10 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now for August 2021

10 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now for August 2021

If you’re like me (and, let’s be honest, most people), you spend more time searching Netflix for a movie to watch than actually watching one. With so much to choose from, sometimes it’s hard to decide. Then, before you know it, you’ve missed some great movies that leave the platform. The good news is this month we did the work for you. I spent time looking at almost everything that’s on Netflix and watching some great — and not-so-great — flicks. I found 10 movies to suggest that you watch this month with or without the kids (spoiler alert: The Mitchells vs. The Machines is so good that you don’t even need to have kids as an excuse to watch it).

Side note: This month I chose more lighthearted movies to watch and I’m not a fan of horror, so if that’s your genre of choice, I’m sorry. Either way, there are some enjoyable options here, so work your way down the list during these hot summer months.

10 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now for August 2021 List

Fun Animation for All Ages: The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Directors: Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe
Writers: Michael Rianda
The Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Olivia Colman, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend

This Sony Animation movie deserves a sequel (please!) and so far one has not been announced. It’s a seriously fun — and funny — movie that shows us all how much we depend on our devices. Quirky and artsy Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobsen) is going off to her film school college and she can’t wait to leave. Her dad (voiced by Danny McBride) wants his now-teenager to put away her devices and be the little girl he misses, so he surprises Katie with a road trip to school that she doesn’t want to take. Unfortunately, modern technology ends up coming alive (I’ve had this nightmare) and attacking humans, so the Mitchells — a dysfunctional family — must come together to help save the world.

According to Deadline, The Mitchells vs. The Machines has become Netflix’s biggest animated film to date with 53 million member households watching it in its first 28 days. And it’s with good reason because this movie is beautifully animated with comedy for all ages and a touching storyline of love and family.

A Throwback to the Silent Era: The Artist

Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Writer: Michel Hazanavicius
The Cast: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, Penelope Ann Miller, Uggie the Dog, James Cromwell, John Goodman

This 2011 black-and-white movie from La Petite Reine is a beautiful modern-day tribute to the days of silent films. It follows George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a married silent film actor who falls for a young girl at the same time that talkies are becoming popular with moviegoing audiences. His career begins to fade and his wife throws him out. In a bizarre twist, he also starts to hear a selection of sounds around him, which starts to drive him crazy. The plot reminds me of the plot to Singin’ In The Rain, with Jean Hagen’s portrayal of Lina Lamont, a popular silent film star whose high-pitch shrilly voice doesn’t have a place when talkies take over the theaters. Great movie.

Find Out What the Fuss Was All About: Twilight

Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writer: Melissa Rosenberg
The Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke. Peter Facinelli

This YA classic- following a romance between human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen — might be bordering on perfect. The movie, based on Stephenie Meyer’s 2005 novel of the same name. includes a moody color palette, bananas one-liners, and a dramatic story that makes this the perfect movie night with friends, no matter what your age. And it features a scene where vampires play baseball. What’s not to love? If you love the movie or your curiosity just got the best of you, the entire Twilight trilogy is on Netflix for you to enjoy. Then you’ll truly know if you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob.

You Want Lots of Belly Laughs: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Director:  Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle
The Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle

When you’re done watching this classic and seriously funny movie from 1975 for the first time, I can almost predict you’ll go back and watch it a second and third time just so you can memorize its iconic lines. “It’s just a flesh wound.” “We dine well here in Camelot. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.” By the way, this movie was the basis for the absolutely hysterical Broadway musical Spamalot. It focuses on King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table who embark on a search for the Holy Grail. Along the way, it is filled with an incredible array of jokes and physical humor. You’ll be walking around saying, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.” You won’t be disappointed.

Worth the Three-Hour Watch: Dances With Wolves

Director: Kevin Costner
Writer: Michael Blake
The Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene

Take one war movie and combine it with a touching love story and you get Dances With Wolves, an Academy Award Best Picture winner. Kevin Costner stars in this 1990 three-hour movie that pits him in a war against the Native Indians. Costner’s Lieutenant Dunbar, gets injured and is helped by the Indians and he ends up falling in love with one of them. They help him to break the language barrier so he can communicate, but his own people call him a traitor. Dunbar makes a connection with a wolf and is given the name Dances With Wolves. There’s three hours more of plotline, but it’s worth the extra large-sized bucket of popcorn you’ll need for this.

