3 to See in August!

As the summer comes to a close, we begin to enter Oscar film season. In the first seven months of the year, we have three or four films that could be nominated, and I don't think we're likely to get many more out of August. We don't have the comfort of Neill Blomkamp or Quentin Tarantino. On a side note, when is Quentin going to get back to making movies. He's had a solid year off. It's time to get back to work. As for August, it's really hard to find three films I might be looking forward to seeing, but I'll do my best.

3. Eat Pray Love

In a Summer this bad, this film somehow finds its way onto this list. The film focuses on a woman who goes on a journey of self discovery in some other country, I think somewhere in Africa. The film stars Julia Roberts, so it should have little trouble getting women to see it, and they'll probably drag their man friends to see it. I wasn't planning to see this film at all, and it's very likely I still won't. However, I did learn that Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee has written and directed the film, so maybe it won't be all that bad. It has Javier Bardem in it, so how bad can it be?

2. The Other Guys

This has the potential to be the rare Will Ferrell or Mark Wahlberg film that I don't aggresively hate. Adam McKay is directing, which opens up some obvious opportunities for great, or at least good comedy. I don't see this film being spectacular, but I can see it being fun. It has Samuel L. Jackson in a comedic role, rather than a serious one. Lose Dwayne Johnson, and I'd be there opening weekend. As it stands, I'll probably be there opening weekend anyway, but what's the alternative? Step Up 3D? Go see Inception for the seventh time?

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Usually the most anticipated film of the month has a lot going for it, but in a Summer that's mostly bummer, there's no guarantees, certainly not for Michael Cera. Cera is one of those actors who plays the exact same guy in every movie, which works because he's good at it. Still, this is kind of an action movie, so it's got something more than just comedy fueling it. It's written and directed by such a great director as Edgar Wright, so there will definitely be some great comedy. Whether it will resonate emotionally is unsure. This film is still very up in the air, but it's got more of a shot than most films in August.