There are Some Real Gems in Hulu’s July Lineup

Good news for those who thought Hulu’s July offerings could be written off given the plethora of cookie cutter true crime documentaries, gimmicky cooking competitions, and bottom of the barrel films dominating the release list. There are promising gems, even tarnished ones, to be found here.
Binge watchers can take in a couple of classic comedies, one involving a study group at a community college. Sterling K. Brown leads a 19th century historical adventure. Making return appearances are new seasons of a weird animated comedy and a dark comedy centered on a toxically narcissistic family.
So whether you want to check out Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed directorial debut or see a bunch of British idiots navigating South American prison life, finding something worthwhile to watch on Hulu this month is not impossible.
July 1
Fruitvale Station–Ryan Coogler’s amazing directorial debut dramatizes the last day of East Bay resident Oscar Grant’s life. It’s New Year’s Eve 2008, and Grant’s determined to do better in life. His day may be marked by keeping going while receiving some hard knocks. But those setbacks don’t make him any less warm or generous. Grant’s future gets sealed by his reasonable decision to take a fateful BART train to San Francisco to catch the New Year fireworks.
Lies Hidden In My Garden– Well-to-do housewife Moon Joo-Ran lives a peaceful daily life as a doctor’s spouse. A strange smell in her backyard eventually leads to her crossing paths with Chu Sang-Eun. Chu’s also married, but she comes from a poor environment and her pharmaceutical company worker husband regularly beats her. One day, a phone call tells Chu that her husband’s dead…

The Pledge—Jack Nicholson gives an unforgettable performance as Jerry Black, a Nevada police detective whose retirement party is interrupted by the news of a young girl’s murder. When he goes to the crime scene and sees the half-assed job his soon-to-be former co-workers are making of the investigation, he pledges to the girl’s mother that he’ll solve the crime. But is Black still involved with the investigation out of a sense of justice or because this veteran cop doesn’t want to lose the last vestige of his identity?
Sugar—Miguel “Sugar” Santos hails from the Dominican Republic and serves as the primary breadwinner for his poor family. The proverbial golden ticket arrives after he masters a devastating knuckle curve. The young baseball player gets picked up by an American recruiter for spring training with the Kansas City Knights and sent to their single A affiliate The Swing to see if he can become the next Sammy Sosa. But even with some kind hosts and a promising talent, Sugar’s hopes clash with both his culture shock and his growing sense of emotional isolation. Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Captain Marvel”) direct one of the best baseball movies ever made.
July 2
761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers–Ignore the Orange Tyrant’s DUI Hire for the Department of Defense and catch this documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman. It recounts the story of the 761st Tank Battalion, which was commanded by General George Patton. It would be the first all-Black tank unit to see combat in World War II.
Black Patriots: Heroes Of The Revolution–MAGAts probably believe the American Revolution’s success was solely the product of white people’s actions. They’ll have a fit when they learn of this documentary executive produced by basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The film presents four generally forgotten Black people who played crucial roles in the success of the American Revolution. Had it not been for the great aim of Peter Salem, for example, the British forces would have succeeded in taking Bunker Hill.
Community (All Seasons)–Weasely attorney Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) understandably loses both his job and his law license when he’s discovered to have lied about getting his Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University. Forced to get a real degree, the ex-attorney enrolls in Colorado’s Greendale Community College. But when attractive activist Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) catches Winger’s eye, he creates a fake study group as an excuse to spend time with her. However, when other people wind up joining the study group, these new members and Winger and Perry soon become friends despite their sometimes clashing backgrounds.

