Weekly Release Roundup - August 14

What’s up, everybody? Welcome back to the written version of videos I publish every Friday, highlighting what is new to the cinemas and can now be viewed in your home on a standard video on demand service. I don’t include paid video on demand, so keep that in mind. So without further ado, dim the lights and roll the reel.

The Big One this Weekend

Anne Hathaway (yes, again) and Ewan McGregor star as the parents of a family who must navigate new surroundings when their entire neighborhood is transported to an unknown place after a cosmic event. Much of the film is shrouded in mystery, but there are definitely dinosaurs and people love them some dinosaurs. This is written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, who made the fantastic It Follows and Under the Silver Lake, which has a rabid fanbase.

Speaking of dinosaurs, this movie weirdly has a similar plot. After a storm, the PAW Patrol wind up on an obscure dinosaur island. Somehow they also trigger a volcano and then must help save the island. I know next to nothing about PAW Patrol, but I know it was very popular at one point, and since they are making another movie, I assume it still is.

I loved Green Day just about as much as the next guy in my youth, and some of the music still holds up incredibly well. In this comedy, three friends who are in a band drive cross-country, getting into hijinks as they race towards LA so they can open up for Green Day on New Year’s Eve and achieve their big break. I’m hoping for some laughs and the cast is loaded with names who are capable of delivering.

I already thought we were having a pretty lit movie year, and then I learned there’s a stoner comedy starring Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat - we are so back. The two play an aimless pair of women who inadvertently gain telepathic powers after ingesting an experimental drug. From there, they have to avoid dangerous people pursuing the same drug. At the very worst, we should get a female Pineapple Express, and I wouldn’t be mad at even that.

It’s almost unfathomable that Matthew McConaughey hasn’t been in an actual theatrically released film since before the pandemic. He returns as Amziah King, a beekeeper, musician, and anchor of his community who reunites with his former foster daughter after years apart. When King faces threats to his honey business, his daughter takes over the bookkeeping and investigates who is trying to harm them. Kurt Russell as a potential baddie definitely piques my interest in this one.

Jeff Daniels stars as Ronald Reagan who must race to save a nuclear deal with Mikhail Gorbachev, played by Jared Harris, while pressure mounts around both of them. This is another Angel Studios release, so you know two things are going to happen. First, the facts will be blown out of proportion so that it’s super patriotic. Secondly, I’ll never see it in my lifetime.

Based on a true story, Robert Malcolm Cumming stars as the titular Peel, who is a stadium-filling rock star whose life of fame, partying, and addiction comes crashing down on him when he suffers a heart attack. This is actually about the life of musician Kevin Sepe, who wrote and co-directed the film. It’s also faith-based, so it could also have come from Angel Studios.

Much like Hadestown: The Musical from a few weeks ago, this is a filmed version of the musical Six. If you aren’t aware of the musical, it tells the story of the six wives of Henry VIII, cleverly reimagining them as pop stars who reclaim their narratives from their infamous husband’s shadow. I’ve heard it’s really great from fans of Broadway.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling return to Dolby Cinema for the 10th Anniversary of La La Land, a movie we all thought won Best Picture for about five minutes or so. It’s ripe for a rewatch, and there’s no better way to experience a movie than in the Dolby Cinema. I just remember being blown away by that opening sequence and look forward to seeing it again.

The highly acclaimed anime film also returns to theaters for its 10th Anniversary. The movie is about two teenagers, a boy in Tokyo and a girl in rural Japan, who begin to randomly swap bodies, which leads them both on a search for one another. I’ve been meaning to finally get around to seeing this, but what I have seen is visually breathtaking.

And for the 10th Anniversary hat trick, we have the zombie film Train to Busan, directed by Yeon Sang-ho. I’m pretty sure this is getting a rerelease not only because of the anniversary but also because Sang-ho has the prequel Colony arriving in theaters soon. Another one I have had on my watch list for the last decade.

Hard to believe it’s been 25 years since David Wain and Michael Showalter, both members of the comedy troupe The State, unleashed this cult classic comedy into the world. The cast is absolutely loaded with talent, many actors you’re seeing on screen for the very first time along with some seasoned vets. It’s about a group of camp counselors on the last day of camp. That’s it, that’s the plot, and that’s all that’s needed. If you haven’t seen this one, please remedy that.

Starz

Is Michael a good biopic? Not really, but it does showcase some fantastic recreations of some of the biggest moments in music history. The only knock on that I have is that you can just watch all of these landmark performances or music videos on YouTube and see the real thing. All this said, it does feature an electric first-time performance from Jaafar Jackson, nephew of Michael, who should be nominated this year. Colman Domingo also plays the father of the family, and anytime he’s in anything, it’s a bonus.

HBO Max

Bob Odenkirk stars as a temporary sheriff in the small town of Normal when he begins to unravel dark truths about the town after a bank robbery. It’s easy to mix this movie up with Nobody, because Odenkirk stars in both and both his character and the film’s titles are similar, but this is directed by Ben Wheatley and definitely features his particular style of filmmaking. Overall it’s a pretty good time.

Amazon Prime Video

There have been many adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, so why not another one? Riz Ahmed stars in this version reimagined in a bold, modern adaptation set within London’s elite South Asian community. I think I’m tapped out on Shakespeare at the moment, but Ahmed is a fantastic actor, and I’m sure this will be a unique approach.

Amazon Prime Video

Rose Byrne stars in this drama that tells the true story of Amanda Ogle, an unhoused woman who had to fight the system when she received a tow bill that eventually reached $21,634. Byrne’s performance is probably being over looked since she’s following up IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU but she’s very good. As is Simon Rex, who plays an attendant at the tow yard.

Netflix

Adam Sandler’s other nepo baby, Sunny, stars in this Netflix original about a girl ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical, only to experience more drama at home than on the stage. Her mother is played by the excellent Melanie Lynskey, who I’m sure is going to turn in a good performance. Netflix originals are more miss than hit, but the cast around Sandler is strong - let’s hope the script is as well.

Hulu

Despite what Tarantino says, Paul Dano is a damn fine actor. In this film, he plays an amalgamation of real people here, named Vadim Baranov, who becomes a spinster for Vladimir Putin as he ascends to become president of Russia. Jude Law plays Putin, but the real standout performance is from Alicia Vikander, who plays Baranov’s on-again, off-again love interest Ksenia. This one is pretty lackluster, but I was more positive than negative on it.

Peacock

Based on writer/director Hayley Kiyoko’s song turned novel of the same name, this is an LGBTQ+ coming-of-age story. It features strong lead performances from Maya da Costa and Myra Molloy, two actresses with very few credits to their name, but you would be hard-pressed to tell by just watching this. Pretty solid debut, especially for a singer turned filmmaker, even if Zach Braff seems to be acting like he’s in a different movie.

MGM+

The newest film from Renny Harlin apparently starts with a plane crash disaster before turning into a shark survival movie. I’m not exactly excited for this one, but some people are seemingly having a good time with it, and it does star Sir Ben Kingsley along with Aaron Eckhart (where has he been?), so it might have some good acting performances.

AMC+/Shudder

This is a direct-to-Shudder original with an interesting hook. A woman wakes up in the back of a camper with a badly infected wound and is told from a voice up front that if she doesn’t make it to a hospital within the hour, she will face a terrible fate. This seems like a premise that might be tough to sustain, but it’s a tight 90 minutes.

And that’s it for this weekend. For more in-depth reviews on some of these movies and many others, follow me @DestroVega on Letterboxd or on just about any social media platform. You can also check out my podcast Wild Card Cinema on YouTube.