The Umbrella Academy turned out to be a runaway hit for the Netflix audience with its 2019 debut. Based upon the graphic novels by Gabriel Ba and My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way, the show proved itself to be a demented (and tolerably quirky) take on the superhero genre and something that not only felt and looked but sounded refreshingly novel. A lot of this was down to the inventive story: seven siblings were born on the same 1989 day to different mothers and adopted by mad billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who used their powers for his own ends. He proved to be a terrible father for many reasons, which left the group with varying degrees of trauma to overcome. Even more than the intricate worldbuilding, though, the show managed to eclipse a strange-for-the-sake-of-it vibe, which is quite a feat, considering the inclusion of a hyper-intelligent talking chimp called Dr. Phinneus Pogo.
Let’s face it: a lot of things could have gone wrong while adapting the comic book series for the small screen, but somehow, it all worked, down to a fantastically assembled cast: Ellen Page, striking a careful balance of portraying the sibling who was most the instrumental in triggering an apocalypse while being unaware of those powers for most of the season; Robert Sheehan, boosting his drug-addled, sexually fluid character who communes with the dead into fan-favorite status; Mary K. Blige as a hitwoman in what can only be described as inspired casting. I could go on, but it’s time to discuss whether the second season continues the momentum of the first, which was already a rarity in the inertia-heavy streaming era.
Hell yes, it does. The show even manages, in a few instances, to surpass the musical interludes of the first season, which included a most infectious use of an “I Think We’re Alone Now” dance break, not to mention The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen,” along with Radiohead, Queen, and Gerard Way tunes. Let’s just say that, this year, Klaus gets some of the better moments in the musical department, and although he’s still a tortured soul (who’s haunted by Ben), he’s also now a (benevolent) cult leader.
Netflix
This is where I should mention that Five’s time-travel rescue of the group has gone awry, and the siblings find themselves landing in separate years in Dallas, Texas. However, it’s the when that allows the series to blossom while the characters continue battling their own internal demons. Not only does the audience rejoin this set of beloved personalities, but the early-1960s setting gives the show room to explore an expansive historical backdrop — including the civil rights movement and JFK’s impending assassination — upon which it can continue to paint its filled-to-the-brim tapestry.
Naturally, the Hargreeves’ arrival also caused disruption in the timeline, which sets the world on the brink of another apocalypse, this time of the nuclear variety. While dodging a trio of Swedish assassins (one of those oddball details that the show consistently manages to pull off), Five must find a way to unite the group and figure out how to save humanity. As always, the show has no shortage of furiously flying plot points while making time to be character-driven as well. In short, each of the siblings (other than Five, who’s still the same old-man-in-a-young-body) have built new lives and/or are still coping with their residual childhood traumas. They’re doing so while adapting to the times in vastly different ways, and it’s a blast to watch all of these big goldfish crash around in their newly tiny little ponds.
Things are, as usual, complicated with the family dynamics on display, but the show manages to tread new territory in that department by separating the siblings again before bringing them back together. New challenges presented by the era loom large, with the show’s queer representation growing even more prominent, and with the other issues that arise, this season doesn’t simply present a matter of fresh obstacles and hairdos. Yet the hairdos do matter, especially when it comes to Allison, who finds that the reaction to her natural hair isn’t the only challenge of finding herself down South during a particularly pivotal time in history.
Netflix
Meanwhile, poor Luther’s still perhaps the most traumatized of all and turns himself into a literal punching bag. Diego, probably to no one’s surprise, lands himself in an institution, where he acquires a girlfriend who’s even more messed up than his family. Then we’ve got Vanya, whose powers turned out to be the major twist last year. This season, her arc is particularly engrossing, given that she suffers from amnesia and has no bloody idea that she took a chunk out of the moon, or that she’s prone to becoming super-mega-destructive. So, we get to know her on a purer level — which makes the show feel lighter, since Vanya was previously so dreary and angsty — and learn how she might have been without dear old dad’s manipulations. Speaking of which, Sir Reginald Hargreeves does surface, and boy, he’s just as terrible in the past as the present.
