The Best Movies New to Every Major Streaming Platform in August 2023

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (dirs. Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, 2023)

The Super Mario games and their instantly recognizable iconography of warp pipes, mushrooms, go-karts, and carnivorous plants have long stood out as an oasis of untapped potential in an entertainment industry that loves preexisting brands. So when Nintendo and Illumination finally set out to make a family-friendly “Mario” movie, all they had to do was translate the games to the big screen without screwing it up. Fortunately, they didn’t screw it up. From the decision to cast the onetime Least Offensive Actor on the Planet Chris Pratt in the titular role to the production design that seems to be an exact replica the Wii-era Mario games, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” largely plays things by the book, which is exactly what the assignment called for. Co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic delivered a perfectly serviceable movie that made a lot of kids very happy. —CZ

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Bowfinger”

– “Greenberg”

– “Neighbors”

“Skinamarink” (dir. Kyle Edward Ball, 2002)

A micro-budget phenomenon that leveraged a fortuitous leak into the kind of buzz that an indie film can’t buy, Kyle Edward Ball’s deeply unnerving “Skinamarink” might be too indebted to YouTube horror trends to feel like a sui generis genre-changer, but this is still the sort of movie so committed to its own strange language that it’s best translated through references to more familiar work. If the final product amounts to a fucked-up tone poem rather than a full-cooked meal — an inscrutable, 100-minute nightmare that proves its own concept at the expense of developing it further — that uncompromised sense of experimentation also helps to demonstrate how vital horror movies can be at a time when the rest of the film world is too scared to try anything new. —David Ehrlich

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Only Lovers Left Alive”

– “Notting Hill”

– “Jurassic Park”

“Pulp: A Film About Death and Supermarkets” (dir. Florian Habicht, 2014)

Britpop icons Pulp have towered over the alternative rock scene for the better part of three decades with their disco-infused blue collar anthems like “Common People” and “Disco 2000.” While their activity in the 21st century has been sporadic, Florian Habicht’s 2014 documentary “Pulp: A Film About Death and Supermarkets” is a fascinating dive into the band’s psyches that explains how they have remained so beloved. The film centers around the band performing what was billed as their final show in England — a plot that admittedly doesn’t hit as hard in the context of the reunion tour that Pulp is currently on. (Though at this point, anyone who gets suckered into believing they’ve witnessed a living band’s “final” show has only themselves to blame.) Regardless, the film holds up as a trip down memory lane and a character study into how artists remain relevant after their initial cultural moment passes. —CZ

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Arsene Lupin”

“Of an Age” (dir. Goran Stolevski, 2023)

Goran Stolevski’s “Of an Age,” unfolds across 1999 and 2010, as high schooler and aspiring dancer Kol (Elias Anton) gets caught up in a frenzy of feelings over his friend and dance partner’s older brother Adam (Thom Green). They first bond over Franz Kafka, Tori Amos, and Wong Kar Wai’s “Happy Together” over a leisurely, hot car ride, stoking an instant connection interrupted by circumstance (but not without sex in the backseat). A decade later, Kol reunites with Adam at his friend’s wedding — one the kid has all but chased him to — and the pair confront the love affair that escaped them and the agonies of time lost. —Ryan Lattanzio

Available to stream August 15.

Other highlights:

– “Bones and All”

– “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (8/25)

– “Women Talking” (8/29)

“Ocean’s Twelve” (dir. Steven Soderbergh, 2004)

Steven Soderbergh has always thought of himself as more of a synthesist than an originator, more of a collage artist than a bonafide auteur. Unlike Quentin Tarantino, Soderbergh tends to be more in service to his influences than his influences are in service to him. But if that’s true — as the filmmaker humbly swears that it is — why do so many of his best movies feel like they couldn’t possibly have been made by anyone else?

How fitting, then, that the most idiosyncratic studio picture Soderbergh has ever made was actually based on the script for a different film. 

Retrofitting George Nolfi’s “Honor Among Thieves” into a dazzling, go-for-broke sequel about the difficulty of making sequels, “Ocean’s Twelve” was a victim of its own ingenuity (a fate to which its director can certainly relate). Less of a heist movie than it is an abstract investigation of the genre and its expectations, this immensely fun caper has the audacity to make the audience into its primary mark, and that pissed off a lot of people. They’ll come around.

