Oh my goodness, how did we get to August?! Can’t believe we only have two months left of Summer, and it’s annoying that we’ve been having such poor air quality this past week when the weather is nice. The unhealthy air levels are due to wildfires in Canada, brought into the upper Midwest by the strong northerly winds.
I sure hope they’d be able to contain those fires. I feel bad for the Canadians affected, especially those in the Manitoba and Saskatchewan regions.
JULY VIEWINGS ON LETTERBOXD
(In the order of my rating)
FULL REVIEWS
My Mom Jane | Sorry, Baby | Superman | The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Heads of State + The Old Guard 2 | Shoshana | The Naked Gun
In honor of James Gunn’s Superman, I also ranked 8 of the live-action Superman movies from best to worst.
How would YOU rank the Superman movies?
REVIEWS COMING SOON:
She Rides Shotgun
The Musicians
SPECIAL AUGUST EVENT
Emagine Theaters has been hosting a monthly Secret Movie Night, and I’m excited that I’ll be hosting the August event at Emagine Willow Creek on Thursday, 8/13 at 7PM. For those in the Twin Cities, I’d love for you to join this special event, followed by a brief chat about the film I selected (one of my personal favorites!) after the screening. These events have been so popular that the organizers have added a second auditorium, and there are a few tickets still available. Better get ’em before they sell out!
MINI REVIEWS
Picture This
Simone Ashley is lovely, glad to see her lead a rom-com, but this is so shallow and one-dimensional. The characters are shallow and full of cringeworthy lines. Ashley has more chemistry and screen time with her gay bestie with a heart of gold, Luke Fetherston (a tiresome trope), than with her love interest, Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Ashley’s portrayal as a struggling photographer, despite coming from an affluent Indian family, feels unrealistic, and the way her issues are resolved is overly convenient. On top of that, the first rule of any rom-com is to have at least a likable protagonist, but Pia comes across as mopey and self-absorbed.
I’m always open to seeing romance by female directors that represent diverse cultures, alas, this one falls way short. The wealth-porn is off-putting as well.
Shark Whisperer
I have a thing about sharks, so when I saw this image pop up on Netflix of a woman swimming with sharks as if they’re dolphins, it naturally piqued my interest. While I enjoyed the documentary and it’s beautifully-shot, I feel like it sends a bit of a mixed, even problematic message. It’s dangerous to treat apex predators like they’re just big pets by giving them names and implying a personal connection. Marine conservationist Ocean Ramsey has a huge social media following, and she has no qualms about using her looks and even sex appeal to attract people to her platform for the sake of shark conservation.
I appreciate that the documentary includes differing viewpoints from those who question her qualifications beyond just being a shark and diving lover. One can’t help but think about the story of the “Grizzly Man,” who thought bears were his buddies. He named them and acted like they were pets… until they eventually killed and ate him.
52 Films By Women – 2025 Challenge
I am once again participating in this challenge. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within one year and share what you watched on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word, and get more people talking about the women filmmakers that don’t always get attention.
I only got to see 4 new-to-me films #directedbywomen in June, which brings the year tally to 34, so 18 more to go until goal!! I ranked the movies on Letterboxd; you can follow my #52FilmsByWomen list as I will be updating it regularly.
TV WATCHES
I reviewed The Day of the Jackal and Murderbot –
Two binge-worthy shows I highly recommend!
I started watching The Penguin (HBO), which is so long overdue, as I absolutely love Colin Farrell‘s performance in 2022’s The Batman. Thanks to my dear friend Resa, who’s currently busy watching the Emmy-nominated shows, for nudging me to finally watch this.
JULY MOVIE(S) OF THE MONTH
We’ve got another tie again this month!
Glad I finally saw SINNERS when it arrived on VOD, and it’s definitely one of the best of the year! I’d even rate it slightly higher (4/5) than my friend Vince’s review (3.5/5). One Michael B. Jordan in a movie is great, but two, even better!! It’s more of a story about identity, belonging, and the power of music than it is a horror movie. I absolutely love the vibrant and engaging musical performance that is captured in one seamless shot, showcasing various periods and genres of Black music, including blues, rock, and hip-hop. This proves that Ryan Coogler is one of this generation’s formidable auteurs.
As for She Rides Shotgun, I’m always impressed by Welsh actor Taron Egerton, who proves to be a versatile performer, but it’s Ana Sophia Heger who steals every scene, and she’s only 10 years old at the time of filming. Stay tuned for my full review!
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Glad you like Sinners as that is currently my #1 film of the year so far… I know Coogler’s next film will be another Black Panther film but with Denzel which is going to be sick. I’m more interested in whatever original film he does next. I think we’ll have to wait.
Yeah, I’m interested in Coogler’s original film as well but Black Panther 3 with Denzel sounds amazing!!
Ruth,
First-Thank you for the shout-out! I’m excited for our Emmy Post!
Second , the only movies I watched this month are TV Emmy noms.
Mountainhead (I can see why it got nominated, as it has good production values), but I did not like it. All male cast: rich tech guys patting each other on the back for being rich, the world is falling apart because of their techventions ie: a massacre due to misinformation due to one of the guys platforms BUT Oh…it’s not your fault-it’s the users faults – more back patting. There’s no real crisis, no climax, non anti-climax, no resolve.
Some say it’s innovative, like The Bear.
Rebel Ridge – Loved it. It lived up to your review.
I watched Nonnas after your review, then nominated it in June. We get 5 picks, and I can’t remember what else I picked.
