Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – Released: 10th August (UK), 8th July (USA).
The first film on this week’s list is a young A list comedy featuring the talents of actors such as Zac Efron, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick and far more. The movies follows it’s titular characters Mike (Adam Davine) and Dave (Efron) who place online ads in order to find the perfect date’s for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding. But rather than the perfect dates the pair find themselves being taken for a ride but two much more hardcore hustlers (Kendrick and Plaza). The film’s most recent red band trailer was utterly hilarious but the film has received mixed reviews from critics on its release this week. Though it must be said that Efron has established a good pedigree in comedy over the past few years so perhaps this is the kind of movie to take a risk on.
Pete’s Dragon – Released: 12th August (USA + UK)
This week sees the return of everyone’s favourite “baffling film of the week” segment as we take a look at Disney’s re-imaging/reboot of Pete’s Dragon which gets a release in to the UK’s cinemas this week. The movie follows 10 year old Pete, who lives in the forest with his best friend, a giant green dragon named Elliot. It’s a story which strays very far from original Pete’s Dragon which came out in 1977. However this narrative change may be for the best as, surprisingly, the film is being praised as one of this summer’s best movies. It’s seen strong critical responses across the board. baffling though it is, it may turn out, critically at least, to be one of Disney’s smartest moves this summer season.
Nerve – Released: 11th August (UK), 27th July (USA)
Nerve is a fascinating idea for a movie, conceptually it’s a brilliant twist on the “high school drama” genre. Nerve is about Venus “Vee” Delmonico, a female high school student who starts to take part in an online game of Truth or Dare. As she gets further into the game the Dares become harder and harder and she begins to lose control of her life to the online community of “watchers”. There’s some fairly obvious social commentary taking place here and interestingly one of the co-directors of this film is Ariel Schulman, who co-directed 2010’s Catfish. Nerve has received mixed reviews since its release but it’s undoubtedly the most interesting concept on this week’s rundown, so perhaps this is the film that deserves your attention. Go see it, I dare you.
