WHOAH! We’ve reached the last month of Summer already! Ok so September is still pretty warm but once we reach the ‘ber’ months, it’s all downhill from here 😦 Ok let’s not think about it for now. In a way I’m kinda glad Blockbuster Season is [nearly] over though. Though there are a few that end up in my Top 10 Fave of the year so far, there are still a lot I’m anticipating for the rest of 2014! I’d say, the best is yet to come and I sure hope there are a couple films I wasn’t anticipating that sneak in to end up being a pleasant surprise!
Ok, on to the monthly recap!
I finally got through season 2 of Downtown Abbey, yay! It’s really tough for me to be discipline with TV shows but I hope to get through all four seasons before season 5 starts in January. Oh man, soooo much drama in Season 2, but it ends on such a lovely & romantic note [swoon].
Posts you might’ve missed:
- Five Favorite John Powell Scores
- Superior British Fare: ‘The Bletchley Circle’ Miniseries
- 7 Favorite Gladiator Scenes
- 7 Favorite Themes by Alexandre Desplat
- Top 10 Movies from the first half of 2014
- Most Anticipated Movies of the rest of 2014
- Spotlight on Black Sails theme + opening sequence
Blogathon Relay:
New-to-me Movies:
Not a lot of rewatches or even new movies this month. Somehow there aren’t a lot of press screenings that I was interested in this past month, in fact I only went to two of them all month!
- Snowpiercer (2014)
- Dawn to the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- The Guardian of the Galaxy (2014) – review coming soon
- Torn Curtain (1965) – review coming soon
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
Thanks to my pal Ted for lending me the Blu-ray! I was curious to check this out as I really like the last two reboot films. Despite the dated visual effects, etc. it’s still entertaining and thought-provoking, and glad I didn’t know about the twist in the end as I really didn’t see that coming! - Purple Noon/Plein Soleil (1960) – July BlindSpot
- Sex Tape (2014) – Ashley’s review
- Jersey Boys (2014) – Sarah’s review
Rewatches:
Not a lot of rewatches or even new movies this month. Somehow there aren’t a lot of press screenings that I was interested in this past month, in fact I only went to two of them all month!
- Gladiator (2000)
- Bed of Roses (1996)
- It Could Happen to You (1994)
- Jane Eyre (2006 BBC miniseries)
Favorite Movie Seen in July 2014:
This is an easy pick for this month. I’m hugely impressed with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and definitely will be seeing it again when it’s out on Blu-ray. It’s a technical and visual marvel but the story is engaging and heart-wrenching, it’s got all the ingredients that make a film epic and memorable. Hail Caesar!
So, what movies did you get to see in July and which one is your favorite?
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Glad you’ve got to see the original Planet Of The Apes. After all these years its still thought provoking. The new Apes movie was easily my favorite of July and one of my favorites of the year. I enjoyed this year’s blockbuster season, but am now looking forward to the year-end award-bait season.
Hi Asrap! Yeah thanks to your marathon post that I got interested in seeing the original Apes movie. Glad you love Dawn of Apes too, that’s definitely the best I saw in July!
Yeah can’t believe the summer’s almost over, I thought I would be living in Vegas by now but it never meant to be. So I’ll have to endear another cold winter here, hopefully it won’t be too bad this year since last winter was so awful.
Didn’t watch a lot of movies at home since I still don’t have a home theater but I did watch Rolling Thunder, haven’t seen it in years and finally bought the Bluray. Still as good as I remembered. Favorite July movies are Snowpiercer and Dawn of the Apes.
Well as much as I’d hate to see you live so far away, I totally get why you want to move, Ted. I sure hope this Winter would not be as brutal!
Which one is Rolling Thunder?? I like Snowpiercer but the more I think about it, I think I love Dawn of the Apes more. Oh and thanks for lending me Planet of the Apes, glad I didn’t know about that twist!
Rolling Thunder was the revenge 70s action thriller that Tarantino named one of his favorites, I think I wrote a post about that last year when QT list like his top 20 favorite films of all time? And Rolling Thunder was one of the films he mentioned. I don’t know if I can recommend it to you though since you don’t enjoy Sam Peckinpah’s films, it’s kind of a knockoff of one his films, most notably The Getaway.
Yeah good to hear you never knew about the twist ending of Planet of The Apes, it’s a great shock when I first saw it. Also, if you look closely at these two apes prequels, you’ll see some references they made to the original, most notably the apes riding horses and how they think of themselves being much more superior to humans.
Good stuff Ruth! My July favorites easily narrowed down to two: Snowpiercer and The Immigrant. Loved those two flicks!
Man I still need to see The Immigrant! Hopefully soon. Have a great weekend Keith!
Lady Ruth… Lady of WordPress-astoria lol … July has been my worst movie month by far. I barely saw any movies. SO SAD!! But I will remedy that soon and watch some movies. oh yeah! Interested in your take on Guardians of the Galaxy… I am intrigued by that one.
