August is typically one of—if not the—dreariest months for movies, though this year, a surprising number of strong premieres will make going to the theater anything but a chore. From stripped-down genre efforts to horror sequels and stoner comedies to the obligatory superhero reboot, moviegoers have a wide selection of choices to enjoy alongside a tub of popcorn and an 80-gallon soda. Those more inclined to keep it domestic will also have plenty to view. As always, follow our monthly advice below.
In Theaters:
Fantastic Four (Aug. 7)
Marvel's old-school squad gets a new look and a new cast courtesy of director Josh Trank (Chronicle) in this do-over of the superhero team's origin story.
Cop Car (Aug. 7; on iTunes Aug. 14)
Kevin Bacon is a shady Colorado sheriff on the hunt for his police cruiser and the two young boys who carjacked it in this sterling, stripped-down neo-noir.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Aug. 14)
Guy Ritchie delivers '60s-era action and comedy in this remake of the TV series, about an American (Man of Steel's Henry Cavill) and Russian (The Lone Ranger's Armie Hammer) teaming up to stop a dastardly criminal syndicate.
Straight Outta Compton (Aug. 14)
F. Gary Gray gives the notorious L.A. hip-hop outfit its own celebratory origin story with this biopic, which was produced by original members Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.
Return to Sender (Aug. 14, also on iTunes)
Rosamund Pike follows up the chillingGone Girlwith another thriller, this one about a nurse (Pike) who strikes up a relationship with the incarcerated man who raped her.
Hitman: Agent 47 (Aug. 21)
The Hitman video-game series made an uneasy transition to the screen with 2007's Timothy Olyphant-headlined adaptation, but this sequel—now starring Homeland's Rupert Friend as the bald assassin—seeks to right the franchise's course with even more stylish targeted-kill mayhem.
She's Funny That Way (Aug. 21, also on iTunes)
Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) delivers a rollicking all-star comedy about a hooker-turned-Broadway actress (Imogen Poots) whose path intersects with various other friends and colleagues (including Owen Wilson, Kathryn Hahn, Will Forte, Rhys Ifans, and Jennifer Aniston).
Sinister 2 (Aug. 21)
Scott Derrickson's 2012 Sinister was one of the decade's most surprisingly sturdy mainstream horror films, so hopes are high that this sequel, which Derrickson produced and co-scripted, will deliver more of the original's unnerving supernatural scares.
American Ultra (Aug. 21)
Marijuana and the military collide in this wacko action-comedy, in which Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart must evade government operatives while stoned out of their minds.
Z for Zachariah (Aug. 28, also on iTunes)
The end of the world can't stop three survivors from getting caught up in an uneasy love triangle in this sci-fi drama starring Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II: The Green Legend (Aug. 28)
It's never too late to return to the martial-arts well, at least according to Netflix and IMAX, which will debut this sequel to 2000's Chinese hit simultaneously in large-format theaters and on the streaming-video service.
Streaming on Netflix:
The Hurt Locker (Aug. 1)
Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow), this 2008 drama follows the exploits of a bomb-disposal unit in Iraq.
War (Aug. 1)
Jason Statham faces off against Jet Li in this martial-arts action film, about an FBI agent tasked with tracking down an enigmatic killer who may have murdered his partner.
Welcome to Me (Aug. 6)
Kristen Wiig shows that she's capable of more than just SNL-style absurdity in this underheralded 2014 dramedy, about a mentally unstable woman who wins the lottery and decides to use her newfound wealth to fund her own TV talk show.
Two Days, One Night (Aug. 11, also on iTunes; on DVD/Blu-ray Aug. 25)
One of last year's best films, this latest effort from acclaimed Belgian directors Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne follows a factory worker played by Marion Cotillard as she attempts to convince her coworkers, over the course of a weekend, to sacrifice their bonuses so that she might keep her job.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Aug. 16)
The forthcoming apocalypse—courtesy of an asteroid set to destroy life on the planet—is the impetus for budding amour between two strangers (Steve Carell and Keira Knightley) in this droll romantic comedy.
Lord of War (Aug. 17)
Nicolas Cage is an arms dealer increasingly forced to confront the morality of his profession—thanks in part to the pursuit of an Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke) hot on his trail—in Andrew Niccol's based-on-real-events geopolitical drama.
Byzantium (Aug. 27)
Eighteen years after Interview with the Vampire, director Neil Jordan returns to bloodsucking terrain with this sumptuous tale of a vampiric mother (Gemma Arterton) and daughter (Saoirse Ronan) on the run from their fellow fanged cohorts.
White God (Aug. 27)
Man's cruelty to animals comes back to bite him in the ass, quite literally, in this Hungarian drama about a pack of dogs who rise up against their two-legged masters.
Premiering on iTunes:
The Salvation (Aug. 4, also on DVD/Blu-ray)
Hannibal's Mads Mikkelsen and Penny Dreadful's Eva Green bring a welcome measure of malevolent craziness to this revenge-driven Western from Danish filmmaker Kristian Levring.
Mad Max: Fury Road (Aug. 11)
George Miller's return to the post-apocalyptic outback wasteland was the summer's best film, full of blistering vehicular action and standout lead performances from Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World (Aug. 18)
The iconoclastic artist responsible for the xenomorph alien in Ridley Scott's Alien, H.R. Giger gets the biographical treatment in this fascinating documentary about the painter's final days.
Queen of Earth (Aug. 21; in theaters Aug. 26)
Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip) elicits a superb performance from Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) in this psychological thriller about two women whose friendship disintegrates over the course of a vacation at a lake house.
Furious 7 (Aug. 25)
Paul Walker's last ride comes in this seventh Fast & Furious installment, which ups its usual car-centric action to a downright ludicrous—and ludicrously stylish—degree.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Instant Video:
Unforgiven (Aug. 1)
Clint Eastwood investigates his own legacy of big-screen violence through this Oscar-winning story of a former outlaw who's called back into murderous action to avenge crimes committed against a local town's prostitute.
The Longest Day (Aug. 1)
John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, and many more headline this all-star 1962 drama about WWII American forces' battle on Normandy beach.
In the Line of Fire (Aug. 6)
A former CIA agent (Clint Eastwood) tries to atone for his former failure (not preventing JFK's assassination) by stopping the murder of the current president in this 1993 thriller, which also stars John Malkovich as the assassin.
A Most Violent Year (Aug. 7)
The 1980s New York City oil industry is a venue for moral and criminal drama in J.C. Chandor's standout 2014 drama, which harks back to The Godfather in terms of both style and theme. It stars Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, and Albert Brooks.
Gett: Trial of Viviane Armsalen (Aug. 12)
A powerful Israeli import from earlier this year, this drama concerns a woman struggling to divorce her uncooperative husband in a country where such dissolutions can only be obtained with the full consent of both parties.
On DVD/Blu-ray:
Unfriended (Aug. 11)
Twisting the found-footage gimmick in a unique way, this 2014 horror film sets itself apart from its subgenre brethren by taking place fully on a computer screen, in real-time.
Hot Pursuit (Aug. 11)
Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara bicker and battle it out as, respectively, an uptight cop and a drug bigwig's shrill widow on the run from all sorts of lethal danger in this odd-couple road-trip comedy.
Strangerland (Aug. 18)
Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes go searching for their kids, alongside Hugo Weaving's local cop, after they disappear in a massive outback dust storm in this under-the-radar Australian import.
Big Game (Aug. 25)
It may have gone relatively unnoticed when it was released earlier this summer, but this action adventure—about a Finnish teenage boy who must help protect the president of the United States (Samuel L. Jackson) escape terrorists after Air Force One is shot down—is an over-the-top surprise.
