New in Theaters This Week for 08/24/18



Welcome to a recurring feature here at The Nerd Mentality. As movie lovers, we often scramble to find all the films coming out in a given week. We thought we would take some of the guesswork out of it for our readers. We’ll be showcasing both wide and limited releases. So sit back watch some trailers and you might find something new to go watch this weekend. These films are what’s New in Theaters This Week for 08/24/18, shown in totally random order, because why not? Showtimes are linked on the titles so you can see if it is playing near you.

From the visionary mind of director Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, Adventure Time’s “Food Chain”) comes The Night is Short, Walk On Girl, a comedy about one epic night in Kyoto. As a group of teens go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as “The Girl with Black Hair” experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife… all the while unaware of the romantic longings of Senpai, a fellow student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her, in an effort to win her heart.

Written and directed by Julien Faraut and narrated by Mathieu Amalric, JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION revisits the rich bounty of 16-mm-shot footage of the left-handed tennis star John McEnroe, at the time the world’s top-ranked player, as he competes in the French Open at Paris’s Roland Garros Stadium in 1984.

Close-ups and slow motion sequences of McEnroe competing, as well as instances of his notorious temper tantrums, highlight a “man who played on the edge of his senses.” Far from a traditional documentary, Faraut probes the archival film to unpack both McEnroe’s attention to the sport and the footage itself, creating a lively and immersive look at a driven athlete, a study on the sport of tennis and the human body and movement, and finally how these all intersect with cinema itself.

England, 1959. Free-spirited widow Florence Green (Emily Mortimer) risks everything to open a bookshop in a conservative East Anglian coastal town. While bringing about a surprising cultural awakening through works by Ray Bradbury and Nabokov, she earns the polite but ruthless opposition of a local grand dame (Patricia Clarkson) and the support and affection of a reclusive book loving widower (Bill Nighy).

As Florence’s obstacles amass and bear suspicious signs of a local power struggle, she is forced to ask: is there a place for a bookshop in a town that may not want one? Based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel and directed by Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive), The Bookshop is an elegant yet incisive rendering of personal resolve, tested in the battle for the soul of a community.

How much can you really know about another person? The unsettling truth that even those closest to us can harbor hidden dimensions drives this thrillingly unpredictable, blood-stained fear trip. Jackie (Hannah Emily Anderson) and Jules (Brittany Allen) are a couple celebrating their one year anniversary at a secluded cabin in the woods belonging to Jackie’s family.

From the moment they arrive, something changes in Jules’ normally loving wife, as Jackie (if that even is her real name) begins to reveal a previously unknown dark side—all building up to a shocking revelation that will pit Jules against the woman she loves most in a terrifying fight to survive. Defying expectations at every turn, Director Colin Minihan delivers a nerve-twisting cat and mouse thriller built around a shattering tale of heartbreak and betrayal.

Lisa Conroy is the last person you’d expect to find in a highway-side ‘sports bar with curves’,–but as general manager at Double Whammies, she’s come to love the place and its customers. An incurable den mother, she nurtures and protects her girls fiercely–but over the course of one trying day, her optimism is battered from every direction…Double Whammies sells a big, weird American fantasy, but what happens when reality pokes a bunch of holes in it?

A refugee’s escape, a prisoner’s promise, and a daughter’s painful secret all converge, causing their lives to become intertwined in ways they could have never imagined. As three fathers fight to save their families, they are led on an unlikely journey across the globe, where they learn the healing power of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Based on the international best-selling autobiographic books “Papillon” and “Banco”, the film follows the epic story of Henri “Papillon” Charrière (Charlie Hunnam), a safecracker from the Parisian underworld who is framed for murder and condemned to life in the notorious penal colony on Devil’s Island. Determined to regain his freedom, Papillon forms an unlikely alliance with a convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega (Rami Malek), who in exchange for protection, agrees to finance Papillon’s escape.

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show.

Andrei Rublev (Janus Films) 1966 Re-Release

With his second feature, a towering epic that took him years to complete, Andrei Tarkovsky waded deep into the past and emerged with a visionary masterwork. Threading together several self-contained episodes, the filmmaker traces the renowned icon painter Andrei Rublev through the harsh realities of fifteenth-century Russian life, vividly conjuring the dark and otherworldly atmosphere of the age: a primitive hot-air balloon takes to the sky, snow falls inside an unfinished church, naked pagans celebrate the midsummer solstice, a young man oversees the casting of a gigantic bell.

