Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. have a lot to look forward to right now. Zoe Saldaña is back running black ops in a new season of Taylor Sheridan’s highly anticipated series Lioness, there are a handful of UFC bouts to tap out with, and 71 movies were added in its big August 1 dump alone.
This week, four of those arrivals should easily make your movie queue—an animated brick-building smash, a terrifying Oscar-sweeping space thriller, the sharpest mockumentary ever put on a leash, and my top pick this week, a big-screen concert event from a real “bad guy.”
4
The Lego Movie
The brick-by-brick blockbuster where everything is awesome
Second only to Frozen, The Lego Movie played nonstop in my house, car, on camping trips, and in waiting rooms when it hit the streaming services in 2015. My four-year-old didn’t care that it was snubbed for the best animated movie at the Oscars (to Big Hero 6?!); she absolutely couldn’t stop singing Everything is Awesome, though, which did get a Best Original Song nod.
If you haven’t watched it 10,000 times like us, The Lego Movie is all about Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), a cheerfully ordinary construction minifigure who always follows the instructions, until he gets mistaken for the “Special,” a prophesied MasterBuilder destined to save the Lego universe. Alongside fierce rebel Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), self-obsessed gravelly-voiced Batman (Will Arnett), and a slew of other classic Lego characters, the team must stop Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from permanently gluing the world together with the dreaded Kragle. It has a near-perfect 96% score on RT.
The Lego Movie
Release Date
February 7, 2014
Runtime
100 Minutes
Director
Phil Lord, Chris Miller
3
Gravity
Sandra Bullock, lost in space and fighting to get home
While it might not have had the enormous record-breaking box-office weekend that Spider-Man: Brand New Day just had, 2013’s Gravity, with its mind-boggling special effects, sound, music, and cinematography, just blew people away in theaters (it was in IMAX, too), leading it to sweep up seven Oscars.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Name that Oscar-winning Paramount hit movie
Trivia challenge
Can you identify these Academy Award-winning Paramount Pictures films from
the last 30 years using only clues?
DramaClassicsDirectorsOscarsBlockbusters
Begin
This 1994 Paramount film follows a slow-witted but kind-hearted man from Alabama who
unknowingly influences several decades of American history, and it won Best Picture at the 67th
Academy Awards.
AThe Shawshank RedemptionBPulp FictionCForrest GumpDPhiladelphia
That’s right — Forrest Gump! Tom Hanks won his second consecutive Best
Actor Oscar for the role, and the film swept six Oscars total including Best Director for Robert
Zemeckis. Its famous ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ quote has become one of cinema’s most quoted
lines.
Not quite — the answer is Forrest Gump! Tom Hanks won his second
consecutive Best Actor Oscar for the role, and the film swept six Oscars total including Best Director
for Robert Zemeckis. Its famous ‘life is like a box of chocolates’ quote has become one of cinema’s most
quoted lines.
Continue
This 1997 Paramount epic romance is set aboard a doomed luxury ocean liner on its
maiden voyage, and it became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide while winning 11
Academy Awards.
AThe English PatientBTitanicCSchindler’s ListDBraveheart
Correct — it’s Titanic! Directed by James Cameron, the film tied the
all-time Oscar wins record held by Ben-Hur at 11 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet became global superstars almost overnight thanks to this film.
Not quite — the answer is Titanic! Directed by James Cameron, the film
tied the all-time Oscar wins record held by Ben-Hur at 11 awards, including Best Picture and Best
Director. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet became global superstars almost overnight thanks to this
film.
Continue
This 2013 Paramount film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor depicts a free Black man living
in New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the antebellum South, winning Best Picture at
the 86th Academy Awards.
ADjango UnchainedBLincolnCThe ButlerD12 Years a Slave
Well done — it’s 12 Years a Slave! Directed by Steve McQueen, it became
the first film by a Black director to win Best Picture. Lupita Nyong’o won Best Supporting Actress for
her devastating performance, launching one of Hollywood’s most celebrated careers.
The answer is 12 Years a Slave! Directed by Steve McQueen, it became the
first film by a Black director to win Best Picture. Lupita Nyong’o won Best Supporting Actress for her
devastating performance, launching one of Hollywood’s most celebrated careers.
Continue
This 1995 Paramount thriller features a detective played by Morgan Freeman and his
younger partner played by Brad Pitt investigating a series of gruesome murders based on the seven
deadly sins — it won the Oscar for Best Film Editing.
AThe Silence of the LambsBSe7enCZodiacDCopycat
Correct — it’s Se7en! Directed by David Fincher, the film is widely
regarded as one of the greatest thrillers ever made. Its shocking ending — involving a mysterious box —
remains one of the most talked-about finales in Hollywood history.
The answer is Se7en! Directed by David Fincher, the film is widely
regarded as one of the greatest thrillers ever made. Its shocking ending — involving a mysterious box —
remains one of the most talked-about finales in Hollywood history.
Continue
This 2014 Paramount film tells the true story of a NASA mathematician and her
colleagues who played a crucial role in early American space missions, and it won the Oscar for Best
Adapted Screenplay.
AThe MartianBInterstellarCHidden FiguresDFirst Man
That’s right — Hidden Figures! The film celebrates the real-life
contributions of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson — three Black women whose work at
NASA was largely uncredited for decades. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe led the
acclaimed cast.
