New Movie Releases — August 2013

August is upon us, which means a whole bunch of genre movies to help us transition from summer to the more prestigious fall and winter releases. We've got tons of sci-fi, horror, action, drama, and everything in between to check out at the theater this month. Read on for our guide to the August 2013 movie releases.

August 2

'2 Guns' -- Directed by Baltasar Kormakur. Starring Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, and Paula Patton. A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.

'Europa Report' (Limited) -- Directed by Sebastian Cordero. Starring Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, and Embeth Davidtz. An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.

'The Spectacular Now' (Limited) -- Directed by James Ponsoldt. Starring Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."

'The Canyons' (Limited) -- Directed by Paul Schrader. Starring Lindsay Lohan and James Deen. When Christian, an LA trust-fund kid with casual ties to Hollywood, learns of a secret affair between Tara and the lead of his film project, Ryan, he spirals out of control, and his cruel mind games escalate into an act of bloody violence.

August 7

'We're the Millers' -- Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, and Emma Roberts. A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.

'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters' -- Directed by Thor Freudenthal. Starring Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, and Nathan Fillion. In order to restore their dying safe haven, the son of Poseidon and his friends embark on a quest to the Sea of Monsters to find the mythical Golden Fleece while trying to stop an ancient evil from rising.

August 9

'Elysium' -- Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and Sharlto Copley. Set in the year 2154, where the very wealthy live on a man-made space station while the rest of the population resides on a ruined Earth, a man takes on a mission that could bring equality to the polarized worlds.

'Planes' -- Directed by Klay Hall. Starring Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Dane Cook. Dusty is a cropdusting plane who dreams of competing in a famous aerial race. The problem? He is hopelessly afraid of heights. With the support of his mentor Skipper and a host of new friends, Dusty sets off to make his dreams come true.

'I Give it a Year' (Limited) -- Directed by Dan Mazer. Starring Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, and Anna Faris. A look at the trials and tribulations of a newlywed couple during their first year of marriage.

'In a World ...' -- (Limited) -- Directed by Lake Bell. Starring Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, and Michaela Watkins. An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star.

'Lovelace' (Limited) -- Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, and Juno Temple. Story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband, before taking control of her life.

'Prince Avalanche' (Limited) -- Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch. Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.

August 16

'Lee Daniels' The Butler' -- Directed by Lee Daniels. Starring John Cusack, Forest Whitaker, and Lenny Kravitz. A look at the life of Cecil Gaines who served eight presidents as the White House's head butler from 1952 to 1986, and had a unique front-row seat as political and racial history was made.

'Kick-Ass 2' -- Directed by Jeff Wadlow. Starring Chloe Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Jim Carrey. The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.

'Jobs' -- Directed by Joshua Michael Stern. Starring Ashton Kutcher, J.K. Simmons, and Josh Gad. The story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout into one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

'Paranoia' -- Directed by Robert Luketic. Starring Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, and Amber Heard. An entry-level employee at a powerful corporation finds himself occupying a corner office, but at a dangerous price: he must spy on his boss's old mentor to secure for him a multi-billion dollar advantage.

'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (Limited) -- Directed by David Lowery. Starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster. The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.

August 21

'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' -- Directed by Harald Zwart. Starring Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Robert Sheehan. When her mom is attacked and taken from their home in New York City by a demon, a seemingly ordinary teenage girl, Clary Fray, finds out truths about her past and bloodline on her quest to get her back, that changes her entire life.

August 23

'The Grandmaster' -- Directed by Wong Kar-Wai. Starring Ziyi Zhang, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and Chen Chang. The story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.

'The World's End' -- Directed by Edgar Wright. Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, and Rosamund Pike. Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

'You're Next' -- Directed by Adam Wingard. Starring Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, and Ti West. When the Davison family comes under attack during their wedding anniversary getaway, the gang of mysterious killers soon learns that one of victims harbors a secret talent for fighting back.

'Drinking Buddies' (Limited) -- Directed by Joe Swanberg. Starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, and Anna Kendrick. Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They're perfect for each other, except that they're both in relationships.

'Short Term 12' (Limited) -- Directed by Destin Cretton. Starring Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., and Kaitlyn Dever. A 20-something supervising staff member of a foster care facility navigates the troubled waters of that world alongside her co-worker and longtime boyfriend.

August 28

'Closed Circuit' -- Directed by John Crowley. Starring Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, and Ciaran Hinds. Martin and Claudia are lawyers -- and ex-lovers -- who find themselves put at risk after they join the defense team for an international terrorist's trial.

August 30

'Getaway' -- Directed by Courtney Solomon. Starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, and Jon Voight. Brent Magna must get behind the wheel and follow the orders of a mysterious man to save his kidnapped wife.

'One Direction: This is Us' -- Directed by Morgan Spurlock. Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis' meteoric rise to fame, from their humble hometown beginnings and competing on the X-Factor, to conquering the world and performing at London's famed O2 Arena.

'The Lifeguard' (Limited) -- Directed by Liz W. Garcia. Starring Kristen Bell, Martin Starr, and Mamie Gummer. A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager.

'Passion' (Limited) -- Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace. The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder.