What Movies to See (or Skip) in Australian Cinemas in July
Did you know The New York Times publishes close to 30 film reviews each week?
Every month, we’ll curate the most relevant and interesting reviews specifically for our Australian audience, based on the local release dates. You can always read more movie reviews from The New York Times here.
[Prefer not to go out? Check out our Australian Netflix guide for July.]
“Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom”
Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda
Directed by: J.A. Bayona
What is it? A rehash of a reboot that … hasn’t evolved much. This time the dinosaurs leave the park and rampage in a mansion.
You’ll like it if you liked: The first “Jurassic World” and are actually looking forward to the third.
Critic’s take: “The semi-interesting ethical questions that have hovered around Jurassic Park since the beginning — what are the limits of human tampering with nature? What obligations do we owe to imaginary creatures? — have been stretched to almost invisible thinness.”
Australian release date: June 21
“Sicario: Day of the Soldado”
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
What is it? In this sequel, an American operative calls in a hit man with a grudge to help him foment a war between two rival Mexican cartels.
You’ll like it if you liked: The original “Sicario” from 2015. Although …
Critic’s take: “Emily Blunt is missing, and so is some of the sharpness that made [the first] ‘Sicario’ interesting.”
Australian release date: June 28
“Mary Shelley”
Starring: Ben Hardy, Elle Fanning, Maisie Williams, Douglas Booth, Tom Sturridge
Directed by: Haifaa Al-Mansour
What is it? A literary biopic with the usual candlelight and impeccable English grammar, but with a modern argument.
You’ll like it if you liked: The story of “Frankenstein” and want more on how the book came to life.
Critic’s take: “‘Mary Shelley’ is a reminder that England in the early 19th century remains a rich repository of stories and characters, an era that can be made to feel charmingly quaint and bracingly modern.”
Also: Here’s hoping “dreamy dirtbag lit bro” becomes common usage in Romantic academia now, after it casually slid into this review.
Australian release date: July 5
Read the full review by A.O. Scott.
“Back to Burgundy”
Starring: Pio Marmaï, Ana Girardot, François Civil, Jean-Marc Roulot, María Valverde
Directed by: Cédric Klapisch
What is it? The prodigal son of a winemaking family returns to France from his home in Australia to reconcile with his estranged siblings.
You’ll like it if you liked: Olivier Assayas’s “Summer Hours,” an acclaimed French film about inheritance, at least on the surface.
Critic’s take: “Mr. Klapisch lingers his camera lovingly over shots of grapes being harvested and stomped, all the while employing story mechanics and flashbacks indelicate enough to suggest the churn of a factory juicer.”
Australian release date: July 5
Read the full review by Ben Kenigsberg.
“RBG”
Starring: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Nina Totenberg
Directed by: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
What is it? An adoring documentary of the life and times of Supreme Court justice and pop-culture phenomenon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
You’ll like it if you liked: Her workout routine with Stephen Colbert, but are interested in the decades of legal pioneering and shattered glass ceilings, too.
Critic’s take: “Its celebration of Justice Ginsburg’s record of progressive activism and jurisprudence is partisan but not especially polemical. The filmmakers share her convictions and assume that the audience will, too.”
Australian release date: July 26
Read the full review by A.O. Scott.
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