That’s not to say that this season gets too serious. Fans know the show will bring occasional dramatic moments, but the show’s chaotic and tragicomic spirit remains consistent with the show’s debut. Somehow, this season manages to be more overstuffed with events as the first one, with the show’s energy staying consistent as ever. You know that saying about everything being bigger in Texas? That’s definitely the case here: the twists are bigger, the impending apocalypse is bigger, and most importantly, the feels (the laughter, the tears, and everything in between) are bigger.
‘The Umbrella Academy’ launches its second Netflix season on July 31.
The reigning WNBA champion Washington Mystics absolutely dominated the Seattle Storm on Thursday to jump out to a 3-0 start to their season in the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. That’s the boring and most simple way you could describe what happened because in reality, it was a demolition that was honestly stunning. This is a Storm team that, while missing head coach Dan Hughes due to him being a high health risk, has the majority of its core roster still from the 2018 championship team. Breanna Stewart is back from injury, Jewell Lloyd and Alysha Clark are there, and Sue Bird is back for another go. This team is stacked and entered the Wubble as the title favorite.
And the Mystics crushed them from the word go in an 89-71 victory, despite being without the reigning MVP in Elena Delle Donne, two other starters in Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders, and their biggest offseason addition, Tina Charles. This is a team playing the literal version of the next woman up mentality and they crushed the Storm with ease. If this is surprising to you, do not feel bad, because just about everyone projected at least some form of step back from Washington, which begs the question: How exactly are the Mystics doing this?
It has been three total games so we should take all of this with a grain of salt and acknowledge that there’s a long way to go, but given it’s a shortened 22-game season, we are 14 percent of the way through the regular season and Washington has two wins over expected contenders in Phoenix and Seattle.
When watching the Mystics, something that stands out is how the general aspects of their system have remained largely unchanged. You would think that a team missing the majority of their key starters would change the system up to fit the massive changes, but instead they have opted to keep the status quo and just shift roles and workload over to different players on the roster. The result is players looking comfortable playing within a familiar system, even as they take on expanded roles. They already know where they need to be and what they would be doing at any given moment. They’re still firing away from three-point range and seeking out ways to create shots there as much as they can. They led the WNBA in attempts from deep last season and they’ve spent the bubble shooting 25+ times in two of their three games. The only time they didn’t shoot 20, was 17 against the Fever, and they dropped 100 points on them so obviously the deep ball wasn’t really necessary.
This is a high powered offense that knows how to function even without its stars thanks to a system that works. They seek out the deep ball and they shoot it with great accuracy. The sheer volume of shots from deep gives them an edge, but of course, that shot wouldn’t have much weight behind it if the defense wasn’t there to back it up. Defending three-point shooting can at times feel sporadic and random, but the Mystics close out on teams. They force them into bad shots. They have yet to give up 90 points in a game while themselves scoring no less than 89. That 89 came against the Storm after they had already wrapped up the game and rested throughout the fourth. They’re playing incredible defense while at the same time scoring in bunches. This is what elite teams do and the Mystics look elite even without their traditional stars.
Elevating players to expanded roles only works if those players take advantage of that opportunity and no one has done that better than Myisha Hines-Allen. Before this season, Hines-Allen’s career high in points per game was 3.8 which she earned in 10.5 minutes per game of play in her rookie season. Her sophomore year she fell to 7.8 minutes and only scored 2.3 points per game. She wasn’t exactly looked towards as a top offensive option for the Mystics, but through three games now she has scored 27, 17, and 16 and is one of the top three leading scorers on the team.
The two other players that have been taking on starring roles are Ariel Atkins and Aerial Powers. Atkins started every game in 2019, while Powers was a fairly important piece off the bench, so both seemed like strong candidates to take on a heavier load with so many key pieces not in the bubble. They, too, have thrived, shooting a crazy percentage from three-point range and helping propel this offense from the perimeter, but Hines-Allen has truly been a surprise force that has not only taken on a heavy volume of the offense but has thrived in it.
