New Movies to Crave: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Expendables or Just Eat, Pray, Love

By Chris Kavan - 08/13/10 at 09:05 AM CT

For me, this week represents the last hurrah for the summer season. For me it hasn't been a very exciting year, but I'm hoping that it goes out with bang and not a whimper.

1) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - The nerd inside has been anxiously awaiting the release of this film. It's based on a graphic novel, inspired by old-school video games and is directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz). It is geek Nirvana. I'll admit that despite the hype this is a more of a niche film, so I'm interested to see where it ends up box office wise. As far as movies I've been looking forward too, though, it almost ranks up there with Inception.

2) The Expendables - With enough action stars to fill five other action movies (perhaps more) and enough cameos to fill another five, this throwback to the 80s heyday of action is a love letter and sendoff to all fans of explosions, fights and shooting. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the audience will skew towards the male side of the equation. My dad is really looking forward to this one, me? I may not be as hyped, but I like a good action flick every now and then, and this looks to fill the bill.

3) Eat, Pray, Love - Don't want to see men blowing up men or a bunch of nerds drooling? Then you have another choice: Julia Roberts returns to the screen in an adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'm going to go out on yet another limb and predict that the audience for this film will skew mostly female. Maybe the men can drag women to the above film and women can retaliate by having men watch this one with them. Actually, for all my hate over so-called chick flicks, Julia Roberts has a pretty good track record and I think this will have solid business - depending on who comes out in droves, it could easily surpass the other two movie in terms of box office.

4) Down Terrace vs. Animal Kingdom in a battle for "better mafia movie of the week". These won't get as much attention, but these two "family" films - the only family that counts, capiche? - have different variations - one's a young man's decision about his future, the other about a failing dynasty and a rat. If you like movies about criminal enterprises, check to see if they're listed in your area.

So enjoy the last gasp of the summer while you can - for information about all the movies opening this week, along with trailers and tickets, visit the FilmCrave New Movie Releases page.