Appearing here in Tarkovsky’s preferred 183-minute cut, as well as the version that was originally censored by Soviet authorities, Andrei Rublev is an arresting meditation on art, faith, and endurance, and a powerful reflection on expressive constraints in the director’s own time.

An aspiring rock star finally gets his big break in the music industry after having neglected everyone he loves and is now trying to make up for lost time, but will he be too late?

Amidst a landmark class action lawsuit over illegal policing quotas, Crime + Punishment chronicles the real lives and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest and summons in New York City.

A highly intimate and cinematic experience with unprecedented access, Crime + Punishment examines the United States’ most powerful police department through the brave efforts of a group of active duty officers and one unforgettable private investigator who risk their careers and safety to bring light to harmful policing practices which have plagued the precincts and streets of New York City for decades.

In the vein of classic ’80s family movies SHORT CIRCUIT and FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR, A.X.L. is a new adventure about a down-on-his luck teenage bike rider, Miles (Alex Neustaedter), who stumbles upon an advanced, robotic, military dog named A.X.L. Endowed with next-generation artificial intelligence but with the heart of a dog, A.X.L. forms an emotional bond with Miles, much to the chagrin of the rogue military scientists who created A.X.L. and would do anything to retrieve him. Knowing what is at stake if A.X.L. gets captured, Miles teams up with his smart, resourceful crush, Sara (BeckyG), to protect his new best friend on a timeless, epic adventure for the whole family.

An L.A. Minute is a satirical look at fame, success, the star-making machinery and the karma that attaches to all those who worship at the altar of Celebrity. Everyone can identify with the dilemma that our protagonist, the best-selling author Ted Gold, faces when Velocity, an avant-garde performance artist and the living embodiment of integrity, rocks his 1% world. But, as is often the case in real life, what you see is not exactly what you get.

Searching (Sony / Screen Gems)

After David Kim (John Cho)’s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter’s laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter’s digital footprints before she disappears forever.

Small time crooks Eddie and Paul are in over their heads when a cute London lawyer hires them to steal a rare jewel. Meanwhile, a mullet-haired gangster wants the gem for himself. Bullets and sparks fly in this pond-hopping comedic caper.

When ex-Special Forces soldier turned professional mercenary, John Gold, hears that his former best friend Corporal Dan Mason, and Dan’s parents have been murdered, he heads to their home-town to find their killers.

Gold discovers that Dan and his father were investigating a Special Forces troop led by the enigmatic, highly decorated Sergeant Hatcher, that went rogue in Afghanistan. What unfolds next is a heart-pumping action thrill ride that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats.

Cassie (Rosemarie DeWitt, La La Land) is a real estate agent and single mom struggling to keep it all together during the housing crisis of 2009. Her problems go from bad to worse when disgruntled client Sonny (Danny McBride, Pineapple Express) violently confronts Cassie’s boss and then kidnaps Cassie – making one outrageously bad, and bloody, decision after another. Things completely spiral out of control in this explosive action comedy, also starring Luke Wilson (Idiocracy), Kaitlin Olson (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), David Alan Grier (“The Carmichael Show”) and Elizabeth Gillies (“Dynasty”).

Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 (B4U US Inc)

Sheikh (Vasay Chaudhry) and Pervez (Ahmed Ali Butt) are now settled back into their mundane lives when suddenly Pervez’s brother-in-law, Rahat (Fahad Mustafa), who had been out of touch for the past 10 years resurfaces, and invites his sister, Lubna (Uzma Khan), and her family to come visit him in Turkey.

Pervez and his friend Sheikh, grab this chance to add some excitement into their lives embark on a new journey; this time with their family! They get the shock of their lives when they see the opulence with which the rich, charming and successful Rahat lives! But Pervez strongly feels that there is more to Rahat than what meets the eye, as his lavish lifestyle is a complete enigma!

Hot to Trot (First Run Features)

‘Mad Hot Ballroom’ meets ‘Paris is Burning’…or ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ meets ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ Whatever your reference is, the crowd-pleasing documentary ‘Hot to Trot’ provides a deep-dive look inside the fascinating but little-known world of same-sex competitive ballroom dance.

Following an international cast of four men and women on and off the dance floor over a four-year period, the film is not only an immersive character study-and an idiosyncratic attack on bigotry-but a powerful and celebratory story that unfurls with the rhythms and energy of dramatic cinema. When you watch it you can see how it snagged the Audience Award at New York’s LGBTQ NewFest!

Load Wedding (ZEE Studios International)

Load Wedding is a social comedy encircling the stigmas attached in our society to weddings with just the right blend of light hearted comedy, ironic situations and intense emotions.The story unfolds with Raja (Fahad Mustafa) who lives in a small town with his parents and an unmarried sister; Baby Baji.

