August 5
All movies are 2013/14 releases unless otherwise noted. Availability: 
DVD | 
Blu-ray | 
Both Blu-ray and DVD
Divergent 48 Watch Trailer
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In this so-so adaptation of Veronica Roth’s dystopian sci-fi novel, Shailene Woodley stars as Tris Prior, a 16-year-old girl who discovers she doesn’t fit into one of the five factions of futuristic Chicago society—Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave) and Erudite (the intelligent). Instead, she’s Divergent, and this puts her life at risk. Luckily, she has Theo James’ Four, a fellow Divergent, on her side. Neil Burger (Limitless) directs, and the supporting cast includes Kate Winslet, Maggie Q, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Zoë Kravitz, and Ansel Elgort. While it's not quite another Twilight-like blockbuster, it's a bit more successful (at least financially) than other recent YA adaptations not named The Hunger Games. And like all good "trilogies" these days, the Divergent series will have four films in total, with the next, Insurgent, scheduled for a March 20, 2015 release.
The Trip to Bountiful 86
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While the phrase "Lifetime movie" doesn't necessarily conjure up thoughts of quality TV, a good one occasionally slips through the cracks. An Emmy nominee for best made-for-television movie, this latest filmed version of Horton Foote's play (which was originally written for television in 1953, before moving to the stage and later becoming a feature film) is an adaptation of the recent Tony-nominated Broadway revival. The revival's predominantly African-American cast is retained, though a few newcomers (such as Blair Underwood) join returning members of the Broadway cast (such as Vanessa Williams). But the #1 reason to watch, say critics, is Cicely Tyson, who received an Emmy nomination for her lead performance as a widow who wishes to travel back to her hometown.
| More movie releases on August 5, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Anna THRILLER | Brian Cox, Mark Strong, Taissa Farmiga |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 47 | Drones THRILLER | Matt O'Leary, Eloise Mumford |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 16 | God's Not Dead DRAMA | Kevin Sorbo, Dean Cain |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Grizzly (1976) HORROR | Christopher George |
Amazon | ||
| 66 | More Than the Rainbow DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 39 | Need for Speed ACTION | Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper |
+Netflix | |
| 61 | Oculus HORROR | Brenton Thwaites, Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 52 | Ping Pong Summer COMEDY | Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| TV on DVD/Blu-ray | |||
| 76 | The Birthday Boys Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Californication Season 7 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 80 | Community Season 5 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Doctor Who Series 4 Part 1 |
Amazon | ||
| 40 | Ja'mie: Private School Girl Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Last Tango in Halifax Season 2 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| MythBusters Collection 11 |
Amazon | ||
| Naked City Seasons 1-4 (separate sets) |
Amazon | ||
| Top Gear Season 21 |
Amazon | ||
August 12
Locke 81 Watch Trailer
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With his second directorial effort (following the disappointing Jason Statham vehicle Redemption), writer-director Steven Knight gets far better results with a far simpler concept: nothing more than Tom Hardy, a BMW, and a phone. The only actor seen for the duration of the film, Hardy plays Ivan Locke, a construction foreman whose life becomes more complicated with each mile he drives between between Birmingham and London. Supporting turns (heard over the telephone) come from Ruth Wilson as his wife, Ben Daniels as his boss, and Olivia Colman as his assistant, but it is Hardy's "spellbinding, seductive, heartbreaking, explosive and flat-out thrilling" performance that, say critics, will keep you riveted to the screen despite the seemingly uneventful premise.
Muppets Most Wanted 61 Watch Trailer
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Disney's second Muppets film (following 2011’s successful comeback The Muppets) does not star Jason Segel or Amy Adams, but director James Bobin is back, as is writer Nicholas Stoller. This time, your favorite felt characters tour the world and get entangled in a European jewel-heist. Also involved are humans such as Ricky Gervais (playing Dominic Badguy, second fiddle to criminal mastermind and Kermit impostor Constantine), Tina Fey (who plays a prison guard), and Ty Burrell (who plays as an Interpol inspector). After winning an Oscar for “Man or Muppet,” Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie once again provides original songs for the film, with the first one being the appropriately meta number “We’re Doing a Sequel.” And, like most sequels, it was a bit of a letdown, with critics liking it far less than its predecessor.