Hines-Allen stepping up out of nowhere is a great example of what the Mystics have managed to do so far. They’ve taken a season that had the potential to be lost due to external forces and have refused to back down from their quest to defend their title. While you shouldn’t feel bad if you doubted the Mystics entering the season, if you continue to doubt them from this point on then you are merely fooling yourself.
Here’s something you should know about me: I’m proud to be disabled.
I can picture some of you looking very perplexed right now. Admitting this fact about myself is something I may have said in a hushed tone just a few years ago. Why? By all accounts, I’m not supposed to be “proud” of my disability. Not according to society, at least. But then again, I’ve never given much thought to societal conventions. Thankfully, I’m not alone.
July is Disability Pride Month, which is sparking so many much-needed conversations about living with a disability and what it means to celebrate that. People with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the United States, with 61 million adults living with a disability, according to the CDC—that’s one and four people.
Disability Pride Month is a time to celebrate people with disabilities. It’s also a time to call for changes toward a more inclusive, accessible world. The first Disability Pride Day was held in 1990, coincidentally, the same year as the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA); the pivotal legislation was the biggest disability rights win of our generation and it “prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life—to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services and to participate in State and local government programs and services.”
Maybe that’s why this year, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ADA, this idea of disability pride feels all the more poignant and important. While I may have reached a place of pride now, I didn’t always feel this way.
I was born with Freeman-Sheldon syndrome, a genetic bone and muscular disorder that primarily affects the face, hands and feet. I’ve had around 25 surgeries to straighten my legs, as well as correcting my scoliosis. I spent the majority of my formative years in and out of the hospital. At times, what was harder than all those surgeries was feeling so different from everyone else. I grew up never seeing anyone that looked like me— not on TV, not in movies, not in books or even magazines. At a time when all I wanted to do was fit in, it was hard to stand out so much.
People are shocked when I say I’m proud to be disabled because we still live in a society where pride and disability don’t belong in the same sentence. Disabilities are seen as shameful. They are looked at as something bad. People should feel sorry for us. Who would want to be disabled? That’s a question I’ve heard far too often from too many people. I’ve had individuals tell me that a disability and wheelchair is nothing to be proud of, it’s nothing to celebrate and that it’s something I should be ashamed of.
Of course, people’s cruel words are only parroting the messages society sends about disabilities. We live in a culture that treats disability as something bad or negative. From a young age, disabled people are taught to be ashamed of something that’s a huge part of their identity. I felt ashamed of my disabled body for many years; I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin and, interestingly, becoming a writer that helped me change my perspective. The more I wrote about disabilities and about my life, the more I felt a cleansing of sorts. It was as if the act of writing was literally rewriting the voice in my head that had played on a loop for so long. The voice that told me I was ugly. The voice that told me I was unworthy and unlovable. The voice that told me my disability was shameful. It was as if I was shedding my old skin, making way for self-love and self-acceptance after too many years of shame and hatred.
I can’t help but feel like 2020 is a reckoning of sorts when it comes to disabilities—a moving of the needle toward inclusion, accessibility, opportunity and acceptance. Those are the things disability activists have been fighting for years to achieve. Because where the ADA is about literal access, Disability Pride Month is all about visibility and representation. It’s about inclusion. It’s about opportunity. It’s about celebration. It’s about having a seat at society’s table.
I’m forever proud to claim my seat, to unapologetically take up space and to be included. Finally, we’re seeing this trend of disabled people reclaiming what it means to have a disability. We don’t typically see the words pride and disability together, but for disabled people like me, the two words go hand in hand. “Disability pride” is a declaration as much as it is a celebration, where the disability community is shouting, “Yes, disabled people want to be seen and heard. And guess what? We’re not going anywhere!”
My disability pride has taught me to be more vocal. To speak up. And, yes, to show my face, especially through countless selfies on social media. Disabled people are here and we’re proud. While Disability Pride Month may be about the disability community, it’s also important to have support from able-bodied people.
