Paste's Massive Guide To The 50 Summer 2011 Movies That Matter

Illustrations by Laura Medina

Page 5 of 5

41. The Perfect Age of Rock ‘N’ Roll

Release Date: August 5
Director: Scott Rosenbaum
Stars: Kevin Zegers, Taryn Manning, Jason Ritter
After a self-destructive rock star (do movies portray any other kind?) experiences his sophomore slump, he heads home to old friends.

42. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Release Date: August 5
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Stars: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Andy Serkis
Another sci-fi prequel, the Apes series gets a reboot set in present-day San Francisco when a genetic experiment goes awry. Director Rupert Wyatt has enlisted Peter Jackson’s WETA production team for photo-realistic apes instead of sticking humans in ape costumes (plus Lord of the Rings’ Andy Serkis as Caesar, the Che Guevara of apes).

43. The Whistleblower

Release Date: August 5
Director: Larysa Kondracki
Stars: Rachel Weisz, Monica Bellucci and Benedict Cumberbatch
Based on the true story of a Nebraska woman serving as a peacekeeper in Bosnia in 1999 who takes it upon herself to investigate the rampant problem of human sex trafficking and all the international government, military and private contractors involved.

44. The Help

Release Date: August 12
Director: Tate Taylor
Stars:Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer
A rookie reporter in Jackson, Mississippi, sees the horrible way her friends treat their maids and nannies and decides to write about it. Based on Kathryn Stockett’s book that everyone has been begging you to read.

45. 30 Minutes or Less

Release Date: August 12
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Danny R. McBride, Aziz Ansari, Jesse Eisenberg, Nick Swardson
Jesse Eisenberg’s boring existence as a pizza-delivery guy is shaken up when he’s kidnapped and forced to rob a bank. Most importantly, Aziz Ansari is in it.

46. Circumstance

Release Date: August 19
Director:Maryam Keshavarz
Stars: Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy
Two young women in Iran struggle against the boundaries of their culture and families in this tale of forbidden love.

47. Higher Ground

Release Date: August 19
Director:Vera Farmiga
Stars: Taissa Farmiga, Donna Murphy
Usually when a movie is about someone coming to Jesus, I prepare myself for a clumsy heavy-handedness, but Vera Farmiga’s film had a good response at Sundance and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics—two good signs that there’s some depth and subtlety to the story.

48. One Day

Release Date: August 19
Director: Lone Scherfig
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess
Dexter and Emma meet one day each year for 20 years. Guess what couple is meant for each other?

49. Apollo 18

Release Date: August 26
Director: Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego
Stars: Timur Bekmambetov, Michele Wolkoff
The canceled moon landing of Apollo 18 is reimagined as the first encounter with alien life—and the reason we haven’t returned to the moon.

50. Our Idiot Brother

Release Date: August 26
Director: Jesse Peretz
Stars: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer
Paul Rudd trades his usual dudes for Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer as three sisters come to the rescue of their trusting, naive brother.