July Movie Rankings
This, in my opinion was the month for movies! From Spiderman: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, and Minions and Monsters. This month had a great variety of films for everyone! Now that July has ended and August is rolling in, it’s time for the monthly movie ranking.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day: I will try to keep it brief since this movie just came out. However, this movie was amazing. From the slick fight scenes, to the quips between Spider-Man, Punisher, and Hulk everything came together beautifully. We see some of the best acting so far in the MCU in my opinion. Every character works and can’t wait to share more in my review. It is truly a beautiful continuation of Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Highly recommend seeing this movie in 3D as its worth the watch.
Backrooms: Technically this movie came out in May, however, they did rerelease the film with bonus content, so I am counting it as a July movie. This movie is truly terrifying. From the score to the cinematography, the movie was a rollercoaster. I love the themes of how obsession can be our own unraveling. The characters are all relatable, even the “villain” because we see humans at their best and worst, which was a nice change of pace compared to The Substance and Weapons. Parsons was able to use his setting and draw us in without having a lot of gore/violence. This was a true horror film that I recommend for fans that don’t like a lot of blood. Obviously, this isn’t a film for children/teenagers.
Hadestown/The Odyssey: I initially wasn’t going to do ties in my rankings, however both films were so well endnotes that I couldn’t think about ranking them so Hadestown and The Odyssey are tied. Both films both do an excellent job of portraying the Greek mythology/characters with dignity and respect. The actors, despite some criticism from people not loving certain actors portraying these iconic roles, everyone was perfectly casted in my opinion. While the Odyssey shows the best and worst of humanity and how survival changes people for the worst, Hadestown on the other hand provides hope and love in the darkest of times. Both movies were able to capture these themes beautifully and the music and voices in Hadestown were perfect. These films demonstrate grace and dignity in the setting and themes, along with the performances make these movies worthwhile. See these two movies in theaters while you have the chance.
Heartstopper: Forever: While this movie wasn’t on the big screen, I still think it’s important to talk about. This film was for the fans more than the general audience. Themes of love and communication come into play. Nick learns balance between being able to support figure for Charlie and having to figure out his own life. Yes, it’s hard to see the characters we’ve grown to love struggle, but that’s what makes them human. Couples do breakup, but they still maintain a class that not a lot of romance movies have. We see more optimism compared to other romance movies, but there’s a humility that keeps the characters grounded, which I respect Oseman for portraying. I do wish we saw more of the characters stories be concluded. While Darcy’s story of her struggle to express herself in front of mom was wrapped together in season 2, the sixth volume of her had her kicked out and I wish we got some exploration of that. I wish the focus was more balanced, however I do understand there’s only so much they can add before the pacing drags on. There also is a performance that doesn’t feel as authentic. Then again the original actress for Sarah embodied that role, so the replacement had big shoes to fill. Despite doing her best, it didn’t have the warm inviting prescience that Colman portrayed in the character. Overall, this movie was a great conclusion to a series a lot of people grew up with.
July was a great month for movies and can’t wait to see what August has in store!