With a summer full of some incredible movies, great surprises, and good failures – overall it has been a pretty damn good movie summer season. August is typically one of those months where some really good releases tend to come out, as it’s that ‘closing’ summer month. I’ve picked out some names that I’m personally looking forward to in August. There are a good amount of movies coming, but I’ve narrowed it down to 5. 

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder (William Fichtner) and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely outcast brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Turtles must work with fearless reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and her cameraman Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) to save the city and unravel Shredder’s diabolical plan.

I said a while ago that I was really looking forward to this one. I’m going back on that word, I’m pretty iffy on it at this moment. The latest trailer that hit was pretty entertaining, but it gave EVERYTHING away. And although I do love all the casting choices for their particular roles, the Turtles themselves look like they are 25 year old body-builders instead of ‘teenage turtles.’ It’s in my top 5 because of the name and the franchise – I am truly hoping it’s the turtles movie that we’ve all been waiting for.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles opens on August 8th, 2014. Directed by Jonathan Liebesman and starring Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fitchner, Abby Elliot, and Whoopi Goldberg with voices of Johnny Knoxville as Leonardo, Alan Ritchson as Raphael, Jeremy Howard as Donatello, Noel Fisher as Michelangelo, and Tony Shalhoub as Splinter.

4. Life After Beth

Zach (DeHaan) is devastated after his girlfriend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza), unexpectedly dies. When she suddenly rises from the dead, he sees it as a second chance and decides to do and say every thing he wishes he had while she was still alive.

Zombie movies are the best. They can be the same thing over and over again, but we all want to watch it over and over again. It’s always good to have a good twist here and there and that’s exactly what this one looks like. A zombie girl coming back to life dating a human in a horror/comedy/romance? On top of the cast involved – yeah, I’m in.

Life After Beth opens on October 3rd, 2014. Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Gray Gubler, Cheryl Hines, Thomas McDonell, and Alia Shawkat.

3. Frank

Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank (Michael Fassbender).

This is one of the ‘smaller’ movies on the list. But quite frankly, those are always some of the best. As for the movie, I am very interested in it. I will watch anything with Fassbender in it, Domhnall Gleeson is a total up and comer who will become a star, then having Scoot McNairy and Maggie Gyllenhaal is awesome. Plus the movie looks so good – full of comedy and just fantastic acting.

Frank opens on August 22nd, 2014. Starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Francois Civil, Hayley Derryberry, and Tess Harper.

2. The Expendables 3

Barney (Stallone) and his team known as ‘The Expendables’, come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), the Expendables’ co-founder who is determined to destroy the team.

These movies may not be the best quality or oscar award winning, but nobody can disagree that they are just entertaining as hell and freaking fun. Bringing back all the studs and actions stars together from the past 40 years is just awesome to watch. All of these guys were basically rivals on screen for many years. Now seeing them come together as one team, cracking jokes, and bringing back that 70’s and 80’s action flare back is like I said, flat-out entertaining. Even though it does have a PG-13 rating, I’m still hoping it will blow my mind while hopefully seeing someones mind get blown to pieces.

The Expendables 3 opens on August 15th, 2014. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Kellan Lutz, Terry Crews, Kesley Grammar, Victor Ortiz, Randy Couture, Glenn Powell, and Ronda Rousey.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

After stealing a mysterious orb in the far reaches of outer space, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a half human/half alien is now the main target of a manhunt lead by the villain known as Ronan the Accuser. To help fight Ronan, his team, and save the galaxy from his power –  Quill brings together a team known as the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ to save the universe.

I really don’t think I need to say anything about this one. First off, it’s Marvel. Two, it’s Marvel. Three, it’s another super team but in space. Yes, this may be the biggest risk yet for Marvel and their MCU, but if this movie works out (like early word says it exceeds that by a ton) then this movie could be an absolute huge game-changer for Marvel – maybe even bigger than the Avengers was. I have been waiting for this one for a while now and each time a new trailer or promo comes out, it crazily seems to look better and better and better each time. If you’re interested in reading the insanely early word on the movie, check my post on it.

Let me just add that I saw this last night (review coming soon). I chose to include this in the list because it will be August’ dominate money-maker. All I can say is – ‘We are the freaking Guardians of the Galaxy!’

Guardians of the Galaxy will open on August 1st, 2014. Directed by James Gunn starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Benicio del Toro, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, and Josh Brolin.

Honorary mentions: What If, Into the Storm, Let’s Be Cops, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, and When the Game Stands Tall.