This Week In Movies… ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’

The second week of August brings us very little cinematic value despite seeing the anticipated hip-hop biopic, Straight Outta Compton, and Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on the calendar release. Ritchie, the inconsistent, but influential British helmer with a profusion of talent, is back to his lightning speed editing and MTV visual style in the new TV show spy adaptation. Will this film reinvigorate his career?  

The rest of the films are modest at best. Some are interesting because of the cast, others just worthy of a yawn. Nevertheless, you have options and we hope that through this list, you pick the right for you.

INDIE & LIMITED RELEASES

Paulette (R, 1hr 46m, Drama)
Director: James Ponsoldt
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel, Anna Chlumsky
Synopsis: The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace’s groundbreaking epic novel, ‘Infinite Jest.

Final Girl (R, 90 min – Action | Drama | Thriller)
Director: Tyler Shields
Cast: Abigail Breslin, Wes Bentley, Logan Huffman, Alexander Ludwig
Synopsis: A man teaches a young woman how to become a complete weapon. 13 years later, at 18 she will approach a group of sadistic teens who killed blonde women for unknown reasons. The hunting season begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-MrQSx3blg

Fort Tilden (R, 98 min – Comedy)
Director: Sarah-Violet Bliss | Charles Rogers
Cast: Bridey Elliott, Clare McNulty, Neil Casey, Alysia Reiner
Synopsis: A comedy about Allie and Harper and their needlessly difficult journey to the beach.

We Come as Friends (110 min | Documentary)
Director: Hubert Sauper
Synopsis: As war-ravaged South Sudan claims independence from North Sudan and its brutal President, Omar al-Bashir, a tiny, homemade prop plane wings in from France. It is piloted by eagle-eyed documentarian Hubert Sauper, who is mining for stories in a land trapped in the past but careening toward an apocalyptic future.

Unity (Unrated, 1hr 39m, Documentary)
Director: Shaun Monson
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Joel Edgerton, Olivia Munn, Rose Byrne
Synopsis: Despite the advent of science, literature, technology, philosophy, religion, and so on — none of these has assuaged humankind from killing one another, the animals, and nature. UNITY is a film about why we can’t seem to get along, even after thousands and thousands of years.

10,000 Saints (R, 113 min – Comedy | Drama | Music)
Director: Shari Springer Berman | Robert Pulcini
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Avan Jogia, Asa Butterfield, Ethan Hawke
Synopsis: Set in the 1980s, a teenager from Vermont moves to New York City to live with his father in East Village.

People Places Things (R, 85 min – Comedy)
Directors: James C. Strouse
Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Jessica Williams, Stephanie Allynne
Synopsis: Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing parenting his young twin daughters and a classroom full of students while exploring and navigating the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.

Mistress America (R, 84 min – Comedy)
Directors: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke, Seth Barrish, Juliet Brett
Synopsis: A lonely college freshman’s life is turned upside down by her impetuous, adventurous soon-to-be stepsister.

WIDE RELEASE

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (PG-13, 1hr 56m, Action | Adventure | Comedy)
Directors: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki
Synopsis: In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.

Straight Outta Compton (R, 2hrs 27min – Biography | Drama | Music)
Director: F. Gary Gray
Cast: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr.
Synopsis: The group NWA emerges from the streets of Compton, California in the mid-1980s and revolutionizes Hip Hop culture with their music and tales about life in the hood.