August Movie Guide

August is upon us. Has everyone been to the cinema for the July blockbusters?? NO?! Oh right, we had great weather. Well now we're back into the shite Irish rain for August. So what is there to do during this wet "summer" month? MOVIES!

This is your movie guide for the month. But not just the cinema (because going more than once a week would cost an arm and a leg. And the odd hand and foot), this is your guide to renting and even TV listings! So you're well covered.

First up:



Cinema

Week 1: Out Now

Black Fish - A chilling documentary about the captivity of the Orca Killer Whales and the death of three trainers killed at the hands of these creatures.



The World's End - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and (of course) Edgar Wright are back with the grand finale to the hilarious Cornetto and Blood Trilogy. It's brilliant. Go see it. No trailer because it needs no introduction.

The Wolverine - Despite those pesky YouTube adverts for it before every video you go to watch, this is one to be excited for. Hugh Jackman returns as the immortal, sharp-clawed x-men character Wolverine. Be sure to stay for the obligatory Marvel post-credits seen! No spoilers! *COUGH* Days Of Future Past *COUGH*



Week 2: 5th-11th

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa - AHAAAH! He's back. Steve Coogan has embraced his alter-ego and headed straight for the big screen. Suitable for people new to Partridge too, Coogan plays a cringe-worthy radio DJ whose outlook on life is always hilarious. Jur-assic Paark! Can't wait for this one.



Only God Forgives - Ryan Gosling. Fighting, Something for the girls AND the boys. Plus the music in the trailer is pretty awesome too. *UPDATE - Have read a few reviews, and according to some advanced screenings, it's shite.*



The Lone Ranger - Johnny Deep plays Tonto, a Native American warrior, telling the tale of fighter-for-justice John Reid (Armie Hammer).



Week 3: 12th-18th

Kick-Ass 2 - Much-anticipated sequel to the Mark Millar comic-movie of not-so-super hero Kick-Ass. In this the action is upped, and you can be sure it'll be a NSFW thrill ride. If it only lives up to half of the content from the comic, we're in for a bloody ride!



Planes - Did you like Cars? No? How about Cars 2? O....k.... well imagine a movie, based in that universe, but with PLANES instead of CARS! I think this one is more about the money than the film itself. Come on Disney, you're better than this.

Week 4: 19th-25th

Elysium - District 9 director/writer Neill Blomkamp is back with a bigger budget and Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. This is Sci-Fi about a factory worker who takes on a mission to hijack his way onto a man-made space habitat.



We're The Millers - Jennifer Aniston plays a stripper who teams up with pot dealer Jason Sudeikis to play false family with children Emma Roberts and Will Poulter, in order to transport drugs.






Renting

Don't have the money to make it to the cinema? No worries! Xtra-Vision are doing a brilliant "summer pass" deal. You purchase a €20 rental pass, which allows you to watch and play the latest movies and games. I like it! Hurry though, you only have until the end of July to purchase your August pass, and for that price, it's a steal! So what's worth renting? Well these are just a few of the many, many titles available. I'll do the latest release that week, a great movie out in the past year that you may have missed/want to re-watch, and even throw in a recommendation from my favourite movies.

Week 1:

Welcome To The Punch - (6.1/10)
Ex-criminal Jacob Sternwood is forced to return to London when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives his nemesis, detective Max Lewinsky, one last chance to catch the man he's always been after.

Incredible Burt Wonderstone - (5.9/10)
When a street magician's stunts begins to make their show look stale, superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton look to salvage on their act - and their friendship - by staging their own daring stunt.

Recent Recommends: Mama - (6.3/10)
Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they? Apart from the ending, this was a rather enjoyable horror, they had me freaked while watching.

One From My Favourites: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - (8.4/10)

This one is linked to Burt Wonderstone, because they both star Jim Carey. This is in my top five of all time favourite movies. It's about a couple who erase each other from their memories, but through this discover what they had all along. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it!  

Week 2:

Obilivion - (7.1/10)

Tom Cruise plays a veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.

Dark Skies - (6.2/10)

Paranormal Activity meets Fourth Kind, as the Barret family's peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them.

