July 2025 Watch

Thursday, 31 July 2025

Kind of a boring month. I’ve been working on my dissertation so much and trying to live in between but it’s this utter overwhelm where I’m so bored by repetition that everything feels kinda same-y. I honestly really struggled to get myself to write my responses this month; after spending all day writing on a screen, I really did not want to write more on a screen.

These past few months, my creative writing especially has taken a huge backseat, which I’m bummed about, especially considering how close I am to finishing several projects. It’s strange—I feel invigorated when I get a moment to think, but directionless in my creativity. I much prefer to have a clear purpose in what I’m making, so even just the lack of clear genre (like. the “medium” kind) is really getting to me. I’ve been debating putting little blurbs on here in lieu of knowing what else to do with them. I hope to have a few things to put out in the next few months. Mainly I’ve been working on this little project that I’ve finally named called Midwestern Lazarus. It’s nearly wrapped up with only a few more updates to post and then I’ll be on to the next thing in a new/old place.

Ma (2019, dir. Tate Taylor)

I had of course heard about this movie from the initial trailers to the memes online, though I didn’t think I was going to watch it until I heard someone call it a camp classic (magic words that will get me to watch just about anything). I had a basic idea of the plot and it stuck pretty true to that; narratively it was pretty straightforward, by which I mean that it went on for a while without the stakes raising very much. I suppose I just found it boring and sort of underwhelming in terms of the story, like I was watching the same set of scenes over and over. It wasn’t as horrible as I’m making it out to be; I just felt like it wasn’t doing anything all that interesting with the story. Even the color grading felt gray and bland. It contributed to this sense of a small town, so it really is just a personal preference to want something different. Octavia Spencer’s performance was strong enough that I kept watching, but the script itself felt pretty generic in terms of plot beats and dialogue. I wanted a bit more from this movie in most ways, but it was fine.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997, dir. Jay Roach)

I am sorry to any superfans out there reading this, but I really hated this movie. I kept watching it literally because so many people have gone on and on about how they love this movie and surely there was some major twist that would bring everything together. My guess is it just really is not my sense of humor, because that was where most of my issues were. There were a lot of gags, I suppose, which aren’t typically what I go for. I actually am a fan of spy comedy movies a good amount of the time, so I was surprised at how much I didn’t like it. It’s not really a parody, but the format and characters were poking fun at spy movies pretty explicitly, though not in a way that endeared me to it. It’s just too heavy-handed for me.

K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025, dir. Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans)

This movie was not on my radar at all until I saw some friends who liked it, so I gave it a shot. I’m glad I did because it was really fun. Narratively it was pretty simple and it basically worked in terms of cohesion. I have to admit, the way the demons were set up, the sympathy for the main ones, and the general state of animated family movies led me to anticipate a very different outcome for the ending. It basically just made the world feel underexplored even while being clearly developed, but I can easily see how all types of restraints might’ve led away from that particular type of story. Mostly I was charmed by the characters; I found them all really fun and sweet and enjoyed watching them. I loved the designs, especially those of the demons. Every time I saw a new demon or a new form, I got so excited.

Talk To Me (2022, dir. Michael Philippou and Danny Philippou)

With the Philippou brothers’ new movie that just came out, I feel like I have heard so much about this movie lately and I am so glad I got the chance to watch it. This movie has one of the most fun horror concepts I’ve seen in a while. It’s pretty straightforward, but the nonchalant treatment of this cool, scary item, is genuinely really captivating. I thought everything about it was pretty fun and creepy; I liked the interpersonal drama and if you’ve read my reviews before you know I always love practical effects. I thought the designs of the ghosts/possessions were pretty cool. I definitely appreciate the criticism about the emotional ending not being brought to fruition, but I felt like the sort of shaky or inconsistent emotionality of each character and abruptness of the ending worked for me. The concept doesn’t interest me quite as much, but I think I will give their new movie a chance sometime in the future.

They Cloned Tyrone (2023, dir. Juel Taylor)

I heard about this movie from a podcast and interestingly enough, the podcaster recommended it in the same breath as Wicked Little Letters, which was one of the first movies I reviewed on here and loved. The actual content of these movies have nothing to do with each other, but the podcaster had watched them together and was impressed by both casts. I definitely think everyone did a great job in this film and really sold me on just about every character. But I have to say my favorite part was the genre-blending tone combined with the moody, jewel-toned aesthetic. I just thought it was so beautiful to look at (although I did have to watch it in a completely dark room) and fit what the movie was doing with its genre so well. I’ve really been liking sci-fi lately and I thought this was a really great way to get into it.

The Favourite (2018, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

I will admit: I watched this movie on accident. I meant to watch a different Yorgos Lanthimos film as I loved Poor Things and quite a few of his other films’ concepts really intrigue me. I had already started it by the time I realized, but I love Emma Stone and Olivia Colman and historical dramas and and and… So while I felt this movie was made for me, I ended up finding it pretty boring. It was definitely a pretty good movie, but I felt the intensity of the relationship dynamics and characters were often pulled away from. It had the Lanthimos style, which I like but was honestly a little distracting; the more stylistic elements just felt disconnected from the historical setting and interpersonal drama. I want to say this gave it a lofty or surreal air, but that just did not hit for me for this particular film. I feel like I’m complaining so much about this movie; I liked it well enough, but it was not my favorite.

