My 2025 July R-Rated Movies Ranked
Here's what I saw, what about you?
Here’s my latest monthly update on the R-rated movies I watched this year. Seen any of these? What did you watch? Share your watchlists in the comments.
2025 Total Movie Stats
170 MOVIES TOTAL | 102% of 167 Movies in 2024
37 Movies at the Theater | 21.76%
128 First-Watch Movies | 75.3%
99 R-Rated Movies | 58.2%
75 First-Watch R-Rated Movies | 44.1%
2025 July Movie Stats
20 Movies | 41.6% of 12 Movies in July 2024
3 Movies at the Theater | 15%
17 First-Watch Movies | 85%
12 R-Rated Movies | 60%
12 First-Watch R-Rated Movies | 60%
January Goal Met: Watch (at least) one movie per day.
February Goal Met: Watch all 10 Best Picture nominees.
March Goal Met: Watch the final 12 Oscar nominated 2025 films I hadn’t seen yet.
April Goal Met: Watch at least 1 movie per week during a busy travel month.
May Goal Made: Watch an R-rated movie selected by each of my kids.
June Goal Met: Watch Sinners in the theater.
July Goal Met: Watch 1 movie per week.
August Goal Made: Watch 1 movie in the theater each week.
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Commentary: July was my month for movies on airplanes. I had an amazing 2-week trip to South Korea, which meant I also had two long flights for plenty of movies! On the flight west, I used my in-flight entertainment menu to list all movies under 2 hours and that helped me maximize how many movies I watched. That made it easy for me to fulfill my goal this month of watching at least one movie a week.
I ended up watching 6 on the way there, 6 on the way back, 1 there (while Fantastic Four: First Steps would’ve been interesting in Korean, it was in English with subtitles), and a few at home, meaning both in my home in the US and in the movie theater in the US.
I missed a few good-looking movies at the beginning of the summer in the movie theater (seriously, 28 Years Later was gone in the blink of an eye!) so my goal for August is to see at least 1 movie in the theater each week. I’m in town all month, so that will help. And August is that magic summer month where new stuff keeps coming out while older stuff tends to linger. Well, it used to be like that. We’ll see if it happens in 2025…
And with that, let’s get to the rakings! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
July 2025 R-Rated Movies Ranked in the order I saw them:
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) 3 out of 5 Teal and Orange Set Pieces
FIRST WATCH | I was pretty bummed at how quickly this left theaters last summer. It came out on Memorial Day weekend and I was occupied. Within a week, maybe two, it was gone. I saw Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) in the theater twice, so I was primed for this one. As time went on, I heard about middling reviews, a meandering plot, and an overall disappointing sequel/prequel. Well, I finally got around to this one and, yeah, unfortunately I have to agree. It’s a plodding plot. It looks amazing, but in a franchise that is essentially one long chase scene, the lack of urgency was much more palpable than what would usually be my heart racing during a movie like this.
A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) 3 out of 5 Hat Toilets
FIRST WATCH | Another one I’d put off for a while, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. The movie is pretty funny, and I’d perhaps give it a second chance down the road. It also feels, and I don’t exactly know how to put this, like it has a strong vibe of “Hey! This is a MOVIE!” It screams it through the performances, writing, and cinematography. It’s not cliche or meta, but you know how some movies’ story is so immersive you don’t notice the filmmaking? This one keeps telling you, “People are making a movie here.” Watch it and see if you pick up on this vibe, too.
Love Hurts (2025) 3 out of 5 Demolished Model Home Furniture Fixtures
FIRST WATCH | Ah, my first of many “on the airplane” movies this summer. I’d intended to see this in the theater, but time got away from me and like many movies these days, if it doesn’t hit big fast, it’s gone fast. Fun movie, moves pretty quickly. Ke Huy Quan is having fun here, and anything with Marshawn Lynch is automatically elevated.
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) 4.5 out of 5 School Break-Ins
FIRST WATCH | Excellent coming of age drama with enough comedy and pathos to satisfy. The violence is rare but fierce, and the emotions are visceral. I was impressed, and was bummed this had been off my radar for 20+ years. I’m going back to this one soon and I recommend it highly. I’ll add that I’ve never seen an entry in The Fast and the Furious franchise, but fast and furious fans may find it cool that writer/director Justin Lin retroactively made this movie a prequel origin story for the character Han.
