August 2019 Preview – Film, TV, Streaming And Home Release

Tomorrow will be August, second half of the Summer, parts of the UK holiday season is nearly over. Next month marks the last Summer Blockbuster, will be a big finale? Will Streaming junkies get their month satisfaction fix?

Below is the best of what  August 2019 has to offer in Cinema, TV, Streaming and Home Releases.

Cinema

Fast&Furious : Hobbs & Shaw | 1st August

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren
Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Fast & Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down.But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.Hobbs & Shaw blasts open a new door in the Fast universe as it hurtles action across the globe, from Los Angeles to London and from the toxic wasteland of Chernobyl to the lush beauty of Samoa.

Can these still be friends? The Fast & Furious has went a long way from its early days of illegal drag racing to a explosive heist thriller. Taking the two characters who have the muscle but also have the charisma, ego and corny jokes. These two could be the future for the franchise when Fast & Furious finally calls it a day. Expect Over The Top ridiculously silly stunts and action, escapism at its best.

Animals | 2nd August

Read It Here
Laura and Tyler are two girls who like to party – drink, drugs and general debauchery infuse their lives while their careers and lives remain on hold. As they drift into their thirties, reality begins to bite, but Laura and Tyler will not be tamed so easily.When aspiring writer Laura meets the devilishly handsome musician, Jim, sparks fly. As their relationship intensifies, Laura’s friendship with Tyler comes under pressure. Tyler wants to keep the party going, living a life without limitation as Laura begins to settle into a relationship with Jim. But nothing is ever that simple, and Laura begins to struggle with a more straight-laced approach to life.

As the fabric of the friendship between Laura and Tyler begins to fray, the bond between these two siren soulmates starts to implode. With their old life starting to slip away they face a crossroads. As they battle with the realities of life, new opportunities present themselves that might carry them beyond their past hedonism. A celebration of female friendship and the choices we make, ANIMALS is an honest, unconventional and very funny snapshot of two very modern women.

A darling from not just Sundance Film Festival but also the London edition. A reminder that month is not all about gund, explosions and fast cars. Giving the month a dramatic edge, or dramedy. In a way it could be called a ‘coming of age’ as two twenty something ladies realising becoming 30 your responsibilities change again.

Oldboy 4K Release | 2nd August

Cast: Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang
Based on the Japanese manga of the same name, the film tells the horrific tale of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a businessman who is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned in a grim hotel room-like cell for 15 years, without knowing his captor or the reason for his incarceration.Eventually released, he learns of his wife’s murder and embarks on a quest for revenge whilst also striking up a romance with a young, attractive sushi chef, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung). He eventually finds his tormentor, but their final encounter will yield yet more unimaginable horrors..

Experience extreme vengeance, with Park Chan Wook’s cult 2003 hit. Hard to describe this one, awesome action, incestuous, ‘sushi’. Brutal, visceral, graphic bloody brilliant from the man who brought us the Handmaiden and the recent BBC Drama The Little Drummer Girl starring Florence Pugh. This is a limited release 4K restoration of the film that’s will be released soon on Blu-Ray again.

Blinded By The Light | 9th August

Cast:Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Aaron Phagura, Nell Williams
Set in 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is a joyous, coming-of-age story about a teenager who learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the words and music of Bruce Springsteen. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is inspired by British journalist Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir “Greetings From Bury Park.”

Can’t beat a bit of Bruce Springsteen. Based on a true story as a young Asian man attempting find himself in racially austere days of Thatcher’s Britain in 1987. The Boss lyrics can inspire many more of us in these Austerity lead days.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood | 14th August

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognise anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.

9th film from director Quentin Tarantino, in what looks like an all star bonanza look at Hollywood in the late 1960’s. Times are changing The Manson Family are on the prowl, Sharon Tate their most famous victim. Blood and guts or will it be California Dreamin’?

Good Boys | 16th August

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, Keith L. Williams, Will Forte
Just how bad can one day get? The creative minds behind Superbad, Pineapple Express and Sausage Party take on sixth grade hard in the outrageous comedy, Good Boys.After being invited to his first kissing party, 12-year-old Max (Room’s Jacob Tremblay) is panicking because he doesn’t know how to kiss. Eager for some pointers, Max and his best friends Thor (Brady Noon, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and Lucas (Keith L. Williams, Fox’s The Last Man On Earth) decide to use Max’s dad’s drone – which Max is forbidden to touch – to spy (they think) on a teenage couple making out next door.But when things go ridiculously wrong, the drone is destroyed. Desperate to replace it before Max’s dad (Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth) gets home, the boys skip school and set off on an odyssey of epically bad decisions involving some accidentally stolen drugs, frat-house.

