Most stand-up comics probably only dream about being involved in a movie as funny and refreshingly honest as Mike Birbiglia’s “Sleepwalk with Me,” let alone one that marks their directorial debut. Based on his one-man show of the same name (which was in turn inspired by actual events from his life), the film is a witty human comedy about the fear of commitment and finding one’s place in the world, and it’s hands-down one of my favorite movies of the year. Much like Birbiglia’s stand-up in the film, the story is entertaining because it’s so incredibly personal (something that’s missing from most Hollywood productions), and he makes it even more so by narrating the movie via segments where he speaks directly to the audience a la Ferris Bueller. “Sleepwalk with Me” actually fared pretty well in theaters during its platform release this past fall, but if you didn’t get a chance to catch it then, be sure to add it to your must-see list for the new year, because the film is so good that if you weren’t a fan of Birbiglia beforehand, you almost certainly will be afterwards.

Blu-ray Highlight: There are some good extras on the disc, but the audio commentary with star/co-writer/co-director Mike Birbiglia and producer/co-writer Ira Glass is the best of the bunch, with the duo discussing the making of the movie in detail, including some behind-the-scenes anecdotes and things they learned on set as first-time filmmakers.

William Friedkin hasn’t made a great film in a very long time, and while “Killer Joe” doesn’t exactly remedy that, it’s the best movie that he’s made in a while. Adapted by Tracy Letts from his stage play of the same name, the self-described “totally twisted, deep-fried, Texas redneck trailer park murder story” is one of the most intense and polarizing moviegoing experiences in recent memory. Although the strange series of events that transpire during the course of the movie has already divided audiences (particularly a tension-packed final act that gets pretty weird and perverse), it’s as oddly fascinating to watch unravel as it is repulsive. Every single performance is great – from Gina Gerson’s devious stepmom, to Emile Hirsch’s pathetic bottom-feeder, to Thomas Hayden Church’s clueless father, to Juno Temple’s trailer park princess – but it’s star Matthew McConaughey who truly commands the screen with his best role in ages. It’s about time the actor finally showed off his full potential, and this white trash “Blood Simple” does that and more.

Blu-ray Highlight: The making-of featurette “Southern Fried Hospitality: From Stage to Screen” is definitely worth checking out for the interviews with the various cast and crew, but it’s director William Friedkin’s audio commentary that is the real highlight. Friedkin is one of those filmmakers that’s just a lot of fun to listen to speak, and his commentary track for “Killer Joe” is an excellent discussion about making the movie and, in talking about the infamous NC-17 rating, the politics of the business as well.

It was only inevitable that “Pitch Perfect” would draw some comparisons to “Glee,” but while the show’s success certainly helped pave the way for making organized singing groups cool again, that would be like comparing Adele to Katy Perry. The film actually feels more like the a cappella cousin of the “Step Up” movies, and although that may not inspire a whole lot of confidence, it’s a really charming comedy filled with great performances (both acting and musical) that’s only slightly hindered by its conventional formula. In fact, one of movie’s biggest draws is the musical performances, and while there’s no denying that they’re fun to watch, “Pitch Perfect” would be just as shallow as the “Step Up” series without such a great cast, including the always reliable Anna Kendrick and Australian up-and-comer Rebel Wilson in a breakout role. Written by Kay Cannon, whose experience as a writer for “30 Rock” tells you all you need to know about the movie’s offbeat sense of humor, “Pitch Perfect” is the kind of film that many people would normally overlook based on its premise, but that would be a mistake.

Blu-ray Highlight: Though Universal hasn’t exactly skimped on bonus material – which includes a pair of audio commentaries, alternate takes and deleted scenes – there’s nothing here that really stands out. At least there’s always the movie to watch again.

Hollywood has released some pretty pointless remakes over the years, but some films are actually worth remaking if there’s room for improvement, and although Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi cult classic “Total Recall” has its share of admirers, the movie isn’t exactly bulletproof. With that said, however, Len Wiseman’s slicker, darker update isn’t any better. Though the film shares quite a bit in common with Verhoeven’s original movie, following many of the same story beats until its drastically different third act, it feels bland by comparison. Colin Farrell makes for a more believable Everyman than Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he lacks the charisma that the iconic action hero brought to the role, while Jessica Biel and Bryan Cranston don’t fare much better. Kate Beckinsale’s Lori is the only character who feels like an improvement, and that’s mostly due to the economical decision to combine the Sharon Stone and Michael Ironside roles into one villain. Wiseman does his best to freshen things up, but you can never quite shake that feeling of déjà vu while watching the film, and that only begs the question, why bother remaking it at all?

