Here are my picks for the best movies coming to Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Criterion Channel, and HBOMax in August.  This month offers up some great options, including Oscar winners, indie gems, and Hollywood classics.

 

 

 

 

 

NETFLIX

Full list of everything coming to Netflix in August can be found here.

 

 

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1991)

• A perfect adaptation of the classic show about the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky family.

 

AN EDUCATION (Lone Scherfig, 2009)

• Carey Mulligan’s breakout performance leads Lone Scherfig’s coming-of-age drama.

 

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonez, 1999)

• One of two Charlie Kaufman-written movies coming to Netflix this month.  This one looks at a group of people who find a tunnel that puts them inside the mind of actor John Malkovich.  It’s an incredible film.

 

CASINO ROYALE/QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Martin Campbell/Marc Forster, 2006/2008)

• Though Quantum of Solace is a bit of a dud, Casino Royale is my favorite James Bond movie and ushered in Daniel Craig as one of our best Bond’s.

 

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004)

• The other Charlie Kaufman-written film is his strongest screenplay to date and one of the most original movies of the 21st century.

 

JURASSIC PARK TRILOGY (Steven Spielberg/Joe Johnston, 1994/1998/2001)

• Lost World and Jurassic Park III may not live up to the first film (not many films do), but this is a fun trilogy of dinosaur chaos and mayhem.

 

MR. DEEDS (Steven Brill, 2002)

• One of the last great Adam Sandler vehicles.  This movie never fails to make me laugh.

 

NIGHTCRAWLER (Dan Gilroy, 2014)

• One of Jake Gyllenhaal’s best performances came in Dan Gilroy’s thriller about a man obsessed with breaking into the world of crime journalism.

 

OCEAN’S 12 & OCEAN’S 13 (Steven Soderbergh, 2004, 2007)

• It’s kind of annoying they don’t have the whole trilogy on here (more on Ocean’s 11 later in this list) but these are fun, cool, twisty, weird movies with stellar casts that are endlessly rewatchable.

 

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (Colin Tervorrow, 2012)

• The only good movie Colin Trevorrow has made is a unique take on the time travel movie.

 

 

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Full list of everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in August can be found here.

 

 

3:10 TO YUMA (James Mangold, 2007)

• James Mangold’s underrated Western remake features dynamite performances from Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and Ben Foster.

 

INCEPTION (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

• One of the best movies of 2010’s is as bold as any blockbuster film ever made.

 

MARGIN CALL (JC Chandor, 2011)

• JC Chandor’s debut is a tightly strung, expertly acted look at the 2008 financial crash.

 

TOP GUN (Tony Scott, 1986)

• An 80’s classic.

 

DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (James Bobin, 2019)

• This adaptation of the Nickelodeon children’s show is an exciting and fun adventure film.

 

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz, 2019)

• Led by the terrific performances by Shia LeBeouf and Zack Gottsagen, this is sweet, funny, heartwarming road movie that will melt your heart.

 

 

HULU

Full list of everything coming to Hulu in August can be found here.

 

 

AUSTRALIA (Baz Luhrman, 2008)

• Baz Luhrmann’s bold romance staring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.

 

THE BROTHERS MCMULLEN (Edward Burns, 1995)

• Edward Burns won the top prize at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival for his film about three Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island who struggle to deal with love, marriage, and infidelity.

 

MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (Peter Weir, 2003)

• An epic sea adventure from the great Peter Weir.

 

RAIN MAN (Barry Levinson, 1988)

• Barry Levinson’s Best Picture winner features a pair of excellent performances from Best Actor winner Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.

 

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE/STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN/STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH OF SPOCK/STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER/STAR TREK: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY/STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (Robert Wise/Nicholas Meyer/Leonard Nimoy/William Shatner/Nicholas Meyer/Jonathon Franks, 1979/1982/1984/1989/1991/1998)

• Being more of a Star Wars person my entire life I did not watch a lot of Star Trek, so I’m excited and intrigued to check these films out.

 

UP IN THE AIR (Jason Reitman, 2009)

• George Clooney is sensational in Jason Reitman’s look at a man who makes a living firing people.

 

 

DISNEY+

Full list of everything coming to Disney+ in August can be found here.

 

 

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (Peyton Reed, 2018)

• One of the most underrated movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

THE PEANUTS MOVIE (Steve Martino, 2015)

• A funny, sweet, beautifully animated adaptation of the Charles Schwartz creation.

 

X-MEN (Bryan Singer, 2000)

• One of the most important comic book movies ever made.

