August Movie Releases

Opening August 1

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Wong, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong

Story: The blockbuster global “Mummy” franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O’Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O’Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.

Director: Rob Cohen

Studio: Universal Pictures

Web site: TheMummy.com

Swing Vote

Genre: Comedy

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for language)

Cast: Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez, Madeline Carroll, Paula Patton, Judge Reinhold, Willie Nelson, Mare Winningham, Richard Petty

Story: “Swing Vote” follows the story of Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner), an apathetic, beer-slinging, lovable loser, who is coasting through a life that has passed him by. The one bright spot is his precocious, over-achieving twelve-year-old daughter Molly. She takes care of both of them, until one mischievous moment on Election Day, when she accidentally sets off a chain of events which culminates in the election coming down to one vote… her dad’s.

“Swing Vote” is a comical look at the journey of one father and daughter who discover that everyone has the power to change the world.

Director: Joshua Michael Stern

Studio: Touuchstone Pictures (Disney)

Web site: SwingVote-themovie.com

Opening August 6

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

Genre: Drama

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for mature material and sensuality)

Cast: Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, Jesse Williams

Story: In “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,” based on Ann Brashares’ best-selling series of novels, four young women continue the journey toward adulthood that began with “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.” Now three years later, these lifelong friends embark on separate paths for their first year of college and the summer beyond, but remain in touch by sharing their experiences with each other as they always have—with honesty and humor. Discovering their individual strengths, fears, talents and capacity for love through the choices they make, they come to value more than ever the bond they share and the immeasurable power of their friendship.

Director: Sanaa Hamri

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Web site: SisterhoodoftheTravelingPants2.com

Opening August 8

Fly Me to the Moon

Genre: Animation

MPAA Rating: G

Cast: Nicolette Sheridan, Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Patrick, Kelly Ripa, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Begley Jr., Buzz Aldrin

Story: In this groundbreaking 3-D animated adventure, three young flies set off on a courageous mission to become the first insects on the moon by hitching a ride on the historic Apollo 11 space flight. Based on the actual transcripts and the original blueprints from NASA, the film’s stunning visuals and meticulous attention to detail introduce a whole new generation to the awe-inspiring achievements of the space program’s most momentous mission.

Director: Ben Stassen

Studio: Summit Entertainment

Web site: FlyMetotheMoonthemovie.com

The Perfect Game

Genre: Drama

Cast: Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Louis Gossett Jr., Emilie de Ravin, Bruce McGill, Patricia Manterola

Story: In 1957, a barefooted, rag-tag team of boys from poverty-stricken Monterrey, Mexico defy extraordinary odds to become the first foreign team to win Little League World Series – doing so in a perfect game, the only one in championship history. Based on a true story, “The Perfect Game” tells the tale of how their miracle changed not only their lives, but an entire city’s destiny.

Director: William Dear

Studio: Lionsgate

Web site: PerfectGamemovie.com

Pineapple Express

Genre: Action, Comedy

MPAA Rating: R (for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence)

Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Danny R. McBride, Amber Heard, James Remar

Story: Next summer, the guys who brought you Superbad reunite for the action-comedy “Pineapple Express.” Lazy stoner Dale Denton has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver: to purchase weed, specifically, a rare new strain called Pineapple Express. But when Dale becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop and the city’s most dangerous drug lord, he panics and dumps his roach of Pineapple Express at the scene. Dale now has another reason to visit Saul: to find out if the weed is so rare that it can be traced back to him. And it is. As Dale and Saul run for their lives, they quickly discover that they’re not suffering from weed-fueled paranoia; incredibly, the bad guys really are hot on their trail and trying to figure out the fastest way to kill them both. All aboard the Pineapple Express.

Director: David Gordon Green

Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Web site: RidetheExpress.com

Opening August 15

Mirrors

Genre: Horror

MPAA Rating: R (for strong violence, disturbing images, language and brief nudity)

Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Cameron Boyce, Erica Gluck, Amy Smart, Mary Beth Peil, John Shrapnel, Jason Flemyng, Tim Ahern, Julian Glover, Josh Cole, Ezra Buzzington, Ioana Abur, Aida Doina, Darren Kent

Story: A troubled ex-cop must save his family from an unspeakable evil that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home.

