Movies in Theaters This Wednesday, August 13-15, 2014: The Expendables 3, The Giver, Let’s Be Cops, and More
This weekend’s movie release schedule gets off to an odd start as Luke Greenfield’s (Role Models) Let’s Be Cops kicks off the releases mid-week. I get why they did it, too, because the two other big releases coming Friday could take away some money from the buddy comedy.
If I had to guess (and I have), I’d put my money on Patrick Hughes’ (Red Hill) The Expendables 3. Not only is this a franchise film but it’s a film that involves huge names like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, and Harrison Ford.
I, however, am most excited for the film adaptation of The Giver. I really enjoyed the novel and I think it has a lot of potential when brought to the big screen. It stars Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent).
In limited release, I would try to see the Michael Fassbender-starring film Frank (which is directed by Lenny Abrahamson). Fassbender is sporting quite the costume in the film so if nothing else you can go for that.
If you don’t want to leave your home to see a movie, you could download Life After Beth from Video On Demand services. The zombie film stars Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) and Aubrey Plaza (Safety Not Guaranteed). It does release in limited theaters if that route is better for you.
The rest of the limited releases are Dinosaur 13, Fort McCoy, Found, Jake Squared, Ragnarok, Saints and Soldiers: The Void, Septic Man, The Trip to Italy (which I’m also excited to see), and The Word.
Check out the trailers below if you want more on each film!
In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team come face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables — but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
This film, based on Lois Lowry’s book, tells the story of a perfect world. Everyone here is happy. When Jonas is 12 years old, he’s chosen to be the community’s Receiver of Memories. He enters into training with an old man called The Giver. From the Giver, Jonas learns about pain, sadness, war, and all the unhappy truths of the “real” world. He quickly realizes that his community is fake. Confronted with this reality, Jonas faces difficult choices about his own life and his future.
It’s the ultimate buddy cop movie except for one thing: they’re not cops. When two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party, they become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted “heroes” get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.
When Paleontologist Peter Larson and his team from the Black Hills Institute made the world’s greatest dinosaur discovery in 1990, they knew it was the find of a lifetime; the largest, most complete T. rex ever found. But during a ten-year battle with the U.S. government, powerful museums, Native American tribes, and competing paleontologists they found themselves not only fighting to keep their dinosaur but fighting for their freedom as well.
Based on the book “Rex Appeal: The Amazing Story of Sue, the Dinosaur That Changed Science, the Law, and My Life” by PETER LARSON and KRISTIN DONNAN
Eric Stoltz (Pulp Fiction) gives one of his most powerful performances as Frank Stirn, who moves with his family to become a barber for the American Army and POW camp at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1944. Embittered that he cannot fight, Frank must take a stand when a Nazi SS Officer threatens his wife (Kate Connor, playing her real-life grandmother). Her Catholic sister (Lyndsy Fonseca, Kick-Ass) falls for a Jewish soldier (Andy Hirsch, The Chicago 8) haunted by the battle of Monte Cassino and the death of his best friend (Matthew Lawrence, Mrs. Doubtfire).
Camryn Manheim (Happiness) is their audacious friend who encourages the couple, while Seymour Cassel (Rushmore) is the priest who cannot. Frank’s daughter befriends a German prisoner boy during this magical summer, but war still finds its victims even thousands of miles from the battlefields.
Marty is the ideal fifth grader. He gets good grades, listens to his teachers, and doesn’t start trouble in class. But darkness is beginning to fall over Marty’s life. The kids at school won’t stop picking on him, his parents just don’t seem to understand him, and now Marty must grapple with a terrible secret that threatens to destroy life as he knows it – his big brother is a serial killer! Brotherly love is put to the ultimate test in this emotional coming-of-age story that descends into full-blown horror.
FRANK is an offbeat comedy about a wannabe musician who finds himself out of his depth when he joins an avant-garde pop band led by the enigmatic Frank – a musical genius who hides himself inside a large fake head.
Jake Klein, 50, sets out to make a movie. He hires an actor to play himself and throws a big party. His idea is to shoot the heck out of it and see what he gets. But, everything spins out of control as different, unexpected people show up. Old loves are there. New loves are there. His dead father, his mother when she was young, his kids, his ex-wife. Even his younger selves, Jake at 40, Jake at 30 and Jake at 17, are there, too! And every one of them has tons of advice on how to fix his screwed up life. Jake’s head reels as he staggers through what’s either a mystical experience, a nervous breakdown… or both!
Zach (Dane DeHaan) is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza). But when she miraculously comes back to life, Zach takes full advantage of the opportunity to share and experience all the things he regretted not doing with her before. However, the newly returned Beth isn’t quite how he remembered her and, before long, Zach’s whole world takes a turn for the worse.
An archeologist is convinced the Oseberg Viking ship contains the answer to the mystery of Ragnarok, the end of days in Norse mythology. He mounts an expedition to “No Man’s Land” between Norway and Russia, which holds a secret more terrifying than he could possibly imagine.
Germany, May 1945, the twilight of WWII. On a final mission deep in the Harz mountains a U.S. tank crew discovers a platoon of Germans, including three infamous Panzer tanks, preparing to ambush allied supply trucks.
Before the war, Sergeant Jesse Owens, was a product of segregation and racial discrimination. Forced by law to ride in the back of the bus and disenfranchised from the political process. As the Germans bear down on the Americans, Owens fights the Axis powers for a freedom he and his fellow African American soldiers have never felt.
With a deadly game of cat and mouse quickly unfolding, Owens and his predominantly white tank crew find themselves out-gunned and out-manned by the German Panzer tanks. Several in Owens’ crew are reluctant to put their faith in a black tank driver despite their dire circumstances. With tension and fear beginning to manifest Owens knows they must put aside their differences to stop the enemy from their deadly plan. Knowing that a victory over the Nazis means a victory for racial justice, Owens and his men find a way to work together to save hundreds of lives in a desperate battle against the greatest odds they have ever faced.
A sewage worker gets trapped inside a septic tank during a water contamination crisis and begins to transform into a sewer demon. To escape, he must team up with a docile Giant and confront the murdering madman known as Lord Auch.
Two men, six meals in six different places on a road trip around Italy. Liguria, Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and ending in Capri.
Tom Hawkins is a single father and high-powered executive who has quickly climbed the corporate ladder. On a brief weekend trip to the mall, his son is kidnapped and subsequently murdered in a ritualistic ceremony. When the authorities inform Tom that they have someone in custody who has confessed to the kidnapping, but not the murder, Tom stops at nothing to find out who is behind the killings and exact his revenge – regardless of what it means for him. Following a brutal courtroom attack on the suspect, Tom is ordered for psychological assessments and therapy. Through his counseling, his deep religious faith, and a series of twists throughout the story, Tom reconsiders whether or not his path of viciousness is the right choice – until the improbable killer is revealed. Only God can control what happens after that…
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