Month: July 2024

Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

15. Presumed Innocent (Apple TV Plus)

Presumed Innocent is guilty… of having an all-star collection of talent! Created by David E. Kelley and produced by Gracie Abrams‘ somewhat famous father, the legal thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a chief deputy prosecutor who is suspected of murder. Per Apple TV Plus: “The series explores obsession, sex, politics, and the power and limits of love, as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.” Fun fact: Gyllenhaal’s character was played by Harrison Ford in the 1990 movie of the same name.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

14. House of the Dragon (Max)

Before House of the Dragon premiered, I was concerned that it would be nothing more than a shameless extension of the Game of Thrones brand. A DLC to check out but not engage with. Those fears have been unfounded. House of the Dragon quickly proved itself a worthy successor to Thrones (which, disappointing finale aside, is still one of the best shows of the 2010s). It exists on its own terms; it’s possible to enjoy the high-budget soap opera without prior knowledge of Westeros. House of the Dragon won’t be the monoculture behemoth that Game of Thrones was. No show will anymore. But it doesn’t need to be. House of the Dragon is doing just fine out of Game of Thrones’ dragon-shaped shadow (you can read our review here).

Watch it on Max

13. The Boys (Prime Video)

We will stay short and not-so-sweet with random thoughts that I had while absorbing the entire season a few days ago. First, here’s a book-end approach:

– The first thought I had when the premiere-episode credits rolled: “Well, I’ve never seen that body part on a TV show before now.”

– And when the season-finale credits rolled: “I feel utterly destroyed. And invigorated. And destroyed. God, I love TV” (you can read our full review here).

Watch it on Prime Video

12. Problemista (Max)

If you write “Papyrus,” you can get Tilda Swinton to be in your first movie, too. Problemista stars writer and director Julio Torres as Alejandro, “an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador struggling to bring his unusual ideas to life in New York City. As time on his work visa runs out, a job assisting an erratic art-world outcast becomes his only hope to stay in the country and realize his dream,” according to the A24 plot synopsis. Would you believe Tilda plays the erratic outcast? You would? Actually, yeah, that makes sense.

Watch it on Max

11. My Lady Jane (Prime Video)

Meet your summer TV obsession. My Lady Jane is a “radical retelling” of the life of Lady Jane Grey, who was the queen of England for nine days in 1553. She was executed soon after. But what if none of that happened? My Lady Jane, which stars Emily Bader in the title role, is “an epic tale of true love and high adventure, where the damsel in distress saves herself, her true love, and then the Kingdom.” Also, shape shifters (with some Buffy thrown in there, too).

Watch it on Prime Video

10. The Bear (Hulu)

The most stressful show on television is back. The Bear season 3 begins soon after the events of the season 2 finale, with Carmy, Syd, Richie, Natalie, various Faks, and the rest of the gang getting ready to open a new fine-dining restaurant. There is yelling (SO much yelling), food porn, and yes, Taylor Swift songs. Gorge on the 10-episode season all at once, or savior it over the course of a few weeks. There’s no wrong way to enjoy The Bear.

Watch it on Hulu

9. The Imaginary (Netflix)

Studio Ponoc’s affectionately animated The Imaginary is about a young girl named Amanada and her make-believe friend, Rudger. Together, they visit a magical world filled with “creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it,” according to Netflix. The Imaginary is written by Yoshiaki Nishimura (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, When Marnie Was There) and directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, who also worked on a few films you might have heard of: Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away. This one isn’t to be missed.

Watch it on Netflix

8. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Netflix)

Beverly Hills Cop is an action-comedy classic (the Blank Check podcast’s insightful episode with Bad Boys: Ride or Die directors Adil & Bilall is a good listen). Beverly Hills Cop II is pretty fun, while the less said about Beverly Hills Cop III, the better. Even star Eddie Murphy agrees, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to make Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. A lot of familiar faces are back in the fourth installment in the series, including Judge Reinhold, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon are new additions to the cast. But there’s really only one reason to watch Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F: Eddie Murphy. Even without the laugh.

