Paramount+ is one of our favorite streaming services out there, especially when it comes to classic movies – and you can you see why thanks to these five new movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics.
No matter whether you’re after a black comedy crime drama or an inspiring Oscar-winning biopic, I’m urging you to add these five modern classics to your watchlist. I admit that I’m biased when it comes to this month’s recommendations, as some of them are personal favorites such as The Truman Show (1998) and Adaptation (2002), but for Rotten Tomatoes critics they’re up there among some of the best moves ever.
If you’re not the biggest fan of drama movies, Paramount+ also has a selection of new horror movies coming in August, meaning you can get a head-start on spooky season movies. Be sure to check out our list of everything new on Paramount+ this month once you’re done reading our top picks below, of course.
The Truman Show (1998)
RT score: 94%
Runtime: 103 minutes
Age rating: PG
Director: Peter Weir
Arriving on: August 1
The Truman Show is one of my four top movies on Letterboxd for many reasons. From its impeccable script to Jim Carrey’s performance and its underlying commentary of the media and the obsession with the private lives of others, it brings me to tears every time.
Truman Burbank (Carrey) is an average man working as a successful clerk for an insurance company, but he doesn’t know that his whole life has been a lie. For the past 30 years, he’s been living in a giant sound stage disguised as a small town surrounded by actors, which has been broadcast to the world as one big reality TV show by creator Christof (Ed Harris).
Unsatisfied with his life, Truman expresses his desire to see the world and leave the town he’s always called home, but when Christof uses the actors to prevent Truman from leaving he begins to question the reality in which he lives. When he uncovers the truth about his life, Truman devises a plan to escape.
Adaptation (2002)
![ADAPTATION [2002] - Official Trailer (HD) - YouTube](https://i0.wp.com/img.youtube.com/vi/uougMRq-MSo/maxresdefault.jpg?w=696&ssl=1)
RT score: 90%
Runtime: 115 minutes
Age rating: R
Director: Spike Jonze
Arriving on: August 1
This is a movie that almost made it into my top movies on Letterboxd because of Charlie Kaufman’s writing talents alone. Adaptation is a self-reflective account of Kaufman himself and his struggle with writer’s block, as well as his personal issues with self-doubt and sense of purpose.
Following the completion of the script for Being John Malkovich (1999), Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) is tasked with adapting Susan Orlean’s (Meryl Streep) novel The Orchid Thief – which is based on the story of John Laroche (Chris Cooper) – for the screen.
Struggling to draw the drama hook from Orlean’s novel, Charlie’s writer’s block gets worse leading him to enlist the help of his twin brother Donald, an aspiring screenwriter who writes with immense ease. Working together, they feel that the novel has interesting subcontext, but understand they’ll need to reach out to Orlean herself for more answers.
American Hustle (2013)
RT score: 92%
Runtime: 138 minutes
Age rating: R
Director: David O. Russell
Arriving on: August 1
Russell’s black comedy crime flick packs an exciting ensemble cast of some of Hollywood’s favorite faces including Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and more.
Inspired by the 1970s FBI Abscam operation, this fictional account follows con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale) and his partner Sydney Prosser (Adams) who are caught by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) in a loan scam. DiMaso learns that he can use the two con artists to his advantage, hiring them to help him find four more white collar criminals, including New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Renner), in exchange for their prison release.
Working undercover, Rosenfeld and Prosser find themselves in the center of New Jersey’s crime underworld. But when Rosenfeld’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) enters the mix, their plan is at risk of crashing down.
Milk (2008)
RT score: 93%
Runtime: 128 minutes
Age rating: R
Director: Gus Van Sant
Arriving on: August 1
From the director of Good Will Hunting (1997), this Oscar-winning biopic retells the inspiring story of activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to the California public office.
After moving from New York to San Francisco in 1972, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) decides to focus on his role as a queer rights activist in the Castro district. When he learns that his voice will be more powerful in a political role, this urges him to launch a political campaign and get him elected into public office.
Using flashbacks to paint a picture of his inspiring rise in politics, the film follows his inspiring rise to politics which he pursued later in life, chronicling the struggles he faced from anti-gay voices, including the infamous 1977 Save Our Children campaign.
The Assistant (2019)
RT score: 93%
Runtime: 87 minutes
Age rating: R
Director: Kitty Green
Arriving on: August 1
If you’re looking for an easy 90-minute watch this month, check out Kitty Green’s slice-of-life drama The Assistant, which offers an interesting depiction of systemic oppression as well as an insight to workplace harassment.
Set in a single day, Julia Garner stars as Jane, a college graduate and aspiring film producer who secures her dream job as an assistant at a large production company. While she’s there to make coffee and run errands, he sees it as a foot in the door for a bright future in entertainment.
As she settles into her role, the dark truth of the production company surfaces, and the predatory behavior of her boss becomes more obvious. When she decides to speak out against it, that’s when she really comes to terms with how toxic the industry is.
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