Jul 12, 2016

Best new options on Netflix and Amazon Instant in July 2016

Roughly every 30 days, when we flip our wall calendars to the next month and great the new picture that will stare back at us on the fridge for the next few weeks, we lose dozens of films as options from what seems like an endless list on Netflix and Amazon Instant. The good news is that at the same time, we usually gain dozens of alternative options. Most months it feels like the loss column is much weightier than the gain, but July might be an exception. Here are some of my top choices from the new options, as well as a list of most of the new films added below.

One of my favorite overall films added to Netflix this month is ‘The Sting’ with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Robert Shaw. If you like any of the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ series of films, you should give this one a shot. Similar humorous/dramatic blend with a solid ensemble of characters pulling off a caper.

‘The Big Short’ may have been my biggest surprise film of 2015. I had reservations about going to see a dramatic film around the housing/mortgage crisis starring Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling, and directed by comedy director Adam McKay(Anchorman). McKay brought great energy to the film though, and livened up the story to keep it interesting with a solid ensemble of actors and comedians in smaller roles.

One movie that I kept hearing about last year, but never got around to watching was ‘The Invitation’. I’m looking forward to catching up with this intriguing thriller that I’ve actively avoided learning anything about it other than the genre. I’ll be watching this one soon.

For some nostalgia, all 3 movies of the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy are on Netflix now.

All 4 ‘Lethal Weapon’ movies are now on Netflix, so you can see Mel Gibson ACT crazy before we all realized he really was crazy all along.

‘Beverly Hills Cop’ 1 and 2 are both available to watch now with Eddie Murphy in his prime.

The rest of the list of notable additions to Netflix….

41 on 41 (2014)
A Long Way From Home (2013)
Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Bad Boys II (2003)
Batman: The Movie (1966)
Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Blade 2 (2002)
By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009)
Catwoman (2004)
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
Cinderella Man (2005)
Conflict (2015)
Death Race 2 (2010)
Death Race 3: Inferno (2013)
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Gladiator (2000)
Hello, Dolly! (1969)
Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)
Honey (2003)
Insomnia (2002)
The Italian Job (2003)
Jackass: Number Two (2006)
Jim Jefferies: Freedumb (2016)
Lalaloopsy Ponies: The Big Show (2014)
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
The Longest Yard (2005)
The Lovely Bones (2009)
Making the American Man (2016)
Mean Girls (2004)
Nevada Smith (1966)
Nick of Time (1995)
The Painted Veil (2006)
Pandemic (2015)
Phenomenon (1996)
Rumor Has It (2005)
Scooby-Doo (2002)
The Sting (1973)
Stomp the Yard: Homecoming (2010)
Talhotblond (2009)
Terminus (2016)
Turner and Hooch (1989)
Twisted (2004)
Watershed: Exploring A New Water Ethic for the New West (2012)
Well Wishes (2015)
Working Girl (1988)
Yours, Mine and Ours (2005)
The Big Short (2015)
A War (2015)
The Armor of Light (2015)
Brahman Naman (2016)
The Invitation (2015)
Mustang (2015)

Amazon is no slouch to the movie game either. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you have free streaming access to a plethora of great films too. Here are my choices from this month’s new crop….

‘The Shining’ is always a great option for a horror/thriller

If you are in the mood for an indie character drama, I’ve been a fan of ‘The Station Agent’ for years and just recently re-watched it again. Very simple and kind of slow but Peter Dinklage is great to watch on camera.

Several Quentin Tarantino films are on Amazon now. You can catch both ‘Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2’

Director Rian Johnson is working on ‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ now, but a few years ago he made this small crime caper movie ‘The Brothers Bloom’. It’s a few moves away from being considered a GREAT film to me, but it’s very enjoyable and seemed to slide under the radar of most filmgoers.