All The Great Stuff Coming To Hulu In July

Yes, you could catch the final season of “Killing Eve,” as it debuts this month on Hulu.  But isn’t life short enough that you don’t need to waste time on a series which ended on a note that even the original creator of Villanelle strongly disagreed with?  YouTube has you covered if you want to see the scenes of Villanelle as weirdo Jesus or Eve and Villanelle eating curly fries together.

Fortunately, Hulu has better options available in July.  See how the vampires of “What We Do In The Shadows” come back together after last season’s calamitous finale.  Or if COVID fears or scheduling problems kept you from catching “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” or “All My Friends Hate Me” in the theaters, they’re available starting this month.  Even latecomers will cheer Hulu in July thanks to repeat screenings of the acclaimed Joan Crawford vs. Bette Davis season of “Feud” or even the entire Keri Russell-starring Cold War spy series “The Americans.”

Don’t waste your summer hours with Faux News faux flag-waving.  Instead, have fun with Hulu offerings of everything from kung fu comedy to strange but true history.  

Ingrid Goes West

July 1

127 Hours–Danny Boyle directs this gripping adaptation of Aron Ralston’s true-life ordeal.  Ralston (James Franco) decides to go hiking in the Utah wilderness without telling anyone where he’s going.  So he has no one to rescue him after he gets his right forearm trapped between a fallen boulder and a canyon wall.  The title refers to how long Ralston was stuck in this situation before he took the only path open to escape.

Feud: Bette & Joan–Ryan Murphy’s docudrama anthology series kicked off with this multiple award-winning recreation of the backstage feud between Hollywood stars Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) during and after the production of their 1962 film “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?”  Actress Olivia de Havilland tried suing Murphy’s company for its allegedly inaccurate portrayal of her, but the lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

The Gospel According To Andre–Clothing tastemaker Andre Leon Talley was once a boy who grew up in the Jim Crow South.  Kate Novack’s cinematic biography shows how Talley eventually became a fashion curator at such magazines as Women’s Wear Daily and Vogue.  Both the Black church and Andre’s elegant and beloved grandmother would play huge roles in shaping Talley’s life.  The film also features interviews with such fashion luminaries as Anna Wintour and Tom Ford.

Joy Ride–College student Lewis (Paul Walker) has pretended for years to be Venna (Leelee Sobieski)’s best friend when he actually wants to be her boyfriend.  A cross-country drive back East for the holidays seems the best opportunity for Lewis to finally make his move.  But things start to go wrong after he rescues his trouble magnet brother Fuller from jail.  For said brother convinces Lewis it’d be fun to pull a fake date prank on a trucker named Rusty Nail.  The very unamused trucker soon relentlessly stalks Lewis’ car across the backroads of the Plains States.  Director John Dahl offers his spin on the Richard Matheson classic “Duel.”

Kung Fu Hustle–Stephen Chow’s action comedy is set in a 1940s Shanghai terrorized by the notorious Axe Gang.  However, one area the gang generally leaves alone is Pig Sty Alley, thanks to its miniscule prospects.  Con artist Sing (Chow) pretends to represent the Axe Gang so he can scam the alley’s residents with a shakedown hustle.  But his plan falls apart after he discovers that more than a few martial artists secretly live in Pig Sty Alley…and the real Axe Gang doesn’t appreciate impostors mooching off their fearsome reputation.

Kung Fu Hustle

Rachel Getting Married–Jonathan Demme directs this tale of an eventful suburban wedding.  Kym Buchman (Anne Hathaway) has been in and out of rehab over the past decade.  Because her current treatment seems to be working, she gets a day pass to attend her older sister Rachel’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding.  However, being the black sheep of the Buchman family means certain interpersonal tensions have built up between Kym and the other members of the Buchman clan…and they’re about to boil over during this supposedly idyllic weekend. 

July 2

I Am Not Your Negro–Raoul Peck’s essential documentary takes as its starting point James Baldwin’s unfinished book “Remember This House.”  What began as a proposed portrait of Baldwin friends and slain Civil Rights leaders Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X  gets turned by Peck into a cinematic essay drawing heavily on Baldwin’s work to examine the huge gap between America’s promise as a “land of the free” and the reality of an America which operates with a system designed to oppress people who aren’t straight white males.  Samuel Jackson, Jr. brings necessary power to his reading of Baldwin’s words.

