Every week, a bevy of new releases (independent or otherwise), open in theaters. That’s why we created the Weekly Film Guide, filled with basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.
For August, 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 August 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, August 19. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Ben-Hur
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman, Nazanin Boniadi, Rodrigo Santoro, Toby Kebbell
Synopsis: The epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title,...
For August, 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 August 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, August 19. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Ben-Hur
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman, Nazanin Boniadi, Rodrigo Santoro, Toby Kebbell
Synopsis: The epic story of Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston), a prince falsely accused of treason by his adopted brother Messala (Toby Kebbell), an officer in the Roman army. Stripped of his title,...
- 8/19/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
It’s been a summer of teenage boys both at the movies and in television. Ira Sachs told a tale of “Little Men” in New York City, the Duffer brothers tapped into our unwavering nostalgia for the ’80s in “Stranger Things,” and Baz Luhrmann recreated the birth of hip-hop through Bronx young-uns’ during “The Get Down.” While Andrew Ahn’s directorial debut, “Spa Night,” bears little aesthetic resemblance to Luhrmann’s opulent revisionist history, or Sachs’s humanist portrait of gentrification, it’s yet another filmic offering about an adolescent in pursuit of identity and purpose. The young man in question here is David Cho.
- 8/18/2016
- by Sam Fragoso
- The Wrap
American independent cinema has long been a viable venue for the children of immigrants to tell their stories, and Andrew Ahn’s first feature, Spa Night, is no exception. A muted melodrama with a keen understanding of subtle social divides, the film follows one young first-generation Korean-American as he takes his first tentative steps outside the confines of his close-knit family, and discovers secrets about his parents and his own community. Though it leaves too many narrative blanks unfilled, Spa Night is a promising debut from a filmmaker with a lot of insight into the different guises that immigrants and their offspring wear as they make their way through the world.
Joe Seo stars as David Cho, an 18-year-old Los Angeleno living in Koreatown with his father, Jin (Youn Ho Cho), and mother, Soyoung (Haerry Kim). David’s parents own a failing restaurant, which makes them particularly anxious about their...
Joe Seo stars as David Cho, an 18-year-old Los Angeleno living in Koreatown with his father, Jin (Youn Ho Cho), and mother, Soyoung (Haerry Kim). David’s parents own a failing restaurant, which makes them particularly anxious about their...
- 8/16/2016
- by Noel Murray
- avclub.com
The beautiful, mysterious first trailer has arrived for Spa Night, the directorial debut of Andrew Ahn. Comprising almost entirely of static frames, the objective imagery creates a serious atmosphere and tension even when nothing seems afoot. A particularly memorable shot of a towel of a lamp creates meaning and provokes thought, despite the full context lacking. Premiering at Sundance earlier this year, Spa Night tells the story of a closeted boy who begins work at spa to help his family, and soon discovers an underground world within its confines that both excites and scares him.
We said in our review, “I firmly believe that we’ll know the representation gap in American entertainment will have been closed not when the prestige dramas featuring minorities are getting their fair Oscar shake, but when people don’t bat an eye at the most banal films of every possible category just happening to...
We said in our review, “I firmly believe that we’ll know the representation gap in American entertainment will have been closed not when the prestige dramas featuring minorities are getting their fair Oscar shake, but when people don’t bat an eye at the most banal films of every possible category just happening to...
- 7/28/2016
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
"I thought I could do better for you. I thought I could do more." Strand Releasing has debuted the official trailer for Andrew Ahn's film Spa Night, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Joe Seo plays David Cho, an 18-year-old Korean-American living with his family in Los Angeles who takes a job at a Korean spa to help make money for his family. There he discovers the seedy side of the spa, and struggles with his own sexuality and identity in a vibrant, poetic coming-of-age story. The full cast includes Haerry Kim, Youn Ho Cho, Tae Song and Ho Young Chung. This trailer features some impressive cinematography and the film earned a few rave reviews out of Sundance, so check it out if you're interested. Here's the first official trailer for Andrew Ahn's Spa Night, originally embedded from Vulture: A closeted Korean-American teenager takes...
- 7/28/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
I firmly believe that we’ll know the representation gap in American entertainment will have been closed not when the prestige dramas featuring minorities are getting their fair Oscar shake, but when people don’t bat an eye at the most banal films of every possible category just happening to be about people of color and/or Lgbt individuals and/or whatever else. In that respect, Spa Night is ahead of its time. Instead of being an indie film about a disaffected young white man adrift in the world, it’s an indie film about a disaffected young closeted Korean man adrift in the world. As such, it’s mostly content to adhere to all the expected conventions of the genre, but its choice of main character and setting does indeed set it apart from the rest of its ilk, if only marginally so.
That said, some of the best...
That said, some of the best...
- 1/30/2016
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
Andrew Ahn’s directorial debut uses the Korean spas of Los Angeles as a backdrop for a gay coming-of-age story, but – unlike the spa – it’s a chilly affair
Korean Americans actors, besides comedian Margaret Cho and Star Trek star John Cho, are rarely afforded roles in American feature films. In that respect, Spa Night is cause for celebration.
The coming-of-age drama, from first-time feature film-maker Andrew Ahn (his short film Dol premiered at the 2012 Sundance film festival), is a rarity among films shot in the Us: it takes place in Los Angeles’ densely populated Koreatown neighbourhood, and features a cast made up solely of Korean American actors. While it’s invigorating to see that area’s community given a voice on screen, Ahn’s muted approach to his material, coupled with the passivity of the film’s lead character, David Cho (Joe Seo), leaves Spa Night feeling too cold to fully engage.
Korean Americans actors, besides comedian Margaret Cho and Star Trek star John Cho, are rarely afforded roles in American feature films. In that respect, Spa Night is cause for celebration.
The coming-of-age drama, from first-time feature film-maker Andrew Ahn (his short film Dol premiered at the 2012 Sundance film festival), is a rarity among films shot in the Us: it takes place in Los Angeles’ densely populated Koreatown neighbourhood, and features a cast made up solely of Korean American actors. While it’s invigorating to see that area’s community given a voice on screen, Ahn’s muted approach to his material, coupled with the passivity of the film’s lead character, David Cho (Joe Seo), leaves Spa Night feeling too cold to fully engage.
- 1/25/2016
- by Nigel M Smith in Park City, Utah
- The Guardian - Film News
Some of the festival’s favorite alumni are filmmakers who first broke into the festival with a short and then shored up a couple of years later with their first feature film. After premiering Dol (First Birthday) at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the Institute lassoed the Korean-American Los Angeleno filmmaker for the June 2013 Sundance Screenwriters Lab. With stops at both the 2013 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab and 2014 Film Independent Directing Lab and some coin from Sundance Institute Cinereach Feature Film Fellow Grant, Andrew Ahn‘s feature debut successfully raised some coin and future fans via Kickstarter. Production began mid summer and unless there is a great deal of post work, logically this could be ready to go for the 2016 edition. A coming of age drama, Spa Night would celebrate the notion of identity in a double dosage: Lgbt and Korean communities are represented here.
Gist: David Cho is an 18-year-old Korean-American teenager,...
Gist: David Cho is an 18-year-old Korean-American teenager,...
- 11/25/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
One of the major pluses being in the independent film world is having more freedom to examine topics of race, culture and sexuality more intimately and honestly than most studio fare can. Director Andrew Ahn started here with his 2012 Sundance selected Dol (aka First Birthday). Ahn's feature Spa Night, which participated in both the Sundance and Film Independent screenwriting labs, has a very intriguing premise:David Cho is an 18-year-old Korean-American teenager, living in Koreatown, Los Angeles with his first-generation parents Jin and Soyoung. David helps out at the family tofu restaurant, but business is slow and the restaurant is forced to close. Instead of going to Sat classes, David secretly takes a job at a Korean spa to help pay his family's bills. At the...
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- 10/29/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Espn is combining Bill Simmons' Grantland, Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight and Espn Films and Original Content under one unit, the newly created unit called Exit 31. Espn will make the announcement Monday at South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. The name refers to the exit off of I-84 that leads to Espn's Bristol. Conn., headquarters. The new unit is designed to spur content incubation beyond traditional milieus and platforms. Marie Donoghue will lead Exit 31 as senior vp of global strategy, business development and business affairs. Silver, Connor Schell (vp, Espn Films), David Cho (senior director, strategy and business
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- 3/10/2014
- by Marisa Guthrie
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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