Movies Not to Miss: July 2016
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Movies Not to Miss: July 2016


Which of these are you going to watch?

If we thought that June was the height of the summer months this year, we couldn't be more wrong with the coming of July.

From scintillating spectacles, hard-boiled thrillers, to R-rated comedies and a couple of disturbing horrors on the side, this year's July shows that you don't need superheroes to have a fun time in the cinema.

So here are our recommendations of movies not to miss this July!

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Three years after returning from sea, Alice is pulled back to the land of Underland to find that all is not well. With the Mad Hatter acting a bit more unusual, Alice is in a race against time to bring back him back to his normal self, while meeting with familiar faces and feared enemies.

Director James Bobin will be taking over from Tim Burton, to take us back into the world that he envisioned in 2010, but the returning cast of Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter will put us in good hands. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" will also be introducing Sacha Baron Cohen as the ticking TIme, with voice appearances from Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall and the final film appearance of the late Alan Rickman.

General Release Date: 6 July

Sultan

"Sultan" revolves around Sultan Ali Khan, a world winning champion who has victories from the Commonwealth Games to the Olympics, but has his own demons to wrestle with. This fall-from-grace-to-underdog sports drama, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, has almost everything that you could ask for to be a "Rocky" imitator (it was even reported that Sylvester Stallone was set to appear in it). But you just can't beat a Bollywood take of it with Salman Khan in the lead, and Anushka Sharma playing as his partner in the ring and in life. There are so few ways you could improve the Rocky montage with a musical number.

General Release Date: 6 July

Ice Age: Collision Course

From global warming to continental shifts, the herd now has to survive an asteroid that is set on a collision course to destroy the planet. The herd are now on a new journey to change the course of history, with crazy adventures awaiting them.

Five films in and this is it. This could be the greatest danger that Manny, Sid, and Diego have faced yet. Expected to be the last installment of the franchise, this will be the last time you will see the cast that started it all from 2002. Starting with the original trio, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary, the herd has expanded to include Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg and Jennifer Lopez, to take their final bows.

General Release Date: 7 July

Cold War 2

Hitting commercial and critical success, directing duo Longman Leung and Sunny Luk were quickly set to work on a sequel in 2013, and the highly charged police procedural is ready to come to our screens this July. Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung, Charlie Young, Eddie Peng, Aarif Rahman and Maa Yili are set to return as the special police task force, going up against Chow Yun Fat as the new antagonist. Although few expected to see Andy Lau in the former installment, we can probably expect a few cameo surprises this time around.

General Release Date: 8 July

The Infiltrator

Bryan Cranston may still be a little off from striking Oscar glory after his fizzled attempt as blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in last year's "Trumbo", so it's back to the old business that he knows best; drugs.

Based on the autobiography of U.S. Customs special agent Robert Mazur who went undercover to launder money for famed drug lord Pablo Escobar, Cranston will play as the titular role that gets deeper into the cutthroat world of the drug cartel.

General Release Date: 14 July

Ghostbusters

A pair of paranormal scientists are locked from the academic world after their theories of the paranormal are discredited. When a ghostly invasion, led by a powerful demon, is impending in the city of New York, the scientists form up with a nuclear engineer, a subway worker and a hot receptionist to bust some ghosts.

After decades of never getting a third movie made for the series, it was decided to have the series rebooted with a new all-female cast. Though that decision hasn't been taken well by many of its male fans, but you can't do worse with director Paul Feig at the helm, working with his "Bridesmaids" team, Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig. Also expect cameos from the surviving members of the original "Ghostbusters", and girls will have Chris Hemsworth to gawk at, as he picks up phone calls and takes down messages.

General Release Date: 14 July

Kabali

Superstar Rajinikanth are eagerly awaiting his latest movie, "Kabali" which has had multiple release date changes before finally settling down for this month. Shot prominently in the region especially in Malaysia, the film also stars Malaysian actors Rosyam Nor, Norman Hakim and Zack Taipan. This time around Rajinikanth plays an aged gangster named Kabaliswaran who protects Indian labourers working hard in Southeast Asia. The Bahasa Malaysia-dubbed version of the film will also come to cinemas this 22 July 2016.

General Release Date: 15 July

The Purge: Election Year

Set two years after the events of "The Purge: Anarchy", presidential candidate Charlene Roan and her head of security, Sergeant Leo Barnes, are betrayed by the government and let out on the streets on what could be the last Purge, if Roan survives the night.

Initially planned to be a prequel on the origin of The Purge, this became the first sequel with reprising lead characters with Frank Grillo's ex-soldier, Leo Barnes, having to survive another Purge. James DeMonaco returns to write and direct his third film of the series, upping the scales of the stakes that could change the direction of the future in the franchise.

General Release Date: 14 July

Lights Out

When Rebecca starts seeing an angry spirit in the dark, she returns home to find that her younger brother, Martin, might be stalked by the same spirit.

Working on a simple premise of the things that go bump in the dark, director David F. Sandberg makes his feature debut after expanding on his short film of the same name. Produced at a mere sum of USD5 million, Sandberg has already demonstrated that his clever storytelling and editing tricks can deliver a frightening story through his trailers, and it doesn't get any better to have Teresa Palmer in the lead.

