Spaceman

 
(August 19 / USA)

Director(s): Brett Rapkin / Writer(s): Brett Rapkin

Cast: Josh Duhamel, Ernie Hudson, Emma Rose Maloney, W. Earl Brown, and Sterling K. Brown

It’s true, this film does look like a sport fan’s version of the Big Lebowski. Bill Lee has led an interesting life and its only fitting people get to see a movie on the man. Duhamel is perfectly cast as the Spaceman and it’s good to see Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) as a supporting actor.

War Dogs

 
(August 19 / USA, Sweden, Poland)

Director(s): Todd Phillips / Writer(s): Todd Phillips (screenplay), Stephen Chin (screenplay), Jason Smilovic (screenplay), Guy Lawson (Rolling Stone article)

Cast: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Anna de Armas, and Bradley Cooper

I’ll bet you’re wondering why this made the list when so many people are talking about this film. No matter how you look at it, the trailers look darn good so far. The casting of Jonah Hill and Miles Teller was a smart move. Jonah can be all kinds of funny while Teller is comfortable with either comedy or heavy dramatic roles. Teller and Hill are capable of more than what their credited for and hopefully this will show in War Dogs.

Detour (올레)

 
(August 25 / South Korea)

Director(s): Chae Doo-Byeong / Writer(s):

Cast: Shin Ha-Kyun, Park Hee-Soon, and Oh Man-Seok

The trailer speaks for itself. Three men at a crossroads in their life take a trip of rediscovery to Jeju Island. One of the men still pines for his first love. Chae Doo-Byeong appears to be a first time director.

Greater

 
(August 26 / USA)

Director(s): David Hunt / Writer(s): Brian Reindl, David Hunt

Cast: Christopher Severio, Neal McDonough, Leslie Easterbrook, M.C. Gainey, Quinton Aaron, Fredric Lehne, and Michael Parks

I’m not a fan of films that are Christian themed, I find many of them to be too preachy and there is only so much preaching one can take before you change the channel. But this one might be a film the whole family can enjoy. It’s the story of Brandon Bullsworth, an overweight kid who sucked it up and went on to become perhaps the greatest walk-on story in the history of American college football. But before he could play his first game in the NFL, Bullsworth was killed in an auto accident after his draft. Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), an underrated actor, co-stars with M.C. Gainey (Kingdom TV series), and Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy) in what might be the most inspirational tale of the summer.

Your Name (君の名は)

 
(August 26 / Japan)

Director(s): Makoto Shinkai / Writer(s): Makoto Shinkai

Cast: Etsuko Ichihara, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Masami Nagasawa, and Ryô Narita

Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai (The Place Promised in Our Early Days, The Garden of Words), this animated film has so much potential and I am so excited for it. I’m hoping for a North American release because getting over to Japan for the premiere is a difficult task. Makoto Shinkai is a sentimentalist at heart. His story is about boy and a girl from far away places yet closer than they think, who make contact in each other’s dreams. I’m interested to see how dreams may be interpreted in this film and perhaps an explanation of the power of dreams will be made. Being a sentimentalist myself, I would write this as a story of not just a boy and a girl from two different places but from two different times. The potential for such a story is there. No where in the trailer did I see anything to indicate that the female protagonist of the story is living in modern times.

Video Source(s): The Dreamer – Luhan & Wu Yifan, Warner Bros. Pictures, Movieclips Trailers, 寰宇娛樂 Universe Entertainment Ltd., 민병석, Movieclips Film Festivals & Indie Films, and TokyoPop TV.