The Railway Man 59 Watch Trailer
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This true story of a World War II veteran still haunted by his time building a railroad for Japan as a POW stars Colin Firth, Jeremy Irvine (as Firth’s character during war times), Nicole Kidman (as Firth’s wife) and Stellan Skarsgård (as Firth’s friend and fellow soldier). Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man) directs this adaptation of Eric Lomax’s autobiography, and it scored points with critics for its strong performances even if many reviewers found the film as a whole surprisingly dull and unaffecting.
| More movie releases on August 12, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Batman: Assault on Arkham ANIMATION (Direct-to-video) | Kevin Conroy |
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| 60 | Breathe In DRAMA | Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Children's Hour (1961) DRAMA | Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 75 | Dancing in Jaffa DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 56 | Filth COMEDY/DRAMA | James McAvoy, Jamie Bell |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 47 | Frankie & Alice (2010) DRAMA | Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgård |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Girl on the Train THRILLER | Henry Ian Cusick, Nicki Aycox, Stephen Lang |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 59 | Hateship Loveship DRAMA | Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Nick Nolte |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 17 | A Haunted House 2 HORROR/COMEDY | Marlon Wayans, Jaime Pressly |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Love Streams (1984) Criterion Collection |
Amazon | ||
| Mr. Majestyk (1974) ACTION | Charles Bronson |
Amazon | ||
| 56 | Proxy HORROR/THRILLER |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 28 | Rage THRILLER | Nicolas Cage, Danny Glover |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 83 | Sol LeWitt DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 22 | Summer in February DRAMA | Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning |
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| The Unforgiven (1960) WESTERN | Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn |
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| TV on DVD/Blu-ray | |||
| 59 | Bitten Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 74 | The Blacklist Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Ghost Hunters Season 9 Part 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Gunsmoke Season 10, Vols. 1/2 (separate sets) |
Amazon | ||
| 59 | Low Winter Sun [U.S.] Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
August 19
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 53 Watch Trailer
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For some fans, 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man felt too familiar, a retelling of Spider-Man’s origin story just a short decade after Sam Raimi’s similar Spider-Man. But it performed well enough to kickstart a new film series. Cut to 2014, and Marc Webb’s sequel proved to be even less impressive, with some critics complaining that the new film felt less like a movie than an overstuffed set-up for future installments. Dane DeHaan (as Harry Osborn/The Green Goblin), Jaime Fox (as Electro), and Paul Giamatti (Rhino) join returning stars Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, and they do their best with an overstuffed script. But in addition to receiving middling reviews, the film underperformed at the box office (with the lowest grosses to date for a Spider-Man title), and the future of the series is now in flux, with the third installment—originally planned for a 2016 release—delayed to 2018.
The Dance of Reality 75
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The recent documentary Jodorowsky's Dune examines a legendary unmade 1970s film by avant-garde Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. But the director, still working at age 85, is also occasionally capable of seeing his projects through to completion. And The Dance of Reality is his latest finished film—in fact, his first since 1990. Though it is an autobiographical work based on Jodorowsky's own childhood, it is as surreal and strange as you would expect a Jodorowsky film to be—a coming of age story that is as willfully bizarre and stylized as Boyhood is realistic and naturalistic. But don't be too put off by this description. After all, the Boston Globe's Peter Keough notes that the film "offers a nearly coherent narrative."
Only Lovers Left Alive 77 Watch Trailer
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Seen by many critics as a return to form after 2009’s disappointing The Limits of Control, Jim Jarmusch’s latest follows Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (Tilda Swinton), two vampires who have been in love for centuries. When the story begins, Eve is spending time in Tangiers with fellow vampire (and playwright) Christopher Marlowe (John Hurt), until she decides to join Adam in Detroit, where he’s passing time as a musician. Causing trouble for the couple is Mia Wasikowska as Eve’s sister, Ava, while Anton Yelchin plays Adam’s go-between, and Jeffrey Wright appears as a doctor who supplies what vampires need most.