Blu-ray Highlight: A review copy didn’t arrive in time, but a quick look at the disc’s extras is promising, including a director commentary and a full-length behind-the-scenes feature called Insight Mode that sounds a lot like Warner Bros.’ Maximum Movie Mode.

You’d be hard pressed to find anything more quintessentially American than baseball and Clint Eastwood, so it’s a little surprising that it took this long for someone to think of combining the two. Though “Trouble with the Curve” isn’t exactly the kind of project that you’d expect would lure Eastwood out of semi-retirement from acting, the fact that the movie is directed by longtime producer Robert Lorenz clearly played a big part in his decision. Eastwood’s involvement was a real coup for the first-time helmer, because if it weren’t for the film’s excellent cast, “Trouble with the Curve” would have been pretty forgettable. It’s hard to imagine the movie being any good with other actors in the roles, because although it runs a bit long for such a simple story, and Lorenz lays on the drama pretty thick at times, the cast (which also includes Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman) adds just enough class to save the film from its own undoing. It won’t be remembered as a great baseball movie, but there are much worse ways to spend your afternoon.

Blu-ray Highlight: Warner Bros. has put together a pair of generic behind-the-scenes featurettes – one focusing on director Robert Lorenz and the other on his cast – for the movie’s Blu-ray release, but neither could hardly be considered a highlight of any kind.

With a new version of “Total Recall” arriving in theaters this weekend, it was inevitable that Lionsgate would reissue Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 original on Blu-ray in conjunction with its release. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, and the first thing that crossed my mind upon revisiting the film was that I couldn’t believe my parents actually let me watch this at such a young age. Though not nearly as violent as Verhoeven’s other sci-fi cult classics “RoboCop” and “Starship Troopers,” “Total Recall” has its share of graphic gore, not to mention the grotesque (but brilliant) special effects by Rob Bottin. For as beloved as the movie is in certain circles, however, it hasn’t held up particularly well, with many of the futuristic props and production design coming off even cheesier and more dated than before. Of course, that’s the danger of the sci-fi genre, but it doesn’t change the fact that “Total Recall” is still a fun slice of escapist entertainment that, depending on which side of the “Was it real or a dream?” argument you fall on, is also a lot smarter than it looks.

Blu-ray Highlight: The audio commentary by director Paul Verhoeven and star Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great listen if you never got around to checking it out on previous releases, but the disc’s all-new interview with Verhoeven is a much more interesting retrospective on the film’s production process, with the director offering details on the script and its troublesome third act, working with Arnold, the visual effects and more.

Joseph Kahn’s bizarre genre mash-up is one those movies that will likely earn a small cult following who swear that it’s a misunderstood masterpiece, but they’d be wrong. Those same people might even say that it deserves to be admired for its originality, and while that’s true to a certain extent, the entire plot is dependent on paying homage to a medley of films including “Scream,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Back to the Future,” “Heathers, “Donnie Darko,” and every Gregg Araki movie ever made. Though it shows some real promise early on (the opening sequence, in particular, is a hilarious meta-satire of teen slasher films), “Detention” gradually gets worse as the story begins to lose focus amid its scattershot collection of ideas – some good, some bad, and some just poorly executed. The movie is all over the place, and despite Kahn’s attempts to make sense of everything by introducing time travel to the equation, he only ends up creating an even bigger mess. There are some brief moments of comic brilliance scattered throughout, but why waste your time when you could just watch the far superior “Cabin in the Woods” instead?

Blu-ray Highlight: Regardless of how you feel about the movie, the picture-in-picture commentary track “Cheat Mode: The Unbelievably Mind Melting Making of ‘Detention’” is the kind of extra that I’d like to see on more Blu-ray releases. Unlike Universal’s similar U-Control feature, “Cheat Mode” runs the entire length of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes footage, photos and much more.

I don’t know what it is about the British and their obsession with crime films, but credit to “4.3.2.1” for at least trying to do something different with the genre. Unfortunately, Noel Clarke’s follow-up to his directorial debut, “Adulthood,” is a simple case of a good idea ruined by terrible execution. Presenting the film as a series of interconnecting stories is a difficult undertaking on its own, but organizing it in such a confusing manner (with each part of the tale told in its entirety, one after the other) causes a disconnect with the audience early on, as it’s difficult not to feel completely lost. Granted, by the time all four stories have unraveled, everything starts to make sense, but apart from the “ah-ha” moment that it provides, it’s wholly unnecessary. Most of the acting is solid, and the movie features some fun cameos from the likes of Kevin Smith and Mandy Patinkin (the former of which is the highlight of the whole film), but “4.3.2.1” gambles so much on its gimmicky plot device that Clarke has no one other than himself to blame when it doesn’t work out.