Dan Da Dan Season 2–It’s the return of the hit anime series about a girl who believes in ghosts but not aliens (Momo Ayase) and a boy who believes in aliens but not ghosts (Ken “Okarun” Takakura). Thanks to an alien visitation and a bit of demonic possession, the two high school students wind up working together to defeat various supernatural threats. The new season of this horror-comedy series continues the “Evil Eye” storyline from last season. An investigation of the mystery surrounding a cursed family home in Byakuja Village brings encounters with a worm kaiju monster, which can cause its victims to kill themselves, and the yokai known as Evil Eye, which can grant incredible power at a terrible price. And did we mention the threat of the Kito family, who believe their regular child sacrifices have kept Byakuja safe for decades?
July 4
The Abyss–James Cameron’s science fiction adventure concerns a top-secret mission to the Cayman Trough. Using Dr. Lindsey Brigman’s private experimental underwater drilling platform Deep Core as a base of operations, the SEAL team attempts to salvage the sunken nuclear powered submarine USS Montana. But approaching Soviet ships and an expected hurricane aren’t the only challenges threatening to sink the mission. There are also Non-Terrestrial Intelligences in these waters. Add in paranoia on the SEAL Team leader’s part, and it’s not clear who will return to the surface alive.
July 5
The Lake Erie Murders Seasons 1 & 2—Lake Erie borders four U.S. states and parts of Canada. It’s considered a destination place for families. But the Lake Erie region also seems to be a magnet for murder. This documentary series recounts such crimes as a 30-year-old mystery regarding the disappearance and murder of a 10-year-old girl; the murder of a woman working a gas station night shift, and a nun found dead in a church chapel.
July 7
Such Brave Girls Season 2–It’s the return of Kat Sadler’s BAFTA-winning BBC semi-autobiographical dark comedy centered on a trio of narcissistic women. 40-ish single mother Deb attempts to rebuild her life by dating boyfriend Dev, despite sharing a home with her troubled adult daughters Josie (the mentally ill one) and Billie (attracted to toxic relationships). In the new season, the three anti-heroines are still trying to get out of their cramped and debt-ridden home. The good news is Dev and Josie’s ex-boyfriend Seb think they can rescue these women. The bad news is such good intentions don’t stand a chance against the lead characters’ penchant for making terrible life choices, diving into toxic relationships, and displaying bigger egos.
July 8
Born To Be Viral: The Real Lives Of Kidfluencers–This docuseries follows kids who’ve had their every action broadcast to millions via social media. For the lucky few, that exposure results in earning millions of dollars. But for such successful kidfluencers as Like Nastya or Ava and Alexis McClure as well as their families, how far will they go to get likes? And what happens to them when people eventually aren’t hanging on every move they make?

July 10
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Seasons 5 & 6–The late celebrated food writer’s travel and eating series follows him on a global quest for the ultimate dining experience. In these seasons, Bourdain’s travels take him to such places as classic NYC restaurants fallen on hard times, the Rust Belt during mid-winter, and the 1,100-year-old city of Prague.
Buffaloed–In this dark crime comedy, blue-collar born Peg Dahl’s (Zoey Deutch) illicit attempts to hustle her way out of Buffalo, NY to a good college and eventually working on Wall Street run badly aground. She winds up serving prison time and having a huge legal debt to pay off. Working for Wizz’ shady debt collection agency seems to be the ex-con’s answer until the agency owner royally screws Peg over. The parolee’s backup plan, though, sets off a war between Peg and Wizz, one whose consequences soon spiral out of control.
July 12
A Quiet Place Part II–The surviving members of the Abbott family live on an Earth that has been devastated thanks to an invasion by the alien Death Angels. These incredibly strong creatures may be blind, but they move terrifyingly fast to attack and destroy anything that makes noise. When a possible weapon against the Death Angels is discovered by one of the Abbotts, a plan is hatched to use that weapon to make the Death Angels vulnerable en masse. But making that plan work requires the help of former family friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), who’s become an embittered hermit as a result of the Death Angel invasion.
July 13
Dumb Money–Struggling financial analyst Keith Gill (Paul Dano) broadcasts his stock market opinions via his Roaring Kitty YouTube live streams posted on the Wall Street Bets subreddit. When Gill notices video game retailer GameStop’s stock is falling, he encourages online buyers to make aggressive purchases of the security…which result in a massive increase in the stock’s price. But the joy of Gill and the other amateur stock buyers is not shared by such hedge fund investment firms as Melvin Capital Management. They had been short-selling stock on the assumption that GameStop would go under. Gill’s efforts result in their losing hundreds of millions of dollars, a development the hedge fund firms do not take well. Based on a true story.
July 14
Stags Season 1–Stu wants to celebrate his last bit of freedom before he gets married. The week-long exercise in debauchery (which includes drinking and illicit drugs) takes place in an unnamed South American country, where Stu is joined by best friends Ryan and Ant as well as college friends and even his future father-in-law. But their return home gets turned into a prison stay thanks to the authorities discovering one member of the party attempting to smuggle drugs. When it turns out the British embassy plans to leave Stu and his friends to their fate, things start getting worse after one of the group’s members gets a gunshot wound and the group comes to the unwelcome attention of the brother and sister who run their prison.