Recent Recommends: Django Unchained - (8.5/10)

Easily one of the best films of 2012. With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

One From My Favourites: Mars Attacks - (6.3/10)

Keeping with the "aliens" theme from Dark Skies, this Tim Burton parody rips the piss out of the old 50s/60s low budget B-Movies. Very funny if you remember it's meant to have a B-Movie feel.

Week 3:

Place Beyond The Pines - (7.5/10)

A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a collision course with an ambitious rookie cop navigating a department ruled by a corrupt detective.

Recent Recommends:  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - (8.1/10)

Peter Jackson retells the classic tale of Bilbo Baggins, in a some-what altered version of the Lord Of The Rings prequel.

One From My Favourites: Stand By Me - (8.1/10)

Speaking of journey-movies based on books, very few will ever beat the one told in the Stephen King classic of the same name. A super movie, that I can over and over.

Another From My Favourites: Kick-Ass - (7.8/10)

With the sequel out on the same week, if you haven't seen it, watch it NOW!

Week 4: 

Warm Bodies - (7.0/10)

This Zom-Rom-Com actually really surprised me.
After R (a highly unusual zombie) saves Julie from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

Scary MoVie - (3.5/10)

Yeah. They made another one. I'm putting it in to let you know it's out that week. In no way am I recommending you watch it. You can if you want, I won't stop you like, but I won't be there to pick up the pieces after.

Recent Recommends:  Looper - (7.6/10)

In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. Someone like Joe, who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by transporting back Joe's future self. Time travel, enough said.

One From My Favourites: FAQ About Time Travel - (7.1/10)

As I said before, time travel. This one is a top contender for title of my all-time favourite movie. This very under-rated tale stars a not-yet-famous Chris O'Dowd as a geeky "imagineer" who, along with 2 friends, finds a time-leak in the local pub. It's got Shaun Of The Dead/IT Crowd style comedy and a killer soundtrack....that song...

*ONE TO AVOID: SPRING BREAKERS*

Maybe I just "didn't get it", but this is the first movie in a long, LONG time that I had to turn off out of seer frustration. To those that disagree, shut up. Famous girls in bikinis doesn't give it a deeper meaning. The characters were annoying and the general plot went no where (at least the part I watched. I heard other stuff happened, but I don't feel like I've missed much).



TV

Don't have the funds for the cinema or rentals? Or would just rather watch a decent classic on the box. No worries, I've got you covered. I'll update this movie guide weekly, with recommendations for each day. Given that most channels only list each week, I can only give the first seven days!
 

Monday 29^th – 28 Days Later (TG4 - 21:15) 

Tuesday 30^th – One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (BBC1 - 23:50)

Wednesday 31^st – The Bourne Identity (RTE1 - 21:35)

Thursday 1^st – Paranormal Activity (ITV2 - 21:00)

Friday 2^nd – Liar Liar (RTE1 - 22:35) 

                       See No Evil,HearNo Evil (TV3 - 23:50)

  

Saturday 3^rd – Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban (UTV - 15:25)

                            Austin Powers (TV3 - 21:45) 

                            Kick-ass (C4 - 22:00) 

Sunday 4th – Red Eye (TV3 - 21:00)

                          Forrest Gump (C4 - 22:00)

So there you have it! The complete guide to movies for August! Whether it be TV, DVD or cinema, the choices are endless! ENJOY!!! 

 

Inbetweeners Sequel

The Inbetweeners is one of my favourite tv shows of all time. (Big words. I go through a box-set a week). And although the movie in 2011 didn't quite live up to the comedy of the series, it still had it's moments. 

I'm not alone in those thoughts, as it grossed £13.2 million in it's opening weekend (the highest ever for a comedy in the UK), going on to make over £45 million by the end of it's run. Not to mention selling over half a million copies on DVD on it's release day! Everyone and their Mum likes The Inbetweeners.

So it was only a matter of time before rumours of a sequel had surfaced. And have surfaced every few months since. The shows creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris have spoken about it time after time, denying these rumours, stating that unless they had a good idea, they wouldn't be doing it. Apparently they're not in it for the money. I respect that. Nothing worse than cashing in and making a poor sequel. I'd respect it more though had this not have happened:

But it did. Thankfully it was indeed killed with fire before it could lay movie eggs. How will they recover from this though?!