A huge part of disability pride centers around identity. I know things like “I don’t see your disability or wheelchair” are meant as compliments, but those words are actually quite hurtful. It’s dismissive of my lived experience as a woman with a disability. It’s like saying my disability doesn’t exist. Since my disability is a part of my identity, it’s like saying I don’t exist. It’s, again, viewing disability through the ableist lens of disability is bad and able-bodied is good. It’s assuming that I want to be seen as “normal.” But guess what? Spoiler alert…I am disabled. And it’s not a bad word.
My hope is that one day, we won’t need any entire month to remind people that it’s okay to celebrate disabilities and that society will celebrate us because they see our inherent worth and dignity just like we do. Until that day, though, here’s a reminder one more time: Please, see my wheelchair. See my disability. See all of me.
Three children were shot in an incident in New Orleans’ Seventh Ward on July 13. One of the children, a nine-year-old boy, died from a bullet to the head.
The disturbing news horrified jazz trumpeter, New Orleans resident and father, Shamarr Allen. “I thought how easy it could have been for that to be my own son,” he said.
The news inspired Allen to save the lives of at-risk New Orleans children the same way that he was able to lift himself out of a dire situation.
“What saved me and redirected my path was a trumpet, the music, and culture of the city that it connected me with,” he wrote. “It showed me that success, connections, and differences can be managed through self-expression.”
@CityOfNOLA @shamarrallen @NOPDNews @wdsu “If they give us a gun, we give them a trumpet. It’s no questions asked.”… https://t.co/POkRXrXFcX
— Christina Watkins (@Christina Watkins)1595295919.0
Allen had some spare trumpets lying around so he created a guns-for-trumpets exchange.
“To all the youth in New Orleans, Bring me a gun and I’ll give you a trumpet no questions asked,” Allen posted on social media. “People don’t understand that these kids are trying and wanting to do other things,” Allen told NPR. “But there’s just nothing for them to do.”
He wanted the children and their families to feel safe about the exchange so he reached out to New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who connected him to Shaun Ferguson, the chief of police.
“I said ‘Listen, I have a different connection with these kids because I grew up like them, I know what they’re going through,’ ” Allen said. “They aren’t bad kids, they’re just dealt into bad circumstances.”
The police agreed to liquidate the guns Allen collects without asking who gave them to him.
For the first exchange, Allen received a fully-loaded gun form a young girl. “I would never suspect that she would have [a gun]. And she was the most excited about getting [a trumpet],” Allen says.
He then put her in contact with local musicians for lessons.
After Allen gave away four instruments he reached out to fellow musicians to donate theirs and created a GoFundMe page for funding to expand the program. The campaign is called My Trumpet is My Weapon.
“The trumpet became a weapon that really saved my life, so I figured it may be able to have the same impact for another young person from New Orleans,” he wrote on the GoFundMe website.
In just 13 days days, the program has received over $36,000 in donations.
“The trumpet was the first thing that showed me, ‘Oh I really don’t have to be here. It’s really a whole other world out here,’ ” Allen said.
He hopes the instruments will do the same for other children in New Orleans.
“So if I can create those little opportunities for one or two or three of them, they can actually bring that back to their neighborhood and do it all over again,” he said.
Of the properties Disney has acquired over the years, the most violent isn’t Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm, it’s Muppets Studio, home of the Muppets. Kylo Ren might have blown up a planet, but you don’t see the carnage. In Muppets Now, the first new Muppets series since ABC’s fortunately short-lived The Muppets, you see the mop-puppets (and occasional human) being punched, karate chopped, sling-shotted, devoured, and in one twisted segment, set fire to an Alexa-like device. The only thing missing in the four episodes screened for critics is a fish boomerang, and I’m sure that’s coming. It’s time to raise the curtain, because the Muppets, in their silly glory, are back.
