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Nate at the Movies: August 2026 Roundup 🍿
Hey, Reader! Welcome back another month of movies. Let's find you something worth watching.
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🌟 This Month's Must-See Movies
The Rivals of Amziah King (2025)
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The Rivals of Amziah King was hardly on my radar to begin the month, but I was wrong to doubt Matthew McConaughey. Bee movies have made some noise over the last few years, and the unabashed joy and intensity oozing from this movie was sweet as honey.
"Between the touching family and community relationships, the impressive original folk songs, and one of the funniest sequences of 2026, this movie...won me over quickly and repeatedly". |
Tony (2026)
2026 has been the year of Matt Johnson for me, and the man truly hasn't missed. While Tony didn't hit the highs of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, it wasn't trying to. It was, though, one of the warmest and most effective biopics I've seen, mostly because it felt nothing like a biopic. It was glorious.
Coyote vs. Acme (2026)
There is no movie featured in this entire newsletter that I've been anticipating longer than Coyote vs. Acme, and it delivered. I was laughing and tearing up and loving every second of this original, live-action/animation hybrid story. I need everyone to go see this movie; let's stick it to the corporations!
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💎 My Favorite First-Time Watches This Month
Arrival (2016) became the only movie of August to enter my Top 50 Films list, and it totally deserved it. Denis Villeneuve is a master, and while I expected the visuals to be outstanding, I was blown away by the intimate, human story at this movie's center. I know I'm gonna be a wreck when I watch this once I have kids.
In honor of Tim Curry, I watched Clue (1985) for the first time, and I fell in love with it immediately. Curry's zany performance was the best of many great performances in this movie, and we truly lost one of the greats—in a week where "losing a great" happened too many times.
I told you 2026 was the year of Matt Johnson! To prep for Tony, I watched BlackBerry (2023) and was extremely impressed. Johnson has now made two of my favorite biopics (if you can even call them that), and they're wildly different from both each other and every boring, big studio biopic I've seen. Put them up on Biopic Mount Rushmore with Better Man.
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🎯 Works in Progress
Adaptation Appreciation (8/12): This month's read was A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean, and the only reason its excellent movie adaptation was mentioned nowhere else in this newsletter was because I'd actually already seen it. The book was beautifully written and evocative and so happy-sad, and the movie was the same. If I had to recommend just one, though, read the book.
Harry Potter (5/8): Because of Morgan's ever-busier schedule, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix became the first of the series that I had to watch by myself. I've been waiting for the quality of these movies to decline, but it just hasn't. Even in a story that's doing more world-building than paying off, The Order of the Phoenix was thrilling and engaging and just as charming and fun as every previous installment.
Summer Series (12/12): What a long month it's been! With school starting up again, the summer series feels so long ago. We ended on two bangers and the only dud of the summer, though. I enjoyed and was haunted by Bong Joon-Ho's Memories of Murder; I gave The Lobster a second try after not finishing it in high school and I still didn't like it; and I found another near-perfect movie in the aforementioned Arrival. This was a really fun series; I may have to run it back next summer!
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🎶 While I Wasn't At The Movies
Morgan and I have been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender—her favorite show as a kid—for the last month or two, and I've become a big fan. We're about halfway through (watching it on DVD, might I add—yay, physical media!) and I've been so impressed by its dark, mature storytelling, rich characters, and pretty solid humor. I can see why Morgan loves it.
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🚨 Next Month's Movie Radar
We have to wait through most of September before we get to any big hitters, but DreamWorks' Forgotten Island (2026) has to be at the top of my list. I've got my press screening ticket already and I'm stoked!
I'm also really excited for Primetime (2026), which features the most on-fire actor in Hollywood and comes out on the same day as Forgotten Island. The film's trailer may be one of the best I've seen all year, and hopefully Robert Pattinson picks up an Oscar nomination for one of his many hit movies this year.
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Thanks for reading, Reader. Now go find a comfy theater chair, get a *small* popcorn and a courtesy cup, and I'll see you next month!
Your partner in film,
Nate
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