Ingrid Goes West–This dark comedy about social media influence begins with Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) released from a psychiatric hospital.   Macing a “best friend” for not getting sent her wedding invitation fell into crazypants territory when Ingrid’s “friendship” with the victim was something she imagined from following her victim on Instagram.  Thanks to a newly inherited bag of cash from her mother, Ingrid heads off to Los Angeles to become friends with the cool and perfect Instagram star Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen).   The two women unexpectedly become actual buddies.  But what happens when both Ingrid’s and Taylor’s facades of coolness start showing noticeable cracks?

July 7

How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom–University humanities student turned aspiring civil servant Kazuya Soma thought he had nothing left in life after his grandfather died.  But then he gets magically whisked to the small ailing kingdom of Elfreiden.  A recent demon war has devastated Elfreiden, and Soma’s offered as the hero who can get the kingdom back on its feet.  But how this wannabe civil servant plans to accomplish this task involves sound economic principles, sanitation upgrades, and lots and lots of paperwork.

July 8

Rehearsals (Hazarot) Season 1–This hit Israeli TV dramedy takes place backstage at Tel Aviv’s Mishkan Theater.  Actors Tomer and Iris are breaking up.  But then news comes that “One Plus One,” the play Iris wrote about their relationship, has been greenlit for the couple to direct it.  The trouble is both the directors and the actors portraying Tomer and Iris’ fictional surrogates are bringing their own personal dramas to the rehearsals.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie

July 12

The Bob’s Burgers Movie–In this big screen version of the hit animated comedy, the Belcher clan are hit with crises which call their personal doubts into question.  Parents Bob and Linda Belcher doubt they can keep their burger business going in the face of an unpayable bank loan and a customer-repelling sinkhole.  Tina has doubts Jimmy Jr. wants to be her summer boyfriend.  Gene’s band the Itty Bitty Ditty Committee can’t seem to take off.  And Louise doubts herself when the older girls at school call her a baby.   

My Scientology Movie–In this provocation/documentary, Louis Theroux announces his plan to make a movie recreating events in the life of Scientology head David Miscavige..but in the vein of “The Act Of Killing.”  However, the Church of Scientology strikes back with legal threats, cameramen for counter-documentary harassment, and even a possible Scientologist mole auditioning for a role in Theroux’s film.  So if former Scientology enforcer Marty Rathbun is helping advise Theroux, why is the director also confrontational with him?

The Rest Of Us–When illustrator/author Cami (Heather Graham) discovers her ex-husband’s second wife Rachel and their daughter Talulah have been left penniless, she offers them a place to stay.  However, Cami’s daughter Aster resents the presence of these unwelcome relatives.  She hasn’t forgotten or forgiven her now deceased father for ignoring her for over a decade to pay more attention to Rachel and Talulah.

July 13

The Case Study Of Vanitas–It’s said that the vampire Vanitas created a cursed grimoire called the “Book Of Vanitas” to bring revenge upon the vampires who shunned him.  In a steampunk 19th century Paris, vampire Noe Archiviste hopes to recover the Book Of Vanitas.  He finds the book in the possession of an eccentric human vampire specialist who inherited both the book and his name from his former master, the legendary Vanitas.  Now the duo find themselves working together to use the book’s power to cure vampires who have gone violently mad and are now preying on their human neighbors.

Solar Opposites Season 3–It’s the new season of this animated comedy co-created by “Rick & Morty”’s Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan.  A team of aliens stranded on Earth have decided to go from being a team to trying to be a family.  But the process isn’t going to be easy given that these wannabe family members disagree on Everything, beginning with whether life on Earth royally blows or is filled with awesomeness.

What We Do In The Shadows Season 4–The new season of this vampire mockumentary shows what happens next after the Season 3 cliffhanger.  After energy vampire Colin’s death, the shattered Nandor, Guillermo, and Nadja have left Staten Island and gone their separate ways.  Will Laszlo tending to a now baby Colin bring the other vampires back together?   Well, Nandor’s still striking out in the “finding a new wife” department.  And Nadja wants her new nightclub to be a magnet for rich humans.  Add into the mix visits to the Jersey Pine Barrens and the secret supernatural Night Market, and you’ve got another fun blend of blood and humor.

