicole Kidman!

Babylon A.D.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry (Full Cast)
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
The Plot: Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop (Diesel) takes a high-risk assignment where he must escort a woman out of Russia. His client, however, is carrying a synthetic virus -- one that could bring about the end of humankind. Making his mission extra-difficult is the cult that has designs on what rests inside the young woman's body.
THE BUZZ: Dudes, random casting abounds for Vin Diesel's return to the sci-fi genre. But if it wasn't for this Michelle Yeoh fansite, we'd know next to nothing about the project -- except that it sounds like a low-brow companion piece to Children of Men. And we mean that as a compliment. The best buzz we've heard about the project? District B13 star David Belle has choreographed parkour fight scenes for both Diesel and Yeoh! And the worst? Uncooperative weather and powerplays between Diesel and director Mathieu Kassovitz have caused a production delay, sending producer Ilan Goldman (the man behind the two Crimson Rivers movies) on the hunt for snowy locales and replacements for several vital crew slots. Diesel's manager, meanwhile, apparently had to go coax Kassovitz back from a reported nervous breakdown. Seriously! And while this level of drama used results in a hot pile of celluloid garbage, the teaser trailer is looking hot. We can even overlook the Kronos Quartet composition that no one should ever have used after Requiem for a Dream ...

Traitor
Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Stars: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, David Clark (Full Cast)
Studio: Overture Films
The Plot: FBI agent Roy Clayton (Pearce) heads up a conspiracy investigation which initially susses out a prime suspect: Samir Horn (Cheadle), a former special ops officer with strong ties to Afghan rebels in the Middle East. As Clayton chases Horn around the world, however, a tangled web of contradictory evidence is revealed.
THE BUZZ: Five fine actors guide this conspiracy thriller from The Day After Tomorrow writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff into theaters at the end of the summer-movie season. Oddly enough, Steve Martin came up with this premise back in 2002, when he was working on Bringing Down the House with producer David Hoberman, and even though it reminds me of Lennie James's character's arc on "Jericho," one interesting thing to chart here is the rise of Overture Films, the distributor that turned The Visitor into a hit this year and has optioned a handful of original screenplays for 2009/2010.

College
Director: Deb Hagan
Stars: Drake Bell, Kevin Covais, Andrew Caldwell (Full Cast)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
The Plot: A wild weekend is in store for three high school seniors who visit a local college campus as prospective freshmen.
THE BUZZ: They took the word right off of Blutarsky's sweatshirt, and then they made (what we expect will be) an unmemorable, Superbad-lite comedy for Generation YouTube. The only person who might benefit from this road trip is star Drake Bell, who is beginning to dirty-up his Nickelodeon sheen. Short-film director Deb Hagan (Pee Shy) makes her feature debut, which gives us an idea: why not make this a story about three females instead of males? As Amy Poehler has said, all you need to do is change the names from female to male, and you've resolved the issue of how to write comedy for women.