8/5          Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (Cedar Lee & Akron Civic) Veteran actor Michael Rapaport (“True Romance”) takes a turn behind the camera in this documentary focusing on New York hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest. With footage of interviews and their headlining performances at the 2008 Rock the Bells festival, Rapaport traces their journey from Queens to stardom and their fourth, ambitious album, “Beats, Rhymes & Life,” which hit number one on the Billboard 200 in 1996. Terri (Cedar Lee) This indie dramedy debuted at Sundance, where it met with positive reviews for its story about an unlikely relationship and its moving study of the realities of being an outcast. John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) stars as Mr. Fitzgerald, an awkward but dedicated vice principal who’s concerned about Terri, one of his students. Terri (Creed Bratton, “The Office”) is so resigned to being teased that he wears pajamas to school, until Fitzgerald and a few new friends begin to teach him a few things. The Change-Up An all-star comedy cast leads the charge in this flick, evidently disregarding its painfully done-to-death scenario: A married-with-kids guy (Jason Bateman) bemoans his fate to his happily single buddy (Ryan Reynolds), who commiserates out of politeness. A quirk of superstitious magic switches their bodies overnight, and each experiences the other’s life, as well as the resulting lessons. Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde also star. Rise of the Planet of the Apes Revisiting the classic 1968 dystopian film “Planet of the Apes”, this origin story takes place in present-day San Francisco, where Will Rodman (James Franco), a scientist studying Alzheimer’s, alters the genetic code of one of his chimpanzee subjects. The subsequent change in intelligence leads to a war between humans and chimps. (Spoiler alert: We knew the ending 43 years ago.)                                                 8/12       Another Earth (Cedar Lee) This directorial debut from Mike Cahill combines elements of sci fi and fantasy: When Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling) sees a glimpse of another planet Earth in the night sky while driving home, she accidentally hits a minivan, killing all but one of its passengers. When she’s released from prison four years later, she tracks down the survivor (William Mapother) and begins to imagine a mirror existence of herself on the mirror planet. 30 Minutes or Less Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”) is at the helm of this adventure comedy, where a pair of goofy villains, Dwayne (Danny McBride) and Travis (Nick Swardson), kidnap a pizza delivery guy (Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”), strap a bomb to his chest and instruct him to rob a bank before the timer on the bomb runs out. Final Destination 5 Yeah, they made another one. The fifth in the threadbare horror-thriller franchise will again indulge in the goriest of accidental deaths, though fortunately this time they’re not killing anyone who’s familiar. This time, the keystone disaster is a suspension-bridge catastrophe. The Help Based on the acclaimed novel by Kathryn Stockett, this film, set in 1960s Mississippi, investigates the intertwining stories of Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone, “Easy A”), a white woman recently graduated from college who returns to discover that her family’s black maid has disappeared; Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis), a black maid who’s lost her only son; and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), another black woman whose attitude leads her to struggle to find work. One Fall In the tiny Ohio town of One Fall, the protagonist (Marcus Dean Fuller, who also directs) miraculously survives a 200-foot fall and, in the process, acquires the ability to heal others. After struggling with his secret, he decides to use his new ability to heal others — for a price. In the ensuing moral struggle, he begins to discover new things about the nature of redemption and his own life’s purpose. 8/19 Conan the Barbarian Swords, sorcery, long-haired barbarians and 3-D technology (duh) puts “Conan” squarely in the category of big, bright summer blockbuster. When Conan’s (Jason Momoa) family is murdered and his village destroyed, he sets out into the world, leaving a wake of destruction as he tracks down Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang, “Avatar”), the warlock responsible for his family’s deaths. Resident hottie is Rose McGowan (“Grindhouse”). Spy Kids: All the Time in the World The big gimmick with this flick, the fourth in the franchise that began in 2001, is the circa-1981 Aromascope technology: Audience members will be given scratch-and-sniff cards that allow them to experience scents occurring in the movie. Weird. Anyway, twins Rebecca and Cecil discover that their previously despised stepmom (Jessica Alba) is actually a super-hot secret spy, and join her in battling an evil scientist. Joel McHale and Jeremy Piven may inject some needed wit. The Future (Cedar Lee) This Sundance-premiered drama directed by (and co-starring) Miranda July is about a young couple (July and Hamish Linklater, “The New Adventures of Old Christine”) whose relationship is dying — until they decide to adopt an injured cat named Paw Paw, who turns their world upside down more literally than you might expect. It won a Golden Bear nomination at the Berlin International Film Festival. Fright Night A remake of the 1985 Tom Holland screamfest, this movie from Craig Gillespie (“Lars and the Real Girl”) takes a pronounced tongue-in-cheek attitude to those old horror tropes. High schooler Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) begins to suspect his mother’s new neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) of being a vampire after a slew of local disappearances. Instead of packing a stake and mallet, he calls Peter Vincent (David Tennant), the host of his favorite TV show, for help in defeating the monster. 8/26  Colombiana As a young child growing up in Bogota, Cataleya Restrepo (Zoe Saldana, “Avatar”) witnessed her parents being murdered by mobsters. Now a woman, she works as an assassin for her uncle — and spends her spare time on a bloody quest to track down those responsible. Michael Vartan also stars. Our Idiot Brother Paul Rudd plays the title role in this sunny indie comedy as Ned, an oblivious optimist who manages to inadvertently disrupt the lives of each of his three sisters. Recently released from jail on marijuana charges, he drops in on (and teaches lessons to) career-oriented Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), irresponsible bisexual hipster Natalie (Zooey Deschanel) and super-mom Liz (Emily Mortimer) Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark Fantasy-horror master Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) cowrote this remake of the 1973 made-for-TV film of the same name. The film, rated R for “pervasive scariness”, tells the story of a little girl named Sally, whose move to a new house with her father and his girlfriend is made memorable by the horrific nighttime creatures who torture her. Expect lots of stylized terror — comic-book artist Troy Nixey directs. Sarah’s Key (Cedar Lee) This French drama is finally making its way to the Cedar Lee after being critically acclaimed across the pond and at its Toronto Film Festival debut. Kristen Scott Thomas plays a journalist investigating the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, a mass arrest by Nazis in 1942 France. The present-day story frames a narrative set in 1942 about a little girl named Sarah, who locks her little brother in a closet to protect him before the arrest and is taken away before she can release him. The Guard (Cedar Lee) Don Cheadle and Brendan Gleeson costar in the black comedy, where a version of the classic cop-movie pairing — an unorthodox Irish policeman (Gleeson) and a no-nonsense FBI agent (Cheadle) — leads to laughs and life lessons as the two track down an international drug-smuggling ring in Ireland. Life, Above All (Cedar Lee) Adapted from Allan Stratton’s 2004 novel “Chanda’s Secrets” and screened at the 2010 Cannes festival, this South African drama is a tender, powerful look at family and the tragedy of AIDS in Africa. After the death of her newborn sister, Chanda overhears a rumor about her mother: that she poisoned the baby with her breast milk. Faced with this and a slew of other challenges — her wayward father, her mother’s illness, her best friend’s possible prostitution — Chanda soldiers on, struggling to keep her disintegrating family together.