Bonus Video: a fan of the movie said some comments that came off as really racist at a Sundance Film Festival screening. Guess who was in the crowd and came to the rescue? The man himself: Roger Ebert.
Paris Is Burning (1990) 4 out of 5 Ballroom Blitzes
FIRST WATCH | This is a brilliant documentary. Shot over several years, the raw, truthful footage of the 1980s NYC drag ball culture and the gay, transgender, and people of color communities that led the charge. It was fascinating from start to finish. You get to know individuals embracing who they are, you see the movement encouraging one another to build something special, and you see the haunting backdrop of tough social issues along the way: AIDS, poverty, racism, anti-LGTBQ+ rhetoric and action, and more. Tough watch, great watch. It’s on Criterion Blu-ray and in 2016 it was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the US National Film Registry for its being “culturally, historically, or aesthethically significant.”
The Luckiest Man in America (2024) 3.5 out of 5 No Whammy STOP!
FIRST WATCH | This was the most-popular film on the plane going west, like because it was in the “New Releases” list. I liked the washed-out, retro vibe, and the performances worked for me. I’d heard about this incident on Press Your Luck and seen some independent short documentaries about it. This is a good dramatization.
Flipside (2023) 5 out of 5 Unfinished Ratings Sca—
FIRST WATCH | Wow. This documentary was made for me. Filmmaker Christopher Wilcha goes meta by exploring his life through his passion for documentary storytelling. He shows his initial success, his long string of unfinished projects - some within his control, some not - and compares it with his old favorite Flipside record store and their struggles as he struggles to make a documentary about them. The themes of legacy, creativity, growing up, moving on, impulse control, doing what you love versus doing what you must, and figuring out when it’s time to let go are amazing and more universal than many of us want to admit. Oh, and bonus appearance by “Uncle Floyd” Vivino.
Friday (1995) 3.5 out of 5 Felicias
FIRST WATCH | True story: never saw this. Yep, I’ve said, “Bye, Felicia!” many times. Finally saw this as my last movie on the flight west to South Korea. It’s pretty good. Maybe I’d love it for the classic that others say it is, if I’d seen it when I was younger or when it was fresh, I admit it. I’ll just keep it short and sweet: pretty good.
Deep Cover (2025) 4 out of 5 “Yes, ands…”
FIRST WATCH | Yet another movie that is released on streaming but could’ve made bank in the movie theater. Why not release it in theaters for a limited run and then bring it to your service exclusively? I don’t get it. Anyway, wow, did this make me laugh. As someone who has been an improv comedy performer and coach, I loved it. As someone who is a fan of Game Night, I loved it, though this is much raunchier and more violent, FYI. Three actors - Bryce Dallas-Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed - in roles you’ve never seen them in before, enjoy!
Oh, and if you’ve never seen the 1992 crime thriller Deep Cover with Jeff Goldblum and Lawrence Fisburn when was still Larry Fishburne, you are missing out. It’s one of my favorites, and the Criterion edition is gorgeous.
The Accountant 2 (2025) 3 out of 5 Sibling Rivalries
FIRST WATCH | True story: never saw The Accountant. Wasn’t even on my radar. But here’s the new one, so okay, why not. This was good but I’m sure I’d of enjoyed it more if I was already a fan of the franchise. It’s definitely at its best when the brothers are being brothers. If you’ve had one of those begrudgingly loving sibling relationships, you get it.
Death of a Unicorn (2025) 2.5 out of 5 Will Poulter Smirks
FIRST WATCH | I just couldn’t get into this the way I wanted to, unfortunately. Pretty clunky, and way too long of a run time for the size of the story they’re trying to tell. I enjoy most A24 movies that I see, and I appreciate that they take good risks. Just wasn’t for me this time, and that’s okay.
Sisters (2015) 3 out of 5 Fireplace Ascents
FIRST WATCH | I’d never even heard of this one. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler doing their real-life BFF routine in a movie? Yeah, I’ll take it. Pretty funny, probably 30 minutes too long, and I’m a sucker for a sweet, didactic ending. Also, I did not really appreciate witnessing Bobby Moynihan play the high school version of me. I felt attacked. Pre-cocaine. I want to qualify that. Pre-cocaine.
Your turn!
What did you see in July? Agree with my ratings? Any reviews to share?
Glad you were here today. God’s peace and good movies to you!