It’s a new month, which means a new Marvel movie–that’s how it works, right? There are also documentaries, foreign films (some very good ones on Netflix), thrillers, questionable action movies, and animated films for kids. 

New in theaters:

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song is a documentary about the singer-songwriter “through the prism” of his best-known song (you know, “Hallelujah” from Shrek). The film uses rarely-seen archival footage and was made with Cohen’s blessing before his death.

Pacerville, a “pandemic film” about a teacher who vows revenge when he finds out his students are making fun of him. Dude, calm down.

Sniper. The White Raven is a Ukranian war film. I can’t believe they didn’t make this in America with Mark Wahlberg.

The Forgiven is a thriller? starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain as wealthy Londoners who run over a Morrocan teen and attempt to cover it up. What a bunch of dicks. It is an adaptation of the 2012 Lawrence Osborne novel. 

Minions: The Rise of Gru, because everyone deserves an origin story, examines the early years of supervillain Gru. Steve Carell voices Gru. Pierre Coffin, Taraji P. Henson, Michelle Yeoh, RZA, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, Svengeance, Danny Trejo, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, and Alan Arkin also star. I actually laughed during this trailer, and the film appears to have charm similar to the first Despicable Me. 

Accepted is a documentary about T.M. Landry College Preparatory, an unaccredited school is Louisiana with a high admission rate to Ivy League colleges.

Clara Sola is a Costa Rican drama about a 40-year-old “mystic” who finds a reawakening after a lifetime of repression.

Mr. Malcolm’s List is a period drama that seems to challenge all the things I don’t like about Bridgerton. It stars Freida Pinto, Sope Dirisu, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Park, Zawe Ashton, Theo James, Divian Ladwa, and Sianad Gregory. The basic plot is that a woman woos a mysterious suitor, but there’s also revenge, subterfuge, and romance. 

Streaming now on Hulu is The Princess, starring Joey King as a strong-willed princess who refuses to marry:

Coming to Netflix this Wednesday:

Girl in the Picture is a true crime documentary about Sharon Marshall, a woman who was kidnapped as a child and “raised” by Franklin Delano Floyd, and later, his wife, before being run over by him in 1990. There is so much to unravel here. 

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between, a drama, follows a teenage couple on an epic last date before following through on a breakup pact.

New in theaters Friday, July 8, 2022

Thor: Love and Thunder, sees a return of the space viking. Set after Endgame, Thor recruits Jane (who is Mighty Thor now, hell yeah), Valkyrie, and Korg to defeat a god destroyer. So that’s Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tess Thompson, and Taika Waititi, plus Christian “I’ve never seen a Marvel movie” Bale and Russell Crowe. Waititi returns as director. Should be fun!

The Road to Galena is an R-rated drama (so not about god?) about a man who has it all and remains miserable. I was going to take the low road, but it was filmed in Maryland (they have some sweet tax breaks) and I don’t hate that. (I do hate whiny men who say they didn’t make the choices they do, screw over their wives, and look for Black women to tell them what to do, though.) 

Coming next weekend to Netflix:

Dangerous Liaisons, the latest adaptation of Les Liaisons dangereuses, is set in present day and stars Paola Locatelli and Simon Rérolle.

Incantation, Taiwan’s highest-grossing horror film, follows a woman trying to protect her child after she breaks a religious taboo.  

Jewel is a South African drama about “unlikely love.”

Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls, an Indian take on Wild, sets Indian star Ranveer Sing loose in the wilderness.

The Sea Beast stars Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens, and Kathy Burke. A celebrated monster hunter is joined by a little girl in this animated film.

Streaming the following trailerless films Monday:

For Jojo, a German drama about a single woman who tries to ruin her best friend’s wedding. Like My Best Friend’s Wedding met Fleabag for several drinks.

Valley of the Dead, a Spanish-language film about a group of soldiers battling Nazis (who are also zombies) during the Spanish Civil War.

And Wednesday:

Under the Amalfi Sun, an Italian drama, follows a couple and their friends who find themselves tested when they reunite for an Amalfi vacation. 

New in theaters Friday, July 15, 2022

From Where They Stood is a documentary about a handful of prisoners who managed to photograph their lives and conditions in Nazi camps. Director Christophe Cognet investigates the men, women, and circumstances of these photographs.

She Will is a comedy-horror about an aging film star who is embowered by the ashes of witches following a planned recovery after a double mastectomy. The film stars Alice Krige, Malcolm McDowell, John McCrea, Rupert Everett, Amy Manson, Jonathan Aris, Daniel Lapaine, and Kota Eberhardt.