General Release Date: 21 July

The BFG

Adapted from the well-loved novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, Sophie is taken to Giant Country after staying up at night when she shouldn't. Befriending the big friendly giant, they work together to stop Fleshlumpeater, the evil giants who feast on human flesh.

Long been in development since the 90s, it was Spielberg's Dreamworks that finally picked up the rights to the book and put it on film. Casting his Oscar-winning supporting actor Mark Rylance as the lead, the cast also includes Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader and Jemaine Clement as the flesh-eating giant. "The BFG" is set to be a family friendly Spielberg movie like any other, including the masterful touches of Janusz Kaminski, John Williams and Michael Kahn in the cinematography, music and editing departments.

General Release Date: 21 July

Star Trek Beyond

Mid-way through their mission, the USS Enterprise is attacked by a powerful enemy and is forced to abandon ship, stranding them on an unknown planet and struggling to survive.

Having to find a replacement director since he was attached to direct "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", J.J. Abrams would not be helming this ship on its third adventure in the reboot universe. The director's chair eventually went to Justin Lin, who was picked over the likes of Rupert Wyatt, Morten Tyldum and Edgar Wright after screenwriter Roberto Orci vacated it.

This will be Lin's sci-fi debut, but already we can see that he hasn't completely abandoned his "Fast & Furious" roots. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and the rest of the Enterprise crew are back for what could possibly be their last time together, and this would unfortunately be the last time we will see Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov.

General Release Date: 21 July

Skiptrace

When a Hong Kong detective Bennie Chan's niece gets entangled with a crime syndicate, Bennie's physical prowess is no match to rescue her. He would need the help of a fast talker and he gets American gambler Connor Watts to find Bennie's niece, which would take them from the Mongolian mountains to the Gobi Desert.

After 2015's "Dragon Blade", Jackie Chan is off to another international collaboration. Directed by Renny Harlin, this time he is roping in Johnny Knoxville as his foreign sidekick. This would hopefully be a return of Chan's comedy action antics, and the movie can't get any bigger with Fan Bingbing as the kidnapped niece.

General Release Date: 21 July

The Shallows

Shortly after her mother's death, medical student and surfer Nancy Adams is taken to a secret beach where her mother once surfed after knowing that she was pregnant with Nancy. While taking a break on a rock formation, she is attacked by a great white shark and becomes stranded on it where she is cut off from all help by the fearless predator.

This Blacklist script from 2014 was initially set to be directed by Louis Letterier, but in the ended up in the hands of the even-handed Jaume Collet-Sera. Shot primarily at Gold Coast, Australia, this well contained survival thriller works with its simple premise, and we think that Blake Lively might have done a good job on it.

General Release Date: 28 July

Nerve

When Vee enters 'Nerve'; an online reality game of truth and dare (minus the truth), she and her new partner are tasked with more and more dangerous dares by the games' anonymous community.

Adapted from the 2012 novel of the same name by Jeanne Ryan, "Nerve" may be the most ambitious movie of the emerging 'truth or dare' genre. Directing duo Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman bring their kinetic energy and style to this premise that could certainly use it, and this could be a breakout role for Emma Roberts.

General Release Date: 28 July

Jason Bourne

Thought for dead after ending the CIA's Threadstone programme, Jason Bourne mysteriously reappears again during a time when the world is thrown into a new chaos.

Initially hesitant to the idea of continuing from the first trilogy, the reception of "The Bourne Legacy", starring Jeremy Renner, may have changed the minds of Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. Bringing back most of the original cast and crew, except for screenwriter Tony Gilroy (who directed "Bourne Legacy"), the cast is made even better with Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones as the new CIA director who will hunt down Bourne. Though not titled directly after any of Robert Ludlum's novels, it could follow after "The Bourne Betrayal".

General Release Date: 28 July

League of Gods

Chinese mega-budget epics are no longer confined to the Chinese New Year space with this Hong Kong-China collaboration. Adapted from the epic novel by Xu Zhonglin, this ultimate battle of good and evil between gods and mortals is already graced with its God-like cast, starting with Jet Li, Tony Leung, Louis Khoo, Huang Xiaoming, Angelababy, Fan Bingbing, and Wen Zhang as the vixen seductress after having replaced Cecilia Cheung for the role.

General Release Date: 29 July


Related Movies:
Alice Through The Looking Glass (06 Jul 2016)
Sultan (Hindi) (06 Jul 2016)
Ice Age: Collision Course (07 Jul 2016)
Cold War 2 (Cantonese) (08 Jul 2016)
The Purge: Election Year (14 Jul 2016)
Ghostbusters (14 Jul 2016)
Kabali (Tamil) (22 Jul 2016)
Kabali (Malay) (29 Jul 2016)
The BFG (18 Aug 2016)
Star Trek Beyond (21 Jul 2016)
Lights Out (21 Jul 2016)
Skiptrace (21 Jul 2016)
Nerve (11 Aug 2016)
Jason Bourne (28 Jul 2016)
The Shallows (28 Jul 2016)
League Of Gods (Cantonese) (29 Jul 2016)

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