This wasn’t a given, as my hopes weren’t high on Muppets Now. The “unscripted” teasers looked sweaty, in a “how do you do, fellow kids?” kind of way, and I’m still not sold on Joe the Legal Weasel. But the series is a welcome, if occasionally uneven, throwback to the Muppets’ variety show roots. Whereas The Muppet Show (still the best Muppets project, over The Muppet Movie and holiday classic The Muppets Christmas Carol) was a loving riff on The Ed Sullivan Show, Muppets Now finds inspiration from YouTube and reality TV, with the characters presenting individual segments — Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker test MythBusters-approved experiments for Muppet Labs; Miss Piggy sits down with celebrities like Taye Diggs and Linda Cardellini in her Uncle Deadly-assisted Lifesty (or is it Lifestyle?) web series; and Pepe the King Prawn hosts a game show that even Chunky would find chaotic. In some ways, Muppets Now reminds me of a kid-friendly I Think You Should Leave, and now I would like to see Tim Robinson play Fozzie Bear in a live-action Muppets movie. Thank you in advance.
(A brief aside: much has made about the new voice of Kermit, and yeah, even after multiple episodes, I never got used to it. That’s not a knock on Matt Vogel, a talented puppeteer; it’s just hard to hear anyone but Jim Henson or Steve Whitmire doing the voice. Eric Jacobson and Dave Goelz continue to do a fine job, however, as Fozzie/Miss Piggy/Animal and Gonzo, while Julianne Buescher is a nice addition as Beverly Plume.)
Every episode begins the same way, with an over-worked and under-appreciated Scooter scrambling to edit together the whims of his various fellow Muppets into something resembling a concise episode of TV. It’s hit or miss, both for poor Scooter (who also must deal with Zoom-triggering video calls from Fozzie, pitching a pun-heavy stream of concepts) and us viewers. Some segments work far better than others (the Pepe and Swedish Chef ones are personal favorites), but the structure unfortunately doesn’t allow for much interaction between the Muppets. It’s also curious that with so many characters to play with, the show repeats the same handful of sketches.
There’s a lot of promise here, and Muppets Now is already the best Muppets show in decades as is (I stand by Muppets Tonight being an underrated entry in the Muppets canon), but there’s a nagging sense that it could be better by adding 10 percent more chaos. Chaos is what the Muppets do best. Especially explosion-based chaos. But ultimately, if you’re tickled by the idea of the Swedish Chef wrapping an actual mole in a burrito and slathering the little guy with sour cream, while Danny Trejo makes mole sauce to impress a horny turkey named Beverly Plume, you will enjoy Muppets Now.
‘Muppets Now’ begins streaming via Disney+ on Friday, July 31.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show has always given off warm and fuzzy vibes, thanks to a host so friendly she has, well, some questionable friends. But recent reports have poked holes in that façade. A BuzzFeed piece discovered alleged racism and intimidation behind-the-scenes; Variety claimed longtime crew were mistreated as the show reformatted due to the pandemic. On Monday WarnerMedia began an in-house investigation into these claims, and on Thursday, as per Variety, DeGeneres herself broke her silence on the matter, apologizing to her staff.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” DeGeneres wrote in a statement aimed at her staff. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that I am sorry.”
She continued:
“I could not have the success I’ve had without all of your contributions. My name is on the show and everything we do and I take responsibility for that. Alongside Warner Bros, we immediately began an internal investigation and we are taking steps, together, to correct the issues. As we’ve grown exponentially, I’ve not been able to stay on top of everything and relied on others to do their jobs as they knew I’d want them done. Clearly some didn’t. That will now change and I’m committed to ensuring this does not happen again.”
DeGeneres claimed that this she learned that “people who work with me and for me are speaking on my behalf and misrepresenting who I am and that has to stop.” She added, “As someone who was judged and nearly lost everything for just being who I am, I truly understand and have deep compassion for those being looked at differently, or treated unfairly, not equal, or – worse – disregarded. To think that any one of you felt that way is awful to me.”