Watch it on Netflix

7. Sunny (Apple TV Plus)

Vulture recently pointed out that Rashida Jones has never hosted Saturday Night Live despite a) being friends with a lot of SNL folks, and b) she has the comedic chops. The campaign to get Rashida Jones in Studio 8H (with musical guest Vampire Weekend?) begins… as soon as I finish watching Sunny. The Apple TV+ series stars the Parks and Rec actress as Suzie, an American living in Japan who is gifted a robot following the disappearance of her husband and son. Together, they attempt to find out what happened to her family.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

6. Sausage Party: Foodtopia (Prime Video)

Sausage Party, the 2016 movie that was the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all-time until Demon Slayer: Mugen Train came along, has been reheated as a streaming series. Prime Video’s proudly vulgar Sausage Party: Foodtopia is set after the events of the movie, with Frank, Brenda, Barry, and Sammy, the characters voiced by Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, and Edward Norton, respectively, attempting to build their own society. The rest of the voice cast includes Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Yassir Lester, and Natasha Rothwell. Expect lots of food puns and orgies.

Watch it on Prime Video

5. My Spy: The Eternal City (Prime Video)

My Spy isn’t the first movie you would use to make the case for why Dave Bautista is the best wrestler-turned-actor, but it’s a surprisingly fun action-comedy. Now, Bautista and Chloe Coleman are back for another family-friendly adventure that involves fanny packs, the Vatican, and a terrorist plot.

Watch it on Prime Video

4. Abigail (Peacock)

Longlegs this, Longlegs that. But don’t forget about another 2024 horror movie gem: Abigail. The film follows a group of kidnappers — played by Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, and Angus Cloud (in one of his final roles) — who are trapped in a house with a ballerina vampire, as one does. Abigail leans on the comedy more than the horror, and it’s a blast. Why isn’t Kathryn Newton in everything? She really should be.

Watch it on Peacock

3. Lady in the Lake (Apple TV Plus)

Created by Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach, Honey Boy), Lady in the Lake is a noir thriller about a housewife-turned-reporter (played by Natalie Portman) who becomes fixated on the death of Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), causing “a chasm [to open] that puts everyone around them in danger.” This is Portman’s first starring role in a TV show, and if she’s even half as good as she was in last year’s brilliant May December, add it to your watchlist.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

2. Love Lies Bleeding (Max)

Here’s one for the freaks (I’m one of you). Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding can briefly be described as a love story between a gym manager (Kristen Stewart) and a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian), but it’s much more than that. It’s also about organized crime, steroids, and Ed Harris in full creep mode. Love Lies Bleeding has a daring ending that needs to be seen to be believed.

Watch it on Max

1. Cobra Kai (Netflix)

What Cobra Kai has pulled off over the years is nothing less than magical. The underdog spin off (which revived a franchise that celebrates underdogs) has accomplished what few TV shows or movies could have ever hoped for: successfully rebooting a 1980s entity while appealing to Gen Z to an even greater degree than capturing the original The Karate Kid audience. (You can read the full review here.)

Watch it on Netflix

Big Sean went in with his freestyle on On The Radar Radio, and people interpreted several bars to be shots at Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West (known as Ye since legally changing his name in 2021). DJ Hed posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he spoke with Big Sean, and the Detroit rapper was not taking shots at Lamar. “Bar was directed at a different Gemini,” DJ hed wrote.

So, Ye?

On Wednesday, July 17, someone going by “bigseandon811” online allegedly leaked Big Sean’s upcoming album and said, “Ye told me to leak it.” Please, take that with the most substantial grain of salt.

Regardless, Big Sean addressed it hours later. “Might as well start droppin, before they leak it all, got damn [cry-laughing emoji],” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “BIG SEAN x THE ALCHEMIST soon [fire emoji].” Sean posted a similar caption on Instagram. Both posts included a 55-second teaser video showing Big Sean rapping alongside Alchemist in an open field.

Last year, Sean was a featured artist on “Palisades, CA” from The Alchemist and Larry June’s joint album, The Great Escape.

Big Sean’s upcoming album will be his first LP release since 2020’s Detroit 2. He will also publish his self-help book, Go Higher, in October.

Maren Morris showed off more than she meant during a recent show. While performing at Willie Nelson’s Fourth Of July Picnic (which was held in New Jersey, not Texas, for some reason), the “Circles Around This Town” singer wore an outfit that Billboard described as “a denim skirt with a severe side slit giving audience members a clear look down there.” We won’t link to the video, but it’s easy enough to find on social media.

Instead of getting angry, Morris laughed off the wardrobe malfunction. “Hey guyz did anything weird happen today?!?!” she wrote in a TikTok set to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” Morris captioned the video, “I think I’ll frame the skirt,” and cannily included a plug for her upcoming EP, Intermission.

