The Month In Pop Entertainment: August 2013

The last full month of summer is a mixed bag of entertainment options, with two big movies geared toward the under-20 crowd, highly-anticipated albums, major video game releases, plenty of sports coverage, and TV’s wackiest awards show. Whatever you do, try to do it outdoors before sweater season creeps in.

1. One Direction: This Is Us (Aug. 30)

Following in Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Justin Bieber’s footsteps, the current biggest boyband in America is releasing their own documentary/concert movie. Director Morgan Spurlock promises an inside look at the band and what goes on in the minds of their fans. (As for this fan, I’m hoping that they’ll sing “C’Mon C’Mon”… or “Taken”. And it would be nice if they threw in the music video for “Best Song Ever”, too.)

 

2. Planes (Aug. 9)

A crop duster tries to compete against fighter jets in this spin-off of Disney/Pixar’s popular Cars movies. It looks cute, but this can only mean that Boats and Bikes are next.

 

3. John Mayer Paradise Valley (Aug. 13)

After a year in which two major throat surgeries forced him to refrain from public singing, the singer-songwriter and popular tabloid target will release his sixth album. He has described it as similar to his last album, which had a more country-rock flavor to it.

 

4. Disney Infinity (Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360, Playstation 3) (Aug. 20)

Disney gets in on the trend that SkyLanders started with this video game/ interactive figurine collection that allows gamers to play games and “go on adventures” with characters ranging from the Pirates of the Caribbean to The Incredibles. A bit of advice: wait until Christmas to start collecting all those figurines. Something tells me that a few of them might become future Black Friday specials.

 

5. Big Sean Hall of Fame (Aug. 27)

One of the most highly anticipated hip-hop albums of the year, its release date has been pushed back three times. If it does come out this month, expect collaborations with Eminem, Ellie Goulding, Miguel, and Lil Wayne.

 

6. Luke Bryan Crash My Party (Aug. 13)

His last album reached double platinum status and the title track has already gone gold, so the odds are good that this album will also sell well. Country fans should take note: Target will be offering a deluxe edition that includes four bonus tracks.

 

7. Ducktales: Remastered (Playstation 3) (Aug. 20)

One of the most highly praised and best selling video games of all time, the original Ducktales was released for NES twenty-four years ago. This updated version spent three years in development, and boasts bonus levels as well as artwork and voice work from the original Disney artists.

 

8. The FOX Sports 1 network debut (Aug. 17)

ESPN gets some new competition this month with the debut of this new sports network, which promises plenty of college basketball, FIFA soccer, NASCAR, college football, motorcycle racing, and weekly boxing matches. Oddly enough, their most publicized effort is Crowd Goes Wild, a sports talk show hosted by Regis Philbin.

 

9. English Premiere League soccer (NBC, NBC Sports, Telmundo) Aug. 17

NBC, NBC Sports, and Telmundo team up to broadcast every game of the UK’s answer to the NFL. They call it football, we call it soccer, and the network thinks it was worth $250 million to get the broadcast rights.

 

10. MTV Video Music Awards (Aug. 25)

Despite the fact that they rarely even show music videos, MTV has declared that Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors”, Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven”, and Pink’s “Just Give Me A Reason” were the most nomination-worthy clips of the year. Meanwhile, the network has promised the debut performance of Lady Gaga’s new single.