What’s New to Stream on Amazon Prime for August 2021

Crossing the Streams is our series of guides looking at all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out the new Amazon Prime arrivals for August 2021 including a Val Kilmer documentary, and film where Adam Driver sings into Marion Cotillard’s vagina!

Amazon Prime Pick of the Month for August 2021

Val (premieres August 6th) is a new documentary crafted from four decades worth of home videos, archived footage, and interviews focused on the one, the only, Val Kilmer. The actor struggled with cancer, and while he pulled through it came at the cost of his voice. Still, it’s his own words that help bring the doc to life via narration by his son, Jack Kilmer. The footage dates back to the actor’s childhood and charts an unlikely success story up through his rise to leading man, various troubles, and current status as an artist reflecting back on his life. It’s an entertaining and enlightening watch, and don’t be surprised if it wrings a few tears out of you along the way.

A Fishy Marathon

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) needs no introduction as we can all agree it remains an absolute masterpiece. An animal attack film that succeeds through a combination of character, smarts, and clear skill, the films is a thrilling, suspenseful, and warm tale of real people interacting with each other while facing off against a killer shark. Does the shark look real? Nah, but credit all involved for making that an unimportant truth in the face of greatness. Jeannot Szwarc’s Jaws 2 (1978) isn’t in the same league, but it’s far better than its reputation suggests. Roy Scheider and Lorraine Gary are back, and the film manages some exciting set-pieces on its way towards blowing up another killer shark.

The last two films in the franchise are… not good, but there’s still fun to be had if you’re in the right state of mind. Joe Alves’ Jaws 3 (1983) tried riding the 3-D wave with some pretty uninspiring results, but Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr., Lea Thompson, and Simon MacCorkindale have a good time with the premise. And then there’s Joseph Sargent’s Jaws: The Revenge (1987). Some will proclaim it to be a misunderstand gem — hell, it even made our list of the most entertaining killer shark movies — but it’s ultimately something far simpler. It’s a silly romp offering up some dumb fun, and sometimes that’s all you really need. It’s definitely all that Michael Caine needed as he’s infamously referred to the film as one he never watched but that he’s grateful for as it paid for his summer house.

Chase James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad With…

James Gunn’s journey from slinging shit at Troma to directing big-budget blockbusters has been an entertaining one, and with his latest — he’s behind DC’s The Suicide Squad, a not-quite reboot or sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) — hitting theaters this week it’s good to have a chaser for when you get home pumped up on Gunn’s brand of genre silliness. Slither (2006) fits the bill as a terrifically entertaining and fun monster movie about alien slugs that take over and mutate citizens with crazy results. It’s extremely funny, wonderfully gory and filled with practical effects, and the cast is absolute aces with Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, and Michael Rooker all delivering comic magic. It may lack the “big screen appeal” of a comic book blockbuster, but it delivers tons of genre fun that never grows tired.

Straight from Cannes 2021

Amazon Studios

Leos Carax’s Annette (premieres August 20th) made its debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and it won Best Director as well as being nominated for the Palme d’Or. The film’s narrative offers up a meta-musical that, while lacking some emotion, delivers with creativity, color, and wonder. It stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as a celebrity-ish couple whose offspring bears some surprising traits, and over perhaps too long 140 minutes the family’s story comes to life alongside critiques of toxic masculinity, celebrity culture, and more. The big draw for some will be music and songs by The Sparks Brothers. It’s an odd one that probably won’t find the same appeal as Carax’s Holy Motors (2012), but fans will want to dip their toes in all the same.

The Complete Amazon Prime List for August 2021

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Related Topics: Amazon Prime, Crossing the Streams

Rob Hunter has been writing for Film School Rejects since before you were born, which is weird seeing as he's so damn young. He's our Chief Film Critic and Associate Editor and lists 'Broadcast News' as his favorite film of all time. Feel free to say hi if you see him on Twitter @FakeRobHunter.