Well rumours of a movie sequel are afoot again. According to the Sun, they're all returning and this time it'll see the lads head Down Under. The Sun seem to always have these exclusives so I always read them with a pinch of salt. HOWEVER, this time these rumours weren't squashed!! Well, not quite. This is from the official facebook page:

"Facebook 'Fwends' - we told you you'd be the first to hear about Inbetweeners stuff, and although that's still true The Sun went rifling and found some stuff out about a sequel. Nothing's signed yet, and Australia is just one of the ideas we're kicking around, but we hope to have a new and definitiely final film for you some time next year. 

We hope you miss us as much as we miss you."

So there you have it. An almost certain guarantee of a "final" (they all say that) film planned for next year. Not surprising with it's popularity, the amount of money it's taken in and the tanking of the US remake. It would appear we haven't seen the last of the Pussay Patrol yet.

Star Wars Bits

As most know, Disney bought out LucasFilm a while ago in October, acquiring the rights to all things Lucas. The main being Star Wars. Shortly after, to no surprise, they announced plans for a new saga beginning with the yet to be titled "Episode VII".

Thus begins the rumours.

So far confirmed is the director, J.J. Abrams. Man of the hour at the mo, Abrams is responsible for Star Trek and it's soon-to-be sequel (what a star-whore), Super 8 and of course the lens flare.

Also confirmed is a release time, this being summer 2015. That's only around 110 and a half weeks....or 773 days....or 18552 minutes.... not that anyone is counting. There will be a Star Wars film released each summer from then on. A few stand-alone films are supposedly planned with Han Solo and bounty hunter Boba Fett receiving their own films. Episode VIII then arriving in 2018. Let's hope the sequels will be better than the prequels. Shan't be too hard! They've done a decent enough job with their Marvel films....let's hope the same applies here.

In terms of casting, plenty of ideas are flying about. Most talked about are of course the return of originals Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Harrison Ford addressed the issue on Jimmy Kimmel the other day.

But what have we in terms of a plot? Well Patton Oswalt guest starred in last night's Parks and Recreation, and in this nearly 9 minute outtake (which he improvised), he describes quite the masterpiece.

Let's hope Disney is taking notes!! I mean, come on. The poster is even made for it!!

Shweet.

Movie Monsters Size

With the news of Godzilla on it's way, I stumbled across this pretty cool scale pic of well known movie monsters.

We've already had King Kong fighting a T-Rex, and Godzilla Vs ManyACreature. Unfortunately I'd say we're a few years from Godzilla Vs Cloverfield, but we can live in hope.

Hangovers, Godzilla and Iron Man

Sunday night. I type.

First up is a new Hangover Part III image featuring Ken Jeong's crazy-Asian drug dealer Mr. Chow dropping into Vegas.

 

Director Todd Phillips has stated that this will be the final chapter in the trilogy, and judging by the trailer and posters, this is definitely the case. He has also said that number 3 will break from the format of the previous 2, so don't expect Alan to drug them all again and someone goes missing....

The usual suspects are returning of course. Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper (*swoon*) and Justin Bartha are all reprising their roles. Also returning is Part 1's stripper Heather Graham, and it wouldn't be a Hangover with Mike Tyson popping in. Part III will see new excellent additions in the form of John Goodman and Melissa McCarthy. And I'm not forgetting Arrested Development's (Roll on May 26th!) Jeffrey Tambor!

Here's the first TV spot for HP3, expect to see it all over your screens for the next month and a half until it's May 24th release:

A production video from the 2014 reboot of the radioactive giant lizard franchise, Godzilla, has found it's way online.

The simple tale of a giant radioactive lizard, who awakens after eons of slumber and attacks a city, will be brought to us by Monsters director Gareth Edwards. There's already some pretty cool names attached to star in this, such as Kick-Ass Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston. As you can see from the production video, destruction will be huge theme of this one. Savage.

I'll end with a bit of Iron Man 3 news. The first clip from the film is online, and it shows Tony Stark taunting his latest enemy.

Looking forward to it to make it's way to cinemas on the 25th? Well I know I am! So much so I'm going to see 1 and 2 on the 24th, followed by a midnight screening of 3. I'm even bringing my Iron Man themed 3D glasses.

Don't even care.