September 2nd
Apollo 18
Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego
Plot: “Footage” from an old secret space mission in which two American astronauts have a disturbing encounter.
Verdict: Skip it. I already know what the disturbing encounter is; trust me and save your money.

Shark Night 3D
Directed by David R. Ellis
Plot: A group of friends are enjoying their vacation at a lake house until they find the water that surrounds them is now infested with man-hungry sharks
Verdict: Sadly, this is actually your better option of the two for this weekend.

September 9th
Warrior
Directed by Gavin O’Connor
Plot: Two martial arts fighting brothers find themselves face to face in the ring.
Verdict: It’s not going to get the acclaim The Fighter did, but I still think it will be on par.

Contagion
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Plot: Fear and paranoia take over as a potentially quick spreading, deadly disease breaks out.
Verdict: There’s a star studded cast of top actors and this is one action thriller that is going to have everyone gripping the edge of their seats.

Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star
Directed by Tom Brady
Plot: The son of two former A-list porn stars decides to enter into the family business.
Verdict: This looks so bad I can’t even believe it’s a real movie.

September 16th
Straw Dogs
Directed by Rod Lurie
Plot: A group of local farmhands decide to torture the town’s newest residents, one of which the group’s leader had a romantic connection with.
Verdict: It reminds me of the movie The Strangers, but only more gruesome and blunt rather than suspenseful.

Drive
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Plot: A Hollywood stunt driver spends his nights driving get-a-way cars but finds himself entangled in a crime gone wrong.
Verdict: Yes, yes and yes.

I Don’t Know How She Does It
Directed by Douglas McGrath
Plot: A woman tries to balance a successful career with being a good wife and mother while still being her own person.
Verdict: Redundant and played out.

September 23rd
Abduction
Directed by John Singleton
Plot: A teenager finds his picture on a missing child’s list and starts to realize he’s been living a lie.
Verdict: Nothing unique but I’d be interested if I didn’t have to share the theater with a bunch of little girls screaming for Taylor Lautner.

Dolphin Tale
Directed by Charles Martin Smith
Plot: The story of a boy and a dolphin who become friends.
Verdict: So like Free Willy meets Flipper?

Moneyball
Directed by Bennett Miller
Plot: The true story of a baseball manager trying to redefine how baseball teams sign their players.
Verdict: Sports movies are always good, but this one looks spectacular.

Killer Elite
Directed by Gary McKendry
Plot: A bunch of assassins fighting and capturing one another and trying to kill the other ones
Verdict: It’s your typical assassin movie, but it does come with a great cast.

September 30th
50/50
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Plot: The story of a twenty seven year old guy who finds out he has cancer and has a 50/50 shot at beating it.
Verdict: This film is going to be funny, sincere, inspirational and depressing all at once. Definitely my choice for the weekend.

Dream House
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Plot: After moving in, a family learns that a horrific crime was committed against their house’s former residents.
Verdict: Where do all these people live that they always find haunted houses?

What’s Your Number
Directed by Mark Mylod
Plot: Determined not to sleep with any more men, a women goes in search of all her past partners to see if she can give any of them a second chance.
Verdict: It’s the only romantic comedy of the month, and Anna Faris can definitely hold her own on screen.

There are so many good movies out this month. I am most interested in Contagion, Drive, Moneyball and 50/50. After those comes Warrior and What’s Your Number. In addition to all those, there are two limited releases, Restless and Margaret that I have my eye on as well. It’s going to be a busy month for me! What are you all interested in for September?

Limited Release: October 21st

You want to talk about a movie that is going to get under your skin? This is it. The Olsen twin’s little sister gets her actor debut in a big way with Martha Marcy May Marlene. She plays a girl who runs away from a cult but faces difficulty re-assimilating into everyday life as fear and paranoia grow deeper and deeper inside her that her captors may be close to catching her. This international trailer for the film gives us a good inside look at what kind of life Martha was use to living under the watchful eye of John Hawkes. I’m not sure whose performance shines brighter, but what I do know is that this is one film that has the power to be completely haunting. I’m going to go ahead and consider it this year’s Black Swan; a film dedicated to the depiction of a young girl facing a psychological breakdown  that is sure to leave people uneasy and captivated.