Queen Mel!! How can July be the worst movie? You got to Comic-con girl? That’s waaaaay better than just going to the movies 😀 I hope to get around to reviewing Guardians of the Galaxy tomorrow. I generally enjoyed it as it’s funny but I’m still surprised by the stellar reviews!
I know I usually watch a few rentals a week and right now I have seen zero, well I saw a few but not much. I feel so behind and why I haven’t written much. You are so right, July ended with a bang! Ohh excited to hear your thoughts.
Enjoyed your posts during July! Especially most anticipated, and best of 2014 so far.
I’ve only seen a couple of new-ish movies, my favorite of them is Under The Skin
Thank you Chris! Oh Under the Skin seems to be a lot of people’s faves from this month. I still need to see that one. Too many movies too little time!
Glad to hear you caught up with the sci-fi classic, The Planet of the Apes. Still my favorite of the series and one of the all-time best for the genre. BTW, subsequent posters & VHS/DVD covers for the film would give away the ending via its artwork in one of the worse marketing moves, ever.
I still have to see Snowpiercer! Fine list of films, Ruth.
I will echo Michael. Can’t wait to catch Snowpiercer. I only hear great things about it.
Hi Michael! I must’ve not been paying attention to those marketing stuff (thankfully) but yeah now that I’ve seen the film, boy why the heck did they put the picture of Liberty on there??! I really didn’t know about it so I was still surprised by the ending.
Hope you see Snowpiercer soon, you too Cindy!
Go along with your thought on …Apes. Loved it. You’ve been busy as always I see 🙂
Apes. Together. Strong! It’s really an excellent film thru and thru, glad you agree Mark!
The best film I saw this month was once again, not a Blind Spot but rather a film that was better than my Blind Spot choice. It was The Night of the Hunter. If you ever want to know what a true villain is… it’s Robert Mitchum in that film. He is…. evil.
Hi Steven! Yeah I’ve heard about Mitchum’s performance in Night of the Hunter, he certainly played lots of great villains in his day.
I still have to see your pick for this month … I have a lot of catching up to do! Very cool how you didn’t get spoiled about the twist ending to Planet of the Apes … a great film and thought provoking like you said!
Oooh you must see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes soon. It’s sooo good! Yeah I guess I just never connected the dots from the original Apes movie poster to the finale, which is a good thing, ha!
You know, I WOULD say Dawn is my favorite, too, but I DID technically see Guardians of the Galaxy last night, which was still July even though it’s technically an August release, but I gotta say, I have to go with that one. Just a really all around fun movie. I am Groot. 🙂
Hi Chris! I’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy too but I still rate Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as far superior. GOTG is fun & entertaining but the plot is thin.
The top three films I checked out in July were Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Annie Hall (which I finally got around to seeing and loved) and Out of the Furnace. That last one was a bit of a surprise package. Can’t wait for Guardians of the Galaxy!
Adam.
Hope you enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy, I seem to be in the minority that like it but not wildly wowed by it. My review is up soon, hope you’ll check it out 🙂
My girlfriend tore through Downton Abbey in just a few weeks. Seems I missed out! 🙂
Wow, just a few weeks? Took me a whole month just to finish 2 seasons! Can’t wait to catch up w/ more though, I love period dramas! 🙂
Great post. July was a slow month for me but I think I’m going with Woody Allen: A Documentary.
Hey but you got to be a part of Comic-con this month, even from the outside it’s still a lot of fun right? I hope this Fall I get to see more films 🙂
Yep, that’s true. Frankly I saw few movies because I watched a lot of TV online. Just finished House of Cards, which is totally amazing.
The best movie I saw in theaters was Boyhood. As for new watches, The Trial was my favorite.
Oh I still need to see Boyhood! Such an intriguing concept there, I hope it lives up to the hype though.
Planet of the Apes, huh? Guess I need to see it.
My favorite? Snowpiercer, by far.
Yes you should see it Josh!! It’s so worth it to see on the big screen too. Snowpiercer is excellent indeed, both just might end up on my final top 10 of the year.
Snowpiercer has a good shot for me too. We’ll see on Apes.
Great work Ruth. Enjoyed Boyhood, but also thought it had a few flaws. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes has to rank amongst my favourites in July but I also got a lot out of Tammy, despite the almost universal hatred of it amongst reviewers!
Hi Natalie! Oh I still need to see Boyhood, wow everyone seems to be singing praises for that one! Not really keen on Tammy tho, I’m just not a fan of Melissa McCarthy’s style.
Hi Ruth! Glad to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes get the top spot for July.
La Notte was my favorite film from July. I loved it so much that it’s in my top 5 favorite films now. 🙂
Dawn of Apes is truly great in that it left an impression long after you saw it.
Oooh what’s La Notte about? I gotta check that out now.