U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-30
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Cast: Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Tomer Capone, Emily Beecham
The primary narrative is hijacked by a series of too-long flashbacks and a questionable decision to insert a late-in-the-proceedings twist.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-23
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Sexual Content, Profanity, Drugs)
Genre: Thriller
Director: JT Mollner
Cast: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr.
Unfortunately, once the “mysteries” have been resolved, "Strange Darling" loses a lot of its energy and the final act devolves into anticlimax.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-23
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Sexual Content, Drugs)
Genre: Action/Horror
Director: Rupert Sanders
Cast: Bill Skarsgard, FKA Twigs, Danny Huston, Josette Simon, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila
The characters have no humanity, the romance has no sizzle, and the whole thing turns into a slog where style overwhelms substance to such a degree that there’s too little left of the latter to matter.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-23
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Sexual Content, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Zoe Kravitz
Cast: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel, Levon Hawke, Trew Mullen, Geena Davis, Kyle MacLachlan
A collage of Hitchcockian elements baked into a story with a more graphic approach than anything the Master of Suspense ever achieved.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-16
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Profanity)
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Director: Fede Alvarez
Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, Aileen Wu, Ian Holm
Fede Alvarez, obviously an "Alien" devotee, opts for a “greatest hits” approach replete with Easter Eggs and instances of fan service.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-16
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Content, Violence)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Austin Peters
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Nathan Fillion, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, Erik Palladino, John Billingsley, Luis Gerardo Mendez
Feels like it wants to be a screwball caper movie but the comedy gets lost along the way; the thriller elements are rather pedestrian.
U.S. Home Release Date: 2024-08-14
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Documentary
Director: Sara Dosa
Cast: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft
Feels like a “greatest hits” album, tracking some of the most important volcanoes that the couple visited/investigated during the quarter century of their partnership.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-09
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Science Fiction/Action
Director: Eli Roth
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Janina Gavankar, Jack Black, Gina Gerson
Perhaps those familiar with the game will find enough in the way of fan service to somehow redeem this unfocused abortion of a motion picture.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-02
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Cast: Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Bottani, Lil Rel Howery, Tanya Reynolds, Jermaine Clement, Alfred Molina
The charm of the book is mostly lost in translation although that might not bother younger, less discriminating viewers.
U.S. Release Date: 2024-08-02
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Thriller
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Alison Pill, Hayley Mills, Kid Cudi
A house of cards built on a bed of sand in the middle of a hurricane; it flies apart and collapses almost immediately.