Watching Things: July 2022
By Austin Johnson
July was fun as hell! I got to personally discover some amazing directors and enjoy maybe my favorite theater experience of the year so far. I was able to get to 28 films with 21 of them being things I hadn’t ever seen. That’s the kind of ratio I’m looking to keep as I continue to inhale this shit month by month.
*Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986 (Amazon Prime) - 8
Road to Perdition, 2002 (Amazon Prime/Netflix/Paramount+) - 9
*Ivan’s Childhood, 1962 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Children of a Lesser God, 1986 (Borrowed from Connor) - 8
*The Mission, 1986 (Vudu) - 8
Platoon, 1986 (PC) - 9
*Mirror, 1975 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*The Seventh Seal, 1957 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Pitfall, 1962 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*The Face of Another, 1966 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Woman in the Dunes, 1964 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Bad Day at Black Rock, 1955 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, 2022 (Vudu) - 8
*The Set-Up, 1949 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*Streetwise, 1984 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Fire Island, 2022 (Hulu) - 8
Us, 2019 (Vudu) - 7
Get Out, 2017 (PC) - 10
*The Vanishing, 1988 (Criterion Channel) - 9
La Haine, 1995 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Hard Candy, 2005 (Tubi) - 8
*Nope, 2022 (Regal Huebner Oaks) - 9
*Allied, 2016 (Amazon Prime/Paramount+) - 7
*Walker, 1987 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*Romancing the Stone, 1984 (HBO Max) - 7
Mississippi Burning, 1988 (Amazon Prime/Paramount+) - 8
*Working Girl, 1988 (Hulu) - 7
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988 (Disney+) - 9
First Time Watches - 21
Rewatches - 7
28 total films watched for an average of 8.24
Streaming Service Counter:
Amazon Prime - 4
Borrowed from Connor - 1
Criterion Channel - 12
Disney+ - 1
HBO Max - 1
Hulu - 2
Personal Collection - 2
Theaters - 1
Tubi - 1
Vudu - 3
Top 5 July Watches
5. Streetwise
I definitely got my money's worth with the Criterion Channel in July by watching 12 films on the service. Around the middle of the month, I randomly picked Streetwise, which is an Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Martin Bell based on a magazine article by Cheryl McCall. Streetwise focuses on homeless youth living in Seattle and doing unimaginable things to survive. It fucking tore me up and quickly became one of my personal favorite documentaries because of the emotions it tapped into and the way it was filmed. It has a style that feels like it could be a Richard Linklater directed film, which caused me to remind myself multiple times that this was real fuckin life. If you like shit like Minding the Gap, Dope Sick Love, or even Paris Is Burning then I highly suggest checking this doc out.
4. Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky is obviously a director that every cinephile feels the need to discover for themselves at some point. It finally happened for me in July as I watched Ivan’s Childhood from ‘62 and Mirror from ‘75 on Criterion. Why the fuck did it take me so long? I’m very much looking forward to checking out the rest of his work, especially Stalker and Solaris. Mirror is like way up my alley with its extremely unconventional storytelling and wild images. It’s one of those experience type films where you don’t even know what to say after it ends but you know you just watched a complete master at work. I can’t wait to buy Mirror to have on my shelf at home.
3. Woman in the Dunes
Episode 111 of our Oscar Sunday podcast saw Connor and I go to personal uncharted waters by watching Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes on Criterion from 1964 which was nominated for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film. I also watched Teshigahara’s Pitfall from ‘62 and The Face of Another from ‘66. The dude can flat out direct psychologically challenging films and I’m so happy that we randomly chose Woman in the Dunes for an episode because it will likely stay in my brain for the rest of my life and hopefully on my shelf just like Mirror.
2. Nope
I didn’t go to the theater for over a month, so I was pretty stoked to go see Jordan Peele’s third film, Nope, at Regal Huebner Oaks close to where my wife and I live. We saw it with my brother and his wife and all of us walked out as very happy film fans. Connor, Caleb, and I covered Get Out on Oscar Sunday for episode 112 so it was nice to look back on Peele’s debut, Us, and Nope. I haven’t really stopped thinking about Nope and what all it is trying to say. It also got me kind of amped up for quality original work as award season is approaching rapidly.
1. La Haine
About a year or a year and a half ago, I watched La Haine for the first time because I’ve heard it’s an absolute must see for fans of international cinema. I enjoyed it the first time but on this rewatch, I fucking fell in love and I’m pretty confident in saying that it’s not only the best film I watched in July but it’s also my favorite. Written and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, La Haine is a brilliant showcase of 24 hours with three young men that will likely leave a mark on anyone who decides to watch it. This July Top 5 consists of four films I watched on Criterion, which gives me even more clarity that it’s easily the best streaming service for me as it constantly gives me what I want as a film fan.
*Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986 (Amazon Prime) - 8
Road to Perdition, 2002 (Amazon Prime/Netflix/Paramount+) - 9
*Ivan’s Childhood, 1962 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Children of a Lesser God, 1986 (Borrowed from Connor) - 8
*The Mission, 1986 (Vudu) - 8
Platoon, 1986 (PC) - 9
*Mirror, 1975 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*The Seventh Seal, 1957 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Pitfall, 1962 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*The Face of Another, 1966 (Criterion Channel) - 9
*Woman in the Dunes, 1964 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Bad Day at Black Rock, 1955 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, 2022 (Vudu) - 8
*The Set-Up, 1949 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*Streetwise, 1984 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Fire Island, 2022 (Hulu) - 8
Us, 2019 (Vudu) - 7
Get Out, 2017 (PC) - 10
*The Vanishing, 1988 (Criterion Channel) - 9
La Haine, 1995 (Criterion Channel) - 10
*Hard Candy, 2005 (Tubi) - 8
*Nope, 2022 (Regal Huebner Oaks) - 9
*Allied, 2016 (Amazon Prime/Paramount+) - 7
*Walker, 1987 (Criterion Channel) - 8
*Romancing the Stone, 1984 (HBO Max) - 7
Mississippi Burning, 1988 (Amazon Prime/Paramount+) - 8
*Working Girl, 1988 (Hulu) - 7
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988 (Disney+) - 9
First Time Watches - 21
Rewatches - 7
28 total films watched for an average of 8.24
Streaming Service Counter:
Amazon Prime - 4
Borrowed from Connor - 1
Criterion Channel - 12
Disney+ - 1
HBO Max - 1
Hulu - 2
Personal Collection - 2
Theaters - 1
Tubi - 1
Vudu - 3
Top 5 July Watches
5. Streetwise
I definitely got my money's worth with the Criterion Channel in July by watching 12 films on the service. Around the middle of the month, I randomly picked Streetwise, which is an Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Martin Bell based on a magazine article by Cheryl McCall. Streetwise focuses on homeless youth living in Seattle and doing unimaginable things to survive. It fucking tore me up and quickly became one of my personal favorite documentaries because of the emotions it tapped into and the way it was filmed. It has a style that feels like it could be a Richard Linklater directed film, which caused me to remind myself multiple times that this was real fuckin life. If you like shit like Minding the Gap, Dope Sick Love, or even Paris Is Burning then I highly suggest checking this doc out.
4. Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky is obviously a director that every cinephile feels the need to discover for themselves at some point. It finally happened for me in July as I watched Ivan’s Childhood from ‘62 and Mirror from ‘75 on Criterion. Why the fuck did it take me so long? I’m very much looking forward to checking out the rest of his work, especially Stalker and Solaris. Mirror is like way up my alley with its extremely unconventional storytelling and wild images. It’s one of those experience type films where you don’t even know what to say after it ends but you know you just watched a complete master at work. I can’t wait to buy Mirror to have on my shelf at home.
3. Woman in the Dunes
Episode 111 of our Oscar Sunday podcast saw Connor and I go to personal uncharted waters by watching Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes on Criterion from 1964 which was nominated for Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film. I also watched Teshigahara’s Pitfall from ‘62 and The Face of Another from ‘66. The dude can flat out direct psychologically challenging films and I’m so happy that we randomly chose Woman in the Dunes for an episode because it will likely stay in my brain for the rest of my life and hopefully on my shelf just like Mirror.
2. Nope
I didn’t go to the theater for over a month, so I was pretty stoked to go see Jordan Peele’s third film, Nope, at Regal Huebner Oaks close to where my wife and I live. We saw it with my brother and his wife and all of us walked out as very happy film fans. Connor, Caleb, and I covered Get Out on Oscar Sunday for episode 112 so it was nice to look back on Peele’s debut, Us, and Nope. I haven’t really stopped thinking about Nope and what all it is trying to say. It also got me kind of amped up for quality original work as award season is approaching rapidly.
1. La Haine
About a year or a year and a half ago, I watched La Haine for the first time because I’ve heard it’s an absolute must see for fans of international cinema. I enjoyed it the first time but on this rewatch, I fucking fell in love and I’m pretty confident in saying that it’s not only the best film I watched in July but it’s also my favorite. Written and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, La Haine is a brilliant showcase of 24 hours with three young men that will likely leave a mark on anyone who decides to watch it. This July Top 5 consists of four films I watched on Criterion, which gives me even more clarity that it’s easily the best streaming service for me as it constantly gives me what I want as a film fan.