Release Date: December 16, 2011

Roman Polanski may have some personal issues to address but there’s no denying his genius when it comes to his craft. His latest directorial effort, The Ghost Writer, was a brilliant, mind bending piece of work and Carnage looks to be even better. This character drama focuses on four people who decided meet after their sons get into a fight at school only to realize that someone’s true colors cant stay under wraps for long. Based on the play, God of Carnage, Polanski has taken this fascinating expose on human nature and combined it with an incredibly extraordinary ensemble of actors and has hand delivered what I suspect will be one of the best films of the year.

Release Date: October 7, 2011

I don’t know what it is about movies like this that get me so intrigued. First of all, and I don’t know what this says about me, but I am obsessed with serial killers. I love the story of the Zodiac killer and from January-October every year I go through Dexter Morgan withdraws. It’s a morbid fascination and lets leave it at that. Second of all, I’m from Long Island where, for those of you who don’t live in New York, we are currently going through our own “killing fields” epidemic; there’s a beach not too far from my house where girls (more specifically, prostitutes) keep surfacing. This is the kind of movie that will deliver on its promise of gruesome twists and horrifying turns until you don’t know which way is up anymore. Between how close it hits to home, the haunting mystery of the story and of course Chloe Moretz, this movie has the recipe for one hell of a great film.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson

Runtime: 1:23

Warning: May Contain Spoilers

I wanted to hate everything about this movie; in fact I expected too. I wanted to hate Jesse Eisenberg for proving he was such a good actor only to end up making this movie. I wanted to hate Nick Swardson and Danny McBride because, well, I never liked them from the start. I wanted to scoff at the eighty three minute runtime. I wanted to groan when I heard the inevitable and played out stoner jokes. I expected to walk out of that theater ready to mock anyone who liked this movie. But as it turns out, none of that happened.

Jesse Eisenberg is one of my favorites and I felt betrayed when he decided to make this movie after the success of the Social Network. He had received notoriety and recognition, only to waste it on such futile efforts. Why would he backtrack? He didn’t. Eisenberg has a charm and an appeal that is unlike any one else in Hollywood and despite the film’s modest abilities, his talent isn’t wasted. It’s his unique persona that makes this film work whereas it would have failed in plenty of spots with anyone else as the lead. Aziz Ansari is the perfect sidekick; he and Eisenberg work perfectly together. To be honest, Ansari would be the perfect sidekick to almost anyone and his performance here is my second favorite comedic performance of the summer only behind Charlie Day in Horrible Bosses. Note to filmmakers everywhere – start casting Aziz Ansari. He and Eisenberg anchor the film, and the laughs, where Nick Swardson and Danny McBride can’t. Swardson and McBride were predictable, crude and not nearly as entertaining as their younger costars. I may not have walked out scolding Jesse for his career choices, but I did walk out still hating Swardson and McBride.

As for the runtime, it works. It’s short, yes, but no ends are left untied. 30 Minutes or Less is not a complicated plot and therefore doesn’t need two hours to tell you its story. The film did a good job of moving the plot along while still covering all its bases. Perhaps more movies should follow their lead and scale back their movie length; it was a refreshing change of pace to not feel as though a movie was dragging on.

Perhaps most surprising was the fact that this wasn’t actually a stoner movie. Other than the notion of Eisenberg’s lack of ambition and his love of smoking, there are no stoner jokes. It’s not a Pineapple Express (although the endings remind me of each other for different reasons) and that was appreciated. Drug jokes are fine, but they aren’t funny enough to center a movie around, at least in my opinion.