 

 

CRITERION CHANNEL

Full list of everything coming to Criterion Channel in August can be found here.

*The Criterion Channel does things a little differently than every other streaming service.  The Criterion Channel, a wonderful streaming service that focuses on independent, foreign, and under-appreciates movies, doesn’t just throw a bunch of random movies to stream.  They get more creative, by having categories like “DOUBLE FEATURES” or “FILMS FROM…”, giving us curated lists of films that somehow blend together or feature a specific artist.*

 

 

AUSTRALIAN NEW WAVE

A look at the films that changed Australian cinema forever in the 1970’s and early 80’s.

• Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
• The Cars That Ate Paris (Peter Weir, 1974)
• Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir, 1975)
• Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam, 1975)
• The Devil’s Playground (Fred Schepisi, 1976)
• Don’s Party (Bruce Beresford, 1976)
• Storm Boy (Henri Safran, 1976)
• The Getting of Wisdom (Bruce Beresford, 1977)
• The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977)
• The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Fred Schepisi, 1978)
• Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978)
• Money Movers (Bruce Beresford, 1978)
• Newsfront (Phillip Noyce, 1978)
• Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)
• My Brilliant Career (Gillian Armstrong, 1979)
• The Plumber (Peter Weir, 1979)
• Breaker Morant Bruce Beresford, (1980)
• Gallipoli (Peter Weir, 1981)
• Puberty Blues (Bruce Beresford, 1981)
• Starstruck (Gillian Armstrong, 1982)
• The Year of Living Dangerously (Peter Weir, 1982)

 

DIRECTED BY WIM WENDERS

Dabbling in both narrative and documentary films, this group of films from director Wim Wenders showcases one of Hollywood’s most diverse filmmakers.

• Alice in the Cities, 1974
• Wrong Move, 1975
• Kings of the Road, 1976
• The American Friend, 1977
• Paris, Texas, 1984
• Tokyo-ga, 1985
• Wings of Desire, 1987
• Until the End of the World, 1991
• Palermo Shooting, 2008
• Pina, 2011

 

DOUBLE FEATURE: THE DECLINE OF MIDWESTERN CIVILIZATION

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles, 1942)

KINGS ROW (Sam Wood, 1942)

• Two 1942 films that focus on the trials and tribulations of people living in turn-of-the-century Midwest towns.

 

DOUBLE FEATURE: BEHIND THE SCENES

HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE

THE PLAYER (Robert Altman, 1992)

• Two wonderful, darkly funny looks at working in Hollywood.

 

BRAZIL (Terry Gillian, 1985)

• Terry Gilliam’s insane dystopian film is another one I have been dying to revisit.

 

 

BACURAU (Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho, 2020)

• One of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2020 focuses on sinister events in a Brazilian village.

 

RAFIKI (Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)

• A bright, colorful love story about forbidden love in Kenya.

 

 

HBOMAX

Full list of everything coming to HBOMax in August can be found here

 

 

ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN (Alan J. Pakula, 1976)

• The greatest film about journalism ever made and a true American masterpiece.

 

BATMAN/BATMAN RETURNS/BATMAN FOREVER/BATMAN BEGINS/THE DARK KNIGHT (Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher/Christopher Nolan, 1989/1992/1995/2005/2008)

• Need a Batman fix?  HBO has your back.

 

BEFORE SUNRISE/BEFORE SUNSET (Richard Linklater, 1995/2004)

• Really mad Before Midnight isn’t on here, but the Before Trilogy is the greatest trilogy in all of cinema and each film offers up something special.

 

THE FUGITIVE (Andrew Davis, 1992)

• A thrilling and entertaining Best Picture nominee.

 

IDIOCRACY (Mike Judge, 2006)

• A political satire that feels all too real now.

 

JOJO RABBIT (Taika Waititi, 20190

• Taika Waititi won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in this comedic World War II film about a child who’s imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.

 

OCEAN’S 11 (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)

• Arguably the coolest heist movie ever made.

 

AN AMERICAN PICKLE (Brandon Trost, 2020)

• An immigrant worker at a pickle factory is accidentally preserved for 100 years and wakes up in modern day Brooklyn.  Seth Rogen plays the immigrant worker and his great grandson.

 

BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (Cathy Yan, 2020)

• Though I wasn’t the biggest fan of this when I first saw it, Margot Robbie is an absolute delight to watch as Harley Quinn.

 

THE WAY BACK (Gavin O’Connor, 2020)

• Ben Affleck gives the best performance of his career in Gavin O’Connor’s drama about a man trying to turn his life around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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