What I Watched in July 2023

I was impressed by OPPENHIEMER (2023) and was happy to see such a smart drama being released to strong business in the good old summertime. For all the whining and crying about how Hollywood pumps out nothing but big budget entertainments fit only for children I have to note that there are still plenty of adult stories being produced even if most of them are on television. The fact that films aiming for a broader audience than a period drama usually garners are the norm isn’t a sign of the dumbing down of cinema any more than the release of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG was in 1968. I’m still amused by this type of constant complaining but it shows a lack of understanding of the business of movie making.

The biggest surprise of OPPENHIEMER (2023) for me was the final act of the film. I did not expect the detailed exploration of the nasty, petty political machinations that featured later in the main character’s life. I found it fascinating and of particular interest in relation to its parallels to the sad, needy animals that function today as our elected officials. There were no ‘good old days’, my friends. Only the distance of time seems to make it so.

The List

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE (2023) – 7 (good but not as good as the first)

CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

BOG (1979) – 4 (low budget Wisconsin lake monster movie)

PLANET OF THE FEMALE INVADERS (1966) – 5 (silly but interesting Mexican SF)

TRESPASSERS (2018) – 5 (mediocre home invasion variation)

FLIGHT COMMAND (1940) – 6 (standard military training drama with good cast)

IKARIE XB-1 (1963) – 8 (excellent Czechoslovakian SF film)

GREEN HELL (1940) – 4 (Whale’s not great jungle adventure)

BEATRIZ (1976) – 6 (Spanish folk horror tale)

THE FATAL HOUR (1940) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

DOOMED TO DIE (1940) – 5 (rewatch on Blu – Karloff’s last)

BIG BUSINESS GIRL (1931) – 5 (slight, creaky, predictable romantic comedy)

KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968) – 5

THE AMUSEMENT PARK (1975) – 6 (interesting allegory about the aging people of society)

THE KILLER IS STILL AMONG US (1986) – 6 (giallo based on a real case with an inconclusive ending)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2023) – 7 (exciting but exhausting)

INFLUENCER (2023) – 6 (interesting thriller with a female killer)

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982) – 9 (rewatch)

DUDE COWBOY (1941) – 5 (Tim Holt B-western)

THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

OPPENHIEMER (2023) – 9

SAMOA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE (1968) – 5 (Edwidge Fenech as a jungle girl)