Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (August 22)
Do I really need to list the reasons to be wildly anticipating the arrival of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, the long-promised follow-up to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s 2005 instant classic Sin City? For one, Rodriguez and Miller, the two men who understand the Sin City universe more than anyone, are back as directors. For another, the pair co-wrote A Dame to Kill For with another extremely talented Hollywood scribe, The Departed writer William Monahan.
The cast is also sublime. Though some replacements were necessary (Dennis Haysbert takes over the role of Manute from the late Michael Clarke Duncan, Jamie Chung is replacing Devon Aoki as Miho, and Jeremy Piven will be Bob in place of Michael Madsen), the line-up is absolutely stellar, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson, Eva Green (as the title dame), Mickey Rourke, Stacy Keach, Rosario Dawson and Ray Liotta.
Miller wrote two stories specifically for the film, and his Sin City stories “A Dame to Kill For” and “Just Another Saturday Night” are also being adapted, so there’s no reason to believe that the film will have any weak links whatsoever in terms of plot. I’m totally prepared for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For to emerge as one of the year’s best and most thrillingly stylized movies.
– IF
Jessabelle (August 29)
Horror fans don’t have a ton to look forward to this summer, but Jessabelle is one creepfest that may actually succeed in conjuring up some serious edge-of-your-seat scares. Jessabelle centers on a young woman (Sarah Snook) who, following a terrible car accident which leaves her without use of her legs, returns to her childhood home in Louisiana. While exploring the decrepit mansion she left behind years earlier, Jessabelle finds a box of video tapes left behind by her dead mother (Joelle Carter) and realizes that an angry spirit in the mansion has dark plans for her.
Jessabelle is from Blumhouse, the same company behind Paranormal Activity, Sinister and Insidious, which should be reason enough for horror fans to investigate, and Kevin Greutert of Saw 3D is sitting in the director’s chair. The first trailer was truly disturbing, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s too early to say for sure, but given Snook’s talents and the pedigree involved with this production, Jessabelle could emerge as the scariest film of the summer.
– IF
There you have it, We Got This Covered’s picks for what movies to watch out for this summer season. Did we miss any you’re looking forward to? And what will be the best movie of summer 2014? Let us know what you think in the comments!