The first single from Intermission, “Cut!” featuring Julia Michaels, is about “me holding myself together through the day, looking well-rested, not a hair out of place, not canceling any plans with friends because that’s how well I want you to think I’m doing,” explained Morris. She added, “It’s a cathartic release that doesn’t require secrecy, but there are worldly expectations to keep it together despite your feelings. This song gives me permission to fall apart.”

Intermission comes out on August 2. Until then, you can watch Morris address her wardrobe malfunction below.

Following 2022’s Who Cares?, Rex Orange County is back: Today (July 18), he has officially announced a new album, The Alexander Technique, and shared a pair of songs and accompanying videos: “Alexander” and “Guitar Song.” The album is set to drop on September 6.

Rex says of the project in a statement, “The Alexander Technique is very much a look into my own brain and experiences over the last few years — it’s almost a diary. I’ve made a lot of love songs over the years, and I feel as though this is the first time I’m trying to make a project about everything in life. In my mind, it’s exactly what I’ve always wanted to make.”

A press release notes of the album, “The Alexander Technique is named for a therapeutic practice in which back pain is treated in order to address deeper health problems, and it’s an apt name for Rex’s most raw album to date: what may have begun as a simple exercise in changing the purview of his writing ended up becoming his most confessional, open-hearted album. Stripping back his sound to a skeletal mixture of stream-of-consciousness R&B and indie-folk, while retaining the orchestral lushness that’s become his trademark, The Alexander Technique marks the beginning of Act Two of Rex Orange County’s career: a new chapter on which he lays everything bare, no matter how painful that might be.”

Listen to “Alexander” and “Guitar Song” above. Below, find the The Alexander Technique art and tracklist.

Rex Orange County’s The Alexander Technique Album Cover Artwork

Rex Orange County’s The Alexander Technique Tracklist

1. “Alexander”
2. “Guitar Song”
3. “2008”
4. “Therapy”
5. “4 In The Morning”
6. “Jealousy”
7. “The Table”
8. “Pure”
9. “One of These Days”
10. “Carrera”
11. “Much Too Much”
12. “Sliding Doors”
13. “Lost For Words”
14. “Look Me In The Eyes” Feat. James Blake
15. “New Years”
16. “Finally”

The Alexander Technique is out 9/6 via RCA Records. Find more information here.

PinkPantheress is perhaps most widely known for “Boy’s A Liar” and “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” with Ice Spice, but she has recently shown she’s incapable of lying — even if lying would prevent people from questioning her artistry.

During an interview with Kids Take Over, PinkPantheress said, “I don’t listen to albums. I just listen to songs.” When the host, Arshan, suggested “that’s crazy,” she doubled down: “I don’t listen to albums! That’s why when it came to my own album, I was like, ‘Do people care about tracklisting?’ I couldn’t believe it. Some people would were like, ‘Oh, it’s a great album, but the tracklisting doesn’t make sense.’ I’m like, just listen to the songs.”

The reaction must have been swift and strong. The experimental UK-bred singer-songwriter and producer wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “All that to say; there is no right or wrong way to consume or make music. It’s people trying to say there is that stops people from enjoying + creating art in whichever form they want. who cares if i listen to albums in full lol. It’s music, it’s meant to be unique to everyone.”

In May, PinkPantheress offered a similarly non-traditional music take when she explained to ABC News why her songs are short in a way that later baffled Dionne Warwick.

“A song doesn’t need to be longer than two minutes [and] 30 [minutes], in my opinion,” she said. “We don’t need to repeat a verse. We don’t need to have a bridge. We don’t need it. We don’t need a long outro.”

Watch PinkPantheress on Kids Take Over above.

Long before The Bear, there was another stressful show that was nominated for a truckload of Emmys.

24 ran on Fox for nine seasons between 2001 and 2014, as well as the TV film 24: Redemption, with every episode taking place in “real time” as federal agent Jack Bauer (played with steady grit by Kiefer Sutherland) attempted to stop one terrorist attack after another. Some of the show’s cultural depictions and use of torture haven’t aged well (they weren’t great then, either), but 24 was undeniably exciting — and now it’s coming back as a feature-length film.