Y tu mamá también (2001) 88 Watch Trailer
This Criterion Collection release adds two new making-of documentaries and deleted scenes to a newly restored version of the acclaimed 2001 coming-of-age dramedy from director Alfonso Cuarón, who would follow this with bigger-budget, effects-driven films like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and, more recently, Gravity. Y tu mamá also made stars of its then-unknown leads, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, playing teens who fall for the same older woman and accompany her on a road trip. The fact that the film is in Spanish didn't prevent it from picking up an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, one of many honors it received.
| More movie releases on August 19, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A Brony Tale DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 81 | The Empty Hours FOREIGN/DRAMA |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Girl in a Swing (1988) THRILLER | Meg Tilly |
Amazon | ||
| 59 | Go for Sisters THRILLER | Edward James Olmos |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 59 | Grigris FOREIGN/DRAMA |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Life Is Strange (2012) DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Magnificent Doll (1946) DRAMA | David Niven, Ginger Rogers |
Amazon | ||
| 86 | Manakamana DOCUMENTARY |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 41 | The Quiet Ones HORROR | Jared Harris, Sam Claflin |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 51 | The Sacrament HORROR | Directed by Ti West |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| That's My Man (1947) DRAMA | Don Ameche, Catherine McLeod |
Amazon | ||
| TV on DVD/Blu-ray | |||
| 68 | Alpha House Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 77 | Boardwalk Empire Season 4 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Good Wife Season 5 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| A Haunting Season 6 |
Amazon | ||
| 50 | The Millers Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 56 | The Mindy Project Season 2 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| NCIS Season 11 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| NCIS: Los Angeles Season 5 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Newhart Season 4 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Once Upon a Time Season 3 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Parenthood Season 5 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Parks and Recreation Season 6 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Revolution Season 2 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 51 | Rosemary's Baby Miniseries |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 79 | Toy Story of Terror TV special |
Amazon | |
August 26
The Double 68 Watch Trailer
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Jessie Eisenberg stars as Simon James—and his doppelgänger, James Simon—in this sophomore effort from actor-turned-director Richard Ayoade (Submarine). The former is a timid, lonely office worker (in a bureaucratic hell that feels like an Eastern European version of Terry Gilliam's Brazil) whose life is thrown out of balance when a confident, charismatic new hire—who happens to be his physical double—is able to catch the eye of Simon’s boss (Wallace Shawn) and dream girl (Mia Wasikowska). Ayoade adapted Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novella with Avi Korine (brother of director Harmony Korine) and directs an impressive ensemble that includes Noah Taylor, Sally Hawkins, Yasmin Page, James Fox, and Chris O’Dowd (Ayoade’s costar in British TV comedy The IT Crowd).
The Normal Heart 85
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Nominated for (and the runaway favorite to win) this year's Emmy for best made-for-television movie, this HBO original film finds Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) directing Larry Kramer's adaptation of his own Tony-winning play about the onset of the HIV crisis in New York City from 1981-84. Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, and Jim Parsons head a strong ensemble cast that also features Corey Stoll, Alfred Molina, Joe Mantello, Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, and BD Wong. The film received six Emmy nominations in total, while critics were also enthusiastic supporters, especially of the performances.
| More movie releases on August 26, 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aces High (1976) DRAMA/ACTION | Christopher Plummer, Malcolm McDowell |
Amazon | ||
| 34 | Aftermath THRILLER | William Baldwin, Edward Furlong |
Amazon | |
| 51 | Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas FOREIGN/DRAMA |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| All That Jazz (1979) Criterion Collection |
Amazon | ||
| 31 | Blended COMEDY | Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 25 | Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return ANIMATION/FAMILY | Lea Michele |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| 44 | The Love Punch COMEDY | Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Possession of Michael King HORROR | Shane Johnson |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| The Stream FAMILY/COMEDY | Mario Lopez, Rainn Wilson |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 51 | Trust Me COMEDY | Sam Rockwell, Amanda Peet, Clark Gregg (also director) |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| TV on DVD/Blu-ray | |||
| Blandings Series 2 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Breathless Miniseries (PBS Masterpiece) |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Criminal Minds Season 9 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Elementary Season 2 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| The Equalizer Season 2 |
Amazon | ||
| Gravity Falls Vol. 2 |
Amazon | ||
| Haven Season 4 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| Murder in Suburbia Complete series |
Amazon | ||
| 69 | The Musketeers Season 1 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Now and Again Complete series |
Amazon | ||
| 87 | Portlandia Season 4 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Revenge Season 3 |
+Netflix | Amazon | |
| 72 | Sons of Anarchy Season 6 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| The Twilight Zone [1985] Complete series |
Amazon | ||
| 75 | The Walking Dead Season 4 |
+Netflix | Amazon |
| Welcome Back Kotter Complete series |
Amazon | ||
| Wicked Tuna Season 3 |
Amazon | ||
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