Sometimes it feels like there are more movies on Hulu than there are grains of sand on a beach. OK, not really, but as we enter the final weeks of summer, a couple of sandy selections, and a few other good picks, stood out to me as some great movies on the streaming service to settle in with this week.
So if you’re not outside enjoying the warm weather while it lasts, or taking a break inside with some air conditioning, consider these hand-picked flicks on Hulu right now.
5
Weekend at Bernie’s
|
Release Year |
1989 |
|---|---|
|
Runtime |
1 hour 38 minutes |
Trust me, no one has, or ever will, play a dead body quite like Terry Kiser. In the funniest way, of course. Weekend at Bernie’s is one of those classic ’80s slapstick movies that your dad or grandad still talks about because its premise was so warped at the time that it had to be seen to be believed.
Larry (Brat Pack member Andrew McCarthy) and Richard (Jonathan Silverman) are two overzealous corporate climbers who have been invited to the swanky Hamptons beach house of their shady playboy boss, Bernie Lomax (Kiser). But when they arrive to find that Bernie’s a stiff (literally), they go to hilarious lengths to fool the mob guys that killed him (and everyone else partying at his house) that he’s still alive and is still the life of the party. It’s ridiculous, often cringy, but so much fun.
4
The Beach
|
Release Year |
2000 |
|---|---|
|
Runtime |
1 hour 59 minutes |
When I backpacked through Thailand in the early 2000s, there wasn’t a guesthouse or island bar that didn’t have Danny Boyle’s beautiful and intense The Beach playing on repeat. It was almost comforting. Based on Alex Garland’s bestselling novel of the same name, the story was like ecstasy to South East Asia backpackers—the myth of a secluded, island beach paradise, cutoff from the touristy madness of full-moon parties and tuk-tuks, where a handful of travelers had created their own utopia.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Richard, an American backpacker who risks it all to find it, and it’s everything he dreamed it would be. Until it’s not. In a sort of Lord of the Flies turn, the beach’s protective inhabitants, including Tilda Swinton’s obsessive leader Sal, start to unravel as the dark secrets of the island come to light. Filmed on location on the scenic Thai island of Ko Phi Phi Le, The Beach will either make you want to head there to find your own version of it, or stay well enough away.
3
I Love You, Man
|
Release Year |
2009 |
|---|---|
|
Runtime |
1 hour 45 minutes |
If you’re a dude, brohim, my-guy, or any variation of bro endearment, then the on-screen bromance and associated hilarity between I Love You, Man‘s stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segal is going to have you hugging your buds. Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a totally nice guy who’s totally in love with his super-cool fiancée, Zooey (Rashida Jones). Problem is, the wedding’s not too far off, and it dawns on Peter that he doesn’t really have any guy friends, and he needs a best man.
After a handful of disastrous man-dates, Peter meets Sydney (Segal), a Rush-loving, free-spirited dude. The pair hit it off, hanging out, jamming on dee bass, and trying to invent awkward inside jokes. But as Sydney starts getting a bit too needy, it puts a strain on Peter and Zooey’s relationship, and Peter’s loyalties are tested. Loosely based on writer-director John Hamburg’s own troubles with his groomsmen, I Love You, Man is funny as hell, full of quotable lines, and about the best man-date movie you could ask for if you ever wanted to show your bros how much you love them, man.
2
Prey
|
Release Year |
2022 |
|---|---|
|
Runtime |
1 hour 39 minutes |
Young actor Amber Midthunder won the Breakthrough Performance Emmy for her role as fierce Comanche warrior Naru, in Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey. The The Boys and Black Mirror director’s first foray into the Predator universe (he later helmed the animated Killer of Killers) jettisoned the franchise way back in time, setting things on the Great Plains in 1719.
As Naru struggles to prove her worth as a female hunter in her tribe, she discovers that they’re the ones being hunted, for sport, by a formidable alien being with skills and weapons beyond their comprehension. Prey is worth a watch for Midthunder’s performance alone, but the film’s raw, rugged wilderness setting and intense fight scenes are superb as Naru finds a way to outsmart the otherworldly being.
For a fun Easter egg, watch for a neat Prey nod at the end of Predator: Killer of Killers.
1
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
|
Release Year |
2005 |
|---|---|
|
Runtime |
1 hours 49 minutes |
Grab your towel, stick out your thumb, and get ready to sing “so long, and thanks for all the fish,” for what is the best movie adaptation of Douglas Adams’ groundbreaking The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy cult sci-fi books to date. If you haven’t read them you most certainly should. But this well-regarded 2005 adaptation nails it with some of the best casting ever, perfect tone, and spot-on animatronic alien beings created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
Martin Freeman is perfect as the film’s protagonist, the fragile human Arthur Dent, who is rescued from Earth by his alien best friend, galactic traveler Ford Perfect (Mos Def), seconds before it’s obliterated to make way for a space highway.
Arthur and Ford hitch a ride with egotistical Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) and another human, Trillian (Zooey Deschanel), as they search for the answer to life, the universe, and everything (it’s 42). The best part of this adaptation of Hitchhiker’s Guide is by far the voice casting of the late Alan Rickman (Die Hard‘s epic villain, Hans Gruber) as Zaphod’s perpetually bummed-out robot, Marvin.
Hulu’s 50 million-plus paid subscribers enjoy one of the streaming industry’s biggest libraries of movies and TV shows, from older classics to new releases. That level of choice can make it hard to decide what to watch, so make sure you get you get your money’s worth.