Victoria’s Secret: Angels & Demons

July 14

Victoria’s Secret: Angels And Demons—Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary mini-series traces the rise of the titular lingerie franchise from its beginnings as a mail-order brand to a global giant which launched the careers of such supermodels as Gisele Bundchen and Tyra Banks.  However, workplace toxicity, sexism, and particularly the ties between Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein would ultimately result in the brand’s high profile tumble.

July 15

Centurion–Fans of director Neil Marshall’s brand of graphic cinematic violence will not be disappointed by this historical actioner.  After the Roman Ninth Legion is practically wiped out in a Pictish ambush, Legion General Titus Flavius Virilus (Dominic West) gets taken prisoner by the Picts.  Quintus Dius (Michael Fassbender), one of the ambush’s few survivors, is determined to rescue the General from Pictish hands and return to Roman territory.  However, Dius’ small outnumbered team face various dangers, particularly that of the wolf-like huntress Etain (Olga Kuryenko).     

Hobo With A Shotgun–This unapologetically trashy grindhouse movie stars Rutger Hauer as the nameless and homeless titular character.  The hobo just wants to buy a lawnmower so he can start a gardening business.  But he soon finds himself in conflict with the crime boss known as The Drake and his psychopath sons Slick and Ivan.  See: a pedophile Santa Claus!  See: Slick and Ivan use flamethrowers to set a busload of kids ablaze!  See: a tentacled monster (because why not)!  And remember kids, “When life gives you razor blades, you make a baseball bat covered in razor blades.”

July 19

Aftershock–Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac were two young Black mothers who died from medical complications during childbirth.  But these deaths weren’t acts of God.  They’re symptoms of an American maternal mortality crisis that disproportionately affects Black women.  Blame the existence of medical racism (e.g. less attention paid towards Black patients) and the medical profession’s fondness for excessive C-section deliveries (because more money can be made off them).  Gibson’s and Isaac’s surviving family members join forces to raise awareness of this problem.

Aftershock

July 21

Milkwater–Straight 20-something Milo (Molly Bernard, “Younger”) feels emotionally adrift as her queer social circle is breaking up.  But then she encounters older drag performer Roger, who longs to become a father.  Will being Roger’s egg donor and surrogate give Milo a sense of purpose?  Or does a more selfish motivation drive the young woman’s actions?

You Are Not My Mother–In this psychological horror tale, Charlotte aka Char is a poor Irish teen living an incredibly sucky life.  Her fellow students continually mock her.  Her grandmother never seems to leave the house.  Her mother Angela treats even getting out of bed as a major struggle.  One day, Angela disappears and later returns displaying frightening mood swings.  Char knows her grandmother and other people in her life have been concealing the secrets of her past.  But why?  And what’s the connection with a mysterious ritual involving an abandoned baby?

July 22

All My Friends Hate Me–Pete is looking forward to a weekend getaway in Devon with his old college chums.  He wants to show them how much he’s changed for the better in the intervening years.  However, those plans soon go out the window when his chums arrive late and with a stranger in tow: Harry, who’s everything that Pete used to be before he got sober and respectable.  Is Harry secretly hoping to oust Pete from the group?  Or has Pete become a tightass who’s only imagining his friends hate his guts?

July 26

Saint Evita–What happened to Evita Peron’s embalmed body after she died?  In this adaptation of Tomas Eloy Martinez’ best-selling book, viewers will learn Evita’s body was awaiting the completion of a monument before her corpse would be interred.  But the Argentine military junta which overthrew Juan Peron concealed Evita’s corpse for nearly two decades to prevent its use as a propaganda weapon against them.  Yet even in death, Evita would influence Argentine politics.

Saint Evita

July 29

The Americans (Complete Series)–This highly acclaimed spy drama takes place during the height of the Cold War.  In the 1980s, the Jennings family comes to live in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Falls Church, VA.  Nobody knows that Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys) are actually KGB deep-cover agents planted in the U.S. back in the 1960s.  But even if Mr. and Mrs. Jennings’ day job involves gathering information that could affect the fate of the world, they still have to deal with the headaches of raising two kids who have no idea what their parents really do for a living.