Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Features

Star Trek is one of the best free movies to stream this weekend (August 15-17)

Watch the USS Enterprise save the world in this free movie

Add as a preferred source on Google
Weekend Watchlist: Free Movies The Enterprise crew looks at the camera in the 2009 film Star Trek.
Paramount
Weekend Watchlist Promotional Image
This story is part of Weekend Watchlist, a series that showcases hidden gems and underrated films tucked away in your favorite streaming libraries.

Last weekend, two new releases dominated the box office. Zach Cregger’s Weapons dazzled audiences on its way to a $42 million domestic opening weekend. Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis participated in another body-swap comedy in Freakier Friday, which opened to just under $30 million.

While those films are in theaters, the movies below can be watched inside your home for no cost. These free movies range from a coming-of-age comedy to a sci-fi reboot.

Recommended Videos

We also have guides to the best new movies to stream, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, and the best movies on Amazon Prime Video.

Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)

The coming-of-age movies that take place within 24 hours are my personal favorite. At the top sit Dazed and ConfusedThe Breakfast Club, and American Graffiti. Somewhere below that tier sits Can’t Hardly Wait, the teen comedy that predominantly takes place at a high school party.

The senior class at Huntington Hillside High convenes for a graduation party. Shy kids, like Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry), want to tell their crush (Jennifer Love Hewitt) how they feel. The nerds, like William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo), hope to exact revenge on their bully (Peter Facinelli). If you’re Kenny (Seth Green) and Denise (Lauren Ambrose), all that matters is escaping a locked bathroom. Can’t Hardly Wait does not reinvent the wheel, but its charming cast and hilarious gags are a welcome addition to the high school genre. 

Stream Can’t Hardly Wait on Tubi.

Basic Instinct (1992)

Sharon Stone is a member of the “Femme Fatale Hall of Fame” with her performance in Basic Instinct. After the murder of a rock star, homicide detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is tasked with finding the killer. The suspect is the girlfriend, Catherine Tramell (Stone), a crime novelist whose recent book mirrors her boyfriend’s murder.

Instead of investigating Catherine, Nick engages with her in a sexually driven affair. The affair with Catherine negatively affects his relationship with Dr. Elisabeth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who also becomes a suspect in the murder case. While I wouldn’t recommend watching this movie with your family, Basic Instinct is the addictive erotic thriller that today’s audiences have been begging for more of.

Stream Basic Instinct on Pluto TV.

Star Trek (2009)

After the failures of 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, the Star Trek franchise needed a fresh start. Enter J.J. Abrams, the architect who rebooted the sci-fi property through an alternate timeline, the Kelvin universe. The result became 2009’s Star Trek. After a chance meeting with a captain, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), the son of a fallen officer, joins Starfleet Academy.

While responding to a distress signal, Kirk boards the USS Enterprise, the famous ship from the original Star Trek. After the capture of Commander Pike (Bruce Greenwood), Kirk takes it upon himself to save the galaxy from the villainous Nero (Eric Bana). But first, Kirk must patch things up with his rival, Spock (Zachary Quinto), setting the stage for their future partnership.

Stream Star Trek on Pluto TV.

Dan Girolamo
Former Entertainment Writer
Dan is a passionate and multitalented content creator with experience in pop culture, entertainment, and sports. Throughout…
Netflix says it has used AI in over 300 titles and there’s no stopping it now
AI in hollywood is no longer just en experiment.
Netflix on TV couple watching

The Hollywood argument over whether AI belongs in film and television production may already have been overtaken by reality. Netflix has confirmed that its creative partners used generative AI workflows across roughly 300 titles in 2026, with the largest concentration of work happening during post-production.

Keep in mind this number describes AI-assisted production workflows and not 300 completely machine-generated films and shows. Regardless, it does show how quickly the technology has moved beyond isolated experiments.

Read more
Spotify’s new conversational AI can play tracks you request and answer your music questions
A ChatGPT-like AI feature is coming to Spotify for music requests and listening-history questions
spotify

Spotify is rolling out a new AI-powered conversational feature that lets Premium users talk directly to the app about what they want to hear. Users can type or speak a request and refine the results through follow-up questions instead of manually searching for a song, podcast, or audiobook.

The feature is available from Spotify’s Home and Now Playing screens and works much like a personal audio assistant. It can choose what plays, answer questions about the current track or album, recommend something new, and look through your listening history to provide more personalized responses.

Read more
Christopher Nolan’s personal take on smartphones is surprisingly practical
Christopher Nolan says not owning a smartphone helps him think better
Christopher Nolan sits in front of an IMAX camera.

Christopher Nolan has spent his career embracing cutting-edge filmmaking technology while resisting one of the most common gadgets on the planet: the smartphone. The Oscar-winning director behind Oppenheimer, Inception, and the upcoming The Odyssey says his decision isn't about rejecting technology altogether. It's about protecting something he believes has become increasingly rare - time to think.

In an interview with The Telegraph ahead of the premiere of The Odyssey, Nolan explained that he still doesn't own a smartphone, despite living in a world where QR codes, digital tickets, and messaging apps have become everyday necessities. His reasoning, however, is far more practical than philosophical.

Read more