July 17
Baylen Out Loud Season 1–This reality series follows Baylen Dupree, a young woman with an extreme case of Tourette’s Syndrome. Her West Virginia family finds ways to laugh and support Baylen through the chaos that’s part of her life. But what happens when Baylen yearns for independence, which means being out in the world on her own?
July 19
The Assessment–In the near future, an unspecified climate disaster has resulted in selected fortunate survivors living under a giant protective dome. Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan are scientists who have it all…except for a child. However, because the government strictly limits the dome’s population, the couple’s request for a child must be evaluated by the assessor Virginia (Alicia Vikander). She will move in for a week and observe every detail, no matter how small, of their lives. But the challenges Virginia puts the couple through to prove their parental suitability wind up driving a wedge between Mia and Aaryan.
July 23
Washington Black–This adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s novel follows the 19th century adventures of George Washington “Wash” Black. Forced to flee the Barbados sugar plantation of his birth at age 11 rather than die, the young man sets off on a globe-spanning adventure that will change how he understands such concepts as freedom, family, and love. Thanks to his prodigious scientific mind, Wash will navigate uncharted lands and survive impossible odds. Will Wash’s experiences help him imagine a bigger and better world than the one he was born into? Sterling K. Brown plays the adult Wash.
July 24
Mad About You Seasons 1-7–This popular sitcom follows recently married Jamie (Helen Hunt) and Paul (Paul Reiser) Buchman as they’re still trying to figure out the ground rules for their married life in their Greenwich Village apartment. Documentary filmmaker Paul is the cautious and analytical type while public relations executive Jamie is more of a free spirit. However, when life throws challenges at them from such sources as demanding careers or former lovers, the Buchmans meet these problems with humor, charm, and honesty.
July 28
The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball Season 1A–The pedants will point out that this is actually the first half of what would have been the seventh season of the award-winning Cartoon Network series “The Amazing World Of Gumball.” But it’s been years since the sixth season aired. So a retitling and reboot sounded right. Otherwise, this series continues to follow the misadventures of Gumball Watterson, who lives a far from ordinary family life in the town of Elmore. Here, the laws of reality are pretty much a joke, as this series uses everything from 2D cel animation to puppetry to even live action to present its often meta comedy. This season, expect such things as a sentient AI in love with Gumball’s mom, an evil fast food empire, and even efforts to stop Banana Joe from wearing pants.

July 29
Dope Girls Season 1–World War One has ended. Britain’s male soldiers return from the various fronts, expecting to take up life where they left off. However, the women who’ve been empowered by their wartime taste of meaningful employment are loath to return to domestic drudgery. Businessman’s wife Kate Galloway (Julianne Nicholson) has been left destitute and homeless thanks to a family tragedy. With the help of talented dancer Billie, Galloway finds her way to the clubland underworld of Soho and realizes she can apply her workplace knowledge to build a nightlife empire. But organized crime family matriarch Isabella Salucci isn’t too keen on the competition posed by Galloway. Meanwhile, Violet, one of England’s first female police officers, must prove herself by going undercover among Soho’s dancers, criminals, and thieves. Naturally, Kate’s and Violet’s paths will cross and the results will be messy.
Memoir Of A Snail–Adam Elliot’s incredible stop-motion animated film is this month’s Must-See. Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook, “Succession”) recounts her tragedy-filled life to her pet snail Sylvia. When Grace and her twin brother Gilbert were young, their parents died and the siblings got separated. Grace is put in the care of a pair of swingers while Gilbert is stuck with a cruel clan of religious fundamentalists. Brother and sister correspond with each other and vow to someday re-unite.
July 31
Diners, Drive-Ins, And Dives Season 5–Host Guy Fieri takes viewers on trips across America to visit the best greasy spoon eateries known to locals. This season, see a Baltimore deli which makes lasagna from scratch, a Salt Lake City diner offering Mile High biscuits and gravy, and a Norwalk, CT place making authentic Venezuelan fast food.

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