August Movies Part 2: Strays; Blue Beetle; Red, White & Royal Blue

August is winding down with a bit of a whimper in the movie department. However, there have still been some decent movies to watch in the theater or on streaming, so here are three suggestions for your upcoming weekend.

Strays: Directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Dan Perrault, this is the story of Reggie, a naive little dog who thinks his owner, Doug (Will Forte), is just playing a game with him where he throws a ball a long way, says Fetch, and then drives off, only to be flummoxed when Reggie returns hours later with the ball. Doug, of course, is a terrible man who should be carted off to a police station immediately for animal cruelty, but Reggie just keeps trying to play with his human. Until finally, Doug drives him all the way to the big city, abandons him there, and Reggie is forced to confront the fact that maybe his owner doesn't want him.

What follows is a grand adventure where Reggie teams up with a bunch of dogs who all agree to help him find Doug and avenge himself. There are a bunch of shenanigans along the way (almost all of which you will be able to see in the trailer for this film) but it is all very silly, sweet, and heartwarming, and extremely R-rated. The voice cast of this film is what truly sells it - you've got Will Ferrell playing Reggie, and the supporting dogs are voiced by Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park, who all have very distinct personalities and do a wonderful job. This is the ideal summer comedy - raunchy, dumb, but entertaining and with a surprisingly sweet message about the importance of chosen family. And with a tight 93-minute runtime, you won't ever get bored.

Blue Beetle: The DC Cinematic Universe is under new management, and they have kicked things off with this assured film directed by Angel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer. Here, we get the story of Jaime Reyes (Cobra Kai's wonderful Xolo Mariduena), a young college graduate who returns home to Palmera City, only to find that his family might be getting evicted and money is tight. Desperate to help out, he seeks out an opportunity at Kord Industries, a giant corporation that is very into manufacturing weapons and glorying in the excesses of capitalism. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in some unexpected drama between Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), the granddaughter of the man who founded Kord Industries, and her aunt, Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon). Victoria is the villain of the piece, a woman who is hell bent on using the Scarab, an ancient artefact that has the potential to be a gamechanger in weapons technology. But when Jaime gets a hold of the Scarab instead, it fuses with him, turning him into the Blue Beetle.

Many shenanigans ensue. Initially, it's all very funny as Jaime is being controlled by this strange weapon that has chosen him to be its host and is capable of all manner of wizardry. But then things get serious as his family is threatened, and he needs to learn to fight back to protect them. There's nothing in this film that is particularly revelatory from a superhero origin standpoint. But what IS fresh and exciting is that this is a Mexican superhero with a very involved family. The supporting cast of Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damian Alcazar, Belissa Escobedo, and George Lopez, who play Jaime's grandmother, mother, father, sister, and uncle, is fantastic, and helps to elevate this film from being a paint-by-the-numbers superhero movie. They bring humor and heart, and while the action sequences wore on me after a while, I never got tired of scenes with Jaime and his family. This is a fun film that doesn't take itself too seriously, and while it's a bit bloated, it has enough charm to be a worthy addition to your summer movie list.

Red, White & Royal Blue: I had already devoured the novel by Casey McQuiston last year, so was very excited to hear that this film adaptation was coming to Amazon Prime. Directed by Matthew Lopez, from a script he adapted with Ted Malawer, this is a breezy enemies-to-lovers queer romantic comedy about what happens when the American President's son, Alex (Taylow Zakhar Perez), discovers that maybe he has a thing for Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), second-in-line to the British throne. Yup, this plot takes the US-UK "special relationship" to a whole other level.

Listen, I can't possibly convince you either way on this movie. If, like me, you are already a huge fan of romance novels and/or queer love stories, you will be entertained to see this tale on the big screen. Of course I think the book is better, but this adaptation is a creditable effort to bring this story to life, and it's just nice to see two hot men get it on and have silly romantic drama that is all going to come to a  gloriously satisfying resolution at the end (spoiler alert!). If you are a snob who looks down on the romance genre in literature and movies, you won't be bothered to give this movie a try. If you're a homophobe, who has no interest in watching a gay love story, why are you even reading my blog, move on! So yeah, log on to Amazon Prime and prepare for two hours of silly, splendid, swoony good times (and also Uma Thurman doing a hilarious Texan accent). After which, I hope you will pick up the book and then come to me for a reading list of other romances you absolutely have to read next.