The 7 Best Things I Watched in July
July yielded some good things to watch
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I’ve heard a few people say it online but July felt like it lasted 100 days, right? I certainly had my fair share of things going on and, weirdly enough, watched only a small handful of movies. But the seven movies below comprise at least two future favorites of 2025, one ‘90s classic I’m glad to finally cross off my watch list, and a lot of great documentaries.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
Yes, I was just talking about this doc in my Must-See Films of August. I’ll have a lot more to say about this this week, including a full interview with director Amy Berg, but this is one of my favorite documentaries of the year. Whether you’re a Jeff Buckley expert or only know his recording of Leonard Coen’s “Hallelujah,” there’s something in here for everyone to learn, and some fantastic music. What I love is how Berg, utilizing illustration and archival material, truly makes the viewer feel like they’re experiencing the music scene in the 1990s. Much like Berg’s other documentary, Janis: Little Girl Blue, she capably balances the music with the real person, trying to parse the myth from reality. It’s a beautiful doc that will make you fall in love with Jeff Buckley all over again.
Strange Days (1995)
I got told by a lot of people over in The Film Maven chat to prioritize when it was expiring on Criterion last month and I’d like to thank them all! If I saw this in 1995 I’d have been insufferably hyping it up. Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 dystopian sci-fi feature is intense, gritty, and remarkably prescient to today. It puts the “neo” in Neo-noir with a story of a black marketeer peddling in memories, played fantastically by Ralph Fiennes, trying to save the wayward love of his life. The story is steeped in the 1940s, but it’s the acting that takes it over the top. Fiennes is at his peak hotness but when paired with the equally stunning Angela Bassett they become the hottest couple that’s ever lived. How did we not just make these two a screen team in everything? Add to that Ellen Mirojnick’s fantastic costumes and this is a 1990 fever dream I never wanted to wake up from.
Shari & Lamb Chop (2023)
Another fantastic documentary, this time from director Lisa D’Apolito, the woman behind the equally charming Love, Gilda from 2018. This is technically a 2023 release but due to the pandemic things got delayed and audiences were finally able to see it starting in July. I grew up on Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop’s Play Along so I knew I’d eat this up with a spoon. D’Apolito has said studios erroneously felt that Lewis’s life wasn’t worth discussing because there was no conflict. Lewis didn’t struggle with drugs or personal demons. But what D’Apolito captures with Shari & Lamb Chop is the story of a comedic genius. Lewis was able to do some amazing things with her puppets and it’s astounding to watch her seamlessly switch between herself and a variety of puppets at a rapid-fire pace. Lewis deserves her flowers for what she did for comedy, and I’d like to think this documentary does that. If you need the equivalent of a warm blanket in your movies, this is it.
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Saving Face (2004)
Gotta thank Criterion Channel for giving me another delightful new discovery in Alice Wu’s romantic feature Saving Face. The movie follows a mild-mannered Chinese-American doctor Wil, played wonderfully by Michelle Krusiec, who falls in love with the beautiful Vivian (Lynn Chen). Unfortunately, Wil hasn’t come out to her mother yet, leading to a host of complications. Everyone in this movie is pitch perfect. Krusiec and Chen have an easy chemistry that feels lived-in. But Joan Chen steals the show as Wil’s mother who discovers she’s pregnant. There’s a lot of themes unpacked involving the Chinese-American experience, particularly with regards to queer relationships. It’s also very sweet and funny!
She Rides Shotgun (2025)
From my review: “It’s been a minute since a movie has enthralled me, swept me up in its story, dazzled me, and left me a sobbing mess at the end. Director Nick Rowland’s adaptation of the Jordan Harper noir novel She Rides Shotgun did just that. Inspired by the likes of No Country for Old Men and The Night of the Hunter (Harper calls its “Paper Moon with a body count”), Rowland’s drama is a percussive, heartrending story of fathers and daughters packed to bursting with beautiful dialogue, stark cinematography, and a career best performance by Taron Egerton alongside a stellar debut by Ana Sophia Heger.
She Rides Shotgun is a film that could just come and go, and that’s unfortunate. It’s one of the year’s best movies! Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger are pitch perfect. This is one where I want to include all the adjectives to discuss how much I love it.”
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Together (2025)
From my review: “You’ll know exactly if Together is for you the minute you see two dogs start fusing into each other. This is a movie about the coalescence of identity, and how much two people try to fight against it. We meet Millie and Tim as they’re planning for their big country move. The pair worries they’re less in love with each other and more used to each other. The potential death of their relationship is only the first bit of existential dread in the movie. Tim’s friend says, “When I die, I don’t want someone else’s life flashing before my eyes.” And Millie and Tim discuss what final social media message they’d want to leave when they die.
Together is a wild ride that, for all the squishing and melding, is also a powerful story of romantic complacency. Brie and Franco are utterly superb. This is one that left me cringing as often as it made me find these two utterly darling. It’s a special one you should take your loved one to go see.”
If I Should Die Before I Wake (1952)
I didn’t get to finish the entirety of Criterion’s Argentinian Noir collection, but glad I got to see this. Director Carlos Hugo Christensen’s feature holds commonalities with the likes of Rene Clair and similar fairy tale elements to 1944’s Curse of the Cat People with its story of a young boy whose female classmates start being murdered. The boy, having seen the killer himself, promised his friend not to reveal a confidence and it starts to eat away at him. The script deftly looks at childhood promises, and how kids can take secrecy and loyalty literally. At the same time, it isn’t afraid to show the violence and horrors children can be involved in. I can’t fathom an American movie in the 1950s being so overt about a child killer. Néstor Zavarce holds the frame as the young Lucio, a boy desperate to make his father proud but also haunted by the secrets he’s held in. It’s a dreamlike experience that holds its own against the works of Val Lewton and Robert Wise.
Forgot to include this month’s Leaving Criterion List! Let me know what I should prioritize in the comments below.
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