As I’m already tilting into TIFF, we’re going to have to settle for six-word reviews this week. I trust you understand.

The Dog: Dog Day Afternoon: The True Story. [Glenn]

The Expendables III: So, like, everybody’s in this one.

Frank: Jon Ronson lets his freak flag fly.

The Giver: YA fiction classic, disappointing movie adaptation. [Rad]

It Was You Charlie: Well, it looks great. And, um …

Let’s Be Cops: Nick Miller and Coach fight crime! (Technically opened on Wednesday, but there was no press screening.)

Mood Indigo: Michel Gondry has got to stop.

The Trip to Italy: Coogan and Brydon, still at it.

Yves Saint Laurent: Fashion should never be this dull.

And there you have it! Now, I’m off to two TIFF screenings and at least one interview. Pray for me.

This week’s NOW finds me interviewing one of my favorite journalists, Jon Ronson, who turns his own past into fiction in the very strange and very entertaining movie Frank.

We last spoke when he came to TIFF with The Men Who Stare at Goats, a film that does not quite capture the absurdity and cockeyed insight of Ronson’s work the way Frank does. So you should see Frank, is my point.

God dammit.

Fuck.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, another reboot of a reboot of a franchise from the ’80s, won the weekend with an impressive $65 million haul — so, once again, you cannot go broke banking on pop-culture touchstones, no matter how terrible they might be.

At least Guardians of the Galaxy held up well in its second weekend, earning a strong $41.5 million for a domestic gross to date of $175 million — which is just plain wonderful, given how skeptical The Industry was about its chances. Meanwhile, Into the Storm opened in third with $18 million, which is not at all bad for an effects picture with no stars to speak of.

Other new openings did not fare quite so well. The Hundred-Foot Journey took fourth place with $11.1 million, while Step Up All In had to settle for sixth place with $6.5 million. (Luc Besson’s Lucy made $9.3 million in its third week to take fifth.)

This weekend: The Expendables III. Will the people who’ve already downloaded it pay to see it on the big screen? Does that even sound like a reasonable expectation?

As we head into summer’s final movement, all manner of titles start flying into theatres. Major studio CG fests! Artful indies! Whatever The Hundred-Foot Journey is supposed to be!

Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Shall we run through the list?

About Alex: Jesse Zwick’s Big Chill update doesn’t really update Lawrence Kasdan’s boomer class as repeat it with the occasional line about smartphones not working in the sticks. Jason Ritter’s pretty good, though.

Calvary: John Michael McDonagh’s followup to his brilliant The Guard is a different sort of animal — an intimate, bristling character study of a priest, a small village and all of Ireland, anchored by a fantastic performance by Brendan Gleeson. Don’t miss it.

Elena: Jose is much impressed with Petra Costa’s documentary about her ill-fated younger sister. Perhaps you will be too.

An Honest Liar: Illusionist turned debunker James Randi gets the documentary he deserves — incisive, unblinking and ultimately amazing. Please note that I’ll be moderating a Q&A with Randi tonight (Friday) following the 6:30 pm show at the Bloor. There may be cake.

The Hundred-Foot Journey: Lasse Hallstrom’s latest is another cross-cultural romance, sort of, with food being the thing that brings a French chef (Helen Mirren) and a Mumbai patriatch (Om Puri) together. Perhaps they make a deal to import Yemeni salmon.

Into the Storm: Yup, it’s a found-footage Twister — but as it turns out, that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Just take a few decent actors (including Sarah Wayne Callies, Richard Armitage and Matt Walsh), throw a bunch of tornadoes at them and cross your fingers.

Land Ho!: Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens’ charming road picture follows two aging friends (Paul Eenhoorn and Earl Lynn Nelson)  on a weeklong visit to Iceland. Not much happens. Not much needs to.

Night Moves: Kelly Reichardt’s slow-burn thriller is slender enough that it risks getting lost in the crowd of late-summer titles … but if you’re in the right mood, its sultry charms will draw you in, and you’ll be able to appreciate how good Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard and Dakota Fanning really are as activists planning to bomb a dam in Oregon. (They’re really good.)

Step Up: All In: Oh, hey, another one.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: They just look so weird, don’t they? So very weird. Also, Michael Bay is involved so you know it’s not going to be any fun. Andrew was not amused.

And there, that’s it for another week. And if there doesn’t seem to be enough to choose on this week’s slate, don’t fret; next week’s is positively insane.

It’s a staggered kind of week for my NOW coverage — my look at TIFF’s Altman retrospective is in the print edition, as is my Q&A with Into the Storm‘s Matt Walsh … but you have to go online for my conversations with About Alex co-starJason Ritter and Night Moves director/co-writer Kelly Reichardt, and for my recap of yesterday’s TIFF Canadian press conference.

Fortunately, since you’re already browsing the web, that shouldn’t present a problem. Get to it!

Is it Wednesday already? Why, then it must be time for another free movie at Harbourfront!

Tonight we have an especially good one: Kissing Jessica Stein, the indie charmer that launched Jennifer Westfeldt — and, fun fact, features an early appearance by her longtime partner, some floppy-haired doofus named Jon Hamm.

It’s going to be a beautiful night, and my special guest is comic and online-dating veteran Christina Walkinshaw, so it’s gonna be awesome. Join us! 9pm, WestJet stage  — ah, you know the drill.

Guardians of the Galaxy made money! Like, a lot of money! Specifically $94 million, which is the biggest August opening to date!

Who could have seen this coming? Well, anyone who was paying attention. Guardians of the Galaxy is basically Marvel’s Star Wars, and it’s taking hold in exactly the same way that movie did in 1977 — starting with the overexcited fan base (kids then, Marvel fans now) and spreading like wildfire to the rest of the population through word-of-mouth.

I’ll be very surprised if it experiences the usual precipitous second-weekend drop; you just know more people are going to want to see what all the fuss is about than could possibly care about the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot.

Second place: Lucy, with $18.3 million. Third: Get On Up, with $14 million.  No talking raccoon, no point.