The Best Movies, TV and Music for July

Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise (note: you can find our monthly book guide a little later this week).

WATCH: Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan’s biopic of Robert Oppenheimer sounds ambitious. It’s filmed in a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography including (for the first time ever) sections in IMAX black and white analogue photography. Don’t let Matt Damon’s unintentionally hilarious pronouncement that “this is the most important thing to happen in the history of the world” turn you off from this historical epic, which stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Benny Safdie. (7/21, theaters)

More new films coming to the big and small screens: Insidious: The Red Door (7/7, theaters); Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (7/12, theaters); Bird Box Barcelona (7/14, Netflix); Barbie (7/21, theaters); The Beanie Bubble (7/28, Apple TV+)

WELCOME BACK: The Afterparty

The Afterparty follows a different character’s perspective during a single night, and for season two, that night involves the murder of a groom at a wedding. Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao return, this time with new cast members John Cho, Paul Walter Hauser, Ken Jeong, Elizabeth Perkins and Jack Whitehall. (7/12, Apple TV+)

More returning TV shows: Miracle Workers: End Times (7/10, TBS); What We Do in the Shadows (7/13, FX); Foundation (7/14, Apple TV+); Futurama (7/24, Hulu); The Witcher (7/27, Netflix)

BINGE: Twisted Metal

This post-apocalyptic comedy from the writers of Deadpool and Zombieland — based on an old but popular Playstation game — features Anthony Mackie delivering a cryptic package across the country in a souped-up car while being chased by a band of colorful marauders, including a demented clown named Sweet Tooth. Sort of the anti-The Last of Us. (7/27, Peacock)

More new TV series: The Horror of Dolores Roach (7/7, Prime Video); Full Circle (7/13, Max); Justified: City Primeval (7/18, FX); Special Ops: Lioness (7/23, Paramount+); Captain Fall (7/28, Netflix)

Black Mirror’s “Joan Is Awful” Is The Most Prescient TV of the Year

As AI becomes a part of daily conversation, the episode is the most frightening and relevant of the entire season

LISTEN: Blur

Eight years after their eighth album, Britpop legends Blur return with The Ballad of Darren, which is named for the band’s former bodyguard. If the first single “The Narcissist” is any indication, the album should be a melancholy affair full of self-reflection.

More new music: Grouplove (7/7); Taylor Swift (7/7); Cut Worms (7/21); Guided by Voices (7/21); Brad (7/28)

STUDY: Shark Week

It was Sharkfest over on Nat Geo at the beginning of the month — you can still find that programming on Hulu or Disney — but the much longer Shark Week begins near the end of July on Discovery and features Jason Momoa as your weeklong host. Sadly, no schedule is available yet, but last year brought a whopping 25 hours of new shark-related content, including a Jackass crossover and a special on high-flying sharks called “Air Jaws.” (7/23, Discovery and Discovery+)

More new documentaries and specials: WHAM! (7/5, Netflix); The League (7/7 theaters, 7/14 VOD); Quarterback (7/12, Netflix); The Jewel Thief (7/13, Hulu); Black Ice (7/14, theaters)