Movies
Films where science goes horribly wrong always start off so normally. In "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," James Franco plays a scientist who is trying to cure Alzheimer's. Good goal, right? But then of course his research goes insane and he creates a smart chimp and that smart chimp raises a world-conquering army of other chimps and ... well, it's just good to see the "Planet of the Apes" series from our childhoods isn't dead yet. (Opens Aug. 5.)
Hollywood loves to make movies where characters jump around and change bodies. "Freaky Friday," anyone? "Big"? "13 Going on 30?" In "The Change-Up," Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman wish for one another's lives and get the chance to swap. Bateman plays the happily married dad who longs for single pal Reynolds' bachelor life. Naturally, things don't quite go as they'd imagined. (Opens Aug. 5.)
TV
"Take the Money and Run" has a novel twist for a reality show. Contestants are given a phone, a car, and a briefcase with $100,000. If they successfully hide the money for 48 hours, they get to keep it, but professional detectives are on their tail. We hope the Steve Miller Band song of the same name is their theme song (clap clap clap). (Premieres Aug. 2, 9 p.m., ABC.)
In these tight economic times, who wouldn't want to turn trash into gold? On Lifetime's new series, "Picker Sisters," interior decorators Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen travel the nation and buy junk, then try to turn it into art and rake in the bucks. The Huffington Post found the show's concept kind of dangerous, saying, "They drive up in their truck and meet 'Ed' or 'Clarence' or 'Joe' who lives on deserted properties with nobody else anywhere around. Haven't I seen about 14 horror movies with this same situation?" Let's hope that's not the case. (Premieres Aug. 2, 10 p.m., Lifetime.)
DVD
Bueller, Bueller? "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" turned 25 in June, and now a 25th anniversary DVD and Blu-Ray disc is being released. The behind-the-scenes featurettes sound juicy, and include "Vintage Ferris Bueller: The Lost Tapes" and "The World According to Ben Stein" (Ferris' teacher, who really wanted them to learn about the Smoot-Hawley Tariff). Save Ferris! He's a righteous dude. (On DVD Aug. 2.)
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper is TODAY.com's movies editor.