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M. Night Shyamalan’s career began in August. At least, that’s when the world took note of him: In August of 1999, his supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense was inauspiciously released and went on to become a critical success and a box office juggernaut. This flew in the face of expectations for the hottest month of the year: The month was seen then, as it still often is today, as something of a dumping ground for movies saddled with low expectations.
Often August is set aside for movies that Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with. Maybe the test screenings went poorly, or a troubled production gave them the stink of failure. With kids headed back to school, it’s generally not a great spot to release a would-be blockbuster, so why not fill the schedule with misfit movies that will at least attract audiences looking for two hours of guaranteed AC?
And yet, the eighth month has actually hosted some pretty great movies over the years. This year, Shyamalan is even back in his familiar spot on the schedule with Trap, and if the decidedly silly thriller is no The Sixth Sense, it’s still a great deal of fun. In that spirit, here are 17 August releases that defied expectations by either selling a lot of tickets, or just by being pretty damn good.
Dirty Dancing (August 21, 1987)
This cheaply made musical romance was hardly expected to be a blockbuster, but that didn’t stop audiences in 1987 from having the time of their lives (sorry). Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze have absolutely combustible chemistry as increasingly disillusioned daddy’s girl “Baby” Houseman and buff dance instructor Johnny Castle, respectively, their two worlds colliding at a Borscht Belt resort. Not only was the movie a hit, the soundtrack generated two multi-platinum albums with multiple singles each (not to mention earning an Oscar for Best Song). It was a genuine cultural phenomenon.
Where to stream: Digital rental
Babe (August 4, 1995)
When not knee-deep in Mad Max movies, George Miller has explored some fascinating sidelines, including this rather lovely story of a farm pig who’d much rather be a sheepdog. Miller produced and co-wrote the unlikely box office champ, which ultimately earned seven Academy Awards nominations, including for Best Picture. August movies are typically positioned between summer blockbuster and awards seasons precisely because they’re expected to do well with neither, but here’s a rare case of a film that expertly navigated that middle ground.
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
Emma (August 2, 1996)
Though she’d had a memorable role in Seven the year before, Gwyneth Paltrow made a name for herself as a leading lady with this sprightly Jane Austen adaptation, just two years before she won an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. And thus was the Goop empire forged. The movie is brisk and playful, and Paltrow’s casting at the head of a cast including Toni Collette, Alan Cumming, and Ewan McGregor feels revelatory. It wasn’t a blockbuster, by any means, but did very healthy business, considering..
Where to stream: MGM+, Paramount+, digital rental
Halloween H20 (August 5, 1998)
The first time Jamie Lee Curtis returned to the franchise that she helped to build since 1981’s Halloween II (also from director Steve Miner), H20 borrowed some self-aware teen slasher tricks from the Scream franchise. It doesn’t go as deep or dark as the 2018 reboot, but it’s a thrill to see Curtis facing off against Michael one more time. Until the time after this one. And then the three times after that. After a couple of low-rent sequels and diminishing returns, this became one of the highest-grossing in the entire series, and a fan favorite.
Where to stream: Digital rental
Blade (August 21, 1998)
The movie that might have kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe instead kicked off a trilogy that, like many a movie franchise, kinda crapped out by the end. Still, Wesley Snipes is perfectly cast as the title’s human-vampire hybrid, a guy who can go outside in the daytime while he hunts bloodsuckers by night. Critical reviews were mixed, but some people just don’t know how to have fun. The movie’s blend of stylish, bloody action and swagger are memorable enough that Snipes returned to the role in a certain superhero blockbuster released this year (no spoilers!).
Where to stream: Digital rental
The Iron Giant (August 6, 1999)
Maybe the early August date had the studio thinking that kids would catch it before school was back, but August seems to have doomed this gorgeous, heartbreaking classic to box office obscurity (it didn’t come close to earning back its budget). There were other failures of marketing here, as well, but luckily it proved too good to be forgotten, and found an audience on home video. Still, back-to-school season just feels like a really bad time to release a family movie that might otherwise have had legs.
Where to stream: digital rental
The Sixth Sense (August 6, 1999)
One of the clearest examples of an August release bucking the trend as a movie that beat both critical and box office expectations. This is the movie that introduced the world to director M. Night Shyamalan—one of our most interesting and inconsistent filmmakers, and but the time the dust settled, it came in behind only The Phantom Menace among the year’s top movies at the box office. Maybe there’s a place for scary movies in August, when a certain type of moviegoer (me) is just beginning to anticipate the joys of spooky season.
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
The Others (August 10, 2001)
As I was saying. I’m sure that Dimension films expected Alejandro Amenábar’s gothic ghost story to earn decent reviews and maybe do moderately well at the box office—but there wasn’t much of a market for haunted house-style horror movies in the Scream era. I don’t think anyone had any idea that this dour period piece was going to do very impressive business (on a very small budget), and become an instant creepy classic.