Variety reports that a big-screen adaptation of 24 is in “early development.” Mega-producer Brian Grazer previously teased the project on MSNBC’s Squawk Box last month. “Imagine [Entertainment] has always played in that zone where there is that high probability chance that it will be successful in movie theaters,” he said. “It’s great for us, because we’ve built, over 30 years, over 100 different products and brands, whether it’s Backdraft, which I’m now going to do today with Glen Powell, or whether it’s 24, a movie that we’re going to do in a very interesting way with Disney and Fox.”

At the moment, there are no plot details and it’s unknown if Sutherland will return to reprise his role as Jack Bauer. But he seems into it.

(Via Variety)

Tomorrow (July 19), Donald Glover is releasing Bando Stone And The New World, which is being billed as the final album by his long-running musical identity, Childish Gambino. We’ve known this for months, but it still begs the question:

Why Is Donald Glover Retiring The Childish Gambino Name?

In a new New York Times interview (as NME notes), Glover spoke about realizing his days as Gambino were coming to an end while he was recording, saying, “It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ It’s not fulfilling. And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.”

Glover also cited the “continued decline of album consumption” and “disruptions in the touring business” as other reasons for leaving the Gambino name behind. He also said, “Success to me is, honestly, being able to put out a wide-scale album that I would listen to. For this album, I really wanted to be able to play big rooms and have big, anthemic songs that fill those rooms, so that people feel a sense of togetherness.”

While this is the final Gambino album, it’s not the final Gambino endeavor: A couple months ago, Glover announced a massive Gambino world tour that runs from August 2024 to February 2025.

Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud has so far dominated the summer, but now there’s a potential new one brewing, between Britney Spears and Ozzy Osbourne.

On the July 16 episode of The Osbournes Podcast (as Deadline notes), Ozzy and his family were talking about TikTok when Ozzy said, “I’m fed up of seeing poor old Britney Spears on YouTube.” Sharon Osbourne clarified Ozzy was talking about Spears’ dancing videos she posts on Instagram, and Ozzy continued, “Every f*cking day. It’s sad, very, very sad.”

Kelly Osbourne chimed in, “I know. I feel so sorry for her.” Sharon added, “Poor little thing” and Jack Osbourne jumped in, “Very sad indeed.” Sharon then said, “It’s heartbreaking.”

Well, Spears caught wind of all this and responded in an Instagram post shared yesterday, July 17.

In the lengthy written post, Spears defends Kate Beckinsale from some hate she has faced recently, and her post reads in part, “Not as bad as some of my comments saying it’s sad that I’m as old as I am and I’m dancing every single day on my IG !!! Number 1) I hardly ever dance … and number 2) I’m not poor at all !!! I have more ligature in my left toe than any grown man or woman on earth !!! […] I’m gonna do a photoshoot with Kate and tell the Osbourne family who is the most boring family known to mankind to kindly f*ck off !!!.”

Find Spears’ full post below.

What Cobra Kai has pulled off over the years is nothing less than magical. The underdog spin off (which revived a franchise that celebrates underdogs) has accomplished what few TV shows or movies could have ever hoped for: successfully rebooting a 1980s entity while appealing to Gen Z to an even greater degree than capturing the original The Karate Kid audience. To be perfectly frank as well, it’s also no secret that updated versions of franchises frequently do not work, as though studios and/or streaming services are throwing everything at the wall and don’t fully process whether a potential revival serves a purpose. Yet Cobra Kai — full of such heart, honor, and humor — prevailed despite nearly insurmountable odds after debuting in 2018.

With that said, I did have some reservations about whether a sixth season would work because the most recent season finale could have actually doubled as a series conclusion.

I suspect that was the case because show creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg didn’t know whether the series would be renewed again after shooting the fourth and fifth seasons back to back. They (kindly) didn’t leave a cliffhanger and ended the season by jailing mega-karate villain Terry Silver after he went down with a cinematic crane kick. Most of the younger characters’ stories landed in workable places, too. Also, how long can the show milk a decades-old beef between Daniel-san (Ralph Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka)?

As it turns out, there’s still juice in that rivalry, and the fact that Yuji Okumoto stuck around as The Karate Kid II antagonist Chozen adds extra dimension. He was mainly a source of humor and action in previous seasons, and the show now takes an unexpected dive into his psyche. I am here for it.

Do not forget, as well, that this series previously declared, “Youth is not a liability. It is the greatest power.” These younger karate students are more rationally behaved than their senseis, and that payoff continues this season.