I still need to watch Mad About the Boy & The Gorge. I would have watched The Gorge already, but I don’t get Apple TV, and although my TV is Massive, it’s stupid, not smart. I’ll watch it on my computer on the Emmy viewing platform tomorrow.
Okay, plenty of shows to watch! I’ll watch Dying For Sex tonight!
xoxoxoxoxo
Hey Resa!! My pleasure, I’m grateful you finally egged me on to watch The Penguin and it’s indeed a fantastic series!! Funny that you haven’t even seen the character in The Batman; he’s memorable in that film and there’s a funny scene there that I have rewatched over and over.
Not that interested in Mountainhead even though I quite like Steve Carrell. Meh, rich tech guys patting each other on the back for being rich doesn’t sound like an entertaining movie. Glad you like Rebel Ridge, that Aaron Pierre is 😍
Mad About the Boy is cute if you like the other Bridget Jones movies. I enjoyed them all and the 3rd one, Bridget Jones’s Baby is pretty hilarious. Let me know what you think about Dying For Sex, I saw Michelle Williams promoting that earlier this year but the topic doesn’t appeal to me.
This summer is going faster than I anticipated. I typically get to travel to other places for video shoots for work but this year, budget cuts. So, I haven’t been traveled much at all and it feels like I haven’t done anything this summer.
I only saw one new movie in theater last month, Superman, and I thought it was meh. I got some older movies on 4k and watched them. Tombstone was hard to get on 4K disc but I finally got it and happy to see in it 4K. Then I got Oliver Stone’s Alexander: Final Cut. I was never a fan of it when I saw it way back in 2004 and I couldn’t even finish watching this new 4K disc, so I returned it and got a refund. It was such a mess of a film. Another new movie to me was The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, this movie should’ve been done with the style Ritchie’s earlier work. It wasn’t bad but it was bland the way they told the story. It needed some flashy edits and more energy, it was the most bland film I’ve seen in a long time. And lastly, I saw Happy Gilmore and you probably read how I felt about it.
Then I watched some TV series, Dept. Q, Untamed and Adolescence. Also, a couple of older films I haven’t seen a while popped up on my timeline, Street Kings starring Keanu Reeves and a very Chris Evans and Chinatown. I totally about forgot about Street Kings but after watching it again for the fist time in almost 20 years, I remember why I thought it has potentials but fell short of greatness. Chinatown on the other hand is still a great film.
Hey Ted, that’s a bummer about budget cuts at your company, so they don’t even send you for domestic travel? I usually stay in town during summer, as the weather is nicer, but I’m already thinking of Winter vacation maybe later in January.
Y’know I’ve never seen Tombstone nor Alexander, but I’m curious now about Tombstone if you think it’s good. I enjoyed The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare when it came out but yeah, not as memorable as RItchie’s previous work, but at least much better than Operation Fortune which is awful!
I didn’t even realize Chris Evans is in Street Kings, is it even worth watching?? I should check out Adolescence as I love Stephen Graham, but I heard it’s just depressing. Have you seen The Penguin btw? I’ve only seen 2 episodes so far but it’s amazing!!
Nope, they don’t send me anywhere this year. I have to hire external video crew to do shoots outside of MN. Which makes sense since they don’t need to pay for my flights, hotel and food. But at least I’m able to attend conferences, I’m heading back to Adobe Max in LA this October. I haven’t attended that conference in a while.
Tombstone is very good, great production design and action. But the story and the whole film was kind of clunky to me. It’s probably because the production was chaotic. The original director was fired halfway through filming and they hired a new one to finish the film. But rumors has been going around for years that Kurt Russell was the one who directed the film. It’s worth watching for the great cinematography and set designs.
Street Kings was good, similar to Training Day. I believe it’s the second film that David Ayer directed. The main issue to me was that Keanu was miscast as the lead. He’s playing a ruthless and dirty cop who is a bit racist and he couldn’t pull it off. I think they should’ve gotten someone like Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson. But it was a low budget production, so I think they couldn’t afford to get bigger named stars at the time and Reeves’ career was in a rut at the time and he was cast for cheap.
I thought Adolescence was going super depressing but it wasn’t that bad, it’s just in your face with our current world issues when it comes young boys and men who looks up to a disgusting people like Andrew Tate. Also, all of the episodes were shot in “one take” style, so it was interesting watching a series with that gimmick.
I’m surprised you didn’t watchThe Penguin until now. I thought you really liked The Batman, right? And The Batman Part 2 will pick up where this show ends. It’s one of my favorite shows last year. By the time you finish the series, you’ll understand why The Penguin is so evil. Lol!
Ok I might watch Street Kings one day. Ahah, Keanu playing a racist might seem like a stretch, I just can’t even picture it. Yeah I think Crowe or Gibson would’ve been able to pull it off.
Oh yeah, I LOVE The Batman and Farrell as the Penguin, but somehow the show eluded me as there were other things I was watching last year. I’m glad I finally saw it though and it gets more and more intense (in a good way) with each episode. Man, Farrell better get an Emmy, though I heard Stephen Graham is also excellent in Adolescence. I am rooting for Farrell though as he completely disappears into his role.
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Been rewatching the hell outta Sinners since it hit HBO Max. Gorgeous dang movie, so engrossing and rollicking, can’t get enough of it! Among the top ten best movies of the year easy.
Agreed! It’s so beautifully-shot, as most of Coogler’s films are, but it’s also a unique, genre-bending story. It’ll likely end up on my top 10 of the year as well.