Film Guide: What Movie Should I Watch This Weekend? (July 8, 2016)

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, 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 July 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide 

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron
Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.

The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud, Yarrow Cheney
Cast: Albert Brooks, Bobby Moynihan, Ellie Kemper, Eric Stonestreet, Hannibal Buress, Kevin Hart, Lake Bell, Louis C.K.
Synopsis: The action comedy is set in a Manhattan apartment building. After the two-legged residents head for work and school, their pets gather to start their day, which consists of hanging out, trading humiliating stories about their owners, and helping each other work up adorable looks that will lead to more snacks. The head hound is a quick-witted terrier rescue (Louis C.K.), whose position at the epicenter of his master’s universe is suddenly threatened when she comes home with Duke (Stonestreet), a sloppy mongrel with no polish. The two soon find themselves on the mean streets of New York, where they meet the adorable white bunny Snowball (Hart). It turns out that Snowball is the leader of an army of pets that were abandoned and are determined to get back at humanity and every owner-loving pet. The dogs must thwart this plot and make it back in time for dinner.

Limited

Captain Fantastic
Director: Matt Ross
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Alan Humphreys, Ann Dowd, Annalise Basso, Elena Stecca, Erin Moriarty, Frank Langella, George MacKay, Kathryn Hahn, Missi Pyle, Nicholas Hamilton, Samantha Isler, Shree Crooks, Steve Zahn
Synopsis: Ben (Viggo Mortensen) lives with his wife and six young children, isolated from society deep in the forest of the Pacific Northwest. A devoted father, Ben dedicates his life to transforming his kids into extraordinary adults. He immerses them in an academically and physically rigorous environment and instills in them a rare and primal connection to the natural world. When a tragedy strikes, the family is forced to leave their self-created paradise. Suddenly the children must face the excitement and the perils of an unfamiliar outside world while Ben is compelled to reexamine his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles (expands to additional markets on July 15th)

Cell
Director: Tod Williams
Cast: Alex ter Avest, Anthony Reynolds, Isabelle Fuhrman, John Cusack, Joshua Mikel, Samuel L. Jackson, Wilbur Fitzgerald
Synopsis: At the Boston airport, Clay (Cusack) witnesses a scene of chaotic mayhem when an electronic signal turns hundreds of cell phone users into rabid killers. Desperate to find his estranged wife and son, Clay teams with a train driver (Jackson) to battle the horde of murderous “phoners” as the city descends into apocalyptic madness.
Theatrical Release: Select Markets

The Dog Lover
Director: Alex Ranarivelo
Cast: Allison Paige, James Remar, Jayson Blair, Lea Thompson
Synopsis: Sara Gold is a rising star at the United Animal Protection Agency (UAPA), a major animal rights organization that conducts animal rescues and lobbies for better animal welfare laws. Handpicked for a major assignment, Sara goes undercover as a college intern to infiltrate a suspected “puppy mill” run by the enigmatic Daniel Holloway. Sara soon ingratiates herself with Daniel and his family, and learns all about the world of dog breeding but is hard pressed to find any sign of animal abuse. The UAPA teams up with local law enforcement and raids the farm, accusing Daniel of the inhumane treatment of animals. Sara finds herself torn between doing her job and doing what’s right, and she awakens to the moral contradictions of her work with the UAPA.
Theatrical Release: Various (including Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit)

How He Fell in Love
Director: Marc Meyers
Cast: Amy Hargreaves, Britne Oldford, Mark Blum, Matt McGorry
Synopsis: A struggling musician mourning the loss of a band mate finds unexpected chemistry and vulnerability with a married woman that challenges both of their moral boundaries.
Theatrical Release: Los Angeles (opens in New York on July 15th)

Indian Point
Director: Ivy Meeropol
Synopsis: An unblinking look at the dramatic debate over nuclear power by going inside the aging plant that looms just 35 miles from New York City. With over 50 million people living in close proximity to the facility, it has stoked a great deal of controversy in the surrounding community, including a vocal anti-nuclear contingent concerned that the kind of disaster that happened at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant could happen here.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on July 22nd)

Fathers and Daughters
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Cast: Aaron Paul, Amanda Seyfried, Bruce Greenwood, Diane Kruger, Jane Fonda, Janet McTeer, Kylie Rogers, Octavia Spencer, Quvenzhane Wallis, Russell Crowe
Synopsis: A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own.
Theatrical Release: Select Markets

Men Go to Battle
Director: Zachary Treitz
Cast: David Maloney, Emily Cass McDonnell, Kate Lyn Sheil, Rachel Korine, Steve Coulter, Tim Morton
Synopsis: Kentucky, 1861. Francis and Henry Mellon depend on each other to keep their unkempt estate afloat as winter encroaches. After Francis takes a casual fight too far, Henry ventures off in the night, leaving each of them to struggle through the wartime on their own.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on July 15th)

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Cast: Alan Horn, Bill Moyers, George Clooney, John Amos, Norman Lear, Russell Simmons
Synopsis: Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, boldly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed, and feminism.
Theatrical Release: New York (opens in Los Angeles on July 15th)

Our Little Sister
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Haruka Ayase, Jun Fubuki, Kaho, Kirin Kiki, Lily Franky, Masami Nagasawa, Oshiro Maeda, Ryo Kase, Ryohei Suzuki, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Shinobu Otake, Suzu Hirose
Synopsis: Three sisters – Sachi, Yoshino and Chika – live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father – absent from the family home for the last 15 years – dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral, and meet their shy teenage half-sister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings…
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles

Under the Sun
Director: Vitaly Manski
Cast: Zin-mi
Synopsis: My father says that Korea is the most beautiful country… Korea is the land of the rising sun,” says eight-year-old schoolgirl Zin-mi. Despite continuous interference by government handlers, Russian director Vitaly Mansky still managed to document life in Pyongyang, North Korea in this fascinating family portrait. It’s an important year for Zin-mi as sh prepares to join the Korean Children’s Union on the ‘Day Of The Shining Star’ (Kim Jong-Il’s birthday). As the family receives instruction on how to be the ideal patriots, Mansky’s watchful camera capture details from comrades struggling to stay awake during an official event to Zin-mi’s tears at a particularly grueling dance lesson.
Theatrical Release: New York

Zero Days
Director: Alex Gibney
Synopsis: In his new film, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney explores the phenomenon of Stuxnet, a self-replicating computer virus discovered in 2010 by international IT experts. Evidently commissioned by the US and Israeli governments, this malware was designed to specifically sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. However, the complex computer worm ended up not only infecting its intended target but also spreading uncontrollably. Although to this day officially denied, Stuxnet was created by two allied forces who were each pursuing their own agendas, and in doing so opened up the Pandora’s box of cyber warfare…
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles

There are more releases from July 1, which you can still catch here.