Plenty of great movies to check out on Amazon Prime Video in August, check out this months best new arrivals.
Wrath of Man
This 2021 movie, the fourth directorial collaboration with lead actor Jason Statham is loosely based on the 2004 French film Cash Truck. Set in Los Angeles, two guards and a bystander are left dead after an armoured truck robbery which sets off a series of events that you will expect from a kick ass Statham movie.
Five months after the robbery, Patrick Hill (Statham) joins the armoured truck company that was hit, deliberately making himself out to be only just competent at the job before going full ‘Statham’ on the bad guys with merciless efficiency, total Scorched Earth style!
This is Jason Statham at his meanest! The Guy Richie/Jason Statham team-up delivers an LA Neo-Noir high voltage action packed movie that is a must see movie!
Lone Survivor
This movie is not for the faint hearted, Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg, based on the true story of Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, is more than just a movie!… It’s a brutal, heart wrenching tribute to brotherhood, sacrifice and the realities of war.
This movie, plunges us into the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan during Operation Red Wings, where four Navy SEALs faced an impossible fight against overwhelming odds. What sets Lone Survivor apart from many other war films, is its raw honesty, it doesn’t glorify war, it shows the physical and mental pain, the fear and the loyalty and camaraderie of units on the ground such as the SEALs along with their relentless mental strength and willpower to not only survive, but to never abandon each other.
The battle scenes are intense, realistic, and unfiltered, making you feel every fall, every gunshot, every breath fought for survival. The cinematography captures the rugged beauty and harshness of the terrain, almost making the mountain itself feel like another enemy.
Mark Wahlberg delivers one of his best performances as Marcus Luttrell, portraying not just a soldier, but a human being stripped down to pure instinct and heart. Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster also embody the spirit of their real-life counterparts with respect and depth.
The chemistry between the four actors makes you genuinely feel the brotherhood that SEAL teams are known for. Beyond the action, Lone Survivor leaves you with deep respect for those who put their lives on the line for others, honouring not just the fallen SEALs, but also the courage of the Afghan villagers who upheld ancient traditions of protecting a guest, even at the cost of their own lives.
The Return of The Living Dead
Dan O’Bannon’s directorial debut, ‘The Return of the Living Dead‘ is an incredible movie. For a movie that was made in mid-1980s, the special effects are top notch! Get your barf-bag ready!
This movie, isn’t actually a sequel to George Romero’s first two ‘Living Dead‘ movies, as many presume. The movies opening scene follows a teenager heading to work, and when he gets there, his boss leans over his desk and asks “have you seen The Night of the Living Dead?” (1967. Because, it wasn’t just a movie, it was real, and covered up by the government. And down in the basement, he has those very zombies bottled up in air-tight canisters.
You couldn’t think up a better way to rip off a movie, than actually admitting it in the opening dialogue! The movie is full of grisly special effects as the zombies take over! And unlike Romero’s zombies, these ones talk and can run!
It’s a movie for horror connoisseurs must see, its not the best movie of its genre, but its got blood, guts and humour. So get your popcorn and enjoy!
Pulp Fiction
One of the best movies ever made! Quentin Tarantino has been a huge influence on the movie industry, and this is one of his best movies, a true masterpiece! This 90s movie weaves in and out of interconnected lives of its central characters, primarily Vincent Vega (John Travolta), Jules Winfield (Samuel L Jackson), Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) and Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames).
Tarentino is the master of ‘Dramedy’ storytelling, Reservoir Dogs, was just the start, two years later, we were presented with ‘Pulp Fiction’ which has become one of the most influential movies in the industry. A film that changed movies for generations to come.
This movie is a pure work of art!
Raging Bull
A movie that gave us one of the greatest performances from Robert De Niro which also gave De Niro his second Oscar. The film helped launch the career of Joe Pesci, bringing him his first Oscar nomination, and gave Scorsese his first of many nods for Best Director, and saw longtime Scorsese editor Thelma Schoonmaker get her first Oscar win.
The adaptation of the troubled story of real-life boxer Giacobbe ‘Jake’ LaMotta, a former middleweight champion nicknamed the ‘Raging Bull’.
A movie packed with great performances, Raging Bull is a must watch movie this month!
Cape Fear
With a terrifying Robert De Niro performance, ‘Cape Fear‘ is a chilling mainstream shocker from Martin Scorsese. In the original movie, Sam Bowden was a good man trying to defend his family from a madman. In Scorsese’s adaptation, Bowden is flawed and guilty, in fact everyone is in this version, everyone is weak in one way or another. There are definitely no heroes, in this one.
Cady is played by Robert De Niro, originally played by Robert Mitchum in 1962. Covered with tattoos spelling out dire biblical warnings, Cady is an iron-pumping redneck who learned to read in prison. He drives into town in a Mustang convertible and offers to teach Bowden something about the law.
What Scorsese achieves is a film noir version of the 1962 classic, Bowden is a man tortured by guilt and the weakness of the flesh, seeking forgiveness and redemption.
And with this new version of Max Cady, Scorsese gives us not simply a bad man, but an evil one – whose whole purpose is to show Sam Bowden he’s a criminal, too.
Conan Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a true epic masterpiece! Brutal, poetic and starring the legendary Schwarzenegger who literally brings the myth to life! This epic is one of my all time favourite movies.
Conan is an epic fantasy movie, Conan is the child of parents brutally murdered by the evil Thulsa Doom, who as a hulking mountain of muscle teams up with Subotai the Mongol, who is an example of the classic literary type — The Best Pal — and with Valeria, Queen of Thieves, who is a real best pal.
With the Mongol and the Queen at his side, Conan ventures forth to seek the evil Thulsa Doom and gain revenge for the death of his parents. This requires him to journey to the mysterious East, where he learns a little quick kung-fu, and then to the mountainside where Doom rules his slave-priests from the top of his Mountain of Power. There are a lot of battles and a few interesting nights at crude wayside inns.
The movie is, in fact, a very nearly perfect visualisation of the Conan legend, of Robert E. Howard’s tale of a superman who lived beyond the mists of time.
The movie’s casting couldn’t of been any better! Arnold Schwarzenegger was the only man for the job as Conan. The characters are entertaining throughout the movie, with plenty of humour throughout the movie. Schwarzenegger’s slight Teutonic accent is actually even an advantage, since Conan, of course, was definitely not American.
Maid in Manhattan
What can I say… I love J Lo, her music, her movies. In Maid in Manhattan, which was an attempt to shoehorn the fairytale world into an unruly and unbalanced modern society, released in 2002, a huge year for romcoms.
Banking on the commercial safety of love, studios splashed out on everything from the Nick Hornby adaptation About A Boy to Gurinder Chadha’s Hounslow tale Bend It Like Beckham, Sandra Bullock facing off against corporate shill Hugh Grant in Two Weeks Notice, matrimonial romp My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Reese Witherspoon’s nostalgic Sweet Home Alabama, to name just a few titles.
This was a golden age for will-they-won’t-they tales set to the backdrop of the new millennium, with predictable scripts that ensured that they, in fact, always did. Nestled amongst these releases was Maid In Manhattan.
Jennifer Lopez is a maid working in a luxury Manhattan hotel, who finds herself falling for a senatorial candidate (Ralph Fiennes) – who in turn has a soft spot for Richard Nixon – via a farcical case of mistaken identity. Lopez keeps up with her adopted, socialite guise until her secret is revealed and much hand-wringing ensues. Fiennes ultimately decides that her lowly status as a maid is good enough for him; he can share his wealth anyway. Over the closing credits we see that Fiennes has won his seat and Lopez has now transitioned from maid to an employer of maids.
Lopez was at the height of her popularity and power when the film was released, having broken through into movies 1997 with Out of Sight before starring in hit The Wedding Planner with Matthew McConaughey, as well as reaching number one in the US charts with her second album J.Lo – a nickname coined by director Oliver Stone on the set of his 1997 film U Turn. Lopez’s money-making credentials were solid. Fiennes, meanwhile, brought an outsized theatrical gravitas to his role, following Oscar-nominated turns in Schindler’s List and The English Patient.
