August 2024’s Best Streaming Titles: The Rings of Power, Raising Arizona, Amélie, Godzilla, The Goonies - Opus (2024)

Not to be confused with the video game from 1988, Batman: Caped Crusader follows Gotham’s Dark Knight in his early days as a crimefighter, before he became allies with James Gordon. The fact that Bruce Timm — who created Batman: The Animated Series in the mid ’90s — co-developed this series is probably reason enough for most folks to tune in and check it out. I’m also excited that Ed Brubaker (The Fade Out, Friday) was the season’s head writer. Hamish Linklater (Legion) will be the man behind Batman’s voice, stepping in for Kevin Conroy, who died in 2022.

Written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, Cinema Paradiso is a movie that celebrates cinema itself (read my review). After learning that his childhood mentor has died, a jaded filmmaker reflects on the role and influence of movies in his life, which the movie reveals in a series of flashbacks. Upon its release in 1988, Cinema Paradiso quickly became a critical and commercial success, winning numerous awards (including an Oscar for “Best Foreign Language Film”) and helping to resurrect Italy’s film industry.

Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star opposite each other in this thriller about a hitman who squares off against his future self as they both search for a powerful psychic who could alter the future. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Looper injects some clever new twists into the tried and true time travel formula. Johnson previously worked with Gordon-Levitt in 2005’s Brick.

I was a college freshman when Pulp Fiction arrived in theaters, and it was everywhere. Tarantino’s twisty, twisted morality play about hitmen, gangsters, drug addicts, boxers, and a mysterious briefcase blew everyone away with its snappy dialog, retro aesthetic, and celebrated performances (including John Travolta in a career-resurrecting performance). In particular, the diner conversation between Jules and Vincent is one of my favorite movie scenes of all time.

Emma Thompson spent five years adapting Jane Austen’s classic novel, and the result is a lavish and utterly delightful adaptation directed by Ang Lee and starring Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, and Hugh Grant. Released in 1995, the film was a massive commercial and critical success. Sense and Sensibility received seven Academy Awards nominations, with Thompson winning an Oscar for “Best Adapted Screenplay.”

A modern adaptation of Michael Bond’s stories about a marmalade-loving bear who travels from “darkest Peru” to live with the Brown family in England might seem a bit odd. But the truth is, Paddington is an absolute delight of movie. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, and Ben Whishaw as Paddington’s voice, it’s full of good-natured, big-hearted fun as the lovable bear gets into all sorts of adventures while trying to avoid capture by an unhinged taxidermist (Nicole Kidman). The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning “Best Feature” at the British Academy Children’s Awards.

At the end of the first season of The Rings of Power, Sauron has finally revealed himself and Mount Doom had erupted, creating the lands of Mordor. In this new season, it’s up to all of the good peoples of Middle-earth — elves, dwarves, humans, and Harfoots — must unite to battle Sauron’s influence as he seeks to find a way to rule the world. I enjoyed The Rings of Power for the most part (read my review) and appreciated its epic scope, so I’m intrigued to see how the series will continue to unfold.

After directing the sprawling masterpiece that was Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson returned with Punch-Drunk Love. Those expecting more of Magnolia’s moral quandaries and gut-wrenching performances were probably thrown for a loop by the presence of Adam Sandler in the lead role. But Punch-Drunk Love is a delightful film about an intensely angry and confused man who has a sudden encounter with grace and love… and a harmonium.

In this madcap comedy from the Coen Brothers, H.I. and Edwina McDunnough are desperate to start a family. But when their efforts prove fruitless, they concoct a scheme to steal a baby — with hilarious and unpredictable results. Raising Arizona was only the Coens’ second film, but it’s considered to be one of the funniest movies of all time, thanks to a blend of surrealism, slapstick, and an ensemble cast that includes Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman.

I have some quibbles with Tron: Legacy’s storytelling, which picks up decades after the original film and finds a young man (Garrett Hedlund) sucked into a digital world in search of his enigmatic father (Jeff Bridges). But I have no qualms whatsoever with the film’s visuals, nor are there any flaws in Daft Punk’s bangin’ soundtrack. Tron: Legacy also stars Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, and Michael Sheen.

In this 2001 film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a young woman (Audrey Tautou) with a vivid imagination sets out to change the lives of her friends, family members, and neighbors while trying to track down a mysterious man. Filled with whimsical special effects, fairy tale-esque storytelling, Yann Tiersen’s evocative score, and most of all, Tautou’s delightful performance, Amélie is just about as charming as cinema gets.

When a recently deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) want to scare away the new occupants of their beloved country home, they seek aid from a fellow spirit who specializes in exorcizing humans (Michael Keaton). Only they’re not quite prepared for the chaos that they’re about to unleash on both the world of the living and of the dead. One of Tim Burton’s signature films, Beetlejuice also stars Winona Ryder in one of her most famous roles.

