Netflix said in its earnings announcement this week that it added twenty-six million subscribers in the first half of 2020. Those new subscribers, as well as the service’s existing subscribers, will have plenty to take in during the month of August. Here’s the best of what’s coming to the service next month:

• “Being John Malkovich” (August 1.) Spike Jonze’s bizarre 1999 film, written by Charlie Kaufman and starring John Cusack as a puppeteer who gains the ability to enter John Malkovich’s brain for a few minutes at a time, hits Netflix at the start of the month.
   
• “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (August 1.) Another film written by Kaufman, this 2004 film was directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Jim Carrey as a man seeking to erase the memory of his ex-girlfriend (Kate Winslet) from his memory, the film was at the top of many “best movies of the 2000s” lists.
   
• “Jurassic Park” (August 1.) Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster about humans and dinosaurs sharing the earth was on the new Peacock streaming service for a matter of days at launch, but it hits Netflix at the start of August, along with its first two sequels, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III.”
   
• “Sam Jay: 3 In The Morning” (August 4.) A stand-up comedy special featuring comedian Sam Jay, who is also on the writing staff of “Saturday Night Live.” Jay filmed the special in Atlanta, presumably prior to the start of the pandemic.
   
• “World’s Most Wanted” (August 5.) On the true crime front, Netflix will debut this original series which will look at the most wanted criminals on earth.
   
• “John Was Trying to Contact Aliens” (August 20.) An original documentary about “a rural electronics whiz [who] broadcasts radio signals into the stars and monitors for signs of alien civilizations while enduring a lonely personal life.”
   
• “Hoops” (August 21.) A cartoon series about a foul-mouthed high school basketball coach, with a voice cast that includes Jake Johnson and Ron Funches.
   
• “Rising Phoenix” (August 26.) The Paralympics, along with the regular Olympics, aren’t happening this summer—they’ve been postponed until 2021—but Netflix is debuting a documentary, in which past athletes reflect on that competition.
   
• “Cobra Kai” (August 28.) This “Karate Kid” sequel series was an original on YouTube, but following that service’s retreat from original content, Netflix acquired the first two seasons earlier this summer. They arrive on the 28th, while the third season will arrive at a date to be determined.
   
• “Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace” (August 31.) The streaming availability of the James Bond movies have changed a lot over the years, and most recently Amazon Prime added nearly all of the pre-Daniel Craig 007 films in April. But at the end of August, the first two of Craig’s Bond movies arrive on Netflix.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters