July at the Movies
New releases, classics, and previews
Following some summer travel and a month of barely any cinema visits in June, July was a relatively busy month for me as I ventured into my local theatres a total of six times, nearly all of those occurring in the second half of the month. Some films that I saw were new releases, others I’ve seen weeks deep into their theatre runs, and I even had the pleasure of seeing an iconic classic on the big screen for its 90th anniversary.
First film I saw in theatres this month was Fly Me to the Moon on its opening day. Despite some mixed reviews on the technical aspects of the film and its execution of an interesting concept that I’ve read since my screening, I enjoyed this film and its spin on both the space race and screwball comedy, though the romance element of it did fall a bit short. While the chemistry between Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum wasn’t exactly mindblowing from a romantic standpoint, their back and forth was entertaining and, in ways, reminiscent of classic screwball comedies which I enjoy immensely. What I particularly liked about this film was its originality and a highly entertaining take on the moon landing conspiracies. In the age where spinoffs and remakes are produced in abundance, it is quite refreshing to see a valiant attempt at an original script.
The following week, I saw Twisters on its opening day in Imax and I am so pleased I went out to see it in spite of having some reservations about it ahead of time – mainly the fact that I am not particularly a fan of disaster films, or reboots of films I haven’t seen in the first place. But Twisters ended up being so much more than a reboot of a 1996 disaster film. It’s a true summer blockbuster that shines spectacularly in Imax – or 4DX as I’ve heard but haven’t had the chance to experience for myself. When Nicole Kidman said that we come to the movies for magic, this film is the magic she was talking about. Twisters had plot points and characters that I could pick apart if I wanted to but the overall experience of the film is so heavily centred around Glen Powell whose performance effortlessly outshines any minor issues one could have with the technical execution of the story. When Hit Man had its theatre run earlier this spring, I remember reading a review referring to Powell as “the modern Cary Grant,” a comparison I found utterly insulting at the time as a massive Cary Grant fan. And yet, having seen Twisters and looking back to my experience early in the year of watching Powell’s hit romantic comedy Anyone But You, I can’t help but to concede that the author of that review wasn’t entirely off. Glen Powell can act. And he does so with an air of charisma that truly not many possess. While I’ll hold off on making my own Cary Grant comparisons, Hit Man has climbed up a lot on my watchlist since seeing Twisters.
My next two cinema outings were Longlegs and Inside Out 2. The former I found entertaining yet not scary at all due to its, at times, almost satirical execution. The thriller side of the film also fell flat for me. I believe that a good thriller should provide the viewer with all pieces needed to solve the puzzle and it is up to the viewer whether or not they will utilise those pieces to figure out the ending on their own. However, parts of this film’s ending were painfully obvious since way too early in the film and others I found were not developed properly in the lead up to the reveal. It felt like certain puzzle pieces we were given came with manufacturing errors.
Inside Out 2 was a fun midweek outing after having sat down at home the weekend earlier to watch the first instalment for the first time. Notably, I preferred the sequel and have found it incredibly endearing that my screening had about thirty people at it, with all but one little girl being full grown adults.
The last weekend of the month, it was finally time for my highly anticipated 90th anniversary screening of It Happened One Night. I had been holding off on watching that film for months as I wanted my first time experiencing it to be on a big screen and, while that surely put a lot of pressure on the film when the time to see it finally came, I am thrilled to say that this film is a classic – and a blueprint – for a reason. It was such a joy to watch this film in a packed theatre while mentally cataloguing the appearances of all the tropes we constantly see in modern romcoms.
My final screening of the month was an advanced screening of India Donaldson’s debut feature Good One. In theory, this is a film that shouldn’t have worked for me. It is understated, plotless in the way the story focuses solely on the relationships between the leads, and utterly pretentious in its presentation – all the things I usually dislike. But there is humour to it, too, and the very strong performances of the three leads brought out the best in the script, making me ultimately satisfied with the experience.
July was a solid month at the movies and I can’t wait to see what comes out of the theatre experiences I have scheduled for August. By the time you are reading this, I will have already attended my first screenings for the month but more about those at a later date.
So long!