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, an adaptation of the 1958 novel Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris, stars Lesley Manville, my gal Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo, Ellen Thomas, Rose Williams, and Jason Isaacs. I’m getting Maid in Manhttan vibes (in a good way) as Manville’s widowed maid goes to Paris in pursuit of a Dior dress. I have already informed my mother that we’re going to read the books. Mrs. Harris was adapted as a TV film in 1992 and starred Angela Lansbury and Omar Sharif.

Wrong Place, a thriller, stars Bruce Willis and Ashley Greene. A meth dealer searches for a retired cop.

Where the Crawdads Sing, adapted from the 2018 best-selling novel by Delia Owens, stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, a young woman who grew up in the North Carolina marsh and is accused of murder. The film is direct by Olivia Newman and written by Lucy Alibar. 

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down is a documentary about former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her “her relentless fight to recover following an assassination attempt in 2011, and her new life as one of the most effective activists in the battle for gun violence prevention and in promoting understanding of the language condition aphasia.” Giffords, her husband Senator Mark Kelly, President Barack Obama, and other friends and colleagues are interviewed.

Gone in the Night stars Winona Ryder, John Gallagher Jr., and Dermot Mulroney. When a man disappears during a camping trip, his girlfriend investigates whether he left her for a younger woman or suffered a more sinister fate.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank stars Michael Cera as a “bumbling Beagle” who learns martial arts to defend a town full of cats. 

Marx Can Wait, a documentary by Marco Bellocchio, is “centered around” the 1968 suicide of his twin brother, Camillo.

Streaming that day on Netflix:

Love Goals (Jaaduagar), an Indian romance.

Persuasion, a new adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, starring Dakota Johnson.

And the next day:

Umma stars Sandra Oh (who we love!) as a woman who worries that she’s turning into her own. I am turning into my own mother (but in a good way, she’s a cool lady), so I guess I have to watch it.

Live Is Life, a Spanish drama, follows five friends on the edge of adulthood in pursuit of a magic flower. 

Too Old for Fairy Tales appears to be a sweet film about a videogame obsessed boy who is forced to grow up before he’s ready. (I don’t think having a sick parent should make you grow up!)

New in theaters Friday, July 22, 2022

My Donkey, My Lover & I is a French comedy about a teacher who crashes her married lover’s family vacation and subsequently befriends a donkey named Patrick.

Alone Together, directed by Katie Holmes, and starring Holmes and Jim Sturgess, is a romantic comedy about two strangers who quarantine together during the pandemic. 

Nope, written and directed by Jordan Peele, is a sci fi-horror film about two siblings attempting to capture a UFO on film. Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Brandon Perea, and Michael Wincott star.

Shamshera is an Indian Hindi-language period action film about a dacoit tribe and its fight against British rule in the 1800s.

How to Please a Woman, a comedy, follows a “mature woman” who embraces her sexuality after her all-male cleaning business “gets out of control.”

And on Netflix:

The Gray Man, Ryan Gosling stars as a CIA operative on the run in this thriller from the Russo Brothers, adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name.

Streaming that Wednesday:

Pipa (or Intuition), the prequel to Perdida, follows police officer Pipa as she works on her big case–and the No. 1 suspect is her boss.

Available the next day:

A Cut Above, a “quirky” Brazilian comedy about a teen who tries to save his mother’s nail salon.

New in theaters Friday, July 29, 2022

DC League of Super-Pets, based on the ​​Legion of Super-Pets, is an animated comedy about Superman’s dog and a team of shelter pets. Goodness, this looks bad.

Resurrection stars Rebecca Hall as a woman trying to protect herself and her daughter from an abusive ex, played by Tim Roth. 

Ali & Ava is a romance about two people who meet and bond through shared affection of one of their students-slash-tennants. This movie is going to fuck me up. I hope it has a happy ending.

Vengeance, directed by B.J. Novak, stars Novak as a journalist investigating the death of a woman he knew. Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher, Boyd Holbrook, J. Smith-Cameron, and Dove Cameron also star. 

Not Okay streams that day on Hulu and stars Zoey Deutch as an unlikable, aspiring influencer who fakes a trip to Europe:

And on Netflix:

The Entitled, a Filipino romantic comedy, follows a young woman who learns that her father is a hotelier and navigates her new life with a handsome lawyer.

Purple Hearts, a romance that wouldn’t have been possible without George Bush’s stolen presidency.