Cinema Roundup - July 2026: “And Our Mistakes Will Once Again Be Forgotten”
My favourite new releases July, plus a few I didn’t like.
Starting with my no. 1 new release of the month which won’t be a surprise to anyone, and the rest in alphabetical order. Followed by favourite repertory screenings.
Favourite New Releases:
The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan)
VOX Cinemas, IMAX, Festival City, Dubai
BFI IMAX (70mm), London
“And our mistakes will once again be forgotten.”
Almost everyday during my time in London, I heard someone talk about The Odyssey. Not just in cinema spaces, but in restaurants and on the streets. Nolan doesn’t just fill cinema seats, he gets everyone to talk about his films.
At first, I didn’t feel strongly about it like when I first watched Oppenheimer, but it has grown on me since my first watch, and the more I thought about it. Glad I had a chance to watch it on IMAX 70mm in London. I must say that the regular IMAX screening is just as good, and shouldn’t be considered as a lesser quality experience.
So much has already been written about the film, so for now I will just say I’m happy tickets are selling out and more screenings are being added everywhere - hopefully this stays in cinemas till the end of summer. Hats off to the marketing team for making people feel they can’t miss this, including non-regular cinema goers. But it also appears people are responding to this in a way unlike his previous films. Maybe it’s because of the current state of imperialism, and political, economic and technological chaos. Many lessons from past mistakes have not been learned, or worse, ignored - and history once again repeats itself.
Blue Heron (Sophy Romvari)
ICA, London
“There’s a lot you don’t remember.”
Premiered last August in Locarno, it has been shown at many festivals and I managed to watch it during its last week or so of its release in cinemas in London. Last summer, I screened Sophy Romvari’s short film from 2020, Still Processing, as part of Collected Histories, and this film is an expanded version of it. Grief and loss are handled with tenderness but also with restraint. How one remembers and handles painful memories, and to deal with the absence of a loved one feels like it’s a learning process that never really ends.
The Day She Returns (Hong Sang-soo)
ICA, London
“How can we maintain an innocent face, when our souls are in tatters?”
In this we see three press junket interviews with a middle-aged actress, and a last act focusing on a rehearsal with the same actress.
Many of the questions in the interview are repeated, and some reenacted in the rehearsal - and over the course of the film you notice the answers change. A reflection on life, memories, sticking to your beliefs as an artist and a person.
The Invite (Olivia Wilde)
Curzon Soho, London
“We love a contentious environment.”
Before this, Olivia Wilde directed Don’t Worry Darling which was mostly not well received critically. She seems to have redeemed herself with The Invite as I’ve seen nothing but praise for it. I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch it in London because it had zero chance of getting released in Dubai - too horny, too much sex talk.
I learned from a friend that it’s a remake of a Spanish film from 2020, The People Upstairs (Sentimental) by Cesc Gay, which has already been remade 4 times in 4 different countries, in Italy as Neighbors (2022), Switzerland as The Neighbours from Upstairs (2023), France as Maybe More (2024), South Korea as The People Upstairs (2025) and scheduled for 2027, a Dutch/Belgian adaptation titled De bovenburen.
The direction, script and set design are great, and flawless acting by all four leads - Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton.
One thing I couldn't understand is why was Joe (Seth Rogan) feeling ashamed for inheriting and living in his family's home which looks like a great apartment, and in this economy? Curious to know if this part perhaps makes more sense in the original version.
The film starts with a great quote by Oscar Wilde, “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”
It ends with a dedication, "To Diane"
Diane Keaton 🥺
The Match (Juan Cabral, Santiago Franco)
VOX Cinemas, Festival City, Dubai
“An infinite match.”
Weaves together the quarterfinal match between England and Argentina in Mexico which took place in 1986 on June 22, and 200 years of geopolitical history of both countries. Featuring and narrated by Gary Lineker and Jorge Valdano, and a few of the team members from that match - John Barnes, Peter Shilton, Oscar Ruggeri, Jorge Burruchaga, Ricardo Giusti and Julio Olarticoechea. The editing and pacing fits the exact 91 min of the 1986 match, and includes archives from more than 70 sources.
I thought this was excellent and doesn't matter if you're into football or not - I'm not. It looks good, informative, entertaining, gripping and not a typical talking heads documentary I was expecting. It should've been released in our cinemas in June to mark the 40th anniversary of the match or before the World Cup started, and not the same week as The Odyssey. Sadly, it only stayed in cinemas for one week, so it didn’t even get a chance through word of mouth. There was only one other person besides me at the 1.30pm screening I went to, who also stayed till the end credits - a rare sighting for me in Dubai cinemas. We had a nice chat about the film as we both walked out together.
