10 (or Maybe 11) Films to See in July
Amid the usual summer blockbusters—including a return to the Bourne franchise for Matt Damon and a family adventure from Steven Spielberg—the month ahead will also feature intriguing smaller films that have already made an impression on the festival circuit over the past year. We've picked out a handful of July's best bets below—as well as one major wildcard.
While its Cannes premiere wasn’t the critical hit many expected after last year’s Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1982 children’s book will surely please many families. In what is his first live-action 3D movie, Spielberg directs Oscar-winner Mark Rylance for the second time in a row, but this time Rylance plays (via performance-capture) a very different character—the big, friendly, vegetarian, giant of the title.
The story follows 10-year-old Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), a London orphan, as she’s kidnapped by the BFG and taken to Giant Country, where the BFG lives, and Dream Country, where he works. Bill Hader and Jemaine Clement play not so friendly giants, and Penelope Wilton and Rebecca Hall play the Queen and her maid in a part of the movie that pleased most critics.