The 7 Best New Movies on Peacock in August

Oppenheimer

If you’re still riding high on your latest trip to see “The Odyssey,” it could always be worth revisiting director Christopher Nolan’s last great epic. “Oppenheimer” follows the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer from school through Project Trinity as the man realized that by creating the first nuclear weapon, he had changed the world forever. The thematic similarities between “The Odyssey” and “Oppenheimer” are evident, but revisiting how the now-legendary director secured his first Oscar when he’ll certainly be in contention for another this year is well worth the Peacock price of admission.

Troy

At the end of the day, “Troy” is a full-on action movie. If you want to check out a sword and sandals movie with a heavy emphasis on the “sword” part of the equation, then “Troy” is the movie for you. And if the Trojan Horse scene from “The Odyssey” was the only part of the film that worked for you, then buddy, do we have the film for you. But despite the action, Brad Pitt is great as Achilles and Brian Cox is characteristically a scene stealer as Agamemnon.

Uncle Buck

“Uncle Buck” is a top-tier comedy rewatch. One of John Candy’s best performances came when he played a Chicago bachelor forced to watch his brother’s three kids when a family emergency cropped up. Candy has chemistry with the entire cast, but unsurprisingly, the moments when he plays off Macaulay Culkin’s precocious Miles or when he’s defending eldest daughter Tia from terrible boys and parties walk the razor’s edge of charming and hilarious.

Little Miss Sunshine

“Little Miss Sunshine” is one of the all-time family road trip movies. The Hoover family – played by a heavy-hitting cast including Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano and Abigail Breslin – load up into their VW van and head to California to support their youngest daughter’s dream of competing to win the titular Little Miss Sunshine pageant. It’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, it’s heartwarming. “Little Miss Sunshine” has it all.

Pineapple Express

“Pineapple Express” is one of the crown jewels of the R-rated comedy surge of the late 2000s. The film stars Seth Rogen and James Franco – before their falling out – as a stoner and his dealer who get wrapped up with criminals after witnessing a murder while on the lookout for the rare but stellar Pineapple Express strain of marijuana. The film is all gas, no brakes as the jokes and action propel the plot forward at a breakneck pace. Go ahead and revisit a classic.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Matthew Broderick is stellar in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” – the quintessential sick day movie, both about faking being sick and to heal yourself WHEN you get sick. What better way to distract yourself from feeling unwell than watching someone fake being sick so he can have one of the best days of his life. Whether it’s the constant out-foxing of Principal Rooney, destroying Cameron’s dad’s car, or stealing the show at a full-on parade, the movie is just one good vibe moment after the next and really that’s the strongest ingredient when it comes to a good sick movie.

The Cable Guy

Jim Carrey is playing an all-time funny creep in “The Cable Guy.” With the star being as prolific as he was up to 1996, it makes sense that the comedy falls a bit between the cracks when it comes to figuring out Carrey’s best films. But there is certainly a case to be made for the film that follows Carrey as a titular cable guy who becomes obsessed with one of his clients – played perfectly straight by Matthew Broderick. What follows is a tight 90 minutes that’s full of hilarious moments like a trip to Medieval Times to genuinely terrifying beats as The Cable Guy just won’t accept his new friend doesn’t feel the same way.