Blu-ray Highlight: The only included extra is a pretty standard making-of featurette comprised of interviews with writer/co-director Noel Clarke and the cast. It’s hardly must-see material, but fans of the movie won’t be completely disappointed either.

August has never been the most exciting part of the summer movie season, but the studios have treated it like a warm-down of sorts in recent years, taking the opportunity to discard their misfit films with seemingly no interest in how they perform. That may change this year, however, as there are a number of high-profile movies (including several targeted at action fans) that could end up doing some pretty big business. In fact, with the somewhat disappointing summer that we’ve had so far, it’s not entirely unreasonable to suggest that August might end up being the highlight of the season.

Who: Colin Farrell, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, Bryan Cranston and Bill Nighy
What: Factory worker Douglas Quaid begins to suspect that he’s a spy after visiting Rekall, a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories.
When: August 3rd
Why: While not exactly a remake in the conventional sense, director Len Wiseman’s adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” has nonetheless caused diehard fans of Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 original to scream blasphemy. But just like that movie was forced to get creative and expand upon Dick’s story, so too has Wiseman’s version, seemingly sticking closer to its source material by keeping the action on Earth. Colin Farrell is definitely an inspired choice to play Quaid (and just like Adrian Brody in “Predators,” it should help to limit the comparisons to Arnold Schwarzenegger), while Bryan Cranston is on such a hot streak right now that it’s hard to imagine anyone else as Cohaagen. Whether Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale or the special effects provide the film’s best eye candy, however, is still up for debate.

Who: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts and Ari Graynor
What: A divorcing couple tries to maintain their friendship while pursuing other people.
When: August 3rd
Why: In addition to being a smart piece of counterprogramming to “Total Recall,” the indie dramedy has been riding a wave of strong buzz since its premiere at Sundance earlier this year, where most critics praised the excellent chemistry between its two stars. Though I’m not entirely sold on the idea of Andy Samberg as a romantic lead (or a serious actor, for that matter), I’ll see just about anything that Rashida Jones does these days, especially if it leads to more high-profile roles for the “Parks and Rec” actress. Jones also co-wrote the screenplay, which boasts an interesting premise that practically guarantees it won’t be anything like the typical Hollywood rom-com, with a more dramatic streak reminiscent of movies like “Annie Hall” and “(500) Days of Summer.” And if it’s even half as good as those films, we’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Who: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell and Jean Smart
What: After 30 years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.
When: August 8th
Why: There are usually a few movies every summer targeted explicitly towards adult audiences, and more often than not, one of them stars Meryl Streep. That’s the case once again with this geriatric twist on the traditional rom-com, which reunites Streep with her “The Devil Wears Prada” director David Frankel. Unfortunately, “Hope Springs” doesn’t look nearly as good, instead hewing closer to the vibe of “It’s Complicated,” at least where Streep’s overly giggly character is concerned. The actress appears to be trying too hard to get a laugh, while Steve Carell doesn’t seem to have that much to do. The wild card is Tommy Lee Jones, who isn’t the first person you’d think of for this kind of role, but that’s exactly why it’s such a brilliant piece of casting. And if the three actors work as well together as you’d expect, “Hope Springs” might not be that bad after all.

Who: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen and Stacy Keach
What: Treadstone agent Alex Cross goes on the run with one of the agency’s scientists when the shadow organization in charge shuts down his operation.
When: August 10th
Why: I was a little wary when Universal announced that they were continuing the Jason Bourne franchise without Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (or for that matter, the title character), but from what I’ve seen so far, it’s safe to say that “The Bourne Legacy” is going to be just fine without them. It was a really smart decision to bring franchise scribe Tony Gilroy back to write and direct the fourth movie, because no one knows the Bourne series better than him, and it was likely his idea to design the story so that it runs parallel to “The Bourne Ultimatum.” That way, the Jason Bourne plotline still has a part to play, making the narrative transition to Jeremy Renner’s character a whole lot smoother. And with quality actors like Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton rounding out the cast, there’s a pretty good chance this will be the best installment yet.