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Web site: Mirrorsmovie.com

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

MPAA Rating: PG (for sci-fi action violence throughout, brief language and momentary smoking)

Cast: Not Available

Story: On the front lines of an intergalactic struggle between good and evil, fans young and old will join such favorite characters as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, along with brand-new heroes like Anakin’s padawan learner, Ahsoka. Sinister villains – led by Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous – are poised to rule the galaxy. Stakes are high, and the fate of the “Star Wars” universe rests in the hands of the daring Jedi Knights. Their exploits lead to the action-packed battles and astonishing new revelations that fill “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” takes audiences on incredible new “Star Wars” adventures, combining the legendary storytelling of Lucasfilm with an eye-popping, signature animation style.

Director: David Filoni

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Web site: StarWars.com

Tropic Thunder

Genre: Comedy

MPAA Rating: R (for pervasive language including sexual references, violent content and drug material)

Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Brandon Jackson, Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Jay Baruchel, Matt Levin, Andrea De Oliveira, Reggie Lee, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise

Story: Ben Stiller says “Tropic Thunder” is a “a comedy about five actors who go on location and find themselves relying on their boot camp experiences when they get stuck in a real war-like situation.” Black will play Jeff “Fats” Portnoy, an overweight gross-out comedian, who’s forced to kick his drug addiction while filming on location in the jungle. Downey Jr. will play Kirk Lazarus, the greatest actor of his generation and a four-time Oscar winner. Baruchel will play Kevin Sandusky, an unknown actor on the set and Stiller plays Speedman.

Director: Fred Durst

Studio: Dimension Films (The Weinstein Company), MGM

Web site: TheLongshots-movie.com

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Genre: Comedy, Romance

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking)

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Rebecca Hall, Javier Bardem, Chris Messina, Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn

Story: Two young American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) come to Barcelona for a summer holiday. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is sensible and engaged to be married; Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is emotionally and sexually adventurous. In Barcelona, they’re drawn into a series of unconventional romantic entanglements with Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), a charismatic painter, who is still involved with his tempestuous ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz). Set against the luscious Mediterranean sensuality of Barcelona, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is Woody Allen’s funny and open-minded celebration of love in all its configurations.

Director: Woody Allen

Studio: The Weinstein Company

Web site: VickyCristina-movie.com

Opening August 22

Crossing Over

Genre: Drama

Cast: Harrison Ford, Cliff Curtis, Ashley Judd, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta, Alicia Braga, Alice Eve, Jim Sturgess

Story: Immigrants from around the world enter Los Angeles every day, with hopeful visions of a better life, but little notion of what that life may cost. Their desperate scenarios test the humanity of immigration enforcement officers. In “Crossing Over,” writer-director Wayne Kramer explores the allure of the American dream, and the reality that immigrants find – and create — in 21st century L.A.

Director: Wayne Kramer

Studio: MGM, The Weinstein Company

Web site: Not Available

Death Race

Genre: Action, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R (for strong violence and language)

Cast: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, Jason Clarke

Story: Jason Statham leads the cast of an action-thriller set in the post-industrial wasteland of tomorrow, with the world’s most brutal sporting event as its backdrop. A penitentiary full of felons has inspired the jailers to create a grisly pastime ripe for lucrative kickbacks. Now, adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for televised violence and a spectacular arena come together to form the “Death Race.”

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Studio: Universal Pictures

Web site: DeathRacemovie.net

The House Bunny

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Anna Faris, Colin Hanks, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Dana Goodman, Katharine McPhee, Rumer Willis, Christopher McDonald, Beverly D’Angelo

Story: In Columbia Pictures’ comedy “The House Bunny,” Anna Faris charms as Shelley Darlington, a Playboy Bunny who teaches an awkward sorority about the opposite sex – only to learn that what boys really like is what’s on the inside.

