There are plenty of scares in the titles leaving Netflix in the US at the end of the month, with two contemporary horror favorites and one all-time classic leaving the service. We can also recommend a handful of top-notch thrillers, one of the most quoted comedies of the 21st century, and a Kevin Costner western that isn’t “Dances With Wolves” or “Yellowstone.” (Dates reflect the last day a title is available.)
“The Conjuring” (August 20)
When this modest-scale haunted house movie hit theaters in the summer of 2013, few could have imagined it would not only become so profitable – grossing $319 million worldwide on a $200 million budget. dollars – but also would spawn a multi-movie “universe” of eight movies and counting. But that was all to come; the pleasures of this initial entry are simple, rooted in the authenticity of its 70s setting, the grounded performances of Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor and the confident direction of James Wan (especially his execution of one of best jump- scares in recent memory).
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‘The Visit’ (August 25)
M. Night Shyamalan’s career was on the rocks in the mid-2010s after a series of high-profile, big-budget major studio flops. So he performed a miraculous reinvention, stripping his style down to his bare bones and teaming up with genre producer Jason Blum to create this low-budget, yet frighteningly effective cooler. Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould star as teenage siblings who head to their long-estranged grandparents’ home for an extended visit and find much of what happens there…disturbing. Shyamalan deftly blends elements of comedy, horror, and found footage into a dark and entertaining package, and in doing so he reminded audiences of his considerable gifts.
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“In the Line of Fire” (August 30)
Clint Eastwood made a rare appearance as a late-career actor in this top notch thriller from director Wolfgang Petersen. Eastwood stars as Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan, one of the agents working in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. This connection attracts the attention of a would-be assassin (John Malkovich), who leads Horrigan into a game of cat and mouse by threatening to repeat history under his watch. Malkovich was nominated for an Oscar for his chilling turn as a ruthlessly clever killer, but Eastwood’s performance is the real deal; the taciturn actor finds striking notes of vulnerability and melancholy for his guilt-ridden character.
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‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ (August 31)
Will Ferrell’s Revolutionary Vehicle was one of the most culturally inescapable comedies of the 2000s, endlessly quoted and remembered, and for good reason: it’s a howling, funny comedy, taking an absurd concept (the story of 1970s of a local “Action News” presenter) to its absolute limit, thanks to a perfect turn from Ferrell as the dopey blower, excellent supporting work from Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Fred Willard, and the perfectly modulated turn from Christina Applegate as her foil became love interest. But it was also the feature debut of future Oscar winner Adam McKay, who was already using broad comedy as a cover to smuggle in more gripping themes (this time, gender roles, toxic masculinity, and sexuality). incompetence of the media).
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‘Cliffhanger’ (August 31)
Few megastars have mounted as many comebacks as Sylvester Stallone (one of the many parallels between the actor-filmmaker and his most famous creation, Rocky Balboa). He was bouncing back from a misguided attempt at comedy – remember “Stop! Or my mother will shoot”? — when he helmed this white-knuckled thriller in 1993. The boilerplate script (which Stallone co-wrote) amounts to “Die Hard” on a mountain, with Stallone as the rugged but desperate hero, John Lithgow as the stylish terrorist villain and the Rocky Mountains as a location. But Stallone and Lithgow fulfill their roles well, and director Renny Harlin (previously, uncoincidentally, “Die Hard 2”) orchestrates the mayhem with panache.
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“The Dark Knight Rises” (August 31)
Christopher Nolan capped off his Batman trilogy — and followed “The Dark Knight,” one of the most commercially and critically successful comic book films in history — with this 2012 action epic. It’s neither as thrilling as “The Dark Knight” nor as narratively effective as the earlier “Batman Begins,” and it borders on bloating at nearly three hours. But there’s something audaciously operatic about its ambition, the way Nolan incorporates new villains, post-Occupy politics, and a decidedly unheroic tone of borderline nihilism. Tom Hardy’s Bane is a real terror, and Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is a gem of complex sensuality.
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“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” (August 31)
It’s a testament to the high quality of the entire series that no clear consensus seems to exist on the best movie in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. But there’s a strong case to be made for this, the fourth entry, which was Pixar alum Brad Bird’s (“The Incredibles”) live-action debut. Tom Cruise returns as Agent Ethan Hunt, this time embroiled in the complex, global pursuit of a nuclear terrorist who accuses Hunt and his team of an attack on the Kremlin. Returning Part 3 Simon Pegg provides welcome comic relief, new additions Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton add considerable spice, and two of the sets – the aforementioned Kremlin sequence and Cruise’s gripping climb of the Burj Khalifa – are some of the best in the franchise. (The series’ first and second installments are also leaving Netflix at the end of the month.)
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“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (August 31)
Wes Craven went from genre mate to horror icon — and launched one of the most venerable slasher franchises of all time — with this creeper from 1984. Craven wrote and directed this story of suburban teenagers who find their dreams haunted — often with deadly, real results — by neighborhood boogieman Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). Heather Langenkamp is the resourceful protagonist, while Johnny Depp, in his film debut, is one of the most memorable victims. Later sequels would highlight Krueger with greater prominence but diminishing returns, effectively turning the films into horror comedies. But this inaugural entry is a lean, wicked, creepy machine, filled with terrifying imagery and well-crafted suspense.
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“Public Enemies” (August 31)
Twenty-five years later, Depp was at the height of his career, playing Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in this detective epic from director Michael Mann (“Heat”). Mann also co-wrote the screenplay for this fact-based tale, which tells the side stories of Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent using all the agency’s tools to track him down. Mann’s use of contemporary digital photography was controversial at the time, but it’s an inspired choice, giving the image a contemporary sheen that keeps it from feeling like dusty, unreachable history.
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“Wyatt Earp” (August 31)
Some good films simply suffer from lousy timing. That was certainly the case with this 1994 Western epic, which reunited writer and director Lawrence Kasdan with his “Silverado” star Kevin Costner. Unfortunately, their movie hit theaters six months after “Tombstone,” which also told the story of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the shooting at the OK Corral. But the two films tell the same story in very different ways: “Tombstone” is a fast-paced, contemporary take on action and thrills (it shared a director with “Rambo”), while “Earp” is an old-school character. -western in the style of John Ford (who made his own Earp, the classic “My Darling Clementine”, in 1946). But the weather has been good for Kasdan, and the popularity of Western TV series like Costner’s “Yellowstone” is making “Wyatt Earp” ripe for rediscovery.
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Departure also:
“Taxi driver” (August 25), “River of the Wind” (August 27), ” The missing “ “Freedmen”, “Kung Fu Panda 2” “Rise of the Guardians,”“Starship Troopers,” ‘Titanic” (every August 31).