August 2018’s Best Streaming Titles: Batman Begins, Voltron, Shaun of the Dead, Jiro Dreams of Sushi & more

I don’t know much about this anime, other than it’s a Japanese/Chinese co-production that consists of three short films depicting life in three different Chinese cities. And based on the trailer above, its emphasis seems to be on slice of life with maybe some romance and melodrama mixed in for good measure. Oh, and it’s from CoMix Wave, the same studio that produced the acclaimed Your Name. That alone is reason enough for me to be interested.

The second to last season of Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender finds Team Voltron returning to Earth in order to put a stop to the Galra once and for all, and to rebuild the Castle of Lions (which was sacrificed at the end of Season 6 after a huge battle with the turncoat Lotor). As the acclaimed series heads towards a big finish, I suspect that the team’s homecoming will be pretty bittersweet.

It’s about forking time… My wife and I were huge fans of The Good Place’s first season, and we’ve been patiently waiting for season two to arrive on Netflix. Kristen Bell plays Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who dies and wakes up in the “Good Place” because she was such a good person. But surprise: Eleanor was actually a terrible person, but now she wants to become a good person so she doesn’t get sent to the “Bad Place.” While the show frequently delves into highbrow ethics discussions, it’s never not hilarious, thanks to the clever dialog, Eleanor’s various machinations, and a really strong cast.

Baa-ram-ewe! Baa-ram-ewe! The Citizen Kane of talking pig pictures, as one critic called it, will start streaming as soon as the new month rolls around. I plan on watching it with my kids, and all the while, I’ll try to wrap my mind around the fact that the man responsible for this charming little film is the same deranged genius who gave us Mad Max.

In this martial arts action film, Jet Li is a mild-mannered librarian who was once part of a top secret government program to create super soldiers. But when his former teammates launch a crime spree, he dons a superhero-ish identity as the Black Mask to put a stop to their nefarious deeds. As far as Jet Li movies go, Black Mask is no Fist of Legend or Tai Chi Master, but it’s still pretty fun if you’re up for some wire-fu hijinks.

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, a 19th century English man who was severely disfigured, The Elephant Man is a haunting and deeply human film about an outcast from society who turns out to be the noblest one of all. What’s even more surprising than the fact that The Elephant Man was directed by David Lynch is that it was produced by Mel Brooks, who deliberately left his name off the film so that audiences wouldn’t expect a comedy.

One of the greatest westerns ever made. Gary Cooper’s straight-arrow sheriff is set to retire with his lovely new bride, when he learns that a vicious outlaw gang is about to arrive in town at noon. His attempts to form a posse to meet the gang all fail, and the sheriff finds himself facing the gang all by himself. High Noon is the quintessential “man against the world” film, and features one of the most iconic shots in film history. It was also quite controversial in its day, and seen by many as a response to the Hollywood communist blacklisting that occurred in the ’40s and ’50s.

This is one of those movies that I’ll pull up every now and then just because it’s so solidly made and entertaining. Based on the best-selling Tom Clancy novel about an experimental Russian submarine, and starring Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery, The Hunt for Red October is classic Cold War action/intrigue that is eminently watchable. (But what else would you expect from director John McTiernan?)

In this delightful parody/homage to zombie movies, Simon Pegg plays a lovable loser who’s stuck in a dead-end job and having problems with his girlfriend. But when the zombie apocalypse begins, could this be what he needs to stand up and become a hero? Shaun of the Dead is a perfect blend of humor and horror, but as I wrote in my 2004 review, it has some surprisingly affecting character moments and even a wee bit of social commentary mixed in with the gore.

After watching this charming and elegant documentary, you’ll never look at your job the same way again. You’ll certainly never look at sushi the same way again. Jiro Ono is the world’s most celebrated sushi chef, and his constant drive to hone and perfect his craft is inspiring, just as his joy in producing sushi is infectious. And yet, the documentary doesn’t shy away from the personal cost of such devotion. Read my review over at Christ and Pop Culture.

One of the all-time great sci-fi action movies, The Terminator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role he was born to play: an unstoppable killing machine from the future. His mission? Killing the mother of the child who will grow up to lead humanity in the war against the machines. With its ground-breaking special effects and intense storyline, The Terminator has influenced countless films, and has even been added to the National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

When three student filmmakers venture into a Maryland forest to investigate a local myth, they soon become hopelessly lost while assaulted by strange and frightening phenomena — all of which suggest that the myth is more than just a myth. Its legacy may be tarnished thanks to the countless films that have copied its “found footage” aesthetic, but when The Blair Witch Project debuted in 1999, it was unlike anything seen before. More importantly for a horror film, it was absolutely terrifying.

Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) graphic novels of all time, is certainly a work of passion. But Snyder, as is his wont, ups the film’s “kick-ass” quotient whenever he can, which ends up undermining the story’s philosophical quandaries and moral dilemmas. For all of the film’s style (Snyder is certainly a gifted visual filmmaker) and impressive performances (especially Jackie Earle Haley as the sociopathic Rorschach), Watchmen is something of a mixed bag. As I wrote in my review, it could’ve been a trainwreck, but it also could’ve been something much more.