July movie reviews

In theaters:

KINDS OF KINDNESS

Well, I guess congratulations are in order for Yorgos Lanthimos. The director of The Lobster, The Favourite, and Poor Things has ascended so high that he can now put any old incoherent, pointless bullshit on screen and have critics jerk him off over it. I liked those last 3 films, but this? This was mostly a painful watch. Split into 3 unconnected stories about nothing, all with the same cast but playing different characters, the film has occasional moments that provide interest, and I guess the acting is fine for what the cast is given. Emma Stone can't not be watchable. But these stories are just pointless and meandering, with a bunch of off-putting perversity thrown in there all the time to elicit a response. 

MAXXXINE

Part 3 of the Ti West trilogy. Liked X a lot. LOVED Pearl (Mia Goth should have won an Oscar for that).
This? It kind of just bored me most of the time. The look of the film is deliciously sleazy, and the music is great. But I was expecting a kind of mash of serial killer thriller and gory horror flick, and instead just got Ti West showing how unskilled he is at noir-ish mystery. It's not interesting at all to watch. And the handful of kills are fine, I guess, but nothing too memorable.
Goth is so diminished here, a deeply passive figure in her own film. When she does actually get something to do the film perks up, but too often she is shoved out of frame by a way too big cast of supporting characters, some played by big names and none given anything interesting to do.
And that third act...oh man, a total disaster. Unless you are REALLY invested in the tiny bit of backstory Goth had in X.

THE BIKERIDERS

Stylish but dull. Mostly just two hours of dudes posing while standing by bikes, but Jodie Comer and her wild midwest accent are a treat.

FLY ME TO THE MOON

Old fashioned and high concept, a rom com set at NASA at the time of the Apollo 11 mission and moon landing. The whole time watching this, I felt it should be better, but it's decent. Scarlett Johansson really gets a great showcase for her comedy skills, and she has a snappy rapport with Channing Tatum. 

LONGLEGS

Looks like this may be the 2024 installment of "Hyped horror movie that I found utterly dull." People HAVE to stop hyping up every single vaguely original horror movie like it's the second coming.

Longlegs at least has a basic FBI procedural element that holds it together, and is shot well in a generic cold barren wasteland way. Nicolas Cage does some weird Cagey stuff for a few scenes.

But it is not the least bit scary or even creepy.

TWISTERS

The original Twister is a classic 90s summer blockbuster, one that has aged incredibly well. I know there was talk back in the day of doing a sequel, but it never happened. And unlike the decades-later sequel to that other 1996 summer classic Independence Day, Twister gets a good sequel, albeit one with only tiny connections to the original. 

I don't think Twisters is as good (it takes a break from reality too much), but it's a worthy successor. It's able to also have some very cool tornado set pieces (that rodeo sequence is fantastic) and very engaging leads in Glen Powell and the lovely Daisy Edgar-Jones. 

NATIONAL ANTHEM

Shootout to the middle aged couple that got up about 30 minutes into this and walked out, clearly having expected this to be a nice safe piece of right wing propaganda instead of what it actually is: a film about a young guy working on a ranch who becomes friends with a collection of LGBTQ folks. I actually didn't quite know that was the plot either, but I stuck around and saw a decent little movie. It's kind of boring at times, but a warm story about found family. 

Everything else:

BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F

It has been 30 years since the last BHC movie, which I liked, but most people hated. So reviving the franchise as a Netflix movie doesn't engender tons of confidence. But this was decent. Eddie Murphy clearly no longer has his comedy fastball, but he is still fairly funny here. Action is alright. They bring back everybody from the earlier flicks for mostly just throwaway cameos. 

ROBIN'S WISH

A remarkably sad and poignant documentary about Robin Williams and both his career and the illness he had at the end of his life. 

EDDIE MURPHY: RAW

This stand-up film made at the height of Murphy's powers is funny, but boy did some of it age absolutely horribly.