Who: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Sarah Baker and Dylan McDermott
What: In order to gain influence over their North Carolina district, two CEOs attempt to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady by putting up a rival candidate.
When: August 10th
Why: The fact that I didn’t laugh once during the entire trailer certainly isn’t a good sign, but with the presidential elections just around the corner, the timing couldn’t be any better for a political comedy. Though it’s been awhile since Will Ferrell did something that really made me laugh, and Zach Galifianakis has failed to prove why he’s so popular, the two actors excel at playing big, dumb characters, and anyone familiar with director Jay Roach’s Austin Powers films knows that he loves that brand of goofball comedy. I would have preferred something a little darker – especially after Roach’s recent success on HBO films like “Recount” and “Game Change” – but that’s not really Ferrell and Galifianakis’ forte. And when you consider the current crop of politicians running for office, playing it as over the top as possible is probably the best way to go.

Who: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Liam Hemsworth
What: When one of their men is murdered on the job, the Expendables’ quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
When: August 18th
Why: This is the movie that fans were licking their chops over the first time around, with all the big action star icons that we were promised and more. Along with increasing Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s screen time, the film also boasts a few new additions, including Jean-Claude Van Damme as the hilariously named baddie Jean Vilain, and Chuck freaking Norris, who unfortunately is only appearing in a limited capacity. Still, something is better than nothing, although it’s strange that Steven Segal wasn’t invited to the party as well, unless Stallone is saving him for the next movie. Despite his omission, however, “The Expendables 2” is shaping up to be much better than the original. Director Simon West hasn’t had the most impressive career, but as fans of “Con Air” will tell you, he’s more than capable of delivering a kick-ass action film.

Who: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Leslie Mann
What: A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.
When: August 18th
Why: It’s no secret that Laika, the animation studio responsible for 2009’s “Coraline,” has a predilection for the supernatural (they even worked on Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride”), so it’s great to see them back to oddball form with another stop-motion movie that both kids and adults can enjoy. Although there’s an undeniable “Scooby-Doo”-like quality to the film, it’ll be interesting to see how directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell manage the creepiness factor after many complained that “Coraline” was too scary for younger kids. (Though I’d argue that it was never meant for them in the first place.) I’m even more curious to see what it looks like in 3D, because while I’ve never been a big fan of the format, “Coraline” was one of the few movies that actually got it right, and the potential is there for “ParaNorman” to produce an equally unique filmgoing experience.

Who: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez and Jamie Chung
What: In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.
When: August 24th
Why: Though it was originally scheduled to open earlier this year, the studio’s decision to push the release date back to August likely had more to do with capitalizing on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s appearance in “The Dark Knight Rises” than the quality of the movie. It makes more sense to release the film during the summer anyway, because it doesn’t look like much more than your average popcorn flick – a high-testosterone action thriller like “Crank,” only without all the manic craziness. In fact, the weirdest thing about “Premium Rush” is that it seems to have created a whole new sport by blending cycling with parkour, although some might argue that you can’t get any weirder than Michael Shannon. But the actor always brings his A-game, as does Gordon-Levitt, so I wouldn’t be surprised if “Premium Rush” turned out to be the surprise hit of the month.

Who: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane and James Rebhorn
What: A burgeoning stand-up comedian struggles with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship, and the dangerous case of sleepwalking he’s desperate to ignore.
When: August 24th
Why: Most stand-up comics probably only dream about being involved in a movie as funny and honest as Mike Birbiglia’s “Sleepwalk with Me,” let alone one that marks their directorial debut. Based on his one-man show of the same name (which was in turn inspired by actual events from his life), the film is a witty and consistently funny human comedy about the fear of commitment, and hands-down my favorite movie at this year’s SXSW. Much like Birbiglia’s stand-up in the movie, the story is entertaining because it’s so personal, and he makes it even more so by narrating the movie via segments where he talks to the audience a la Ferris Bueller. It’ll be interesting to see how the general public receives “Sleepwalk with Me” when it’s rolled out into theaters, because the film is so good that if you weren’t a fan of Mike Birbiglia beforehand, you will be afterwards.

Who: Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman
What: Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.
When: August 29th
Why: I didn’t really care for director John Hillcoat’s last two films (the post-apocalyptic drama “The Road” and the Aussie Western “The Proposition”), but I’ve been looking forward to “Lawless” since it was first announced. Formerly titled “The Wettest County in the World” after the novel on which it’s based, the movie looks about ten times more exciting than any episode of “Boardwalk Empire,” and features an ensemble cast that would make any director jealous. Not only does it boast a pair of talented leading men in Tom Hardy and Shia LeBeouf, but the film also features the likes of Guy Pearce (who shaved off his eyebrows for the role), Gary Oldman (back in villainous form), the prolific Jessica Chastain, and the underrated Jason Clarke. Though it may seem a little early to be releasing a movie with this kind of awards potential, there’s so much competition at the end of the year that separating itself from the pack will likely increase its chances.