The Sunday scaries are real, but your watchlist doesn’t have to make them worse. If you’re looking for something comforting to ease you into the week ahead, Prime Video added over 100 new movies in September — including a few feel-good gems worth pressing play on. I’ve rounded up three movies that offer plenty of laughs, nostalgia and low-stakes escapism, from a charming old-school sports comedy to a love letter to the magic of movie theaters and one of my favorite early-2000s guilty pleasures.
Whether you want to watch George Clooney get in over his head in a messy love triangle in “Leatherheads,” revisit the communal magic of the movies in “Matinee” or spend some time with Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning in “Uptown Girls,” these are the kind of movies you can throw on when you need a little pick-me-up before Monday comes ’round.
Be sure to check out everything new on Prime Video in September while you’re at it. So without further ado, let’s dive into the Prime Video movies worth adding to your watchlist.
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Matinee (1993)
For a charming reminder of just how special it can be to go to the movies together, look no further than “Matinee,” John Goodman’s war comedy from the same director as “Gremlins.” Goodman leads a terrific ensemble as a shifty B-movie producer who arrives in Florida at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, using spectacle like fake protests outside the theater and schlocky horror to make his latest monster movie, “Mant!,” feel like the biggest event of the decade.
Hyped to see it is teenager Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton), whose family just moved to Key West. Though “Matinee” floundered at the box office, it remains one of Dante’s most affectionate films, lovingly satirizing the B-movie genre while celebrating the simple magic of sitting in a theater and losing yourself in a movie. Especially with the threat of nuclear war looming on the horizon. So not all that unlike today.
Watch “Matinee” on Prime Video now
‘Uptown Girls’ (2003)
Though critics largely wrote it off when it first hit theaters, “Uptown Girls” has since gained a devoted cult following, cementing its place as an early 2000s classic. It’s one of my favorite guilty pleasure watches, and you better believe I was planted in front of the TV anytime it came on cable when I was growing up. Brittany Murphy stars as lovable girl failure Molly Gunn, a spoiled rock star’s daughter left broke after her slimy ex Neal (Jesse Spencer) runs off with her inheritance.
Forced to grow up over night, Molly lands a job as a nanny for the most precocious 8-year-old on the planet (Dakota Fanning), whose hard-nose attitude can’t quite hide how much she’s struggling to keep it together now that her father is in a coma. Though they butt heads at first over wildly different personalities, they both end up growing on each other — just as Neal crash-lands back into Molly’s life.
Watch “Uptown Girls” on Prime Video now
‘Leatherheads’ (2008)
Hollywood really gave George Clooney free rein to flex his comedic chops in the 2000s, and “Leatherheads” is one of the best examples to come from that era. Clooney directs and stars as Dodge Connelly, a charming football player past his prime trying to save his struggling team from going under in the early days of professional American football.
When Dodge discovers Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), a handsome young football star and World War I hero, he recruits him in the hopes of drawing bigger crowds. But Carter’s squeaky-clean reputation catches the attention of Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger), a sharp newspaper reporter investigating whether Carter’s heroic war story is actually true. “Leatherheads” is a great pick if you like witty banter, messy love triangles, and Clooney doing what he does best: being a lovable scoundrel.
Watch “Leatherheads” on Prime Video now
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