It’s a great feel good movie, that will put a smile on your face, its predictable, but who cares, we want the happy ending, its why we watch these movies, right?
Love Actually
A Christmas movie that you can literally watch any time of the year!…
It’s London, five weeks before Christmas, the lives of different persons are linked by love. The Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and the member of his household, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon); his sister Karen (Emma Thompson), her husband Harry (Alam Rickman) and Harry’s secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch); Harry’s employees, Sarah (Laura Linney), a woman with a serious problem in her life, and the designer Karl (Rodrigo Santoro); the writer Jamie Bennett (Colin Firth) and his Portuguese maid Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz); the grieving widow Daniel (Liam Neeson) and his son, Sam; a porn actress and her colleague; the singer Billy Mack (Billy Nighy) and his manager; the just married couple Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Juliet (Keira Knightley) and their best man Mark (Andrew Lincoln); a British young man that travels to USA, trying to score women in that country. ‘Love Actually‘ is a delightful homage to love, and one of my favourite romcoms.
There are different situations, some of them dramatic, others funny, sometimes touching but never corny. The interconnection of the stories has a perfect timing. The cast is a constellation, highlighting the shining beauty of Keira Knightley and the nice role of Hugh Grant. There are many wonderful moments, such as the collective interview of the Prime Minister and the American president; or the moment when Karen finds that her Christmas gift is a CD of Joni Mitchell; or when Mark declares his secret love for Juliet; or the relationship of Daniel and Sam; or when Daniel meets Carol; or when the manager of Billy makes a comment about Elton John; or the narration in off in the beginning of the movie.
I could list so many other memorable great moments. A great movie to sit back on the sofa with feet up and a glass of wine.
Wolf Man
Wolf Man released to the cinemas in January 2025, a modern day reboot of the 1941 classic. The movie, unlike the 40s classic which was set in 1800s Europe, is set in present day America.
The movie follows Blake (Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott, Poor Things & It Comes at Night), a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead. With his marriage to high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).
But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter.
As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.
The film co-stars Sam Jaeger (The Handmaid’s Tale), Ben Prendergast (The Sojourn Audio Drama) and Benedict Hardie (The Invisible Man). Wolf Man is directed by Whannell, whose previous films with Blumhouse include The Invisible Man, Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3.
The screenplay is written by Leigh Whannell & Corbett Tuck, Lauren Schuker Blum & Rebecca Angelo (Dumb Money). The film is produced by Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum and is executive produced by Ryan Gosling, Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner and Leigh Whannell. Wolf Man is a Blumhouse and Motel Movies production.
Kingdom of The Planet of The Apes (2024)
Personally, I much prefer the original franchise of Planet of the Apes, they are far better in every way, I do wish they had followed the original storylines and just used the modern day special effects, filming techniques and technology.
The new franchise aren’t bad movies, I just feel they didnt need to re-write the storylines, they were great already. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was again another reboot, skipping hundreds of years beyond the previous movie ‘War of the Planet of the Apes’, exploring the world of intelligent, articulated primates, generations after the fall of the iconic Caesar.
The movie introduces us to new evolved cultures such as Noa’s secluded Eagle Clan and Proximus Caesar’s crusading cultists. As Noa ventures out of his home, he discovers the core flaws infecting both apes and humans, and how frighteningly similar they really are.
The movie is worth watching, I’ll give you that, but I would love to see someone pick up the original franchise and reboot it.
Creed
Creed, is still remains one of Michael B Jordans strongest movies.
Creed brought the Rocky franchise back nearly a decade after Sylvester Stallone’s 2006 return, ‘Rocky Balboa’. In Creed, the spotlight shifts from Stallone’s heartfelt underdog boxer from the school of hard knocks for the first time, focusing instead on Jordan’s Adonis “Donnie” Creed, the illegitimate son of Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed.
When Donnie seeks the ageing widowed Balboa, to launch his own boxing legacy. This movie was a great collaboration between Jordan and Ryan Coogler, reuniting the two for the first time since their first movie together ‘Fruitvale Station’.
