Author: Trafficblast

This August, Peacock has plenty of movies, TV shows, and original programming headed your way that you’ll want to check out. This includes all the John Wick movies and new seasons of American Ninja Warrior. Check out everything coming to Peacock in August below along with some recommendations.

It may be a while before you can watch John Wick 4 and the spinoff series The Continental, so you’ll be pleased to learn that the first three John Wick movies are coming to Peacock on August 9. Revisit the story of a man and his dog, which turns into a man hunting everyone connected to murdering said dog, which turns into more films about a man now on the run from a secret underground assassins guild. Anyway, you can learn every intimate detail about the series before John Wick 4 arrives in theaters next May.

If you’re looking for an exciting competition series, keep your eye out for American Ninja Warrior Junior. Seasons 1-2 arrive on the streaming service on August 26. Much like American Ninja Warrior, this series will see competitors try and complete a super-challenging obstacle course. The difference here is that the competitors are between 9-14 years old.

Most of Peacock’s releases come on August 1, and on that day, there’s an avalanche of movies arriving. The first five Nightmare on Elm Street movies hit the service–along with the 2010 remake, but you can skip that one. Also, the first X-Men movie hits the service, which you think would be on Disney+–but it’s not. There’s also Candyman, The Goonies, and a whole lot more.

Below, you’ll find everything coming to Peacock for the month of August.

New on Peacock in August 2021:

August 1

• 50 First Dates, 2004
• A Child’s Christmas, 2008
• Addicted, 2017
• Ali, 2001
• Apollo 13, 1995
• Armageddon, 1998
• Bad Boys, 1995
• Bad Boys II, 2003
• Black and Cuba, 2015
• Bleeding Heart, 2015
• Brokeback Mountain, 2005
• Candyman, 1992
• Celebrity Game Face, Season 1 (NBC)
• Chase, 2021
• Coach Carter, 2005
• Colombiana, 2011
• The Courier, 2013
• Cowboys & Aliens, 2011
• Crank, 2006
• Crank 2 High Voltage, 2009
• Dead in Tombstone, 2013
• Deliver Us from Eva, 2003
• Django Unchained, 2012
• Don’t Talk to Irene, 2017
• Drive, 2011
• Extraordinary Tales, 2015
• Flash Point, 2007
• The Eagle, 2011
• ​Enough, 2002
• The Exorcist, 1973
• Fantastic Four, 2005
• Field of Dreams, 1989
• Fifty Shades Darker, 2017
• Fifty Shades Freed, 2018
• Fifty Shades of Grey, 2015
• The Firm, 1993
• Fool’s Gold, 2008
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 2009
• The Goonies, 1985
• Haunted Hospital: Heilstatten, 2018
• Holiday Breakup, 2016
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 2003
• I, Robot, 2004
• The Jackal, 1997
• Jarhead, 2005
• Kid Cannabis, 2014
• Kung Fu Yoga, 2017
• Land of the Lost, 2009
• Leatherheads, 2008
• Life, 1999
• Love’s Kitchen, 2011
• The Lincoln Lawyer, 2011
• Little Rascals, 1994
• McCanick, 2013
• Meet Joe Black, 1998
• Moneyball, 2011
• My Generation, 2018
• Mystery Road, 2013
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, 1985
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, 1987
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 1988
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, 1989
• A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984
• A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2010
• Notorious, 2009
• Notting Hill, 1999
• Once Fallen, 2010
• Paradox, 2017
• Partisan, 2015
• Philadelphia, 1993
• The Proposal, 2009
• R.I.P.D., 2013
• Race, 2016
• Railroad Tigers, 2016
• Rigor Mortis, 2013
• Rise of the Legend, 2014
• Scorched, 2003
• Shaolin, 2011
• Shark Tale, 2004
• Silver Linings Playbook, 2012
• Skating to New York, 2013
• Spartacus, 1960
• Special ID, 2013
• Steve McQueen: Desert Racer, 2015
• Supremacy, 2013
• Survivor, 2015
• Swelter, 2013
• Sword of Vengeance, 2013
• Tai Chi Hero, 2012
• Tai Chi Zero, 2012
• The Timber, 2015
• Train to Busan, 2016
• Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, 2017
• Van Helsing, 2004
• Very Bad Things, 1998
• Warrior, 2011
• The Wrath of Vraja, 2013
• X-Men, 2000
• Zoey to the Max, 2013

