July arrives fully loaded with sexy (Magic Mike XXL), funny (Trainwreck), dramatic (Jimmy’s Hall) and some major action (Terminator: Genisys and Mission Impossible 5) movies. Not to mention that we are entering a time we will come to know as the Gyllenhaal-aissance, it began last year with Night Crawler and continues with Southpaw.  So whether you choose to checkout that indie movie you’ve heard so much about, or the latest big studio release, don’t forget to click on the movie title below to view the trailer. We want to make sure you know what you are getting into before you head to the theater.

July 1 
Magic Mike XXL

Stars: Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer

Directed By: Gregory Jacobs

Synopsis: Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.

Our Two Cents:  I’m going for purely for professional reasons.

Terminator: Genisys

Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith

Directed By: Alan Taylor

Synopsis: John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect Sarah Connor, but when he arrives in 1984, nothing is as he expected it to be.

Our Two Cents:  My head hurts.

July 3 
Amy (Limited)

Stars: Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Mark Ronson

Directed By: Asif Kapadia

Synopsis: The story of Amy Winehouse in her own words, featuring unseen archival footage and unheard tracks.

Our Two Cents: Who doesn’t want a few more hours with the amazing Amy Winehouse?

Cartel Land (Limited)

Stars:  n/a

Directed By: Matthew Heineman

Synopsis: A physician in Michoacán, Mexico leads a citizen uprising against the drug cartel that has wrecked havoc on the region for years. Across the U.S. border, a veteran heads a paramilitary group working to prevent Mexico’s drug wars from entering U.S. territory.

Our Two Cents: Great buzz on this one coming from the festival circuit, 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and I’m always interested the drug wars.

Jimmy’s Hall (Limited)

Stars: Barry Ward, Francis Magee, Aileen Henry

Directed By: Ken Loach

Synopsis: Political activist Jimmy Gralton is deported from Ireland during the country’s ‘Red Scare’ of the 1930s.

Our Two Cents: Gorgeously shot, this story of a working class hero might just tug at our the heart strings.

July 10 
The Gallows

Stars: Cassidy Gifford, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos

Directed By: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing

Synopsis: 20 years after a horrific accident during a small town school play, students at the school resurrect the failed show in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy – but soon discover that some things are better left alone.

Our Two Cents: Looks like this summers new horror franchise.

Minions (3D)

Stars: Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Steve Carell

Directed By: Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin

Synopsis: Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world.

Our Two Cents: Adorable and harmless summer fair, Enjoy!  

Self/less

Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Goode, Ben Kingsley

Directed By: Tarsem Singh

Synopsis: An extremely wealthy man, dying from cancer, undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man. But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause.

Our Two Cents: I’m willing to give almost anything coming from Tarsem a go. 

Tangerine (Limited)

Stars: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian

Directed By: Sean Baker

Synopsis: A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart

Our Two Cents: Shot on an iPhone 5S using an $8 app called Filmic Pro, this a touching and fantastic story of friendship between two transgender women,  go out of your way to see. 

July 17 
Ant-Man

Stars: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Hayley Atwell, Judy Greer

Directed By: Peyton Reed

Synopsis: Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Our Two Cents: I still would’ve loved to see Edgar Wright’s version.

Trainwreck

Stars: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson

Directed By: Judd Apatow

Synopsis: Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy.

Our Two Cents: Not your usual rom-com, this is an Apatow comedy and it looks hilarious. 

Irrational Man (Limited)

Stars: Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Parker Posey

Directed By: Woody Allen

Synopsis: A tormented philosophy professor finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.

Our Two Cents:  A Woody Allen film centered on a an existential crisis? No! Phoenix will get me to the theater.

The Look of Silence (Limited)

Stars: n/a

Directed By: Joshua Oppenheimer

Synopsis: A family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.

Our Two Cents: Joshua Oppenheimer’s follow-up to his Oscar nominated doc The Act of Killing, 

Mr. Holmes (Limited)

Stars: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada

Directed By: Bill Condon

Synopsis: An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes looks back on his life, and grapples with an unsolved case involving a beautiful woman.

Our Two Cents: Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes, do you need anything more? 

July 24 
Pixels

Stars: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Josj Gad

Directed By: Chris Columbus

Synopsis: When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.

Our Two Cents: Pixels looks like it’s going to be fun to watch but not much more.

Southpaw

Stars: Rachel McAdams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker

Directed By: Antoine Fuqua

Synopsis: A boxer fights his way to the top, only to find his life falling apart around him.

Our Two Cents: Strong emotional storytelling in the middle of summer? It must be the Gyllenhaal-aissance!

American Heist (Limited)

Stars: Hayden Christensen, Adrien Brody, Jordana Brewster, Akon

Directed By: Sarik Andreasyan

Synopsis: James owes his life to his older brother, Frankie after taking the rap for a crime they committed together. While Frankie served time, James worked to turn his life around, got a steady job and began courting his former girlfriend Emily. Now, Frankie is released and back on the streets with no money and no place to go.

Our Two Cents:  It’s yet another bank robbers need to leave their past but get caught up in one more job kind of movie.

July 29 
Vacation

Stars: Ed Helms, Chris Hemsworth, Leslie Mann, Elizabeth Gillies, Chevy Chase, Christina Applegate

Directed By: John Francis Daley, Johnathan M. Goldstein

Synopsis: Rusty Griswold takes his own family on a road trip to “Walley World” in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons.

Our Two Cents: Another road trip back to Walley World? No! I’m not going, sorry Ed Helms.

Listen to Me Marlon (Limited)

Stars: Marlon Brando

Directed By: Stevan Riley

Synopsis: With exclusive access to his extraordinary unseen and unheard personal archive including hundreds of hours of audio recorded over the course of his life, this is the definitive Marlon Brando cinema documentary. Charting his exceptional career as an actor and his extraordinary life away from the stage and screen with Brando himself as your guide, the film will fully explore the complexities of the man by telling the story uniquely from Marlon’s perspective, entirely in his own voice. No talking heads, no interviewees, just Brando on Brando and life.

Our Two Cents:  Whether you’re a fan of Brando or not, this is a fascinating and must see doc.

July 31 
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin

Directed By: Christopher McQuarrie

Synopsis: Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

Our Two Cents: This looks like so much action-packed fun!

Best of Enemies (Limited)

Stars: Kelsey Grammer, John Lithgow, Gore Vidal

Directed By: Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville

Synopsis: Best of Enemies is a documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, ‘What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?’

Our Two Cents: Similar to the love-hate battle between Ebert and Siskel shown in the doc Life Itself. 

The End of the Tour (Limited)

Stars: Anna Chlumsky, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Segel

Directed By: James Ponsoldt

Synopsis: A magazine reporter recounts his travels and conversations with author David Foster Wallace during a promotional book tour.

Our Two Cents: It was one of the best films out of Sundance this year, Jason Segel is rumored to deliver the performance of his career.

A LEGO Brickumentary (Limited)

Stars: Jason Bateman, Jamie Berard

Directed By: Kief Davidson, Daniel Junge

Synopsis: A look at the global culture and appeal of the LEGO building-block toys.

Our Two Cents: Lego history, legacy and imagination. Looks like fun.