A few standouts from the film:
- Carlos Bilardo's rituals for the Argentinian team before each match, especially making the team listen to Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart and Survivor's Eye of the Tiger when they're travelling by bus.
- The sparkly no. 10 on Maradona's football jersey was from iron-on American football numbers. Made me laugh.
- The hand of God photo showing Maradona's hand touching the ball that made front page news a few days after the match is wrongfully credited to Bob Thomas to this day. It was taken by Mexican photographer Alejandro Ojeda Carbajal. The copyright laws were loose then and Thomas surely took advantage of this. Terrible. This alone needs its own documentary.
Song Sung Blue (Craig Brewer)
Emirates Airline
“We're all just looking for some hope. But at my age, hope is hard. Hope's not enough.”
A lovely film about doing what you love, even if it is being a tribute act for Neil Diamond, and how life and its daily grind gets in the way of dreams and ambitions. Based on a true story, it is not as cheesy as I expected and found it very moving. Stellar performances by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.
I regret not seeing it in a cinema in Amsterdam when I was there in January.
Toy Story 5 (Andrew Stanton)
VOX Cinemas, Wafi City, Dubai
“I'm losing Bonnie to this device."
Parents need to see this more than kids. Every time I walk by a family where the parent is glued to their phone and children glued to their iPads makes me think of how so many parents are not actually present mentally or emotionally with their kids.
Train Dreams (Clint Bentley)
Emirates Airline
“…even though that old world is gone now, even though it's been rolled up like a scroll and put somewhere, you can still feel the echo of it.”
Another film I’m sad I didn’t get to see in a cinema. It premiered at Sundance last year, got acquired by Netflix and had a limited theatrical release in the US and a few countries in Europe. I’m no longer subscribed to Netflix, so was happy I got to see it’s even if it was on an Emirates flight. Joel Edgerton has such a strong expressive face. I shed a lot of tears.
New releases I wish I liked more:
The Christophers (Steven Soderbergh) - Picturehouse Central, London
Couture (Alice Winocour) - VOX Cinemas, Festival City, Dubai
Keeper (Osgood Perkins) - VOX Cinemas, Festival City, Dubai
New releases I didn’t like at all:
The Furious (Kenji Tanigaki) - Roxy Cinemas, Dubai Hill
Mindtrap (Jamie Adams) aka Pose - VOX Cinemas, Mirdif City Centre, Dubai
Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie (Matthew Johnson) - Picturehouse Central, London
Favourite Rep Screenings:
Marilyn Monroe: Self-Made Star Retrospective
BFI, London
This gorgeous photo of Marilyn Monroe by Bruno Bernard was used for the poster and outdoor billboards of this retrospective and I really wish a smaller sized print of the poster or even postcards of this photo were sold in the BFI Shop.
I managed to watch 7 of the 20 films from the Marilyn Monroe: Self-Made Starretrospective at the BFI in London, curated by Kimberley Sheehan. Two of them were rewatches.
As Young As You Feel (Harmon Jones, 1951)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953) [Rewatch]
How To Marry A Millionaire (Jean Negulesco, 1953)
The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955)
Bus Stop (Joshua Logan, 1956)
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959, 35mm) [Rewatch]
The Misfits (John Huston, 1961)
I want to write a separate piece about this retrospective, but for now I’ll say watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How To Marry A Millionaire are as satisfying and joyous as eating your favourite dessert.
Some Like It Hot is always fun to watch.
The Misfits was devastating, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
Other favourite rep screenings, all watched in cinemas in London:
Near Orouët (Jacques Rozier, 1971)
3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926) with live piano accompaniment by Ashley Valentine, at BFI
Rome Express (Walter Forde, 1932, 35mm) at BFI
Midnight (Mitchell Leisen, 1939) at The Garden Cinema
Adieu Philipppine(Jacques Rozier, 1962) at ICA
Far From the Madding Crowd (John Schlesinger, 1967, 35mm) at Curzon Soho
Near Orouët (Jacques Rozier, 1971) at ICA
Close Encounter of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977, 35mm) at Prince Charles Cinema
The Girls (Sumitra Peries, 1978) at BFI
Radio On (Chris Petit, 1979, 35mm) at BFI
Black Blue Permanent (Margaret Tait, 1992) at BFI
The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999) at Prince Charles Cinema
Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004, 35mm) at Prince Charles Cinema
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, 2013) at Prince Charles Cinema
Lastly, I hosted and presented two screenings at Jameel Arts Centre, part of a collaboration with The Culturist Film Club:
Afterlives (Kevin B. Lee, 2025)
John Lilly And The Earth Coincidence Control Office (Michael Almereyda, Courtney Stephens, 2025)