New July Titles

Where Netflix this month seemed all about shedding as many older titles as possible, Amazon looks to be doing just the opposite, adding an impressive mix of genuine classics, public domain flicks, TV shows, and a diverse blend of 1980s and '90s content. In some ways the service has one-upped its larger competitor by acquiring a number of Netflix's recent castoffs, including King Kong (1976), the original The Odd Couple (1968), and David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975).

CLASSICS

Classic (i.e., pre-1982) movies are growing into one of Prime's unsung strengths. In addition to the older titles it often shares with Netflix, the service continues to add an assortment of rarely seen potboilers like Hour of the Gun (1967), The Red House (1947), and Three Came Home (1950), along with bona fide classics such as Howard Hawks' majestic Red River (1948) and, not one, but three Marilyn Monroe pictures (Bus Stop, Niagara, and How to Marry a Millionaire). There's also the campy fun of 1966's feature-length Batman movie, plus Abbott & Costello fooling around in 1952's Jack and the Beanstalk (you know, for kids). A summary of exclusive classics wouldn't be complete without mentioning Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964) and the Roger Corman biker flick, The Wild Angels (1966), starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, and Bruce Dern.

Annie Hall (1977)
Batman (1966) PRIME ONLY
Bus Stop (1956)
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
A Doll's House (1973)
Dr. Strangelove (1964) PRIME ONLY
Dragonslayer (1981) PRIME ONLY
Heartbeat (1946) PRIME ONLY
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Heidi (1937)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Hombre (1967)
Hour of the Gun (1967) PRIME ONLY
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Abbott & Costello) (1952) PRIME ONLY
King Kong (1976) PRIME ONLY
The Little Princess (1943) PRIME ONLY
Niagara (1953) PRIME ONLY
The Odd Couple (1968) PRIME ONLY
The Red House (1947) PRIME ONLY
Red River (1948) PRIME ONLY
Shivers (1975) PRIME ONLY
Three Came Home (1950) PRIME ONLY
The Warriors (1979)
The Wild Angels (1966) PRIME ONLY

Also arriving are a number of public domain classics, most of which have been available in one bad copy or another since the VHS days. Cheap pickups though they are, some show surprisingly good print quality and include films of genuine cinematic interest, such as John Huston's Humphrey Bogart lark, Beat the Devil (1954), Roger Corman's awesome A Bucket of Blood (1954), Francis Ford Coppola's first proper feature, Dementia 13 (1963), Howard Hughes' "scandalous" The Outlaw (1943), and Orson Welles' low-key, underappreciated The Stranger (1946).

Angel and the Badman (1947) PRIME ONLY
Beat the Devil (1954) PRIME ONLY
A Bucket of Blood (1954) PRIME ONLY
Dementia 13 (1963) PRIME ONLY
The Fabulous Dorseys (1947) PRIME ONLY
Fighting Caravans (1931) PRIME ONLY
Gulliver's Travels (1939) PRIME ONLY
My Favorite Brunette (1947) PRIME ONLY


The Outlaw (1943) PRIME ONLY
The Stranger (1946) PRIME ONLY
Smash-Up (1947) PRIME ONLY

OTHER FEATURES

Most of the remaining features herald from the 1980s and '90s, a combination of recurring stalwarts like 48 Hours (1982), Dirty Dancing (1987), and Flashdance (1983), Prime-only obscurities like Street Smart (1987), Some Kind of Hero (1982), and Permanent Record (1988), and recent Netflix evacuees Gandhi (1982), Mystic Pizza (1988), and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). Also worth noting is the always popular (if rarely streamed) When Harry Met Sally (1989), plus one of this month's few new releases, the intriguing-looking horror romance, Spring (2015).

Christopher Reeve, Morgan Freeman in 1987's Street Smart

48 Hours (1982)
The Bad News Bears (2005) PRIME ONLY
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) / A Very Brady Sequel (1996) PRIME ONLY
Bride & Prejudice (2005) PRIME ONLY
The Browning Version (1994) PRIME ONLY
Bulworth (1998)
The Butcher's Wife (1991) PRIME ONLY
Cadillac Man (1990)
Dear Frankie (2005) PRIME ONLY
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Drive Me Crazy (1991)
Flashdance (1983)
Friends and Lovers (1999) PRIME ONLY
Gandhi (1982) PRIME ONLY
Glory (1989) PRIME ONLY
Harlem Nights (1989) PRIME ONLY
Mystic Pizza (1988) PRIME ONLY
Permanent Record (1988) PRIME ONLY
Space Jam (1996) PRIME ONLY
Spring (2015) PRIME ONLY
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) PRIME ONLY
Stepping High (2013) PRIME ONLY
Street Smart (1987) PRIME ONLY
Stuart Saves His Family (1995) PRIME ONLY
Some Kind of Hero (1982) PRIME ONLY
Thumbelina (1994)
UHF (1989) PRIME ONLY
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
When Harry Met Sally (1989) PRIME ONLY

Twin Peaks

TELEVISION

Prime this month has picked up a number of classic TV series also found on Netflix (The Andy Griffith Show, Cheers, Family Ties, Twin Peaks) while adding Dynasty, the latest season of Downton Abbey, and, in a pleasant surprise, the recently dropped Mission: Impossible (as well as both iterations of Melrose Place). I'm especially happy to get another shot at viewing the more obscure M:I episodes, which I was frantically streaming in the days before their Netflix dismissal. Bravo, Amazon! This is one mission I'll gladly accept.

The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)
Cheers (1982-1993)
Downton Abbey: Season 5 (2015) PRIME ONLY
Dynasty (1981-1989) PRIME ONLY
Family Ties (1982-1989)
Medium (2005-2011)
Melrose Place (1992-1999) PRIME ONLY
Melrose Place 2.0 (2009) PRIME ONLY
Mission: Impossible (1966-1973) PRIME ONLY
Twin Peaks (1990-1991)

COMING SOON

July 10

The Expendables 3 (2014)

July 11

Two Men in Town (2014)

July 16

Boardwalk Empire: Season 3
True Blood: Season 5

July 18

Glee: Season 6

July 23

Jim Norton: Contextually Inadequate
The Newsroom: Seasons 1-2

July 24

Hercules (2014)

July 30

Behind the Candelabra (2013)

July 31

The Skeleton Twins (2014)