June & July Round-Up | KPop Demon Hunters, Jurassic World, F1 & more!
- amisha
- Aug 5
- 4 min read
June and July has seen the release of some really fun blockbusters, including Fantastic Four, Superman, Jurassic World and F1. Read on for what I've been watching, reading and playing this summer.
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Movies 🎬
This summer saw the release of two great animated movies. Predator: Killer of Killers was a kickass anthology action/adventure in the world of The Predator; it is based around the ingenius idea to hop between different time periods to see how warriors of every generation outsmart a Predator warrior. The samurai era segment is a particular highlight!
But, the true standout of the month was Kpop Demon Hunters, which is Netflix's surprise smash hit comedy-action movie about a Kpop band who are secretly, as the title suggests, demon hunters. It's beautifully animated, funny and has an insanely catchy soundtrack ('Golden' is the song of the summer, I said what I said). I'll definitely be adding it to my list of favourite animated movies.
I have also had a great time visiting the cinema since we had a slew of genuinely really fun blockbusters release over June and July, a welcome return to pre-COVID movie seasons. You can check out my brief thoughts on each on my Letterboxd, but I'd recommend all of the films if you're after a fun time at the cinema this summer:
How to Train Your Dragon - a completely unnecessary but nonetheless enjoyable one-to-one remake of one of my favourite animated movies.
F1 - a crowd pleaser featuring nail-biting racing scenes, which I enjoyed so much more than I thought despite knowing little about the sport.
Jurassic World Rebirth - featured some truly great dinosaur sequences, amidst some typically patchy character writing.
Superman - a great start to DC's new era under James Gunn. Messy and overstuffed, yes, but also inspiring, hopeful and just good fun.
The Fantastic 4: First Steps - definitely the best adaptation of this iconic comic book team, with a really memorable soundtrack by Michael Giacchino and standout production design.
I also caught up with a handful of great classic movies. Ran, Akira Kurosawa's samurai masterpiece from 1985, was extremely impressive, featuring some of the most jaw-dropping battle scenes I have seen centering around a story inspired by Shakespeare's King Lear. Next, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut was a really unsettling, nightmarish drama that I ended up liking more than I thought.
Finally, I rewatched one of my favourite classic movies ever, His Girl Friday. Most famous for having mile-a-minute screwball dialogue that makes Gilmore Girls feels like it's in slow motion by comparison; Cary Grant is hysterical as a man trying to win his wife back at any cost, and Rosalind Russell's performance as a wry newspaper journalist is quite simply iconic.
Finally as part of my 'Movie a Year' blog series, I watched 1955's The Night of the Hunter and 1954's On the Waterfront, both of which are available on Amazon Prime, and are incredible.
Shows 📺
This summer was a little slow for new TV show releases (hence the packed movie schedule above!). Culinary show/stress simulator The Bear returned for its latest season. It was a marked improvement on last year's meandering season, and featured fantastic performances by Ayo Edeberi, Jeremy Allen White and Jamie Lee Curtis in particular.
Abbot Elementary continues to be my absolute favourite recent sitcom - this summer, the latest batch of episodes released here in the UK after quite a delay (stop making us wait so long, Disney+) and it's just perfect lunchtime watching starring a cast of characters who I love.
Books 📚
After watching the Netflix adaptation of the story earlier on this year, I picked up Anne of Green Gables, which I found to be a really sweet, heartwarming book about a young orphan girl who is adopted by a brother and sister.
I'm also continuing with the 'Broken Earth' fantasy sci-fi series by N. K. Jemisin, which was the first series to win the Hugo Award for every book in the trilogy. The first book, The Fifth Season, is one of the most unique books I have ever read, with a really distinctive world and voice. The story is set in a brutal world which is hit by apocalypse-level earthquakes and natural disasters every few generations, with certain individuals possessing the ability wield power over the earth, but facing cruel prejudice for that ability. I've now read the second book, The Obelisk Gate, and looking forward to seeing how everything wraps up in the third.
Gaming 🎮
Elden Ring, the vast and challenging fantasy action RPG, continues to both frustrate and compel me, but I haven't given up yet! I also was really excited to receive Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 for my birthday; it's been the unexpected breakout hit of the year, and I'm really looking forward to delving into it.
Other! 🎭🎧
This year has been brilliant for film and TV soundtracks. I wrote in particular about the soundtracks of the three main superhero movies of the summer: Thunderbolts*, Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Read it here.
Also, I started a Substack newsletter, where I'm writing about my 100 favourite movie scores of all time! Check out my page here and subscribe to find out when I next post :)
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