Whether you love action or horror flicks, there’s something for every movie lover this August. Here’s our pick of the lot.
Nerve
Release Date: 11 August 2016
Director: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Cast: Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Juliette Lewis
Rating: PG13
If Pokemon Go is a good indicator of just how crazy society can get over a mobile phone game, then well, Nerve showcases that obsession in a disturbing manner. Based on the bestselling novel by Jeanne Ryan, and starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, this techno-thriller is about an online game of truth or dare, where players get to choose between being a watcher or a player. Watchers get to observe players and think up dares for them, while players receive cash after completing each dare. Things start off pretty innocuously, i.e. kissing strangers, heading to the city, till dares becoming increasingly risky, and even potentially life threatening for players.
Release Date: 18 August 2016
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Bill Hader, Rebecca Hall, Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill
Rating: PG
Any child who grew up reading Roald Dahl would tell you that The BFG was one of their favourite books of all time. The late British novelist was a master at tugging people’s heartstrings, and Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation of the popular book promises to be no different. As per the book, the premise starts off with a poor orphaned girl being “captured” by a giant from her orphanage home in a world where there’s vicious, children-eating giants. Thankfully, the captor is really just a big, friendly veggie-loving dude, and the unlikely pair embarks on a journey that is both funny and heartwarming.
Release Date: 18 August 2016
Director: David F. Sandberg
Cast: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Maria Bello
Rating: PG
Having post-horror movie cravings after watching The Conjuring? Well, that’s motivation enough to catch Lights Out, a movie directed by David F. Sandberg, and produced by horror specialist James Wan (also director of The Conjuring). The story explores a woman’s mysterious (and very creepy) relationship with a poltergeist, which only happens to appear when the lights are turned off. However, getting rid of the supernatural spirit proves far from easy, and a frightening finale is ensured when everyone finds out that the only solution is also the most devastating one.
Release Date: 18 August 2016
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Morgan Freeman, Rodrigo Santoro
Rating: PG
Think The Fast and the Furious, but medieval-style, and you’d have a pretty good idea of what Ben-Hur’s all about. In this biblical action movie epic, Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), is wrongfully accused of an assassination attempt by his adoptive brother Messala (Toby Kebbell). The result? He suffers years of slavery under the Romans, before getting a chance to get one back at his brother via a grand chariot race, which by the way, was shot with as little CGI as possible. Talk about bringing reality to the big screen! Morgan Freeman plays the wealthy Sheik Ilderim, while Rodrigo Santoro completes the set-up with his role as Jesus Christ.
Release Date: 18 August 2016
Director: James Schamus
Cast: Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Tracey Letts, Linda Emond
Rating: NC16
Indignation tells the tale of Marcus Mesman (Logan Lerman), a working-class Jewish student who struggles with sexual repression and cultural frustration in 1950’s America, a period of time where society was extremely prudish, and anti-Semitism was worryingly prevalent. Basically, life couldn’t get anymore dreary for poor Marcus. He lives his life like a fish helplessly out of water. That is, till he meets Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), a beautiful blonde girl who is both sexually explicit and suicidal at the same time. A romance then blossoms between them, changing their lives in the process.
Release Date: 25 August 2016
Director: Brad Furman
Cast: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger
Rating: M18
Fans of Breaking Bad are going to love this one. Infiltrator stars Bryan Cranston as Robert Mazur, a federal agent whose task is to infiltrate the nefarious trafficking network of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. His cover? An alias by the name of “Bob Musella”, a businessman who helps the cartel launder their millions of dollars. Based on the trailer, the film looks promising, but it remains to be seen if Cranston can do better, or even match up to his Breaking Bad series. If anyone can do it though, there’s no doubting it’s going to be Cranston.
Release Date: 25 August 2016
Director: Federico Alvarez
Cast: Stephen Lang, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto
Rating: PG
Don’t Breathe is a film about three amateur robbers who break into wealthy people’s homes to steal items for cash. After a few successes, they prepare for what they believe is their easiest heist yet – breaking into an old, blind man’s home and making off with all his dough. Thing is, the old man isn’t as helpless as he sounds, and the three friends soon find themselves trapped, and in a desperate fight to save their own skin.
Release Date: 25 August 2016
Director:Jonathan Jukubowicz
Cast: Édgar Ramírez, Robert De Niro, Usher
Rating: PG
There are few things in the world that are more dramatic than making sporting history. These moments are written in folklore, etched in the memories of those who witnessed them, with stories passed down from generation to generation. Famous Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran’s illustrious career had many such moments, with Jonathan Jukubowicz’s Hands of Stone focusing on the most controversial one of them all, a rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard that changed the course of boxing history forever.
Top Image Credit: The Infiltrator’s Official Facebook Page
