August is finally here, which means we’re entering the final weeks of summer as we head into the fall season. There are so many exciting new releases to look forward to this month, including M. Night Shyamalan’s latest horror film Fall, Border areasthe horror thriller starring Hunter Schafer CuckooFede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulusand much more.
If you’re looking for the best movies to stream at home this month, don’t worry. We’ve done the hard work of separating the wheat from the chaff so you don’t have to by curating a list of the best new movies to stream this August. We’ve got a classic comedy starring the legendary Leslie Nielsen, the streaming premiere of the latest installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, an inimitable Paul Thomas Anderson classic, and that’s just to name a few!
These are the movies to watch this month that are new to streaming services.
Editor’s Pick: The Naked Gun: From the Police Files!
Image: Paramount Home Entertainment
Where to watch: Prime video
Genre: Crime comedy
Director: David Zucker
Form: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, OJ Simpson
Some comedies are funny because of a precise alchemy of the perfect script and just the right actors. They feel like a one-in-a-million miracle that is impossible to replicate. Other comedies work because three or four of the funniest people in the world happen to be friends, and they happen to trick a studio into giving them enough money to make a movie, and you get the feeling that almost everything they say is hilarious. The naked gun clearly falls into the latter category.
Written by David and Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Pat Proft, The Naked Guns is a parody of police procedural dramas that includes everything from a conference of America’s greatest enemies to an assassination plot against the Queen and a few shocking scenes from O.J. Simpson — who at the time was best known as a very famous football player. The film is filled with ridiculous and hilarious jokes, but what really sells it is the brilliant, expressionless delivery of Leslie Nielson, one of the biggest comedy stars of all time. —Austen Goslin
New on Netflix
The Deer King
Image: Production IG/GKIDS
Genre: Fantasy adventure
Directors: Masashi Ando, Masayuki Miyaji
Form: Shin’ichi Tsutsumi, Ryoma Takeuchi, Anne Watanabe
A fantasy epic created by many Studio Ghibli alumni, The Deer King adapts a series of fantasy novels into an anime epic that in many ways feels like a version of Princess Mononoke made for an adult audience.
From our colleague Tasha Robinson’s recommendation for the film:
The visual design is equally rich and stately. Intense set pieces like the mine escape alternate with more relaxed, beautifully detailed sequences of everyday life for those far removed from the war and able to live outside of it. It’s a compelling film: at its best more impressive, visionary, and mature than most anime fantasies of the past few decades, and visually more beautiful. Even when it struggles, it’s always because it’s over-ambitious rather than under-ambitious.
New on Hulu
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Image: 20th Century Studios
Genre: Sci-fi action
Director: Wes Bal
Form: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand
The Planet of the Apes prequel series is one of the most popular and underrated film franchises of the past few decades. War for the Planet of the Apes brought Caesar’s story to a close and seemed to conclude the series, but this year’s latest installment turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable addition.
Unlike the last two films, which were mostly gray war movies about humans and apes facing each other, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a full-fledged adventure film. The film follows Noa (Owen Teague), a young ape whose village is conquered by an ape warlord named Proximus (Kevin Durand). Noa, along with a few people he meets along the way, including a disciple of Caesar (Peter Macon) and a young human (Freya Allen), travel through the post-human world in hopes of rescuing Noa’s family. It’s a sweet, fun, action-packed film, and it looks absolutely gorgeous. If Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes If the future of the series is, then I’m more than happy to see the franchise continue. —AG
New on Max
Beetle juice
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Comedy horror
Director: Tim Burton
Form: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton
Tim Burton will return in September with the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 horror comedy Beetle juiceso what better time than now to revisit and enjoy the creepy, crawly delights of the original?
Starring Michael Keaton as the mischievous namesake, the film was Burton’s direct follow-up to his directorial debut Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and a breakthrough success for the then 29-year-old director. Burton’s aesthetic signature is evident in nearly every frame of the film’s running time, with twisting, otherworldly corridors reminiscent of the experimental sets of German Expressionism, the eerie colored lighting of giallo horror, and the outrageously creepy and goofy effects of stop-motion claymation.
The commercial and critical success of Burton’s second film is directly responsible for the nearly decade-long run of fantastic films he would produce, including films like Batman, Edward Scissorhandsand more. If you’re looking for a comedy horror film that’s bursting with visual personality and plenty of laughs, or even if you’re new to Tim Burton and want to get to know his artistic sensibilities, you can’t go wrong with Beetle juice… shit, he’s standing right behind me, right? -AT
New on Prime Video
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Image: MGM Home Entertainment
Genre: Sci-fi horror
Director: Don Siegel
Form: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates
It’s truly shocking how creepy the original 1956 version was Invasion of the Body Snatchers is today. The classic sci-fi tale of a small town slowly being replaced by pod people is certainly disturbing enough in the grand scheme of things, but the true horror of the film lies in the initial reaction to the kidnappers who take over. Seeing the panic on people’s faces as they realize that the face before them is no longer the soul and person they knew and loved is a magical kind of terror that still hits home nearly 70 years later. —AG
New on Criterion Channel
Magnolia
Image: New Line Cinema
Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Thomas Andersen
Form: John C. Reilly, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble drama features one of the most extreme examples of “six degrees of separation” in all of cinema. Featuring an expansive ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, John C. Reilly, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Juliane Moore, Magnolia is a tragicomic epic that focuses on the heartbreaks, disappointments, and personal breakthroughs of a handful of people whose lives intersect in coincidental and unexpected ways.
Paul Thomas Anderson took the carte blanche goodwill he had earned through his groundbreaking success with Boogie nights and ran with it to create a confusing and heartbreaking mosaic film about love and life in the San Fernando Valley. It’s a confusing and unashamedly honest film that’s unlike anything Anderson has made before or since. As if that weren’t enough, it also features a beautiful score by Jon Brion and several vocal performances by Aimee Mann, whose music inspired Anderson while writing the film’s script. If you’ve never seen Magnoliathen you owe it to yourself to at least take the time to check it out. -AT