July 11, 2025

WIFF’S WEEKEND WATCH LIST — 7/11

Check out our recommendations of what to watch this weekend.

iF you want something touching

the friend

Vincent Georgie: This Naomi Watts starrer was a minor success earlier this year, but I had hoped this wonderful, uplifting and very touching film would find bigger crowds. Very strong and enthusiastic recommendation here.

Synopsis: New York City writer Iris finds her comfortable, solitary life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor bequeaths her a Great Dane named Apollo. The huge dog immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with Apollo, she begins to come to terms with her past and her own creative inner life.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

if you want the best summer thrills

jaws

Vincent Georgie: Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, re-watch the film that set off a true cultural phenomenon in the Summer of 1975. Forget going to the beach, people were afraid of getting into their bathtubs! The score by John Williams, the editing by Verna Fields…I could go on.

Synopsis: When a young woman is killed by a shark while skinny-dipping near the New England tourist town of Amity Island, police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close the beaches, but mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) overrules him, fearing that the loss of tourist revenue will cripple the town. Ichthyologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and grizzled ship captain Quint (Robert Shaw) offer to help Brody capture the killer beast, and the trio engage in an epic battle of man vs. nature.

Available on Apple TV, Crave, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

if you want something lighthearted

the ballad of wallis island

Vincent Georgie: Terrific music, a spirited cast, and lots of humour and sentimentality in equal measure. This is an under-the-radar film that will be much enjoyed by those who discover it.

Synopsis: Old tensions resurface when former bandmates who were former lovers reunite for a private show at the island home of an eccentric millionaire.

Available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

DOUBLE FEATURE

go back to the park!

Vincent Georgie: It’s great to see the latest installment of the Jurassic Park franchise pack movie theatres and generally please audiences. Regardless, there is no contest that the very best film of this series was indeed the original 1993 version. It towers above the rest, though its follow-up from 1997 does make for a good companion piece, too.

jurassic park

In Steven Spielberg’s massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. While the park’s mastermind, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free and go on the hunt.

Available on Apple TV, Crave, and Amazon Prime.

the lost world: jurassic park

Sequel in which the entrepreneur who genetically engineered the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park transpires to have cloned more of the prehistoric monsters on another island location. Researchers arrive to observe the creatures in their natural habitat, but hot on their heels is a band of mercenaries intent on capturing the dinosaurs and transporting them back to San Diego Zoo.