Must-See Documentary: The Show Must Go On

Director: Christopher Bird, Simon Lupton
The Cast: Freddie Mercury, Adam Lambert, Queen, Rami Malek

For years everyone said, “Nobody could replace Freddie Mercury.” Queen’s frontman died of AIDS in 1991, leaving one of the most iconic musical groups without their incredibly talented musical personality. Although Queen went on to perform with Paul Rodgers, it was Adam Lambert who brought the band almost back to the status that Freddie left behind. But it wasn’t easy and this documentary shows that bringing the former American Idol contestant into the group was something the band wanted, but would the public accept Lambert, who has also performed on Broadway? The documentary takes us behind-the-scenes to Queen’s concert preparation with Lambert, who admittedly says that he’s not there to replace Mercury, but to honor him. Whether or not you’re a fan of Queen, this well-done documentary gives us a different perspective than the hit movie Bohemian Rhapsody did.

Goofy Fun: Good Burger

Director: Brian Robbins
Writers: Dan Schneider, Kevin Kopelow, Heath Seifert
The Cast: Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Abe Vigoda

Say it with me: “Welcome to the Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?” No Academy Awards here, but that’s okay. Sometimes it’s good to just sit back and have a bunch of goofy fun with your kids while you watch SNL’s Kenan Thompson in this 1997 comedy. It was based on a skit that from Nickelodeon’s All That. Sometimes, it’s hard to turn a skit into a successful feature-length movie (see The Coneheads), but in this case, it works. Dexter Reed (Thompson) plays a high school student who needs to work off a car wreck debt by working at the Good Burger fast-food restaurant. When the competitive restaurant opens across the street, it’s time to save the day and the business.

Feed Your Hunger: Chef

Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Jon Favreau
The Cast: Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Sofia Vergara

If you love movies about food, then you’ll like this sweet movie about Carl Casper (Favreau) who is the subject of a bad review by a food critic. The review goes viral and Casper, who is unfamiliar with technology, blasts what he thinks is an inappropriate retort to the critic through his private messages. Casper’s son points out that he didn’t make it private and the comment also went viral. Unfortunately, while Casper garnered some unwanted attention, he battled his current boss (Hoffman) to let him run the restaurant his way. Said critic comes in to the restaurant and Casper goes ballistic on him, creating even more social media turmoil. He is fired from his job and decides to finally follow his dream of owning a food truck. His young son whom he gets custody on occasions comes along and while it’s a bumpy relationship at first, the two grow close and Casper is living his good life. I never thought I’d say this, but Robert Downey Jr’s character (not the actor) is annoying and unnecessary, but the Marvel Universe clique sticks together don’t they. Definitely not The One Hundred Foot Journey, but still worth a watch.

Watch an Underrated Comedy: Fun With Dick and Jane

Director: Dean Parisot
Writers: Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller, Gerald Gaiser
The Cast: Jim Carrey, Alec Baldwin, Tea Leoni

Sometimes you make a recommendation to people to watch a movie and know they’ll love it and then sometimes you expect that you’ll be hit with the proverbial rotten egg. This movie is the latter. Fun With Dick and Jane is, in my opinion, underrated. It’s not Jim Carrey’s best (watch Liar, Liar) but he really does shine here comedically as a bank executive who is tricked into becoming the scapegoat for a company that is scandalized by its own head management (Alec Baldwin). Dick (Carrey) loses his job at the same time that his wife, Jane (Leoni) quits hers because the couple was expecting that Dick was getting a promotion and a raise. The two hit hard times and become bank robbers to pay the bills. At one point they realize that they need to take down McCallister (Baldwin) and take back the money he and his partners stole.

Carrey and Leoni work well together and Leoni’s comedic chops shine here too.

Get Ready for a New Season of Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid

Director: John G. Avildsen
Writer: Robert Mark Kamen
The Cast: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, William Zabka, Martin Kove, Randee Heller

Cobra Kai is one of the most successful television spinoffs of a movie trilogy to date. With a highly anticipated season 4 hopefully on the horizon for later this year, now is the best time to binge the three seasons already on Netflix. But if you don’t get the references because you don’t know where it all started, enjoy going back to the beginning and watch The Karate Kid movie from 1984. Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) moves to a new area and starts to get bullied by Johnny (William Zabka). Daniel looks for help to defend himself from Mr. Miyagi. The movie focuses on Daniel’s transformation and the intense karate competition behind LaRusso and the school that taught Johnny, Cobra Kai.

Honestly, I think the new series, which focuses on how grown-up Johnny and Daniel and their rivalry still exist today, is even better than the trilogy. But while you can watch Cobra Kai without watching The Karate Kid, you’ll understand all the references and flashbacks even more once you watch where it all began.

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