A funny poke at our painful adolescent years and the meaning of life. If you like seeing the unlikeliest people let rip profanity, hit adult jokes this one might just be for you. From Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, gives you an idea of the jokes on show.

Dora And The City Of Gold | 16th August

Cast: Isabela Moner, Eva Longoria, Michael Peña
Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle with her parents, nothing could prepare Dora (Isabela Moner) for her most dangerous adventure ever – high school. Always the explorer, Dora quickly finds herself leading Boots (her best friend, a monkey), Diego (Jeff Wahlberg), a mysterious jungle inhabitant (Eugenio Derbez), and a rag tag group of teens on a live-action adventure to save her parents (Eva Longoria, Michael Peña) and solve the impossible mystery behind a lost city of gold.

Dora The Explorer children’s tv show doesn’t need any explanation. What may be interesting people on this one, is why has Dora suddenly become an teen after years of been a pre-teen girl?

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark | 23rd August

Cast:Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint.
It’s 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind…but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying tome.

With the success of IT: Chapter One, even Stranger Things, teens in a horror setting in another decade even more popular. This one goes old school for fears, tension and it also directed by The Autopsy Of Jane Doe director André Øvredal and a certain Oscar winner Guillermo Del Toro you might have heard of, on board.

Other Films
2nd August
Holiday | Read Review
Photograph (Curzon Artificial Eye)
The Angry Birds 2 | Trailer

9th August
Playmobil | Trailer
The Art Of Racing In The Rain | Trailer
The Sun Is Also A Star | Trailer

16th August
JT Leroy | Trailer
Uglydolls | Trailer

21st August
Angel Has Fallen | Trailer

23rd August
Crawl | Trailer
Pain & Glory | Trailer

30th August
Mrs. Lowry & Son | Trailer

Netflix

Dear White People | Season 3 | 2nd August

Set against the backdrop of a predominantly white Ivy League university where racial tensions bubble just below the surface, Dear White People is an hilarious send-up of “post-racial” America that weaves together the universal story of finding one’s own identity and forging a wholly unique path. The satirical series — which picks up where the acclaimed 2014 film by the same name left off – follows a group of Winchester University’s students of color as they navigate a diverse landscape of social injustice, cultural bias, political correctness (or lack thereof) and sometimes misguided activism in the millennial age. Through an absurdist lens, Dear White People utilizes biting irony, self-deprecation and sometimes brutal honesty to hold up a mirror to the issues plaguing society today, all the while leading with laughter.

Wu Assassins | Season 1 | 8th August

Wu Assassins follows Kai Jin, a young Chinatown chef in present day San Francisco, as he becomes entangled with the Chinese Triad’s pursuit of deadly ancient powers known as the “Wu Xing.” After an encounter with a mystical spirit, Kai reluctantly becomes the Wu Assassin, using his enhanced martial arts skills to recover supernatural powers from five modern day criminals threatening to use them to destroy the world.

Glow | Season 3 | 9th August

Season 3 follows the ladies of GLOW as they take the Vegas strip by storm. Now headliners at the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino, the women quickly realize Sin City is much more grind than glitter. Ever the team cheerleader, Ruth’s ion for the show begins to take a backseat to her growingly complicated personal life. Debbie is making headway as a producer, but continues to be consumed with guilt over the distance between her and her son. As their residency wears on, the lines blur between performance and reality, and the cast find themselves struggling with their own identities both in and outside of the ring.

Mindhunter | Season 2| 16th August

FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench probe further into the psyches of those who have done the unthinkable. With help from psychologist Wendy Carr, they apply their groundbreaking behavioral analysis to hunting notorious serial killers.

The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance| Season 1 | 30th August

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance returns to the world of Thra with an all new adventure. When three Gelfling discover the horrifying secret behind the Skeksis’ power, they set out on an epic journey to ignite the fires of rebellion and save their world.

Non Netflix Originals
Ex_Machina (1st), Mektoub My Love: Canto Uno (16th), Psycho (16th0, Blade Runner 2049(30th)

Home Releases | DVD, Blu-Ray, Digital

5th August
White Crow
12th August
Shazam!, Benjamin
19th August
Wild Rose, Cruising, Dragged Across The Concrete, The Third Wife
26th August
Apocalypse Now 4K, Under The Silver Lake, In Fabric, Mid90s