So you want to watch some new movies. Easier said than done, right? With so many streaming services and so many movies coming and going from each every month, it can be hard to keep track of not only what’s new, but which of those films are actually worth watching. That’s where we come in. Below we’ve assembled a list of the best new movies to watch on Amazon Prime in June 2021. These films were added to the streaming service this month, and are all well worth checking out for various reasons. So whether you’re in the mood for a laugh, a cry, or a thrill, you’ll undoubtedly find something that fits the bill below.
Table of Contents
50/50
Available on: June 1st
Director: Jonathan Levine
Writer: Will Reiser
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston
Affectionately dubbed “the cancer comedy,” 50/50 kind of flew under the radar when it hit theaters back in 2011. But if you wrote this one off for whatever reason, now’s a great time to catch up with a truly moving, warm, and funny film. The story is loosely based on screenwriter Will Reiser’s own battle with cancer, as Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a young public radio journalist who is diagnosed with a form of cancer from which there is a 50% survival rate. Seth Rogen plays his best friend, Anna Kendrick plays the woman administering his chemotherapy, and Anjelica Huston plays his mother, and every member of the cast does a phenomenal job of walking a tonal tight rope: the film takes the cancer seriously, and is often heartbreaking; but it also embraces humor that’s such a significant part of our daily lives, so that the story doesn’t ever become overly dramatic. This is a true “dramedy” in every sense of the word, and it’s tenderly captured by versatile director Jonathan Levine, whose credits range from Warm Bodies to Long Shot.
An American Werewolf in London
Available on: June 1st
Director/Writer: John Landis
Cast: Griffin Dunne, David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and John Woodvine
If you’ve never seen An American Werewolf in London, you’ve never seen one of the seminal works of horror-comedy. Writer/director John Landis’ 1981 film is as spooky as it is funny, and boy is it spooky. The film follows two American backpackers from New York City who are trekking across the moors in Yorkshire one night, only to be attacked by a werewolf. One of them is killed and the other (played by David Naughton) is bitten, only to then start showing signs that he’s slowly transforming into a werewolf. The film features cutting-edge makeup and practical effects by legend Rick Baker, and doesn’t skimp on either the horror aspect or the comedy aspect. Every horror or comedy fan should see this movie.
Adaptation.
Available on: June 1st
Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, and Tilda Swinton
The backstory behind Adaptation. is almost as entertaining as the film itself. Charlie Kaufman, fresh off the success of Being John Malkovich, was hired to adapt the Susan Orlean novel The Orchid Thief. Struggling with writers block, he instead turned in a script about himself – Charlie Kaufman – trying to adapt Orlean’s book all while fighting with a twin brother he doesn’t actually have in real life. Adaptation. is a wholly unique work of art, with Nicolas Cage turning in two of his best performances as Charlie Kaufman and his less talented but more successful brother Donald. Plus you have Meryl Streep as Orlean in a turn that’s incredibly bold, with a story that is so self-reflexive it threatens to turn in on itself like a pretzel but somehow finishes in a way that’s both surprising and inevitable. If you’re into cerebral movies or dry comedies, you simply must watch this film.
Burn After Reading
Available on: June 1st
Directors/Writers: The Coen Brothers
Cast: Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John Malkovich, Richard Jenkins, and Tilda Swinton
It is still one of the biggest flexes in cinema history that after winning a ton of Oscars for their stark drama No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers turned around and immediately made an incredibly silly spy spoof. Not only that, but they assembled an A-list ensemble to boot. Burn After Reading certainly feels like a Bourne or Enemy of the State-like thriller, but as the Coen Brothers often do, the film turns the genre on its head and ultimately just wants to have fun. It’s a classic mixup story as the plot revolves around a former CIA analyst who misplaces a disc that contained his memoirs, only for a pair of dimwitted gym employees (a gleeful Frances McDormand and a goofy Brad Pitt) to find them and mistake them for state secrets. A cat and mouse game ensues, one in which everyone in the film acts like it’s of the upmost importance but we, the audience, know it’s all over some dumb memoirs. If you go in knowing this thing is a dark comedy playing on spy movie tropes, you’ll have a blast.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Available on: June 1st
Director/Writer: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn, and Justin Long
The comedy genre has changed pretty significantly since 2004’s Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story was released – it’s morphed into something grounded much more in realism – but that doesn’t mean the over-the-top antics of this film are any less funny. Vince Vaughn plays the owner of a dilapidated gym who puts together a team of misfits to compete in a dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas in the hopes of keeping his gym from going out of business. Ben Stiller in full Heavyweights mode plays his rival, owner of the rich and fancy Globo Gym. The movie is incredibly silly and full of colorful characters, and was a pretty sizeable hit when it opened back in 2004.
Fight Club
Available on: June 1st
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Jim Uhls
Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jared Leto
Everyone knows about Fight Club, but have you watched it lately? As you’ve matured, your read on the film may have changed. While many mistakenly thought the movie was merely about its title, in actuality David Fincher crafted a pretty searing screed against commercialism and toxic masculinity. The fight club at the center of the movie is not meant to be cool, but instead sad. A manifestation of the frustrations of repressed men who lack self-awareness or the maturity to be independent. It’s also funny as hell.
Signs
Available on: June 1st
Director/Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Abigail Breslin, and Rory Culkin
Signs rules. While M. Night Shyamalan’s career has had many twists and turns, he was in peak form for this 2002 sci-fi thriller, which takes place in a small Pennsylvania town where large crop circles begin to appear, throwing a former Episcopal priest (Mel Gibson) and his family for a loop. The film is not only thrilling and terrifying at times, but also tremendously moving as a story about a man who has lost his faith (that flashback sequence is still incredibly upsetting).
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