August is going to be a fairly original month, come to think of it. While the top dogs of the next 30-days all crib from some other source, (District 9 excluded), there's a fair amount of fresh writing sneaking into multiplexes to round off the summer. For example, you've got Paper Heart, Shorts (another kid's movie from Robert Rodriguez, who has both Planet Terror and Spy Kids on his resume), Ponyo, the animated film from the beloved Hayao Miyazaki, Cold Souls, and even the bubbly looking Post Grad. But fear not, for those who still want a few more servings of that summer popcorn movie glory will have plenty to choose from. The G.I Joe movie is finally coming out this Friday, a sequel to Rob Zombie's Halloween is due at the end of the month, and beach reading is getting a trip to the movies with the year-delayed release of The Time Traveler's Wife.
Not for nothing, Quentin Tarantino's anticipated war film could either Basterd-ize the box-office, or his civil union with Miramax. No matter who gets the box-office glory, it probably won't matter. I don't expecto patrolum anything to gain as much box-office domination as Harry Potter until next summer.
August 7th
Movie of the Week Julie and Julia
The Stars: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Jane Lynch
The Plot: A woman in modern NYC works through Julia Child's famous cookbook.
The Buzz: The pairing of the sharp Streep and the amicable Adams made believers of those who saw Doubt. This new film from Nora Ephron pairs them together once again, but they will be working together in different decades of a story that hopefully speaks to more than just people who want a little more soul food from the Food Network.
The Others: Shorts - Jimmy Bennett, Jake Short, Kat Dennings, Leslie Mann A Perfect Getaway - Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant Cold Souls - Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Sienna Miller, Channing Tatum
August 14th
Movie of the Week District 9
The Stars: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt
The Plot: This science-fiction film is about aliens that are forced to live in quarantined shantytown because they can't return to their planet. They find an ally in a government agent who starts to fight back for them.
The Buzz: Based off a short film and now being produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 has been gaining some heavy viral anticipation. A while back director Neill Blomkamp was supposed to be helming a "Halo" movie, but when that didn't pan out past pre-production, he picked up his britches and made this mysterious little film. Only time will tell if he should have stuck with "Halo" and stayed out of District 9, even if that project earned him notoriety in the first place.
The Others: Ponyo - voices of Yuri Nara, Hiroki Doi Bandslam - Vanessa Hudgens, Aly Michalka, Gaelan Connell Paper Heart - Charlyne Yi, Jake Johnson, Michael Cera The Time Traveler's Wife - Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams
August 21st
Movie of the Week Inglourious Basterds
The Stars: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, Christoph Waltz
The Plot: A group of Jewish-Americans are sent to brutally kill and scalp Nazis in France during World War II.
The Buzz: Another movie from Quentin Tarantino based off some film from the 70's, Inglourious Basterds has been in the making since the Kill Bill days, and since then the curiosity of what a war would look like through Tarantino's eyes has never died down. Judging from his past work, it's easy to say it will be bloody, long, and most likely one hell of a ride (or a ride to hell?). Christoph Waltz earned an award at Cannes last May for "Best Performance for an Actor." But Brad Pitt's vicious throat scar has me excited enough.
The Others: Post Grad - Alexis Bledel, Michael Keaton, Jane Lynch My One and Only - Renee Zellweger, Kevin Bacon, Chris Noth
August 28th
Movie of the Week The Final Destination
The Stars: Krista Allen, Nick Zano, Mykelti Williamson, Shantel VanSanten
The Plot: Death haunts a new batch of doomed teenagers in the fourth installment of the horror franchise. But this time, the opening epic disaster happens on a racing track!
The Buzz: I tried to crack the Final Destination formula when this trailer came out, and it's unlikely that this new movie will prove me wrong. But who I am to be skeptical of this movie? It's going to be in 3-D, it'll probably offer a walloping amount of "dead teenager movie" cliches, and having said that it could be a lot of fun. Holy cow, did they just blow up a mall? Send a girl through the car wash? Fire a rock into another girl's face? In 3-D?! One ticket, please!
The Others: Halloween II - Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell Taking Woodstock - Demetri Martin, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schrieber St. Trinian's - Rupert Everett, Talulah Riley