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Film Guide: What Movie Should I Watch This Weekend? (July 29, 2016)

What will you see this weekend?
Gleason
"Gleason"

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

For July, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

SEE MORE: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016


Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 29. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide


Bad Moms
Director: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Cast: Christina Applegate, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Emjay Anthony, Jay Jablonski, Kesha Rose Sebert
Synopsis: A woman with a seemingly perfect life – a great marriage, overachieving kids, beautiful home, stunning looks and still holding down a career. However she’s over-worked, over committed and exhausted to the point that she’s about to snap. Fed up, she joins forces with two other over-stressed moms and all go on a quest to liberate themselves from conventional responsibilities, going on a wild un-mom like binge of freedom, fun and self-indulgence – putting them on a collision course with PTA Queen Bee Gwendolyn and her clique of devoted perfect moms.


Jason Bourne
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Vincent Cassel
Synopsis: The fifth film in the Bourne franchise, and the first featuring Jason Bourne since The Bourne Ultimatum.


Nerve
Directors: Ariel Schulman & Henry Joost
Cast: Dave Franco, Emma Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Kimiko Glenn, Samira Wiley
Synopsis: A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of “watchers.”

Limited


Ants on a Shrimp
Director: Maurice Dekkers
Cast: Dan Giusti, Kim Mikkola, Thomas Frebel
Synopsis: One of the world’s best restaurant, the Copenhagen based NOMA and its renowned chef-owner René Redzepi relocate the restaurant and its entire staff to Tokyo.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on August 12th)


Can We Take A Joke?
Director: Ted Balakar
Cast: Gilbert Gottfried, Adam Carolla, Bob Corn-Revere, Noam Dworman
Synopsis: In the age of social media, nearly every day brings a new eruption of outrage. While people have always found something to be offended by, their ability to organize a groundswell of opposition to-and public censure of-their offender has never been more powerful. Today we’re all one clumsy joke away from public ruin. Can We Take A Joke? offers a thought-provoking and wry exploration of outrage culture through the lens of stand-up comedy, with notables like Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, Lisa Lampanelli, and Adam Carolla detailing its stifling impact on comedy and the exchange of ideas. What will the future will be like if we can’t learn how to take a joke?
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles


Equity
Director: Meera Menon
Cast: Anna Gunn, Alysia Reiner, Sarah Megan Thomas, Carrie Preston, James Purefoy, Michael Izquierdo, Richard Kind
Synopsis: Senior investment banker Naomi Bishop’s (Anna Gunn) world of high-power big money is brutal and fierce, and one she thrives in. When a controversial IPO threatens the fragile balance of power and confidentiality, Naomi finds herself entangled in a web of politics and deception. With an aggressive prosecutor (Alysia Reiner) from her past on her heels, and her junior, Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas), tempted to backstab Naomi for her own survival, she’s forced to reexamine the world she loves and her own ambitions.
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles (expands nationwide in August)


Gleason

Director: Clay Tweel
Cast: Steve Gleason, Michel Gleason, Rivers Gleason
Synopsis: At the age of 34, former New Orleans Saints defensive back Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of two to five years. Weeks later, Gleason found out his wife, Michel, was expecting their first child. A video journal that began as a gift for his unborn son expands to chronicle Steve’s determination to get his relationships in order, build a foundation to provide other ALS patients with purpose, and adapt to his declining physical condition—utilizing medical technologies that offer the means to live as fully as possible.
Theatrical Release: Various (including New York and Los Angeles, New Orleans and Seattle)


Hieronymous Bosch: Touched by the Devil
Director: Pieter van Huystee
Synopsis: A documentary focused on the late-medieval artist Hieronymus Bosch, one of the most celebrated painters of all time — known worldwide for his fantastic imagery of heaven and hell. Focusing not only on Bosch’s work and technique, but also, on a global search for lost Bosch paintings, the film outlines the challenges faced by several international institutions working together on a comprehensive exhibition, 500 years after Bosch’s passing.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on August 5th and expands to various cities into the fall)


Hollywood Beauty Salon
Director: Glenn Holsten
Synopsis: The “Hollywood Beauty Salon” is an intimate beauty parlor that happens to be part of the NHS Germantown Recovery Community, a non-profit mental health program in Philadelphia that is administered by NHS Human Services. Rachel “Hollywood” Carr Timms runs the beauty parlor, where staff and clients alike are all in the process of recovery from some form of mental health issue. By gathering together to get their hair done, share stories, and support one another, they find a way to rebuild their lives. The film is built around preparations for their annual “Hair Recovery Show”–their version of a beauty pageant–and it is this exciting undertaking that allows us to meet the characters and hear their stories. The documentary itself—which was workshopped at the Salon over the course of four years—actually ends up being part of the recovery process itself, and the subjects of the film played an active part in shaping their own narratives and determining the unique, individual style of their respective story arcs.
Theatrical Release: New York

Homo Sapiens
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Synopsis: The images could be taken from a science fiction film set on planet Earth after it’s become uninhabitable. Abandoned buildings – housing estates, shops, cinemas, hospitals, offices, schools, a library, amusement parks and prisons. Places and areas being reclaimed by nature, such as a moss-covered bar with ferns growing between the stools, a still stocked soft drinks machine now covered with vegetation, an overgrown rubbish dump, or tanks in the forest. Tall grass sprouts from cracks in the asphalt. Birds circle in the dome of a decommissioned reactor, a gust of wind makes window blinds clatter or scraps of paper float around, the noise of the rain: sounds entirely without words, plenty of room for contemplation. All these locations carry the traces of erstwhile human existence and bear witness to a civilisation that brought forth architecture, art, the entertainment industry, technologies, ideologies, wars and environmental disasters. [Berlin International Film Festival]
Theatrical Release: New York


