The Best Classic Movies Showing in Miami in July

Another month of summer is swinging around, and instead of dying in the scorching heat and humidity, you need to get your butts inside a theater ASAP. And for the folks who don't find anything particularly interesting about these new features, here's another month of classics to tide you over!

1. Kechiche Before Blue
Remember all the buzz that Blue is the Warmest Color made a couple of years ago with all its overt queer sensuality and big win at Cannes? Well, it certainly wasn't the first film that director Abdellatif Kechiche made and Gables Cinema is highlighting his four features prior to it. With each entry on 35mm, the four films will be split over two weekends. The first weekend features Blame it on Voltaire on July 4 and Games of Love and Chance on July 5. The second features The Secret of the Grain on July 11 and Black Venus on July 12. If you want to hit all four, there's a series pass available for only $20.

2. Apu Trilogy
Prior to now, the famed Apu Trilogy had never been widely available in a format that looked better than, well, garbage. But after being restored and reconstructed, all three films in director Satyajit Ray's trilogy will be hitting two Miami theaters this weekend before their eventual Criterion release later this year. The films in the bunch are Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu). You can either catch each part individually or marathon all three back to back at both Gables Cinema and Miami Beach Cinematheque. Gables Cinema will showing them from July 10 through 16, and MBC will immediately pick up after that from the 17 through 21. It's exactly the kind of global cinema chance that few people have a chance to experience.

3. Roy Andersson Trilogy
A few folks might have had a chance to check out Roy Andersson's strange little film, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, earlier this year at the Miami International Film Festival, but the question is: how many knew it was part of a trilogy? The filmmaker, likely best known for his first feature A Swedish Love Story, made three features in the 2000s and Miami Beach Cinematheque will be presenting all three this July. The first is Songs from the Second Floor, showing on July 9, followed by You the Living on the 22. Throughout the month though, audiences will be able to watch his most recent feature in the set, the above-mentioned Pigeon.

4. After Hours
Continuing this month is Gables Cinema's After Hours program, with Secret Celluloid Society's Summer Camp keeping the 35mm showings coming. On July 4, instead of blasting off fireworks, come get lost in space with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. On July 11, it's Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. On July 18, it's A Nightmare on Elm Street. And closing the month, before a bundle of five more awesome screenings in August, is Ghostbusters on July 25.

5. A Woody Allen Weekend
O Cinema delightfully hits Miami again with another filmmaker retrospective this month, after delivering both Spielberg and Kubrick in June. July is taking a different route, albeit with another classic filmmaker whose popularity knows no bounds (and whose recent output has been a roller coaster of good to terrible). Leading up to his new film, Irrational Man, on the 31, O Cinema Miami Beach will be presenting a retrospective of Woody Allen's classic features starting July 24. While all the titles haven't been announced, two that will be included in the program are Annie Hall and Manhattan. 

6. Shirley's
Free! Free! Free! Everybody likes free movies and complementing that with alcohol is always the best decision. So Shirley's at Gramps has got a very summer themed line-up for you every Wednesday this month. Kicking off the month is The Jerk on July 1, followed up by Summer Rental on the 8, Back to the Beach on the 15, Neighbors on the 22, and —- saving the best for last — Weird Al's awesome UHF on the 29.

7. Drive-In
If you can survive the summer heat and humidity — or if you want something other than a theater — a drive-in could be exactly the place to be. This month, the Blue Starlite has four films on their slate. Independence Day kicks off the month on the 1, appropriately so, with Back to the Future showing on the 2. Later that month, The Goonies has two showings on the 7 and 9, followed by Grease (in sing-along form!) on the 8 and 13. 

8. The Leftovers
No, not the HBO show. These are the cool tiny events that don't really fall into any pre-ordained categories. So what does this include this month? O Cinema Wynwood has a party going on after their screening of House Party on July 28 for its 25th anniversary. And over at Gables Cinema, there are two more stray classics; one modern and one truly old school. The first is a free screening of To Kill A Mockingbird on July 14, followed by Y Tu Mama Tambien right around the end of the month on the 25 and 26. 

Follow Juan Barquin on Twitter @woahitsjuanito