This was a new Rocky, for a new generation, an exhilarating, inspiring and emotional movie, honouring the original Rocky movies that we all know and love, well, maybe lets forget Rocky 5 ever happened.
The respect shown to the original movies is shown by a moving tribute to the classic Rocky Steps scene, that brings a genuine lump to the throat to Rocky fans.
Michael B Jordan really takes hold of the role as Adonis Creed perfectly! He’s full of confidence and swagger when in the ring, along with vulnerability and passion outside of it, especially when he’s with his girlfriend played fantastically by Tessa Thompson.
You can’t not mention Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa himself… What can I say about this man? Stallone is a legend! In his signature and arguably his most iconic role, he absolutely knocks it out of the park here in what is easily his best performance in his career as an actor!
He honestly deserved that Oscar he was nominated for! There is one scene where Rocky is confronted with horrible news and the subtlety of his emotions is unlike anything we’ve seen from Stallone before… I think many over the years have just seen Stallone as an 80s ‘Action Hero’, all muscle, but Stallone has shown not only in Creed, but in other movies such as his other iconic role as John Rambo in the original First Blood movie that he is an impressive actor!
This movie was just as much about Rocky, as it was about Creed, and serves as a perfect handover of gloves from Rocky to Creed. You feel every ounce of emotion from these two actors throughout the movie, the cinematography is gritty and realistic. The cinematography is absolutely stunning to watch, particularly one fight scene that is filmed unbroken, with camera floating to and fro amidst the action, a true masterpiece of camera work!
Blow Out
Blow Out has gained a significant reputation over the years as one of Brian De Palma’s best movies.
This intriguing thriller, with an intelligent screenplay, I’d say is also one of Travolta’s finest performances. De Palma has been described as the modern day equivalent of Hitchcock, and you can see why from this movie. Watching Blow Out now, forty years after it was released does show its age, it does feel a bit dated, but this movie is full of suspense and intrigue.
This neo-noir movie follows John Travolta’s character Jack Terry, a sound man for a low-budget horror film who inadvertently records evidence that a supposed accidental tire blowout. But actually in reality, an assassination effort against a presidential hopeful.
Although this thriller isn’t as commonly known as De Palma’s ‘The Untouchables‘, ‘Carrie‘ or ‘Mission: Impossible‘, it’s a highly esteemed entry among the director’s vast, quality filmography.
The Intern
I love action movies, the fire-fights, blood, the fast pace of these movies, but I have to say I’m a sucker for a ‘feel-good‘ movie too!
Quentin Tarantino was quoted saying that ‘The Intern’ was one of his favourite movies of 2015, praising Robert De Niro’s performance.
A fairly unassuming premise for a movie, following following De Niro as Ben Whittaker, a widower in his 70s who takes an internship at an online fashion company (run by Anne Hathaway’s Jules Ostin) to put his life back on a schedule. As the film progresses, Ben cracks Jules’ focused exterior, helping her through a period in which she is urged to take on a CEO at her fast-growing startup.
Yet Meyers, De Niro and Hathaway each imbue the film with a tangible warmth, one that shows that sentimental and inferior are not synonymous. The film walks the line of being treacly and trite (perhaps stepping over the line a time or two) without ever devolving into anything other than enjoyable. De Niro and Hathaway’s chemistry exceeds that of many actual romantic pairings in modern cinema, becoming a surprisingly effective example of cinematic buddies
Miami Vice (2006)
In 2006, Michael Mann brought the iconic 1980s TV series ‘Miami Vice‘ to the big screen, adapting the 80s crime drama, producing a modern adaptation worthy of the 80s show. The result was a crime drama the likes of which only Mann could make, a stylish, slick dive into an undercover operation fronted by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.
Miami Vice has gained a strong cult following over time, becoming a fan favourite among the director’s hit-heavy filmography also. Having lived in Miami myself, I know the city, I would watch the show and the movie with memories of many of the places used in the scenes, that are as much of the characters of the movie as Crocket and Tubbs, Like the show, the movie captures the energy, the art-deco seedy vibe of the city from start to finish. Mann really was the perfect man to make this movie as great as the original show.
Entertainment Swindon 
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