Smile 2 (2024, dir. Parker Finn)

So I did not see the first movie, but I have watched a few reviews of it and heard this one was better. You definitely do not need to see the first one to understand this one; it absolutely stands on its own. Also, I have to say because I rarely get freaked out in horror movies, but I found this one so creepy. It had the two things that tend to get me the most: jumpscares (or, rather, the tension around well-utilized ones) and people making faces at the camera. So I was primed to have to shrink my browser tab to watch this. It wasn’t just these elements that created scares either, as there was a general feeling of disorientation and this emphasis on injury that really skeeved me out. The plot itself was pretty straightforward and I had mixed feelings about it aesthetically. The sets and costumes were mostly whatever, but then there would be just a really cool costume or dance number and I’d be back in. I do have to say I liked the cinematography as it contributed to that sense of unease nicely, although I sort of forgot about it about halfway through, so take that as you will.

The Bear, Season 4 (2025, created by Christopher Storer)

I don’t actually have too many thoughts about this season that I didn’t mention in my previous review. This show is really good and, aside from the dip in season three, consistent in tone, quality, etc. Which is why I hate to say what I’m about to: as much as it was a major improvement on the previous season, I struggled to get through the later episodes. They were good episodes, but at times I felt like the show drags on. The thing is, it’s a lot of the same and while that creates a distinct sense while watching it, I found myself wanting for some intensity. That is not to say it is bad or a poor decision, just how I ended up feeling about it. But keep in mind that I watched it all for the first time in the last two months. I am truly glad to see a television show—and especially a show like this one—get enough seasons to tell its story, but I want a bit more to fill out the season arcs. They tend to be straightforward and deliberately purposeful, but with a show of such length I think there demands some distinct change or another method of hook.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004, dir. Wes Anderson)

I’m trying to get into the habit of watching movies to wrap up my night, rather than using them to procrastinate; I just find it relaxing to have a routine in the evenings, and this was the first time I did it properly. I really liked this movie and especially the vibe it offered. It was this fantastical world with a contrastingly mundane set of performances, even while what the characters were doing was much more in the first category. The up and down journey was very in the style of the other Wes Anderson films I’ve seen, but I really liked how it was cut off at the end. The visuals of the underwater scenes were my favorite; I thought the animals' designs were so cute and fun. The soundtrack is what stood out to me the most, though, and I have been listening to it all week. The way that the space imagery that had been utilized through the music so apparently came to a conclusion at the end of the movie was so satisfying, and overall it just has this charming quality to it.

Bride Hard (2025, dir. Simon West)

I might just have to take back what I said about spy/action comedies.The thing is, I really do like them but I feel the ones I saw this month were not for me. It’s about what you would expect from one—the quick and predictable emotional beats of a comedy, but full of action, fast pacing, and tension. I didn’t expect a masterpiece, but I at least hoped for a laugh and I got very few. It got better in the last hour when the tension ramped up, as the pacing got faster, but the real issue was the flat jokes. They were pretty hit or miss anyway, with certain performers making them more or less funny depending, but they were surprisingly sparse. I was actually quite shocked at how few jokes there were, and it focused more on the action part of the movie. But also this was exactly what I was looking for soooo…

M3GAN 2.0 (2025, dir. Simon West)

I was so excited for this movie to come out that I literally put the release date on my calendar, but it took me a bit to see it because the cinemas near me weren’t really showing it. First of all, I thought the first movie was such a blast and so funny, which is why I was ready for this next one. It definitely did exactly what I wanted it to—these movies are so funny and I loved how this one leaned into the goofiness and gags pretty frequently. Unfortunately the story left a lot to be desired; despite the two hour runtime, it was overly-complicated and didn’t match what it proposed. There were quite a few inconsistencies in characters’ choices that seemed purely for convenience rather than saying anything compelling, but I felt like these could have been changed with minimal rewrites as the character traits they were contradicting were not particularly well-utilized, either narratively or thematically. However, the emotional progressions, especially M3GAN’s, were pretty solid. At the very least, I liked how they played out. I do wish we spent more time with some of the characters; AMELIA in particular charmed me so much, but we only really got to see her at the end and her moments felt like they passed by so quickly. Visually the aesthetic of this film just bores me, though I liked the one set of the underground lair. I think it made sense for what the movie is, it’s just not my favorite style. But the movie made really good use of visual gags and comedic timing in the editing, which is why I was so surprised by this weird little gripe I had. A handful of times, there would be these strange cuts that felt like they were shaving off seconds at most, which just made the timing feel off on occasion; obviously this wasn’t the biggest deal, but it did make me wonder if something was going on with my video player. Overall I liked this movie and it was just what I expected from the first one. These are fun, campy horror/thrillers, and they lean into the camp and comedy so much.