The best films are coming to Prime Video in June 2023
prime time! It’s another month for another round of good movies on the streaming titan. primevideo is slowly becoming the new Netflix and in many ways dominates everyone if you just look at the massive selection of great titles.
What do these movies have in common this month? Nothing really but fun. Hopefully there is something for everyone in this condensed list of different titles.
15:10 to Yuma (June 1)
This fantastic film has largely fallen into obscurity over the last fifteen years. Sure, it’s a western film on the surface, but there’s so much more to it than that. It’s mostly about a father trying to bond with his son.
The story follows Christian Bale trying to escort Russell Crowe to the 3:10pm train to Yuma, where he is to be hanged for his crimes of, well, everything you can imagine. However, as mentioned earlier, the heart of the story is a father who wants to show his son how to be a man of integrity and honor, all of which are boring subjects for a 14-year-old full of fear and nervous rebellion. Instead, he aspires more to Russell Crowe’s Ben Wade living his life the way he wants to. Great acting completes this Mangold film, which comes out in time for Prime Video Indiana Jones 5.
Crazy Rich Asians (June 6)
This should be familiar to most people. It made waves as a date night movie a few years ago, and rightly so, as it’s quite an entertaining story a diverse cast that is competently done. Funnily enough, the director also directed it Justin bieber never say neverwhich is quite a turning point after seven years for someone who has made a fairly universally hated film.
Creed I and II (June 1)
Creed, the boy of the guy Rocky competed against in his first two films. Stallone ran out of ideas for new Rocky villains and began making films about a supporting character to get more out of this franchise.
Movie bashing aside, these are good and entertaining movies with excellent sound design that put you right in the ring. It’s rare to find a boxing film where you can literally feel the sweat and bruises of the two fighters.
Guess Who (June 1)
This was one of Bernie Mac’s last roles before his death, and he’s definitely the glue that holds everything together in this romantic comedy. This is a remake of a film of the same name Guess who’s coming to dinner from 1967 and reverses the roles.
It’s your classic enactment about a father who disapproves of his daughter’s choice as a husband, but it’s the execution that helps him stand out. Ashton Kutcher in the role of said husband also gives a rather pleasantly awkward performance. Everything is a competition between these two, from who can win the go-kart race to who can have the best job.
Hot Fuzz (June 1)
Arguably the best of the famous Cornetto trilogy. Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a grizzled real-life cop who is at his best and relocates to a pretty small country town. He lives at a very different pace than the local police, which puts him at odds with their approach. He is paired with Nick Frost’s junior cop Danny Butterman, whose only real concept of police work is that the cop action movies are way over the top.
The peaceful city hides some spooky secrets, however, and isn’t nearly as beautiful as the surface suggests. People are being murdered like it’s going out of style, and the local team can only think of calling them tragic accidents.
As with all Cornetto trilogy films (so named for the ice cream that appears in each film), the scripts are extremely clever, with consistent callbacks and clues as to where the story is headed that pay off on second viewing. There are so many quotable lines amidst the carnage that will come to mind as you watch the film over and over again.
Megamind (June 1)
The quality of animated films from the mid to late 2000s varies widely. For each Wall-E, You seem to get one Over the hedge. For each shrek, you get one Shrek the third. This is one of those titles that gets unfairly overlooked. Will Ferrell has a big blue head and is going through a sort of midlife crisis when his nemesis, the superhero, suddenly gets up and dies. Where’s the fun in being a super villain when there’s no one to oppose you? It’s a fun twist on that basic superhero premise, and Ferrell does his best to keep you laughing most of the time.
M3GAN (June 27)
Blumhouse films are the savior of modern horror, so to speak. Someone spends modest funds on creative ideas that may sometimes result in different implementations. This film received a lot of marketing and had a rather brief theatrical debut in January, starring a little girl who befriends a reasonably sentient AI. Apparently the little thing is going crazy and trying to make up her own rules for everything. Again, creative and creepy, if nothing else more on the way.
