Top 5 – Movies Coming to Netflix in August

This is one of the strongest months Netflix has had all year.  I could have made a list of ten or fifteen movies, that’s how many good ones are coming.  The five that I picked include four films that could make a strong case to land in my top 100 movies ever and one of my personal favorite Schwarzenegger movies.  Here are my picks for the best movies coming to Netflix in August.

Check out all the movies and T.V. shows coming to Netflix in August right here.

5 – ERASER (Chuck Russell, 1996)

Eraser is one of my favorite Schwarzenegger movies and arguably the last great movie he has made.  It’s crazy to think about, but what Arnie movie after 1996 would you actually consider great or even good?  Around the World in 80 Days?  I digress.  Eraser is Arnie kicking ass and taking name and it is a blast of a watch.  He plays a Witness Protection agent who must protect his latest witness from a major corporation attempting to kill her.  The plot is fun and twisty and Arnold is at peak badass here.  This is the kind of movie I love to have on as background noise, but also a movie I just love to have on and watch.  It’s movies like Eraser that made Arnie one of cinema’s best action stars.

4 – CLERKS (Kevin Smith, 1994)

Clerks is one of the most important independent films of the 90’s.  Shot for a mere $27,000, writer/director Kevin Smith created a seminal indie.  The simplicity of the plot is where the brilliance of the movie lies, as it shows us a day in the life of a convenient store clerk and his buddy who works next door at a video store.  Sounds boring?  You couldn’t be more wrong.  The comedy is constant, the performances are authentic, and the conversations between the characters are compelling, ranging from philosophy to the Star Wars.  Clerks is a comedy and indie classic.

3 – THE AVIATOR (Martin Scorsese, 2004)

The Aviator is a fascinating biopic about oil tycoon Howard Hughes, played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio.  The film shows Hughes’s ups and downs throughout the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s, as he starts as young, hot shot millionaire and ends up as a recluse plagued by OCD.  This is one of DiCaprio’s best performances, fully immersing himself as Hughes.  The film also stars Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for her role as the legendary Katherine Hepburn, as well as John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, and Kate Beckinsale.  This is a spectacular movie about one of history’s wildest personalities.

2 – BATMAN BEGINS (Christopher Nolan, 2005)

Batman Begins is arguably the most important comic book movie of all-time.  After the neon disaster that was Batman & Robin, the Batman brand was tainted forever.  But then Christopher Nolan came along and changed not only Batman as a movie franchise, but comic book movies forever.  Nolan gave us a grounded, darker comic book movie, showing us the origin story of how Bruce Wayne became Batman.  Christian Bale stars as Batman and he is one of the best to ever rock the cape.  Stunning cinematography and a great score compliment Nolan’s story and action to give us one of the best comic book movies ever made.

1 – NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (The Coen Brothers, 2007)

No Country for Old Men is one of the best movies of this century.  The Coen Brothers, who are probably the most consistent filmmakers working today, continuously putting out great film after great, created one of their best films, if not their best.  Everything about this movie is perfect.  Adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, No Country for Old Men is a cat and mouse game, as Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin at his best) finds a case full of money and goes on the run from Anton Chigur (Oscar winner Javier Bardem), a relentless, terrifying hitman.  Technically outstanding and filled with deep themes of greed and humanity, No Country for Old Men is an American masterpiece that needs to be seen by everyone.