Shelley is living a carefree life until a rival gets her tossed out of the Playboy Mansion. With nowhere to go, fate delivers her to the sorority girls from Zeta Alpha Zeta. Unless they can sign a new pledge class, the seven socially clueless women will lose their house to the scheming girls of Phi Iota Mu. In order to accomplish their goal, they need Shelley to teach them the ways of makeup and men; at the same time, Shelley needs some of what the Zetas have – a sense of individuality. The combination leads all the girls to learn how to stop pretending and start being themselves.

Director: Fred Wolf

Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Web site: TheHouseBunny.com

The Longshots

Genre: Comedy, Family

Cast: Ice Cube, Tasha Smith, Keke Palmer, Jill Marie Jones, Earthquake

Story: From Ice Cube, the star of such hits as “Are We There Yet?,” “Are We Done Yet?” and “First Sunday,” comes a feel-good family comedy, “The Longshots” — a hilarious and heartwarming story of the the first and only girl quarterback in Pop Warner football history. Curtis Plummer (Ice Cube) – a down-on-his-luck former high school football star – turns his niece, Jasmine (Keke Palmer from “Akeelah & The Bee”), into the quarterback of the local team, the Minden Browns, and gets his stride back when he becomes the team coach. With Curtis as their new leader and their pigtail-wearing star player, this team of misfits wins its way to the the Pop Warner Super Bowl and the small city of Minden, Illinois, is ignited with team spirit, town pride and the glory it once knew.

Director: Fred Durst

Studio: Dimension Films (The Weinstein Company), MGM

Web site: TheLongshots-movie.com

Opening August 27

Traitor

Genre: Thriller

Cast: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, Neal McDonough, Archie Panjabi, Alyy Kahn, Said Taghmaoui

Story: Academy Award(r) nominee Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda,” “Crash”) and Guy Pearce (“Memento,” “L.A. Confidential”) star in “Traitor,” a taut international thriller set against a jigsaw puzzle of covert counter-espionage operations.

Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff

Studio: Overture Films

Web site: Traitor-themovie.com

Opening August 29

Babylon A.D.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some sexuality)

Cast: Vin Diesel, Gérard Depardieu, Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling, Mark Strong, Radek Bruna, Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson

Story: A veteran-turned-mercenary (Vin Diesel) agrees to escort a woman from Russia to Germany, not realizing that she’s the host for an organism that a cult wants to harvest into a genetically-modified Messiah. Based on the novel by Maurice G. Dantec.

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Web site: Not Available

College

Genre: Comedy

MPAA Rating: R (for pervasive crude and sexual content, nudity, language, drug and alcohol abuse)

Cast: Gary Owens, Ryan Pinkston, Drake Bell, Kevin Covais, Andrew Caldwell, Haley Bennett, Nick Zano, Camille Mana

Story: A new outrageous comedy, “College” is the story of three high school seniors (Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell and Kevin Covais) who visit a local college campus as prospective freshman anticipating the best weekend of their lives. Once there, the rowdiest fraternity on campus (featuring Nick Zano, Gary Owen and Zach Cregger) decides to recruit the boys as pledges, subjecting them to endless humiliations, in return for granting them access to the no-holds-barred college party scene. But once the boys catch the eye of some of the older sorority girls (Haley Bennett, Camille Mana and Natalie Walker), the threatened Frat-boys increase the pre-frosh humiliation and blackmail them by threatening to expose their age. The boys decide to fight back, retaliating with a major revenge scheme that lands them on top.

What began as the weekend-from-hell turns into the BEST. WEEKEND. EVER.

Director: Deb Hagan

Studio: MGM

Web site: College-themovie.com

Disaster Movie

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Carmen Electra, Kim Kardashian, G-Thang, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Ike Barinholtz

Story: In “Disaster Movie,” the filmmaking team behind the hits “Scary Movie,” “Date Movie,” “Epic Movie” and “Meet the Spartans” this time puts its unique, inimitable stamp on one of the biggest and most bloated movie genres of all time – the disaster film.

“Disaster Movie” follows the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event – asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works – hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction.

Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer

Studio: Lionsgate

Web site: Not Available