What the movie was, however, was funny. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the next Hangover by any means, but it gets the job done. Perhaps the key here was low expectations. Or maybe it’s a case of too many wrongs making a right.  Regardless of what it was, I laughed. 30 Minutes or Less is destined to become a Comedy Central staple, and one that I will happily watch when I find it flipping through the channels.

Release Date: October 28, 2011

This trailer captured my heart within the first ten seconds. I’m a hopeless romantic, someone who believes very firmly in the ability of people to break down the walls that keep them apart. Like Crazy is the story of two twenty-somethings doing just that; torn apart by thousands of miles after falling in love, they must now find a way to make it work or decide to move on. It’s a common story and the realism of the idea only makes the film hit harder. After just two minutes, I’ve already been on a emotional journey with these characters, and I have a lot of faith in any film that can conjure up such feelings after such a short period of time.

Not to mention the song they chose for the opening is perfection.

August 5th
The Change Up
Directed by David Dobkin
Plot: A father of two and a notorious womanizer accidentally switch bodies, and therefore lifestyles.
Verdict: The whole body switching thing is really played out, even if this is Bateman and Reynolds.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Directed by Rupert Wyatt
Plot: A scientific experiment leads to a bunch of apes fighting for supremacy against humans.
Verdict: This outstretches my suspension of disbelief.

August 10th
The Help
Directed by Tate Taylor
Plot: A young women decides to write a book from the perspective of the African American help, shocking her Southern neighbors.
Verdict: It looks intriguing, and I’m interested in seeing Emma Stone in more of a dramatic rather than comedic role.

August 12th
30 Minutes or Less
Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Plot: A stoned pizza delivery boy is coerced into helping two criminals commit a crime, thanks to the bomb they strapped on him with the promise that they’ll remove it only after he robs a bank for them.
Verdict: Stupid? Probably. But I’m a sucker for Jesse Eisenberg these days.

Final Destination Five
Directed by Steven Quale
Plot: Once again, a bunch of teenagers who defy death once quickly learn that you can’t cheat it forever.
Verdict: If you’re a fan of the previous Destinations, I don’t see why you wouldn’t like this one.

Glee 3D
Directed by Kevin Tancharoen
Plot: A documentary of the Glee Summer Concert Tour.
Verdict: I’m not sure why this movie is even necessary quite honestly.

August 19th
Conan the Barbarian
Directed by Marcus Nispel
Plot: One guy full of testosterone sets on a mystical quest to avenge the murder of his loved ones.
Verdict: It’s not my thing, but plenty of others have been anticipating it for awhile.

Fright Night
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Plot: A teenager discovers that his neighbor is actually a blood sucking vampire, and not the friendly Twilight kind.
Verdict: I don’t like remakes or vampires, but this actually looks very promising.

One Day
Directed by Lone Scherfig
Plot: We follow two people on the same day each year over several years to find out what role they play in each others lives over time.
Verdict: I love the concept but Anne Hathaway’s accent is nearly killing the film.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Plot: Two kids and their step mother attempt to fight off an evil supervillain and save the world.
Verdict: Now in 4D Aroma-vision! (That’s not a joke either)

August 26th
Colombiana
Directed by Olivier Megaton
Plot: After a young women witnesses the murder of her parents, she trains to be an assassin.
Verdict: I like Kill Bill, I could get on  board.

Dont be Afraid of the Dark
Directed by Troy Nixey
Plot: After a little girl moves in with her father and girlfriend, she discovers evil creatures in the house with even worst intentions.
Verdict: Typical storyline delivering typical results.

Our Idiot Brother
Directed by Jesse Peretz
Plot: A free spirited man lives with each of his sisters for a little bit while simultaneously ruining their lives.
Verdict: Paul Rudd and a bunch of funny females is a home run.

Our Idiot Brother is really the only movie that I can’t wait to see this month. I’ll see 30 Minutes or Less and I’m going to force myself to see The Change-Up since I made a stupid promise to myself to see all the summer comedies. Other than that, The Help, One Day and Fright Night make my list of things I’m interested in, but I doubt I’ll be interested enough to see them in theaters. There may be a lot going on in August, but very little of substance, that’s for sure.

