'Hamilton,' 'Palm Springs' Among July's Streaming Recommendations

by Julian Spivey

​Hamilton – Disney+ - July 3
The moment that many of us who aren’t wealthy enough to have had the luxury of seeing “Hamilton” with the original cast on Broadway a few years back has come with the filmed version of that original show premiering on Disney+ on Friday, July 3. “Hamilton” took pop culture by storm in 2015 and 2016 and now half a decade later you can expect for it to do so yet again with so many more of us finally having the time to see it from start-to-finish. I would be willing to bet the “Hamilton” premiere will lead to the highest number of new Disney+ subscribers since the service debuted last year; I know my family will be joining for the first time. 

---

Palm Springs – Hulu – July 10
With the COVID-19 pandemic causing movie theaters to shut down all across the country many films have taken to premiering on streaming services instead of going the traditional theater route and one of those films is “Palm Springs,” a romantic-comedy directed by Max Barbakow, premiering on Hulu on Friday, July 10. The film, that has been compared to the classic “Groundhog Day,” follows characters played by Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti who are wedding guests who develop a relationship as they’re trapped in a time loop repeating the same day over and over again. 

---

Harriet – HBO Max – July 18
“Harriet,” a biopic of abolitionist Harriet Tubman, that debuted last fall and went on to garner Academy Award nominations for Cynthia Erivo for Best Actress for her title performance and also for Best Original Song for “Stand Up,” which was written by Erivo herself with Joshuah Brian Campbell. If there was one major critique of “Harriet” it’s that it was a by-the-numbers biopic that didn’t take too many chances, but it seems like an important watch right about now with racial strife still a major topic within out country. The film makes its streaming debut on HBO Max on Saturday, July 18 and wasn’t Harriet Tubman supposed to be on the $20 by now … let’s get back on that!  

---

Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist – July 24
Jim Gaffigan is one of the hardest-working and most prolific stand-up comedians of our time and seems to have a stand-up special out on one of the streaming services every year or so, and every time it’s among the funniest you’ll ever see. His latest “The Pale Tourist” premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, July 24 is a two-part (divided over two hour-long episodes) special that followed Gaffigan on his most recent world tour where he traveled the world meeting new people and most importantly trying new foods.