August 2015 Watchlist

Article by Gabe Zia
So July is coming to an end, and if you're a regular reader, you know what that means. It's time for me to take a look at some of the most intriguing or interesting films coming out this month. Since we're nearing the end of summer, we're also getting closer to my personal favorite time of the year, which is oscar season. But, before we can get to that, we've still got some movies to see. And by some, I mean holy god there's a ton of movies in August.

August 7th

Fantastic Four

Much like Terminator Genisys, this is another movie coming out that I'm not entirely sure about. From the mixed messages all the trailers are sending, to the review embargo being the day of release, to simply the fact that it's yet another needless gritty reboot. Just to be clear, I'm on Josh Tranks side here, I want this movie to be good. However, the closer we get to release, the less likely that seems.

Ricki & the Flash

Much like with Big Game and putting Samuel L. Jackson as the president, there are some movies that I will arbitrarily go see simply because a certain actor is in a certain role. Another example is Meryl Streep in any role ever, because she's fantastic. In Ricki & the Flash, she plays a rock star guitarist. Thankfully, this is one of the few movies I've managed to avoid any trailers and plot details for, so I'll be going into this movie knowing absolutely nothing, aside from Meryl Streep plays the guitar. If you ask me, Meryl Streep playing the guitar for a rock band is more than reason enough to see this movie.

Dark Places

Last year, I went into Gone Girl completely blind, I had no idea what the book was about, the only thing I knew was it had some talented people behind it. And now another book by Gillian Flynn, Dark Places, is being adapted to film. While I have no clue who this director is, just about everything in this movie looks promising. You've got a stellar cast, good cinematography from what I've seen, and a rare trait for modern mystery thrillers, which is that I can't tell what the big reveal is going to be from the trailer. Knowing Gillian Flynn, it's going to shock me, whatever it'll be.

August 14th

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

I've never watched the original tv show this movie is based on, in fact up until about a couple of months ago, I head no idea there was an original series. But even before that I was pumped, this movie's got fun spy action, Henry Cavill as basically American Bond, Armie Hammer as a badass Russian, a lot of talented actors, and it's handled by Guy Ritchie. So, I was already on board for this movie before I knew anything else.

Straight Outta Compton

NWA is one of the most controversial groups of all time, so to say that an NWA movie was to be expected is frankly an understatement.  There was so much surrounding this group, between news controversy, their lives in Compton, public backlash for the topics of their songs, and how iconic it all was. This movie has a lot building up to it, and I think it looks really good, from both an entertainment and critical standpoint.

Backcountry

The survival horror film genre is usually one of two things. Intriguing and complex, or zombies, and there's no in between (except for 28 Days Later). However, much like The Grey, Backcountry is a man vs. nature survival film, only instead of wolves, it's a bear. The film follows a couple, whose hiking/camping trip goes wrong when they find themselves in a black bears territory, and have to survive because bears are terrifying.

Air

Air looks kind of like a dream come true for me. It looks kind of similar to the movie Moon, which is one of my favorite movies ever made, and it's got Norman Reedus and Djimon Honsou in the leading roles. Granted, this isn't the biggest blockbuster of the summer, so, like a lot of movies unfortunately, it may be a while before I actually see this movie. That being said, I've been waiting for it for a while now, so I'm willing to wait.

Eden

Apparently August 14th is the big day for August, this is the fifth film hopefully coming out then. Eden was a movie I was trying to see at last years Toronto Film Festival, and although I couldn't see it then, it's now getting a limited release, and unlike way too many limited releases, I know this one will be coming out in my area. Like Ricki & the Flash, I know nothing about Eden. In fact, I know less about Eden than I do about any movie coming out this year, I know nothing about this movie.

August 21st

American Ultra

When I first saw the trailer for American Ultra, It seemed like the director of this movie watched Dazed and Confused, and said "I wonder if this was an action movie". That's exactly what American Ultra is, the premise for this movie is that a stoner cashier guy is a sleeper cell, who gets activated by the CIA, but is still a stoner, only now he can do CIA stuff. Jesse Eisenberg looks funny, Kristen Stewart looks a lot funnier than she usually is, and I'm really looking forward to American Ultra.

Auguest 28th

Regression

Regression is one of the few movies coming out this year I know close to nothing about, even after watching the trailer, and hearing about script details from a friend. The plot synopsis on IMDB makes it sound like one thing, the trailer makes it look like something completely different. I'm not sure if it's about a cult of some sort, or about recovery from trauma, or it could very well be both. All I know is I've heard it's a fantastic movie.

Best of July 2015: Ant-Man

Ant-Man is probably one of Marvels biggest, toughest moves yet, and it absolutely pays off in the form of one of their best films as of yet. This, along with Guardians of the Galaxy, is Marvels funniest movie so-far, and the action sequences are fantastic. The way the Ant-Man gimmick is used here is fantastic, it's so original, and so well-done. I hope that in the years to come we can see some more Ant-Man films, because Paul Rudd as Ant-Man is one of the most compelling characters in Marvel films right now. I liked Ant-Man a lot more than I thought I would, far more than Age of Ultron, and I would even put it up there with Winter Soldier.