Here, stick a hook in June, done. And for a while Paramount+ ripped off some solid hits from Scream 7 and the new season Agency for Beavis and Butt-Head Yes, the UFC in the White House still has some solid movies in its massive library to get you through the last week of the month.
For the week of June 29, I’ve lined up three movies worth your time on the couch: a deep and cerebral sci-fi that asks some questions about how well we’d be if aliens talked to us, a gloriously silly story full of spandex and cool masks, and a war set in the late ’80s.
3
Arrival
Amy Adams makes first contact with an alien species
One of the most exciting alien movies of the 2010s, Arrival does it all without the need for face-suckers or exploding chests and instead moves along more dramatic and existential lines. In the film, Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) tells the story of her life as a linguistics professor when Earth is visited by several large, terrifying floating alien spaceships that have set up shop in various parts of the world. Banks is called upon by the US government to decipher the language of the aliens in hopes of finding out why they are here.
As world panic erupts and world leaders begin to tear apart in their concerted efforts to figure out whether the visitors are friend or foe, Banks develops a deep connection with the aliens, and with the help of physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), he must convince the world before the hotheads in the room decide to open fire.
A stunning visual masterpiece directed by Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Dune: Part Two) delivers nail-biting drama with stellar performances from Renner and Adams, who earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. Arrival It has a strong 94% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
2
Nacho Libre
Jack Black’s sweet Mexican priest has a masked secret
After watching Jack Black High Fidelity I recently had a sudden urge to go back and watch him in this disgraceful (and critically panned) silly comedy while it was still on Paramount+. Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and co-authored by the future White Lotus creator Mike White (who was no stranger to working with Black School of Rock and Orange County), Nacho Libre Black plays Ignacio, a gentle, unassuming priest and cook in the orphanage of the Mexican monastery where he grew up in all his glory.
Desperate to feed the kids with something better than to bend over backwards, he moonlights undercover as a masked luchador named “Nacho,” enlisting the scrawny street thug Esqueleton (Héctor Jiménez) as his teammate—all in search of his beloved sister Encarnación (Ana dela). The story is inspired by the real-life Mexican priest Fray Tormenta (The Martyr Storm) who struggled for decades to fund his orphanage.
A box office hit with mixed reviews, Nacho Libre has since become endlessly quotable (“These are my loungewear”) and a memorable cult favorite. Coming to your heels School of Rock and King Kongit remains one of Black’s favorite comic showcases, but never mind his 39% RT score—pfft, what do they know?
1
Good morning, Vietnam
Robin Williams turns wartime radio into comedic gold
In a role he was born to play (which won him the Best Actor award at the 1988 Oscars), Good morning, Vietnamthe late great Robin Williams plays Armed Forces Radio Service DJ Adrian Cronauer, an airman stationed in Saigon in 1965 during the Vietnam War. Cronauer’s loose and comedic shows and rock music are hits, and he quickly makes a name for himself with co-star Edward Garlick (Forest Whitaker) and the uplifted hordes who religiously listen to his show.
But his controversial comments and sarcastic views on the war become a thorn in the side of his superiors, particularly Lieutenant Stephen Hawk (Bruno Kirby) and Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson (JT Walsh), who threaten to take him off the air.
When Cronauer falls in love with a local Vietnamese woman and befriends her brother, he begins to see the war from a different perspective and brings it to his broadcasts, putting his job and life at risk. Still one of Williams’ most memorable performances, Good morning, Vietnam It arrives on Paramount+ on July 1st and still holds an incredible 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The summer roar continues
Have you decided what to post this week? These Paramount+ movies deliver clever sci-fi, big laughs, and an underdog worth rooting for. But if that’s not what you’re after, head on over How-To Geek’s streaming section for more guides.
- Subscription with ads
-
Yes, $8 a month
- Synchronous streams
-
3
- Live TV
-
Select live sports (NFL on CBS and UEFA Champions League)
- Price
-
It starts at $8 per month or $60 per year
