29 Awesome Movies That Came Out In August

Some say August is a dumping ground for bad movies. Okay, okay. But Daddy Day Care aside, maybe it's not so bad after all!

August 1986 was a fateful month for film. On its very first day, Howard the Duck opened at the box office.

Critics hated it. Audiences weren't too thrilled, either. It flopped.

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The month was bookended by another bomb: Madonna and Sean Penn's Shanghai Surprise opened on August 29, making $2.3 million on a $17 million budget because audiences were like, "You two are already terrible and now you're terrible in this terrible movie."

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BYE GIRL!

So after that, basically, August earned a reputation as the month where mediocre (or just plain bad) movies went to die for any number of reasons: the biggest and best blockbusters had already opened; families were either at the beach or readying for school; or a just plain HELLO?-IT'S-AUGUST-DON'T-MAKE-US-TRY attitude on movie studios' part.

Sudden consensus: theaters show nothin' but crap in August.

Reality: WRONG. Take a look at 29 films--all released since that dumb duck and Madonna really tried to ruin things for everyone--and you'll see the eighth month has been responsible for some serious crowd-pleasers.

1. DIRTY DANCING (1987)

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Argument kind of ends right here. Because Baby, we have all carried a watermelon.

2. CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (1987)

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Any movie that introduces the world to the African anteater ritual AND Patrick Dempsey can't be a bad thing. It just can't.

3. YOUNG GUNS (1988)

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Woof!

4. PARENTHOOD (1989)

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Remember when Joaquin Phoenix's first name was LEAF? And he looked this adorable? OMG, watch it again.

5. PUMP UP THE VOLUME (1990)

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Second-best fake orgasm scene in film history. Meg still claims the first.

6. UNFORGIVEN (1992)

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Badasses.

7. SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992)

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Screwing with the emotions of new-roommate hunters for two decades!

8. HONEYMOON IN VEGAS (1992)

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Because Flying Elvi and SJP, that's why.

9. THE FUGITIVE (1993)

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A great movie, whether watched in a station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse or doghouse.

10. THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994)

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PAAAHAHAHAHA!

11. NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)

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Your mother would not approve.

12. BABE (1995)

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Oh, you just sat through Natural Born Killers? Watch this immediately.

13. THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)

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(Even if you didn't, just lie and tell people you did!)

14. FREEWAY (1996)

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Reese cusses so many times in this movie. It's glorious.

15. THE FULL MONTY (1997)

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Oops BRB gotta go listen to "You Sexy Thing" at least 19 times in a row.

16. DICK (1999)

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Yes to all of this, really.

17. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)

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Mischa Barton! Donnie Wahlberg! Toni Collette! Oh, and a really neat twist at the end!

18. THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999)

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Man, so hot. What ever happened to Rene Russo?

19. COYOTE UGLY (2000)

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Tyra Banks dancing on a bar while she hoses people down. What's not awesome about that?

20. BRING IT ON (2000)

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I'm flying! I jump! You can look but don't you hump! Woooo!

21. BLUE CRUSH (2002)

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And then you saw Kate Bosworth's abs and you didn't eat a donut for WEEKS.

22. FREAKY FRIDAY (2003)

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Lindsay in her glory years. Le sigh.

23. COLLATERAL (2004)

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Quite possibly Tom Cruise's least appreciated film performance.

24. OPEN WATER (2004)

AAAAAAHHHHHHH SHARKS AHHHHHHHHH!!! [breathes, pauses]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH SHARKS AND NO ONE FOR MILES AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

25. THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN (2005)

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Says it all, really.

26. THE HOUSE BUNNY (2008)

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From which the world learned a very important anatomical lesson: the eyes are the nipples of the face.

27. DISTRICT 9 (2009)

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There goes your resting heart rate!

28. THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE (2009)

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Yessssss, diva.

29. EAT PRAY LOVE (2010)

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NAH, NAH! Just kidding just kidding! Really no just kidding, you can skip it.

But hey! Now you have 28 great movies to watch if it gets too hot outside, there's nothing good on TV, or you just plain want to be entertained. Enjoy. And happy August, just because.