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Our top 5 film picks for August

BY Tom Browne

1st Jan 2015 Film & TV

Our top 5 film picks for August

We've selected 5 of the latest films out this month for you to watch. From literary adaption Gemma Bovery to Amy Schumer's laugh-out-loud comedy Trainwreck. 

Adaptation: Gemma Bovery

Gemma Arterton scored a hit in 2010 with Tamara Drewe, a loose adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd based on Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel.

Gemma Bovery almost feels like a sequel, with Simmonds once again providing the source material—this time, a reworking of Flaubert’s Madame Bovery.

Arterton plays the title character, an Englishwoman who’s just moved to a pretty Normandy village with husband Charlie (Jason Flemyng). Trouble looms in the form of neighbour Martin (Fabrice Luchini), a bookish local baker who’s convinced that the couple’s reckless behaviour too closely resembles Flaubert’s tragic characters.

Those who liked Tamara Drewe will find much to enjoy here, especially Arterton’s sensual performance, the lovely settings and the blackly comic tone.

 

Drama: Manglehorn

Al Pacino seems to be enjoying a career revival—following up Danny Collins, with this more subdued effort.

Pacino plays the title role, a reclusive locksmith who spends his days working, tending to his cat and lamenting a long-lost love. But the arrival in his life of bank teller Dawn (Holly Hunter) promises to draw him out of his shell.

A predictable narrative, but the leads should prove watchable.

 

Comedy: Trainwreck

This latest offering from acclaimed comedy director Judd Apatow centres around high flyer Amy (played by Amy Schumer), a career woman with a predictably messy private life, whose worldview is challenged when she meets all-round good guy Dr Aaron Conners (Bill Hader).

With an ensemble cast including Tilda Swinton and Daniel Radcliffe, this promises the usual mix of laugh-out-loud humour and social awkwardness.

 

Action: The Man From U.N.C.L.E 

Fresh from the success of his Sherlock Holmes movies, director Guy Ritchie has now revisited another classic franchise.

Much like the Sixties TV series, this sees American spy Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Russian agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) forming an unlikely Cold-War partnership to stop a criminal gang involved in nuclear proliferation.

Expect plenty of stylish thrills and spills.

 

Mystery: Paper Towns

Author John Green scored a massive hit in 2012 with The Fault in Our Stars, which was turned into an equally successful film two years later.

The same team is behind this adaptation of Green’s third novel, starring Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne as childhood friends. What starts out as a small-town comedy soon develops into something more dark.

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