Based on Cressida Cowell’s popular children’s books, How to Train Your Dragon is set in a world where Vikings live under constant threat of dragon attack. But when the chieftain’s young son befriends the most fearsome dragon of all, he discovers the truth about dragonkind — a truth that he must use to save both his village and his newfound friend from a common enemy. A massive success when it was released in 2010, How to Train Your Dragon was followed by two sequels and inspired multiple TV series and video games.

Sherlock Holmes has been endlessly reinvented over the years, so why not give Guy Ritchie a turn? Ritchie brings his noted visual style to the world’s most famous detective, with Robert Downey Jr. starring as Holmes and Jude Law as his right-hand man, Doctor Watson. Together, the inimitable duo must defeat an aristocratic killer whose experiments in blending science and the occult appear to have brought him back from the dead.

Spike Jonze’s fantastical adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s best-selling children’s book follows the adventures of Max, a young boy who runs away and ends up on an island of monsters after an argument with his mom. Filled with Jonze’s imaginative visuals and remarkable special effects, Where the Wild Things Are truly looks like nothing else. The movie was a box office failure when it was released in 2009, and launched some debates concerning its appropriate-ness for children, but it appeared on numerous “best of” lists by the year’s end.

Godzilla Minus One was one of 2023’s biggest films, using award-winning visual effects and an emotional storyline to deliver one of the best Godzilla films in the franchise’s history (read my review). Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color offers a new way to watch the film: in black-and-white à la the original 1954 film. But rather than simply removing the color, the film’s crew treated Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color like a brand new production and adjusted the monochrome visuals scene-by-scene.

Much like the titular machines, the Terminator franchise is one of the most dogged and resilient franchises in the sci-fi genre. But Terminator Zero stands out from the other titles by virtue of being anime. Directed by Masashi Kudō (Bleach) and produced by Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass), the series focuses on a scientist who has developed a rival AI to Skynet, and is soon pursued by a robotic assassin from the future. The series features the voices of Timothy Olyphant, Rosario Dawson, and Sonoya Mizuno.

Kurt Russell stars as Jack Burton, a co*cky, loud-mouthed trucker who finds himself in way over his head (though he won’t admit it) when he’s caught up in a war between rival Chinatown gangs, a war that soon becomes supernatural. One of John Carpenter’s best films, Big Trouble in Little China is a rowdy, hilarious ode to classic kung fu films (read my review). As Burton, Russell delivers one of his most iconic performances, with James Hong and Victor Wong stealing the show as rival Chinese sorcerers.

Featuring cinema’s most infamous wood chipper scene, the Coen brothers’ Fargo is yet another twisted moral tale told with a sense of humor as black as the film’s wintry setting is white. When a hapless car salesman (played to perfection by William H. Macy) contracts with a couple of goons to hold his wife for ransom, he sets in a motion a twisted tragicomedy of errors that pulls in one of the Coens’ noblest and purest heroes, police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand).

Directed by Richard Donner and produced by Steven Spielberg, The Goonies is about as good as a classic kids adventure film can get. When a group of social misfits on the verge of being kicked out of their homes discovers a pirate treasure map, they see it as the perfect solution to their problems — if they can survive the elaborate booby traps and vicious criminals on their tail.

In this surprisingly existential comedy, Bill Murray plays an arrogant weatherman who finds himself reliving the same day over and over again in picturesque Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — and forced to confront who he is as a person. This is one of the classic Bill Murray movies, and was even added to the National Film Registry in 2006.

Starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, The Mummy is a delightful throwback to the classic action serials of the ’30s and ’40s. When an Egyptologist discovers a map to a hidden city, she enlists the aid of an American soldier of fortune to help her, not knowing that they’re about to face a slew of supernatural threats. Filled with cutting edge (for the time) special effects, and more importantly, a sense of fun and adventure, The Mummy is popcorn cinema par excellence.

In Satoshi Kon’s mind-bending final film, technology allows researchers to enter other people’s dreams. But after a “dream terrorist” steals the technology and starts using it, the line between dreams and reality threatens to unravel. Filled with stunning animation, a plot that’ll keep you guessing, and a trippy Susumu Hirasawa soundtrack, Paprika is anime par excellence (read my review).

When Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer leads his elite military rescue team into the South American jungle, their mission quickly gets complicated when it becomes clear that something’s hunting them. Something that’s not from this world. Predator is one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s classic ’80s film roles, and it still totally holds up thanks to some charismatic performances, Stan Winston’s awesome creature effects, and John McTiernan’s taut direction.

A group of former spies and special operatives are hired to steal a briefcase with unknown contents. It’s the sort of mission that’s bound to go smoothly without any betrayals or doubles-crosses… right? Ronin features a star-studded cast (Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce) and puts them through the wringer, including some of the greatest car chase sequences in movie history.