What's worth streaming in July 2024: It's -2-

"Omnivore" (July 10), a docuseries that examines "the profound beauty and intricate complexities of the human experience through the lens of the key ingredients that connect us all," sounds incredibly pretentious, but coming from creator/narrator René Redzepi, the chef of the world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma, it should be worth a watch as foodie porn.

Apple's also got "Women in Blue (Las Azules" (July 31), a drama series about Mexico's first female police officers in the 1970s, who discover they're just a publicity stunt to distract the media from a serial killer.

And every week brings new episodes of the legal thriller "Presumed Innocent" (finale July 24) and Eva Longoria's dramedy "Land of Women" (finale July 24).

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. Apple's a pretty good value subscription, and has some intriguing newcomers. Just be wary, because too often its shows don't add up to the sum of their parts.

Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $17.99 with no ads)

After a busy few months, Hulu is relaxing in July. Which at least should help viewers catch up, especially with Season 3 of "The Bear." The anxiety-inducing, award-winning restaurant dramedy dropped all 10 of its new season's episodes at once in late June. But resist the urge to binge it over a weekend - go slow, spread it out, savor and digest each episode. And while it's easily one of the best shows of the year, Season 3 is a bit less satisfying than Season 2, largely because so much of it ends up unresolved - that'll have to wait for the fourth season coming next year.

Aside from that: The animated sci-fi comedy "Futurama" (July 29), which premiered last century, is back for its 12th season; "Marvel's Hit-Monkey" (July 15), about a monkey assassin, returns for its second season; and so does "UnPrisoned" (July 17), the underrated family comedy starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo. Hulu also has the true-crime documentary "Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer" (July 11), and a new season of ABC's "The Bachelorette" (July 9).

Play, pause or stop? Pause. It's worth a subscription for "The Bear" alone, but beyond that... it's not a bad month to skip.

Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $16.99 with no ads, or $20.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)

It's a slow month for Max too.

The monster movie "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" (July 4) makes its streaming debut; the NFL docuseries franchise "Hard Knocks" expands with "Hard Knocks: An Offseason with the New York Giants" (July 2), following the team's front office during the offseason; and there's "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" (July 18), a spinoff of the animated "Harley Quinn" series, starring the not-quite-supervillain who opens a dive bar on Gotham City.

Max also has a slew of documentaries, including "Quad Gods" July 11), about a quadriplegic e-sports team; "Teen Torture Inc." (July 13), exposing the "troubled teen" industry; "Faye" (July 17), about the life of Hollywood legend Faye Dunaway; "Wild Wild Space" (July 18), about the new space race; the baseball doc "Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose" (July 24), and movies including Kristen Stewart in "Love Lies Bleeding," Michael Keaton in "Knox Goes Down," and classics such as "Chinatown" and "Twister."

Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) Max also has MLB games every Tuesday night, and U.S. women's soccer on July 13 and 16, as they take on Mexico and Costa Rica, respectively.

Of course, the big draw in July will be weekly episodes of "House of the Dragon," the "Game of Thrones" prequel that is massively popular despite its many, many flaws (like not having even one relatable or likeable character). For a complete change of pace, check out "Fantasmas" (season finale July 5), the delightfully bizarre new comedy series from Julio Torres ("Los Espookys") that's like watching a dream.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "House of the Dragon" fans will keep on watching, but there's no particular reason to start a subscription right now.

Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)

The satirical superhero gore-fest "The Boys" (season finale July 18), has somehow gotten even less subtle in its fourth season, and there's not a lot else to watch on Prime Video in July.

The best of the bunch include "Sausage Party: Foodtopia" (July 11), an eight-episode sequel to Seth Rogen's 2016's gross-out animated movie about anthropomorphic food; "Space Cadet" (July 4), a movie starring Emma Roberts as a Florida party girl who somehow joins NASA's astronaut program that has "Legally Blonde"-in-space vibes; "Tyler Perry's Divorce in the Black" (July 11), a domestic thriller movie starring Meagan Good; and "My Spy: The Eternal City" (July 18), a family spy sequel starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman.

Amazon's (AMZN) also got New York Yankees games on July 3, 10 and 26; WNBA games July 4 and 11; and an NWSL match July 5.

The movie selection looks more promising, with the addition of the ridiculously fun Jason Statham action flick "The Beekeeper" (July 2), last year's "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning" (July 26), and a slew of classics including "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," "Gladiator" "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Taxi Driver" and "Trainspotting" (all July 1).

Play, pause or stop? Stop. Unless you're a big fan of "The Boys," there's no reason to subscribe this month.

Disney+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $13.99 with no ads)

The "Star Wars" prequel "The Acolyte" (finale July 16) has been... fine. Good production value, good fight scenes, but hit-or-miss plotting and inconsistent character development. But while it's been unfairly review-bombed, it's also not strong enough to justify a subscription on its own.

Which is unfortunate for Disney (DIS), because there's not much else to offer in July. There are "Bluey Minisodes" (July 3), a collection of one- to three-minute shorts of the smash-hit cartoon; the musical fantasy movie "Descendants: The Rise of Red" (July 12), a time-travel adventure about the daughters of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella; and the youth NFL Flag Football Championships (July 21). And since it's summer, Disney+ and Hulu also have a ton of NatGeo "Sharkfest 2024" programming.

Play, pause or stop? Stop, if your kids will let you. There's just not enough there.

Paramount+ ($5.99 a month with ads, $11.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)

The delightfully creepy "Evil" is midway through its fourth and final season on Paramount (PARA) and still in fine form, with new episodes every Thursday until its finale Aug. 22. There are also new episodes of "Mayor of Kingstown" every Sunday until its season finale Aug. 4.

But watch that next step, it's a doozy. The best of a very limited bunch include a new season (and 24/7 live stream) of "Big Brother" (July 17); Season 2 of the animated prequel "Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years" (July 10); the music documentary "Melissa Ethridge: I'm Not Broken" (July 9); and the true-crime docuseries "Mafia Spies" (July 16).

On the sports side, there's a full slate of WNBA games, NWSL matches and golf.

Be warned: Paramount+ is raising prices starting Aug. 20. The base plan for new subscribers will rise by $2 a month, while the Showtime tier will get a $1 bump. Existing subscribers won't see a hike until Sept. 20, and the price for annual plans will remain unchanged.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Evil" is fantastic and well worth binging sometime. But maybe wait for a better month, when there's more to watch.

Need more? Catch up on previous months' picks at What's Worth Streaming.

-Mike Murphy

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07-01-24 1920ET

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