August 5

• Departure, Season 2
• Hart to Heart, Season 1, Episode Batch 1

August 6

• Madagascar A Little Wild, Season 4

August 9

• John Wick, 2014
• John Wick: Chapter 2, 2017
• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
• Family Game Fight, Season 1

August 12

• Weeds, Season 1-8
• Ex-Rated, Season 1
• Hart to Heart, Season 1, Episode Batch 2

August 17

• The House, 2017

August 19

• My Little Pony, 2017
• Five Bedrooms, Season 2
• Hart to Heart, Season 1, Episode Batch 3

August 22

• It’s Complicated, 2009

August 26

• American Ninja Warrior Junior, Season 1-2
• The Monster in The Shadows
• Hart to Heart, Season 1, Episode Batch 4

August 31

• The Hurricane, 1999

Years ago it was announced that a Die Hard prequel movie that focused on a young John McClane was in the works with the title McClane. That film is not going ahead.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told Polygon simply, “Yeah, no, it’s not happening.”

“But what was really interesting was we actually came up with an idea to do it. It was a project that wasn’t Die Hard that then, eventually, shifted over to Die Hard,” he elaborated.

As the producer said years ago, McClane would have featured two timelines, not unlike The Godfather: Part II. “What was interesting about our idea was it allowed you the ability to meet the young John McClane and use Bruce,” he said. “So it was really interesting in that way. So you sort of got to see both versions of him. A bit [like The Godfather Part II].”

McClane stalled out after Disney’s acquisition of Fox, the owner of the Die Hard movie series. di Bonaventura said of the future for Die Hard in general, “I don’t know what their plans are.”

Len Wiseman, who directed 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard, was attached to directed McClane before it fell apart. While we may not get to see Bruce Willis in a new Die Hard film anytime soon, he reprised the John McClane character for a battery commercial in 2020. A John McClane character was also released for Call of Duty: Warzone as part of its ’80s event this year.

1988’s Die Hard was followed by Die Hard 2 (1990) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). The series then took a break before returning in 2007 with Live Free or Die Hard and again in 2013 with A Good Day to Die Hard.

The Suicide Squad is a second chance–not just for the franchise, but also for director and writer James Gunn, who found himself in the position to pitch Warner Bros. a DC movie only after being fired from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise at Disney. The stars had to align just right for this movie to be made at all, and it feels like a gamble in some ways–Warner Bros. bet not just that the controversy over Gunn’s old tweets would blow over, but also that moviegoers would give The Suicide Squad another shot after the commercially successful but otherwise dismal 2016 version.

It might come as a relief, then, that The Suicide Squad is completely delightful. It’s shocking, bloody, hilarious, and heartfelt, with a winning ensemble who never feel wasted (unless that’s the point–we’ll get to that).

Gunn’s version of The Suicide Squad doesn’t waste time laboring over the details of its premise–that a government agency led by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) implants bombs into the heads of supervillains and then sends them on deadly missions, leaving the US with deniability (and most likely ridding the world of some supervillains in the process). The program’s official name is Task Force X, but they don’t call it the Suicide Squad for nothing, as you’ll learn early on in this movie. A lot of characters die very quickly, which explains how Gunn managed to balance the massive ensemble cast that we’ve seen in all the marketing. The answer: he didn’t.

The Suicide Squad really focuses on a handful of characters that the writer and director put a lot of care into molding. There’s Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, a deadly mercenary and reluctant leader; Margot Robbie’s iconic Harley Quinn, who everyone should be familiar with by now; Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag, who returns from the first film; John Cena’s Peacemaker, who believes he’s doing bad things for the right reasons; King Shark, a Groot-like hulk voiced by Sylvester Stallone and mo-capped by comedian Steve Agee (who also plays one of Waller’s lackeys in the film); and arguably the two standouts, David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man and Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher II.