Indignation
Director: James Schamus
Cast: Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Ben Rosenfield, Danny Burstein, Linda Emond, Tracy Letts
Synopsis: In 1951, Marcus Messner escapes the perils of the Korean War draft and the obsessive fears of his overbearing kosher-butcher father in New Jersey with his admission to college in Ohio. Upon arriving at the strictly Christian school, ardent atheist Marcus rejects the assumption that he should integrate into the small Jewish population there, eventually butting heads with the exacting Dean Caudwell over his reluctance to attend chapel and his budding relationship with a beautiful but troubled classmate. As his outrage mounts, Marcus finds himself yearning to shake off his long-held persona of hardworking boy and dutiful son.
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles


Into the Forest
Director: Patricia Rozema
Cast: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Bethany Brown, Brittany-Ellen Willacy, Callum Keith Rennie, Jordana Largy, Max Minghella, Michael Eklund, Sandy Sidhu, Simon Longmore, Wendy Crewson
Synopsis: Set in the near future, this riveting and suspenseful apocalyptic drama follows two sisters, Nell (Ellen Page) and Eva (Evan Rachel Wood) who live in the Pacific Northwest with their kindly father, Robert. Nell is focused on her studies and Eva is training to be a dancer, but their peaceful lives are disrupted one day by what turns out to be a continent-wide blackout. Whereas at first the family bond together and try to make the most of their difficult circumstances, as time goes on, the challenges become more serious. In the wake of a shocking and violent confrontation that Robert has with a menacing passerby, the sisters must work together in order to survive in their increasingly treacherous new world.
Theatrical Release: Select Markets 


Lace Crater
Director: Harrison Atkins
Cast: Andrew Ryder, Chase Williamson, Jennifer Kim, Joe Swanberg, Keith Poulson, Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack
Synopsis: All Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) wanted was to get away for the weekend. Escaping to the Hamptons with friends after a bad breakup, she finds an unexpected connection with Michael (Peter Vack), a stranger who shows up in her room one boozy night. They have great chemistry, and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. There’s only one problem: Michael’s a ghost, and a one night stand with him leaves Ruth with aftereffects that can only be described as supernatural. As she suffers through mucous-laden night sweats, glitchy hallucinations, and the occasional tar-black ooze, her friends become too disgusted to support her. Ruth must figure out for herself if she can reintegrate into society – or if she even wants to.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on August 5th)


The Land
Director: Steven Caple Jr.
Cast: Erykah Badu, Ezri Walker, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Michael K. Williams, Moises Arias, Rafi Gavron
Synopsis: Teenage buddies Cisco, Boobie, Junior, and Patty Cake skateboard the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, dreaming of getting discovered by a sponsor and skating their way out of poverty. That is, until the boys discover a bag full of pills in the back of a stolen car. Cisco’s entrepreneurial instincts take over, and in a flash their lives get better. But no one counted on having to come face to face with the cold, calulating, and notorious drug queenpin, “Momma,” who runs the toughest gang in town.
Theatrical Release: Select Markets


Miss Sharon Jones!
Director: Barbara Kopple
Synopsis: Often compared to the legendary James Brown because of her powerful and energetic performances, Sharon Jones is no stranger to challenge. For years her music career struggled as she was kept in the wings by a music industry that branded her “too short, too black, too fat.” After decades of working odd jobs, from a corrections officer to a wedding singer, Sharon had a middle-aged breakthrough after joining forces with Brooklyn R&B outfit The Dap Kings. In 2013, on the eve of the release of the much-anticipated album Give The People What They Want, Sharon was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on August 5th)


On Meditation
Director: Rebecca Dreyfus
Synopsis: Practiced for thousands of years, meditation is at once profound and simple: the focused attempt to move beyond conditioned thinking into a deeper state of awareness. Yet, what does that path really look like? “On Meditation” conveys first-hand experiences of those who have developed meaningful practices and are willing to share their experiences. From teachers to everyday people and celebrities, the subjects of “On Meditation” offer a rare glimpse into their personal insights, discoveries and rituals.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on August 12th)


Tallulah
Director: Sian Heder
Cast: Ellen Page, Allison Janney, Evan Jonigkeit, Uzo Aduba, Tammy Blanchard
Synopsis: Young vagabond Lu lives in a van and is fiercely independent in her hand-to-mouth existence. This daily struggle has become tiresome for her privileged boyfriend, Nico, who unceremoniously leaves her one night. When a chance encounter incites her to impulsively “rescue” a baby from a negligent mother, Lu, at a loss for what to do, turns to the only responsible adult she knows: Nico’s unsmiling academic mother, Margo, who believes she’s the child’s grandmother. Thrown together despite differences in class and worldview, Margo and Lu make a lovable, if tense, odd couple. The two are bound to each other as they tentatively form a haphazard family, though Margo has no idea that the police are hot on Lu’s trail for absconding with a child.
Theatrical Release: Netflix


Women He’s Undressed
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Synopsis: Outspokenly gay at a time when Hollywood was deeply conservative, a lover of boxing and booze, a charming rebel with a biting wit, Australian born Orry-Kelly always lived a life of artistic and personal integrity. His accounts of life behind the Hollywood golden curtain are legendary, and include his very close relationship with handsome British actor Archie Leach, who later changed his name to become Cary Grant, and entertaining stories of his powerful friendships with top actresses and Hollywood icons of the time, including Bettie Davis and Jack and Ann Warner.
Theatrical Release: Los Angeles

There are more releases from July 22, which you can still catch here.

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