Where to stream: digital rental
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (August 19, 2005)
Judd Apatow had never directed a feature prior to this amiable rom-com, nor was Steve Carrell a household name. Avoiding many of the pitfalls of the typical sex comedy by foregrounding The Office star’s general likability, the movie was a hit across demographics, blending some risqué comedy with sweetness. It made for a reasonably good break for parents after having carted the kids off to school.
Where to stream: Prime Video
Superbad (August 17, 2007)
This coming-of-age sex comedy was likewise produced by Judd Apatow, and works in the way that the best of his movies do: it’s a little raunchy, but never mean-spirited. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera play a couple of high school seniors who just want to get laid before they graduate. Silly, crude, and far less problematic than its premise would lead you to suspect, it was successful with both audiences and critics, even if it isn’t the kind of movie that gets Oscar nominations.
Where to stream: digital rental
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (August 13, 2010)
Another Michael Cera movie in August, this one a rather dismal failure, at least at the box office. Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the manga-esque graphic novel series about a slacker hoping to get a record deal while battling the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend is colorful, kinetic, and generally just a really great time at the movies. Too bad nobody actually saw it in theaters. Happily, that didn’t stop it from garnering a cult following (and inspiring a Netflix animated remake more than a decade later).
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (August 5, 2011)
The rise of an unlikely mega-franchise started here, with this reboot of the classic sci-fi series. Andy Serkis stars as the super-intelligent ape Caesar, both a brilliant technical innovation and a revolutionary character, literally, in our modern four-quadrant superhero blockbuster era. While the movies of the Marvel/Disney empire preach the virtues of the stars quo, Caesar reminds us that sometimes, change is worth fighting for.
Where to stream: Hulu, digital rental
ParaNorman (August 17, 2012)
Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) can to speak to the dead—and prefers their company to that of the living. Not sure I blame him. When his town comes under threat from a centuries-old curse, he’s really the only one who can help. If he’s brave and compassionate enough, and willing to put aside the judginess of his neighbors. Smart, fun, and gorgeously stop-motion animated, this movie did decent business, but suffered from its release month, as well as from a general hubbub around its acknowledgment of the existence of gay people. Refunds were not offered to anyone whose kid left the theater queer.
Where to stream: digital rental
Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1, 2014)
Dropping it early in the month was probably a smart way to make sure they could get as many kids in the seats as possible before school, but Guardians was an unknown quantity when it was released, and probably Marvel’s biggest gamble since they kicked off the whole MCU with Iron Man. Despite starring Hollywood’s least-favorite Chris (then best known as a sitcom sidekick), and featuring a team of heroes slightly obscure even among comics fans, the movie turned out to be one of Marvel’s best, displaying a heart and sense of humor often absent from the its more calculated joints.
Where to stream: Disney+, digital rental
Annabelle: Creation (August 11, 2017)
Most of the Conjuring spin-offs are cheap, efficient, and largely forgettable thrillers. The first Annabelle, having opened in October for Halloween, cost around $7 million, and more than made that paltry investment back despite pretty bad reviews. I’m sure the studio was expecting a similar outcome here, making it an easy August drop. This sequel/prequel, though, added director David F. Sandberg who, before his directorial career ran aground on the Shazam movies, was best known for a string of no-budget horror shorts that lead to the feature Lights Out. Sandberg adds some panache to the old-school scares for which the series has made its reputation, and the result was one of the best reviewed Conjuring movies, and among its top grossers.
Where to stream: digital rental
BlacKkKlansman (August 10, 2018)
Spike Lee’s satirical true story adapts the memoirs of Ron Stallworth (played superbly by John David Washington), a Black detective in Colorado who set out to infiltrate and expose the KKK in the 1970s. The movie’s release was chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, in which some “very fine people” gathered to give a boost to the panoply of American white supremacist groups, including the Klan. The timing didn’t seem to hurt the box office: it became one of Lee’s biggest grossers, and earned him an Academy Award in the process.
Where to stream: digital rental
The Personal History of David Copperfield (August 28, 2020)
Charles Dickens by way of Veep creator Armando Iannucci, Personal History stars Dev Patel as the titular hero. It’s a rather brilliant reimagining of the novel on which it’s based, staying true to Dickens by amping up the satirical aspects. Dodging the trappings of fussy adaptations of the past, this version is a reminder that the author was a social critic as much as a dramatist—it’s stylish and funny in a way that feels fresh without feeling blasphemous. August of 2020 was not the best time for any movie’s box office total (wee little pandemic going on, you see), so it sank pretty quickly. A shame, really.
Where to stream: digital rental