Once you’re in on the joke, it’s so much fun to watch Soderbergh weaponize the glitz and glamor of his most incredible cast, using all of that plutonium-grade charisma as a means to distract us from the con at hand; not only is the Julia Roberts sequence the hilarious coup de grâce of a blockbuster that plays inside baseball better than “Full Frontal” ever could, it also gets to the heart of what the “Ocean’s” movies are all about: the seduction of star power. —David Ehrlich

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Fargo”

– “Before Midnight”

– “The Dirty Dozen”

“Nymphomaniac” (dir. Lars von Trier, 2014)

Leave it to our gloomiest living filmmaker to create an oddly tender epic about a woman’s sexual education. That woman, Joe, is played with feral fearlessness by Charlotte Gainsbourg, and in recounting her coital past, the film becomes a psychosexual picaresque — and a truly twisted character study. Framing the story is the banter between Gainsbourg and Stellan Skarsgard, equally discomfiting and hilarious. (Actual line from the film, spoken by Skarsgard after Gainsbourg reveals lurid details of her past: “That’s an excellent parallel to river trout fishing!”) Volume II plates up darker meat than its predecessor, as Joe is forced to confront her demons, and develops a mutually satisfying (if grim) relationship with an S&M practictioner played by Jamie Bell, among many other transcendent horrors. —Ryan Lattanzio

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Life Itself”

– “Whose Streets”

– “In Order of Disappearance” (8/22)

“Lost in Translation” (dir. Sofia Coppola, 2003)

Two decades after hitting theaters, Sofia Coppola’s collaboration with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson remains a seminal work in all three artists’ careers. Murray stars as a washed up movie star whose excursion to Tokyo to film a commercial sparks a surprise encounter with an equally lonely young woman. The film went a long way towards developing the archetypes that Murray would go on to play in the third act of his career and establishing Johansson as a capable leading woman. It’s a perfect time to revisit the film as you count down the days until Coppola’s “Priscilla” hits theaters later this year. —CZ

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Heart of Stone”

– “Paddington” (8/14)

– “The Pope’s Exorcist” (8/16)

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (dir. James Gunn, 2023)

James Gunn’s last rodeo with Marvel is a reminder of his unique ability to elevate MCU fare beyond the painfully formulaic confines that seem to weigh every other director down. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has many of the series’ trademarks, including a great soundtrack and plenty of amusing banter between the ensemble of space-traveling misfits — but it also wraps up the storyline with some genuine dark moments. The 70s yacht rock gave way to Radiohead as Star-Lord, Rocket, Drax, Groot, and Gamora reckon with their place in the universe and the price they’ve paid for their swashbuckling freedom as they gear up to take on their toughest foe yet. It’s a perfect capstone to a trilogy that grew with its characters but never overstayed its welcome. —CZ

Now streaming.

Other highlights:

– “Donald’s Nephews”

– “Cinderella” (8/25)

“Donbass” (dir. Sergei Loznitsa, 2018)

“Donbass” examines the mid-2010s separatist conflict in the titular region of Eastern Ukraine across a narrative split into 13 episodes that look at the war-torn region from all angles — splinter military factions, everyday citizens, and outsider journalists. “Donbass” offers a unique perspective on the recent history of Eastern Ukraine that now provides cinematic context for the ongoing war, examining Ukraine’s fractured national identity and self-justification in the face of brutal forces. —Ryan Lattanzio

Streaming now.

Other highlights:

– “Mutant Action”

– “Hellhole”

– “Vivere” (8/25)

“Catch Me If You Can” (dir. Steven Spielberg, 2002)

Arguably Steven Spielberg’s finest directorial work of the 21st century, “Catch Me if You Can” absolutely nails the delicate balance of comedy and genuine thrills that go into a great heist movie. Leonardo DiCaprio expends every drop of movie star charisma in his veins to play Frank Abagnale Jr., a lifelong con man who allegedly stole millions of dollars by lying his way through a never ending stream of false professions. He poses as everything from a Pan Am pilot to a prosecutor as FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) dutifully (and fruitlessly) pursues him. Spielberg’s camerawork has never been more playful, and John Williams’ score pulls heavily from 1960s spy serials to infuse the entire film with an overwhelming sense of retro cool. The fact that the “true” story of Abagnale’s grifts has been called into question adds another layer of mystique to the best con film in recent memory. —CZ

Streaming August 16.

Other highlights:

– “Love in Taipei”

– “War of the Worlds” (8/16)

– “Bringing Out the Dead” (8/23)

“Bad Things” (dir. Stewart Thorndike, 2023)

“Bad Things” is a great amount of fun as a lo-fi slasher with a killer cast. Writer-director Stewart Thorndike’s sophomore feature, following the 2014 breakout film “Lyle,” is a queer take on “The Shining,” centered on a deserted motel in a sleepy snow-filled suburb. Gayle Rankin (“GLOW”) leads the film as Ruthie, the heir to the Comley Suites, who also has a traumatic tie to the hotel itself. —Samantha Bergeson