So here we are: Netflix renewed Cobra Kai for a final, supersized season to end on its own terms — a luxury in this TV climate — with three parts of five episodes apiece. The final part (arriving in 2025) will presumably deliver a hand-off gesture to the upcoming The Karate Kid movie that will star Ralph Macchio, Jackie Chan, and newcomer Ben Wang. Will there be any overlap between the two, storywise? Probably not, and the film will leave the Valley for the East Coast, but both are Sony-associated projects, so you never know. There is, after all, a surprise appearance in the new Cobra Kai episodes from an actor (with a packed film/tv schedule) who I didn’t imagine would surface.

What was expected, however, is that terminally bad sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove) returns after escaping from prison right about 5 minutes before he would have been exonerated by Stingray’s revelalation. This leads to splashy headlines on a mocked up newspaper, but the show doesn’t dwell much on the why of Kreese staying obsessed with dominating karate. It’s enough to watch him run circles around himself like a cartoon (now training a rival dojo) while deeper development goes on elsewhere, including with these four Miyagi/Eagle-do presumed front runners: Robby (Tanner Buchanan), Tory (Peyton List), Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), and Samantha (Mary Mouser).

This is also a place in the series where the “karate” of it all (the world competition will come later) takes a slight backseat. Not only do we learn more about Chozen, but Tory’s rough home life presents dire worries about supporting her entire family while also training for competition. Other members of the younger gang are on the brink of adult problems, too, that take the show elsewhere on top of being entertaining, which is fine because we do not need this to be the Emily In Paris of karate-focused shows. Since we do need something flashy, however, Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz (Jacob Bertrand) obliges by regrowing his infamous ‘do and regaining his spirit.

With that said, the heightened reality of this show means that the tone won’t grow too heavy, and viewers can still roll with the absurd. This is a world where perfectly choreographed karate fights break out in school hallways, at the mall, in parks, and so on. This also leaves room for Daniel-san to find a mysterious box inside of Mr. Miyagi’s house — which he has always had access to, btw — that will of course lead to questioning what he knew about his sensei. (Cue dramatic music, but that offshoot does go somewhere of value.)

Surprisingly as well, the fusion of Daniel and Johnny’s teaching methods do resolve into yin-and-yang components while imparting sometimes accidental lessons that give these students perspective for the future. Much credit goes to Macchio and Zabka for holding out on a revival until the right offer came calling. The pair’s love for the franchise is evident, and they spread that enthusiasm to a charismatic group of rising actors who, in addition to the above, include Gianni DeCenzo, Dallas Dupree Young, and Griffin Santopietro. (Yes, the worst character reappears, but he is slowly improving.)

While the karate soap opera continues to churn, the actual action points towards a world competition, the Sekai Taikai, after Cobra Kai has been banished from the Valley. Meanwhile, Daniel and Johnny’s joint dojo is officially a team effort, although who knows, the series could end with them punting each other into the sun. That would be overkill, sure, but these guys need all-inclusive vacations on separate beaches while Hawk, Tory, and Robby decide to open their own dojo. A possible spin off? Make it happen, Netflix.

‘Cobra Kai’ returns to Netflix on August 18.

The reach of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” knows no bounds. Schoolboy Q had been on stage at The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert when Lamar rattled through “Not Like Us” five consecutive times, and the former Black Hippy member appeared in Lamar’s star-studded video for the Drake diss track.

Well, Schoolboy Q’s Blue Lips Weekends tour was scheduled to roll through Drake’s native Toronto on Thursday, July 18, but not anymore.

“THey just cancelled my sHow in TORONTO [cry-laughing emoji],” Schoolboy Q posted on X (formerly Twitter). “CANADIAN POLICE DONT WANT NOBODY FROM TDE PERFORMING.”

“TOP was just wit Wayne & Baby smH partynextdoor just Had a sHow @ tHe palladium if we wanted to get yall we would’ve just did it.. now wHen sumbody get Hurt don’t cry..,” he added in another post.

Finally, Schoolboy Q had a sense of humor about it: “Actually I get it.. Nvm tHis sHit Lokey Hilarious [cry-laughing emoji]… Iono wHy dot put me in tHat f*cking video [face-palm emoji].”

As of this writing, there hasn’t been any official explanation for the cancellation. But as it stands, Schoolboy Q will next perform in Chicago, Illinois on July 20. See all of his remaining dates here.