July movie reviews

In theaters:

THE FOREVER PURGE

This remains a weird franchise, in which the first one sucked but all the sequels have been good. I guess this is the last one, and given where this ends I guess it almost has to be. Even more than before this is first and foremost an action movie. You can tell this was made with the Trump era front of mind cause of the immigration stuff, but it actually winds up feeling like someone made a Purge movie inspired by January 6th. Cast is solid, with the standout being the badass Ana de la Reguera. 

ZOLA

The trailer for this gave off some major Spring Breakers vibes, but this thing falls well short of that mark. Frankly no movie can be good with such a set of thoroughly loathsome characters unless something else makes up the difference. It's not like Spring Breakers had likeable characters at all, but the style, music and acting made it great. This has no real style to it. A couple performances are almost okay (Taylour Paige is legit). The story is not good. It got some great reviews though, so obviously some people saw a very different movie.

ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

This isn't a bad franchise. It all depends on setting up creative, elaborate puzzles, and this one did as good a job as the first one. Taylor Russell is back and is awesome again. The ending is set up as huge surprise, but nobody could possibly not see it coming. 

PIG

A very subdued and effective Nicolas Cage as a guy living out in the woods, whose truffle pig is stolen. The movie is him trying to get the pig back. That's all. A strange movie but a good one, that could have been a revenge thriller but instead eschews violence at almost every turn. Glad to see Cage in a genuinely good movie. 

SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS

So I guess Paramount wants to kickstart their G.I. Joe franchise, and instead of doing another unmemorable ensemble thing they made this...unmemorable origin movie for Snake Eyes. It's not unwatchable or anything. I actually thought the first hour or so was pretty good, but then it goes full tilt into setting up future movies and the greater mythology and it quite literally loses the plot. I thought much of the action was a mess too. Really liked Henry Goulding in the title role though.

OLD

I've never been as high on M. Night Shyamalan as some, nor as low. Old has mostly been trashed by critics but I thought it wasn't bad. I would certainly put it in the plus column. The weird touches he always puts in his films largely work here. There are some extremely memorable moments in this, such as a truly unique makeshift surgery scene, and one of the more disturbing childbirth scenes in any movie. The film manages to be both suspenseful and sad. The cast is strong. Yeah not everything works, particularly a very unsatisfying final 10 minutes, some of the especially clunky dialogue, and Shyamalan again can't resist giving himself a part in the movie. But overall I liked this one. 

JOE BELL

Mark Wahlberg is a man whose gay teen son kills himself, and he goes on a walking tour giving speeches about tolerance. It's based on a real story and its heart is mostly in the right place. But the movie is totally out of whack. The focus is almost entirely on the dad (who barely has an arc), but the son's story is far more compelling and emotional. 

Amazon Prime free trial movies:

WITHOUT REMORSE

Michael B. Jordan is totally committed to this revenge action thriller, and that's what keeps it going. The plot is a garbled mess, but the action is solid. 

THE TOMORROW WAR

Hey look, a streaming service finally did a big blockbuster right (although it was a co-production). This got some bad reviews, but I dug it. Good world building. Good premise that mixes Edge Of Tomorrow and Starship Troopers, with a dash of Interstellar. Action is very good. Chris Pratt is pretty good, and Yvonne Strahovski (who should be a much bigger star) has one of her best roles. This wraps up very well, but I guess a sequel is gonna be made.

SYLVIE'S LOVE

An old timey romance starring the always terrific Tessa Thompson. Movie is nicely made, and I liked seeing Thompson in something softer for a change, but this thing mostly bored me. 

THE LIE

Joey King is a teenage girl who accidentally(?) kills a friend of hers, and her parents (Peter Sarsgard and Mirielle Enos) go to great lengths to cover up the crime. I was with this the whole way. It's very engrossing and you really feel the knots tightening. Then that twist ending arrives and you feel like you got conned. 

BLISS

Sort of like The Matrix but with all the action and cool stuff and entertainment value sucked out. Decent performances by Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek, but this was a dull movie to get through. 

JOLT

Even by her usual standards Kate Beckinsale is incredibly hot in this. And this movie utilizes her way better than almost any movie she has been in. She get to do action, be genuinely funny and snarky, and even a sprinkle of drama. I could go for more of these for sure. 

Everything else:

FEAR STREET: 1984

Part 1 of Netflix's horror trilogy (I have yet to get to the other 2). It's a fun nostalgic throwback to 90s era slashers. And the awesome Kiana Madeira from Trinkets is just IT. 

ABOVE SUSPICION

I would not have had Emilia Clarke as the most obvious choice to play a white trash American southerner. But she's pretty good in this sometimes sleazy thriller. 

PIXIE

A reasonably amusing lowlife criminal dramedy. What makes it sparkle at times is the divine Olivia Cooke in one of her best movie roles to date. The overall story didn't interest me much, but Cooke's devilish spirit and dynamite smile kept me going.