Stream These 10 Movies Before They Leave Netflix in August
‘A Knight’s Tale’ (Aug. 31)
Another interval musical, this one from the author and director Brian Helgeland (an Oscar winner for co-writing the “L.A. Confidential” screenplay), takes an identical swing-for-the-fences method, scoring its story of jousting and romance in 14th century England with ’70s rock hits like “We Will Rock You” and “Takin’ Care of Business.” It’s wildly anachronistic however joyfully so, as Helgeland and his engaging solid — together with the charismatic golden boy Heath Ledger, the putting ingénue Shannyn Sossamon and the sneeringly villainous scene-stealer Rufus Sewell — strike simply the suitable steadiness of excellent humor and old school earnestness.
‘Mean Girls’ (Aug. 31)
Tina Fey was nonetheless identified solely as a author and an occasional on-camera performer at “Saturday Night Live” when she penned this inventively unfastened adaptation of the nonfiction examine “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” by Rosalind Wiseman. Fey dramatizes Wiseman’s anthropological survey of teenage clique tradition by telling the story of Cady (Lindsay Lohan), a longtime home-schooler coming into the hellscape of highschool life for the primary time. The director Mark Waters, who deftly directed Lohan within the earlier 12 months’s “Freaky Friday” remake, confidently orchestrates the curricular chaos, which incorporates temporary however hilarious appearances by Fey and her “S.N.L.” castmates Ana Gasteyer, Tim Meadows and Amy Poehler, and by then-up-and-comers like Lizzy Caplan, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried.
‘Paranormal Activity’ (Aug. 31)
The fantastic thing about horror, for the low-budget filmmaker trying to interrupt into the biz, is that it doesn’t require stars, costly places and even (in the event you do it proper) elaborate particular results. The style is the star, and if a filmmaker can create stress and suspense with minimal assets, the money can roll in. That’s definitely what occurred with this 2009 shocker, put collectively on a shoestring price range of $10,000 and grossing simply shy of $200 million worldwide. The film’s author, director and editor, Oren Peli, cleverly turns his technological shortcomings into bonuses, crafting a found-footage story of issues going bump within the evening with gooseflesh elevating inventiveness.
‘The Ring’ (Aug. 31)
Hideo Nakata’s 1998 Japanese horror thriller “Ringu” had such a fantastically easy however arresting premise — a videotape is so disturbing that anybody who watches it’ll die inside days — that it was in all probability solely a matter of time earlier than it was remade for American audiences. Gore Verbinski’s 2002 variation can’t fairly pack the novelty punch of the unique, however it’s deliciously unnerving all the identical, amassing heavy helpings of dread and perturbing imagery and seasoning them with a lightweight contact of meta-commentary. (Are we, the horror film viewers, any wiser than these poor souls onscreen?) Naomi Watts offers a rooting curiosity because the cynical reporter investigating the tape’s mysterious origins and the spell it casts.
‘Salt’ (Aug. 31)
Angelina Jolie fronted her fair proportion of motion motion pictures, however she by no means actually appeared to search out the suitable car for her explicit skills. Except this as soon as. In Evelyn Salt — a intelligent tremendous spy who could also be a Russian mole, or a C.I.A. operative, or each, or one thing else totally — Jolie lands on the right position for her distinctive mix of butt-kicking athleticism, sensuality and intelligence. She additionally has the suitable director for the job in Phillip Noyce, the spy film specialist (his filmography contains “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger”) who can navigate breathless motion sequences and espionage exposition with equal aplomb.
Source web site: www.nytimes.com