The plot takes a twist when Raja finally musters up the courage to profess his feelings for Meeru (MehwishHayat) but life throws a curve ball at him.

Guru Da Banda (Rising Star Entertainment)

Guru Da Banda is an upcoming Punjabi Animated movie based on the life of the great warrior of Sikh History, Baba Banda Singh Bahadar. Banda Singh Bahadur established a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī, where in September 1708 he was visited by, and became a disciple of, Guru Gobind Singh, who gave him the new name of Banda Singh Bahadur after initiating him into the Khalsa. Armed with the blessing and authority of Guru Gobind Singh, he came to Khanda in Sonipat and assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire.

Aging Rock artist David Tangier’s sense of identity is all but destroyed as he works cutting hair to provide a comfortable life for himself and his wife. His sound and age bind him to the Rock of the 2000’s, where his band Katatonic Spin once ruled the scene.

David cannot tolerate that his entire existence has fallen prey to the persona of “the has been.” By taking one last long shot at maintaining his integrity, David sets out to organize the follow-up album that he never had the chance to make. When Javy Bates, a mysterious young musical talent shows up for a job at David’s salon, this Rocker thinks he has found a solution to his alienation. Initially guarded, Javy soon opens up… as he has an agenda of his own.

Restoring Tomorrow (Howling Wolf Productions)

Religious institutions are losing young members and even closing their doors at an alarming rate. Restoring Tomorrow, a universal story of hope, shows there is another way. Film critic Leonard Maltin calls it “a genuinely inspiring film with a great story to tell that I found very moving.” It tells the tale of Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard Temple, which was built in 1929 by the original Hollywood moguls. With its towering ten-story-high dome, it ranks with the Chinese Theater and Griffith Planetarium as one of the great L.A. landmarks, but by the 21st century it was in need of tens of millions of dollars of reconstruction to avoid the wrecking ball.

This against-all-odds story is told through the personal journey of director Aaron Wolf who, like so many of his generation, had become disaffected from his congregation. In chronicling the Temple’s restoration, he finds himself restored, as he reconnects to his synagogue and his community. In these divided times, Restoring Tomorrow ultimately demonstrates how, when any community puts its mind to it, people can be brought back together, no matter what culture or religion.

Makala (Swahili for “charcoal”), the new documentary by Emmanuel Gras, is a powerful testament to one man’s commitment to his family, and his endurance in working to provide them with a brighter future. Kasongo, a 28-year-old man living in Congo with his wife and daughters, dreams of purchasing a plot of land on which to build his family a home. He sees his opportunity to earn money by selling charcoal, culled from the ashes of a mighty hardwood tree that he has felled and baked in an earthen oven. Loading up the bags of charcoal onto the back of his bicycle, Kasongo sets off on a daunting journey – up steep hills and across treacherous roads – to sell the charcoal at market.

Featuring stunning cinematography that finds beauty in this tireless labor, Makala won the 2017 Grand Prize and Golden Eye Special Mention for Best Documentary at International Critics Week in Cannes.

Parwaz Hai Junoon is a feel good story based around the life of Airforce cadets. The film will take our audiences through the events and experiences that take place at an Airforce training academy. With a fresh and young ensemble of actors the story is also pretty vibrant. We focus on the love of flying, the love for our country and the bonding between a group of girls and boys who overcome various challenges to become Pakistan’s top notch fighter pilots.

The film will show values of an Airforce cadet like integrity, honesty, courage, teamwork while also showcasing the everyday comic mistakes and showing the human part of these cadets where they laugh, make jokes, create jokes, face funny errors and shows the lighter side of the everyday Airforce academy.

The debut feature from Bertrand Mandico tells the tale of five adolescent boys (all played by actresses) enamored by the arts, but drawn to crime and transgression. After a brutal crime committed by the group and aided by TREVOR – a deity of chaos they can’t control – they’re punished to board a boat with a captain hell-bent on taming their ferocious appetites. After arriving on a lush island with dangers and pleasures abound the boys start to transform in both mind and body. Shot in gorgeous 16mm and brimming with eroticism, genderfluidity, and humor, THE WILD BOYS will take you on journey you won’t soon forget.

Hopefully, you found some interesting trailers and maybe plan to see a film you normally wouldn’t have. New in Theaters This Week for 08/24/18 brought to you by The Nerd Mentality! Check back each week by bookmarking our Now Playing tag.