Release Date: Unknown

While the name Francis Ford Coppola once drove people to the movies, now a days it’s far less meaningful. Several weeks ago at Comic Con, he presented the trailer for TWIXT; one of his most promising, and sure to be most talked about, films in recent memory. The trailer mixes gothic fantasy with mysterious reality and develops a deep enough storyline that suggests Val Kilmer may be in far over his head. The real genius however, is that this movie is positioned to change how audiences watch movies.

Coppola has designed TWIXT as a live performance. That’s right, a live film. The movie will be edited while people are watching it, resulting in a different movie every time based upon the audience’s reactions. Theoretically, you could go to the theater five times and see a different film each time. Will this idea become main stream? Certainly not. But it’s that kind of groundbreaking thinking that first put Coppola on the map many years ago and that kind of thinking that will usher in his return.

Directed by Will Gluck

Starring: Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake and Patricia Clarkson

Runtime: 2:00

Warning: May Contain Spoilers

If four years of business school has taught me anything, it’s that timing is everything. Friends with Benefits is a romantic comedy where two friends decide that they can have sex without emotion or any of the complication that comes from a relationship.Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Of course it does; unfortunately for FWB, No Strings Attached was released just six months ago. And we aren’t talking about two similiar movies, we’re talking about the SAME movie; unrealistically beautiful characters, a supporting cast of well known comedic actors, a scene where we watch them see each other naked for the first time, a crazy parent who gets in the way of things and a series of cute dates that makes it quite obvious to everyone but them that they’re falling in love.

See my point? So not only does Friends With Benefits have to establish itself as a decent movie, but it was now forced to compete and prove why it was better than it’s predecessor.

Despite the overwhelming comparisons between these two flicks, there were some minor differences. Friends With Benefits seemed a bit more realistic; Mila and Justin weren’t life long friends destined for each other like Natalie and Ashton, but rather they were new co-workers and Mila was Justin’s only friend after relocating across the country. Not only did it make the attempt at being slightly more realistic, but it also tried to dig a little deeper. In No Strings Attached, Ashton has daddy issues because his dad won’t stop sleeping with his girlfriends. Problematic, yes, but tear worthy it is not. Justin on the other hand, suffers from a father who has fallen victim to Alzheimer’s. His dad has to be reminded that his precious boat has been sold because he is in no condition to drive it, and even worse, retold that his wife left his many years ago. Finally, without giving away anything, Mila and Justin get into a vicious fight whereas Ashton and Natalie fall apart for other reasons.

Differences aside, it’s still the same core movie. Therefore, what it comes down to are performances and chemistry. Mila and Justin have chemistry together, but not as much as Natalie and Ashton did. Where Friends with Benefits does reign though, is in it’s two small, yet great, surprise breakout performances. Bryan Greenberg (Jake for all my fellow One Tree Hill fans) plays an entirely different kind of character than what we are use to seeing, and it suits him well. The real treat however is Nolan Gould, the youngest Dunphy from Modern Family. He plays a young aspiring magician, and a big source of laughs as Justin’s adorable nephew. There are also a bunch of minor cameos from some of our favorite laugh out loud performers.

Friends with Benefits is good; although it starts off a little slow, it picks up and tries to deliver a movie that is not only a funny romantic comedy, but one that scratches the surface of something a little deeper. But the real question is, is better than No Strings Attached? Not in my opinion. I thought No Strings Attached conjured up more laughs, better pop culture references and, as is the nature of going first, didn’t feel as recycled as Friends with Benefits did. Regardless, both films are fun, mindless entertainment that will make you chuckle on more than one occassion, and I think everyone can agree that whether it’s Natalie and Ashton or Mila and Justin, those are two good looking combos everyone would like to see benefitting.