Hello everyone! Happy Fourth of July weekend. I’m not traveling anywhere so going to enjoy the extra day. off. After a hectic Spring, I’m actually thrilled to be staying put this Summer. Work is actually ramping up for my hubby and I so we probably won’t be traveling again until Fall.
I didn’t end up watching a ton of movies in June as we’re still catching up on Downton Abbey series (1 more season left now), and bingeing on Obi-Wan and Tehran season 2 (oh so good!!). In any case, here’s what I watched last month:
NEW MOVIES
Jurassic World Dominion
Lightyear
The Valet
A Quiet Place Part II
I don’t usually watch scary movies ’cause of my feeble nerves, but I did watch the first A Quiet Place a year ago or so and was so impressed by it. The second movie is just as intense though I’m not sure it’s as effective as the first. Love seeing Cillian Murphy joining Emily Blunt in this monster adventure, though it’s Millicent Simmonds, the hearing-impaired actress who’s the film’s MVP.
Elvis
Good luck to you Leo Grande*
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Molly’s Game (2017)
I’ve been wanting to see this movie for ages! Based on a true story, Jessica Chastain plays Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. It was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, which nabbed him an Oscar nom for Best Adapted Screenplay. I quite enjoyed it despite not knowing much about poker. The script is sharp and engaging, Chastain is magnetic and it’s always great seeing Idris Elba on screen as her attorney.
Miss Stevens* (2016)
I was looking for a relatively short movie directed by a woman and came across this one on Tubi. Directed by Julia Hart, it stars Lily Rabe as a heartbroken teacher who chaperones a group of high schoolers to a state drama competition. It has its moments but it’s not a terribly engaging movie. It was still worth a watch, featuring a young Timothée Chalamet a year before his career-changing role in Call Me By Your Name.
Thor Love and Thunder
Review upcoming
REWATCHES
BBC Sense and Sensibility (2008)
If you know me at all, then you know I have to rewatch at least one Jane Austen movie/miniseries per year, ahah.
Brave (2012)
It’s been a decade since BRAVE was released and somehow I haven’t rewatched it in a while. I was astounded once again by how beautiful this movie is, the animation is just absolutely stunning and the story of its first Princess still holds up. I might have to do a write-up on this for its 10-year anniversary.
Little Women (1994)
TV SERIES
Downton Abbey (S5) – Amazon Prime
Obi-Wan Kenobi (S1) – Disney+
TEHRAN 2 – Apple TV+
Tehran is such an underrated series that not enough people are talking about it!! Created by a female producer and starring a female protagonist dealing with plenty of powerful women, it’s everything one could want in a spy thriller!
Not enough people are talking about the brilliant #TehranTV on @AppleTVPlus!! Season 2 is even more intense & suspenseful with the venerable #GlennClose joining fantastic leads #NivSultan + @ShaunToub in this edge-of-your-seat spy thriller. Please bring on S3!!#TehranSeries pic.twitter.com/mwBirsig6o
— FlixChatter (@FlixChatter) July 2, 2022
The show follows a Mossad hacker-agent Tamar (Niv Sultan) who infiltrates Tehran under a false identity to help destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor. When her mission fails, Tamar must plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy. I just finished S2 last night and I plan on doing a write-up on this later this month. Check out the trailer below… if you love spy movies, this series is NOT to be missed!
52 Films By Women pledge
Movies indicated with * (asterisk) indicate those directed by women.
I got to see two new films and two rewatches directed by women. Well technically BRAVE has three directors credited: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell, but Chapman came up with the story.
JUNE MOVIE OF THE MONTH
ELVIS
Despite Baz Luhrmann’s overly frenetic direction, ELVIS is definitely the most memorable movie I saw last month thanks to Austin Butler’s career-making turn. As I mentioned in my review, it’s truly an Oscar-worthy performance that I hope will garner him a bunch of awards next year, but more importantly, more interesting roles in the future.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I’m in the opposite, I’ll be traveling quite a bit the rest of the summer. Will be in Vegas all of next week, then NYC a week later. Then I down to TX and California.
Thanks for mentioning Molly’s Game, I totally forgot about that film. I’m a poker guy and heard stories about the real Molly and was very interested in movie about her. I’m sure the movie took some liberties to make it more dramatic.
I saw a couple of new movies in June. Doctor Strange 2, kind of meh to me. The other one was a French buddy action film called The Takedown. Basically, it’s a French version of Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour. Just watched mostly TV shows, caught up with Stranger Things, The Boys and Umbrella Academy. Started watching the new action drama called The Old Man. I still have Tehran on my to watch list, I’ll get to it eventually.
Oh wow, that’s a lot of traveling Ted, but I guess that’s good since you’ve been wanting to after Covid restrictions.
If you’re a poker guy then I think you should absolutely watch Molly’s Game. I can’t recommend TEHRAN enough, I think both seasons are excellent. Ohhh I wanted to see The Takedown as I love Omar Sy. I might check out The Old Man too for Jeff Bridges.
I liked Molly’s Game. I thought it was a damn good film with a top-notch performance from Jessica Chastain along with a nice supporting bit from Kevin Costner. My favorite film last month is my Blind Spot film in Celine and Julie Go Boating but the best thing I’m watching right now is Ms. Marvel. I love this show. I love that I came in not knowing much about the source material and wow… it is much better than I thought it would but also giving some serious history lesson as it relations to the Partition of India. There’s 2 more episodes left yet it left me wanting for more. Plus, I love Iman Vellani in the titular role. She is so natural and delightful.
I’m glad I finally caught up with Molly’s Game and yes, top-notch performance from Chastain and yes I love seeing Costner in a small but important role. I think that movie is underrated and I feel like Chastain is just as Oscar worthy in that as she is in The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Celine and Julie Go Boating definitely sounds fascinating. As for Ms Marvel, I haven’t got around to it as I was bingeing on Tehran S2.
Hi there, your blog is look very elegant, what is theme are you using?
Thanks! It’s called Lovecraft 🙂