The answer is Hidden Figures! The film celebrates the real-life
contributions of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson — three Black women whose work at
NASA was largely uncredited for decades. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe led the
acclaimed cast.
Continue
This 2019 Paramount biographical drama follows a legendary rock band’s frontman
through his flamboyant rise to fame and personal struggles, and Rami Malek won Best Actor for his
transformative lead performance.
ARocketmanBBohemian RhapsodyCThe DirtDStardust
Correct — Bohemian Rhapsody! The film chronicles the story of Freddie
Mercury and Queen, culminating in their iconic Live Aid performance. Despite mixed reviews from critics,
it became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time and Rami Malek’s transformation was universally
praised.
The answer is Bohemian Rhapsody! The film chronicles the story of
Freddie Mercury and Queen, culminating in their iconic Live Aid performance. Despite mixed reviews from
critics, it became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time and Rami Malek’s transformation was
universally praised.
Continue
This 2007 Paramount Western thriller adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel features a
relentless assassin hunting down a man who stumbled upon drug money, and it won four Academy Awards
including Best Picture.
AThere Will Be BloodBThe Assassination of Jesse JamesCNo Country for Old MenD3:10 to Yuma
That’s right — No Country for Old Men! Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen,
Javier Bardem’s portrayal of the chilling assassin Anton Chigurh won him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar
and is considered one of cinema’s greatest villain performances. The film’s ambiguous ending still
sparks debate among fans.
The answer is No Country for Old Men! Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen,
Javier Bardem’s portrayal of the chilling assassin Anton Chigurh won him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar
and is considered one of cinema’s greatest villain performances. The film’s ambiguous ending still
sparks debate among fans.
Continue
This 2022 Paramount sequel starring Tom Cruise returns to the world of elite naval
aviators over 35 years after its predecessor, and it won the Oscar for Best Sound while becoming one
of the highest-grossing films of that year.
ATop Gun: MaverickBMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneCF9: The Fast SagaDAmbulance
Correct — Top Gun: Maverick! The film was praised for its breathtaking
practical flight sequences, with Tom Cruise insisting on filming real aerial maneuvers. It became
Paramount’s highest-grossing film ever and proved that legacy sequels could still dominate the box
office decades later.
The answer is Top Gun: Maverick! The film was praised for its
breathtaking practical flight sequences, with Tom Cruise insisting on filming real aerial maneuvers. It
became Paramount’s highest-grossing film ever and proved that legacy sequels could still dominate the
box office decades later.
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It’s a nightmarish worst-case scenario for an astronaut. Dr. Ryan Stone (Best Actress nominee Sandra Bullock), a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, is floating above the Earth, mid-spacewalk, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), when debris from a satellite completely destroys their shuttle. Stranded 372 miles up with oxygen running out and Houston gone silent, Stone struggles to find a way to survive in the destroyed space station and somehow make it back to Earth. Gravity crams more white-knuckle tension into 91 minutes than most franchises manage in a decade. You will not regret watching this one.
Gravity
Release Date
October 3, 2013
Runtime
1h 31m
Director
Alfonso Cuarón
2
Best in Show
Christopher Guest’s dog show comedy is best in class
Is there a better comedy pairing than Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara? I think not. Fifteen years before Schitt’s Creek made them TV’s favorite married couple, the SCTV legends were perfecting their craft in Best in Show.
The second entry in Christopher Guest’s largely improvised mockumentaries (after Waiting for Guffman), it follows five sets of hilariously neurotic dog owners competing at Philadelphia’s cutthroat Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show: Gerry and Cookie Fleck (Levy and O’Hara), high-strung yuppies Meg and Hamilton Swan (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock), and trophy wife Sherri Ann Cabot (Jennifer Coolidge), whose champion poodle comes with a fiercely intense handler (Jane Lynch). Guest is a genius at drawing the insanity and obsession out of life’s seemingly mundane micro-societies, and Best in Show is one of his masterpieces.
Best in Show
Release Date
September 29, 2000
Runtime
90 minutes
Director
Christopher Guest
1
Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live)
Billie Eilish’s epic world tour, James Cameron style
If you’re fortunate enough to have a large TV or projector screen and a solid sound system, this immersive and gorgeously shot concert film is likely to turn your living room into an SRO arena—as it did in movie theaters when it was released.
Much of that massive atmosphere is thanks to James Cameron. For Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live), the Titanic and Avatar director co-directed this concert film with Billie Eilish herself, using his cutting-edge 3D camera tech to capture her record-breaking Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour. Filmed across sold-out arena shows in Manchester, England, and Phoenix, Arizona, the 114-minute film drops you on stage, in the crowd, under the scaffolding, and behind the scenes as Eilish tears through career-spanning highlights, including Bad Guy, Happier Than Ever, Birds of a Feather, and her Barbie ballad What Was I Made For?
My 15-year-old is maybe the world’s biggest Billie fan, and I have seen this stunning doc/concert film twice in theaters as her and her friends moshed in the front row. Let’s just say I’ll be moving the furniture and hiding the breakables when we stream it this week.
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)
Release Date
May 6, 2026
Runtime
114 minutes
Director
James Cameron, Billie Eilish
August movies are off to a good start
It’s the start of a new month, and that means fresh new movies to tuck in with. Hopefully one of these will pique your interest. If not, no worries, check out our other weekly streaming roundups for loads more suggestions.
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