In writing about this movie, it’s tempting to devote several hundred words to these characters. Cena’s Peacemaker provides many of the movie’s funniest moments, but he has a sinister side as well. He and Bloodsport engage in an ever-escalating gun-measuring contest, which is hilarious, but also results in lots of unnecessary deaths. Then there’s King Shark, a murderous people-eater who is going to chomp his way into your heart as surely as Gunn’s past CGI anthropomorphisms have. And that’s not even mentioning the wide cast of supporting characters, including those who don’t make it very far into the mission; even if they’re only around for a short time, each one manages to make an impression.

Regarding Polka-Dot Man, Gunn told press repeatedly in the lead-up to the film’s release that he wanted to take the most ridiculous villain he could find and transform him into a complex character. He undoubtedly succeeded. Dastmalchian gives a truly sad sack performance, while his weird but powerful abilities, tragic backstory, and extremely unique psychosis (he hallucinates his mother’s face on all his foes) make for a magnetic anti-hero. Melchior, meanwhile, provides the actual heart of this film in a surprise performance as another unknown villain, the second Ratcatcher (the first was her father, a fun cameo we won’t spoil).

These villains and anti-heroes invade the South American island nation of Corto Maltese, a location from DC comics, in order to destroy a lab where research was being done on a mysterious weapon that Waller says can’t fall into the hands of a new regime that’s unfriendly to the US government. Unlike in the last Suicide Squad movie, this is a mission that actually makes sense for Task Force X–dangerous, difficult, and far too dirty for actual superheroes to carry out. This mission takes up most of the film, besides a slightly too-long tangent involving Harley Quinn getting romantic with one of Corto Maltese’s new leaders. There’s no appearance by or mention of the Joker in this movie, but it’s interesting to see Harley’s arc playing out and continuing across all these different films, tied together by Robbie’s energetic, irresistible portrayal.

Also unlike the 2016 version, this Suicide Squad is rated R, and Gunn takes full advantage. There is some legitimately shocking violence in this movie, plenty of foul language, and even some body horror courtesy of that whole secret lab thing. Gunn also fills the movie with his signature needle drops, folksy rock songs that often accompany slow-mo shots of a bunch of characters walking together in a line. There are maybe one or two too many–you get the sense Gunn was really let loose to indulge himself here–but at least they’re much more interesting than the 2016 version’s infamously bland and uninspired top 40 dad rock soundtrack.

Of course, superhero movie fans know that Gunn has since been re-hired to continue the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise after all. So it’s unclear whether most of the characters or threads in The Suicide Squad will be picked up again (aside from the Peacemaker show). But it’s OK if this is all we get; The Suicide Squad is one of the most fun, heartfelt, and surprising modern DC movies we’ve seen yet. Here’s hoping it leads to Warner Bros. taking more chances on talented filmmakers, because the results are something special indeed.

It’s been five years since the original incarnation of Mythbusters–hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman–came to an end. Now, fans of the series could own their very own piece of it thanks to an auction of several of the show’s props, creations, and even one of the iconic Buster dummies. Even better, proceeds from the auction will benefit the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation, named in honor of former host Grant Imahara, who died unexpectedly last year.

The online auction kicks off on Friday, August 20. However, you can get a preview of what will be available now. And trust us, if you were a Mythbusters fan, chances are some of this will look pretty familiar.

Among the items that will be up for grabs is a very big Newton’s Cradle. This particular build was used as a scale model for the Season 11 episode where the team ultimately built a truly gigantic version of the popular desk toy out of cranes and wrecking balls. It would be hard to find a place for a wrecking ball Newton’s Cradle in your house, but this scale version would be an interesting addition to your collection.

And, as previously mentioned, there will be a Buster up for auction. The crash test dummy was practically the show’s mascot, being used for all kinds of experiments that saw it blown up, crashed into, and dropped from insane heights. Now you can let the dummy relax in your house.

Other items that will be available include a giant mechanical shark, Jamie’s amphibious bicycle, a number of blueprints for various builds, and even the arrow machine gun built for a Season 8 episode.

Over 80 items will be auctioned off, with a portion of proceeds going to the Grant Imahara STEAM Foundation, which “provides mentorships, grants, and scholarships to underserved youth in the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and math,” according to a press release.

While the auction doesn’t kick off until August 20, you can take a look at a number of items and register to bid now. Meanwhile, Savage will be highlighting several of the props and builds being sold off on his website Tested.com in a series of videos. Check out his look at the mechanical shark below.

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