In recent years movie ticket sales have been slowly decreasing, and while some may blame the economy, it seems that there just aren’t any good movies worth seeing. According to the LA Times, movie attendance has dropped 20% since March 2010.
Below is a list I compiled of films releasing in August, as well as a brief synopsis and prediction of how well they will be received.
“The Change-Up” (August 5)
-Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, and Olivia Wilde
-A family man (Jason Bateman) and his single best friend (Ryan Reynolds) switch lives because both are unhappy
-Projected Audience Reception: B
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (August 5)
-Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis and Freida Pinto
-Set in present day San Francisco, a geneticist’s (James Franco) experiment leads to the development of intelligence in apes; and the war for supremacy begins
-Projected Audience Reception: A-
“30 Minutes or Less” (August 12)
-Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson
-Two criminals force a pizza delivery boy (Jesse Eisenberg) to rob a bank within nine hours or else they’ll kill him. He enlists the help of his best friend (Aziz Ansari), who happens to be a teacher.
-Projected Audience Reception: B+
“Final Destination 5” (August 12)
-Starring: Emma Bell, Nicholas D’Agosto, Miles Fisher, Arlen Escarpeta
-The fifth installment in the series where the audience learns one cannot cheat death
-Projected Audience Reception: D+
“The Help” (August 12)
-Starring: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Octavia L. Spencer
-An aspiring writer (Emma Stone) decides to write a book about “the help” in a 1960s Mississippi town
-Projected Audience Reception: A
“Conan the Barbarian” (August 19)
-Starring: Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang, and Rose McGowan
-Conan (Jason Momoa), the Cimmerian, sets out on quest to avenge the murder of his father and the slaughter of his village
-Projected Audience Reception: B+
“One Day” (August 19)
-Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Romola Garai, and Rafe Spall
-For 20 years, two friends (Anne Hataway, Jim Sturgess) spend every 15th of July together but the time comes for one of them to move on
-Projected Audience Reception: B
“Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World” (August 19)
-Starring: Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Jeremy Piven, and Alexa Vega
-The fourth installment in the “Spy Kids” franchise where a retired spy (Jessica Alba) goes back to work to save the world from a megalomaniac
-Projected Audience Reception: C-
“The Debt” (August 31)
-Starring: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Jesper Christensen
-Past events haunt a former Mossad agent (Helen Mirren) when she returns to Eastern Europe to investigate the apparent reappearance of a Nazi war criminal she thought was long dead
-Projected Audience Reception: A-