The daytime TV host vowed “to do my part in continuing to push myself and everyone around me to learn and grow,” adding, “It’s important to me and to Warner Bros. that everyone who has something to say can speak up and feels safe doing so.”
In the three days since the internal investigations were made public, there’s already been one major decision made: Executive producer Ed Glavin, one of the people mentioned in allegations of racism, is exiting his role immediately. It’s not yet clear if more heads will roll.
This was part of a planned demonstration of protest by the players, coaches, and referees, as they have been vocal for months that when the league restarts they need to use that platform to continue keeping messaging on the issues of systemic racism and social justice. While it was generally assumed this would be the case, NBA commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement on Thursday evening that the league would not be enforcing its rule that states players must stand for the anthem, noting the circumstances and the need to adapt to the current moment.
NBA Commisioner Adam Silver: “I respect our teams’ unified act of peaceful protest for social justice and under these unique circumstances will not enforce our long-standing rule requiring standing during the playing of our national anthem.”
It is the right decision and, really, the only decision for the league to make, given that every player participated in the kneeling as well as coaches and referees — and it is expected that other teams will do the same as the bubble progresses. Handing out fines for that in this current moment would be exceptionally tone deaf and given the league has been active in working with the players association on ways they can keep advancing their social justice efforts, it’s unsurprising that they made this call.
Billie Eilish shared her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, in early 2019 and since then her career has been on the up-and-up. The album was met with widespread acclaim and would go on to sweep the big four categories at the 2020 Grammy Awards. It even broke streaming and chart records with “Bad Guy,” the album’s most successful single, becoming the world’s best-selling single of 2019. It looks like another album may be en route, as Billie Eilish has returned with her latest single, “My Future.”
Eilish first announced the single late last week, news that was met with excitement from her fans. The track is the singer’s second release of 2020, following winter’s “No Time To Die,” a track that was to appear in the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, which was due for release in April but was bumped to November after the pandemic took over the nation. “My Future” also follows a short film she released titled “Not My Responsibility,” which was aimed at body shamers.
Aside from the music, Eilish has been very vocal on social issues. After pointing out a double standard in music that wrongfully categorized Black and White artists, Eilish would go on to join Lizzo, Rihanna, and others to sign an open letter to congress on police reform. The singer also unfollowed everyone on Instagram after promising to unfollow “abusers” on the social media app.
Hulu’s come a long way. What began as just a way to watch cable TV without actually paying premium prices for the cord has morphed into a platform with an impressive streaming catalog — a one-stop shop for prestige originals, blockbusters, classic comedy series, and so much more. There’s a lot to love on Hulu, but its movie lineup is one of its strongest features. We don’t really need to do much more in the way of hyping it up, so we’ll just let you scroll through our picks for the best films on Hulu and leave you with this warning: your watchlist is going to get full real quick.
It’s hard to quantify a film as stylishly inventive and socially aware as Bong Joon Ho’s comedic thriller. There’s a reason this film won so many Oscars. It flits between instilling empathy for a family struggling to crawl out of poverty by increasingly deceptive means and the clueless elite whose house they eventually infiltrate. Bolstered by some terrific performances and a gripping script, the less said about the story, it’s twists and unexpected turns, the better. Just do yourself a favor and watch it.
There are prestige dramas and, then there’s The Shawshank Redemption, a thrilling crime saga that set the bar in terms of storytelling. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins play convicts who bond during their stints in Shawshank prison. Robbins plays banker Andy Dufresne who’s convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. He befriends Red (Freeman) an old-timer who protects him from other gangs while Andy begins helping the prison’s warden launder money. Eventually, Andy decides to break out of prison, and what results is one of the more exciting escape stories we’ve seen on screen.
Barry Jenkins follows up the success of Moonlight with this adaptation of a James Baldwin masterpiece. Told in a nonlinear style, the film recounts the romance of Tish and Fonny, two young Black lovers living in 1970s New York. When Fonny is accused of a heinous crime, Tish and her family fight to prove his innocence. The story is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time, and Regina King puts in an Oscar-winning performance as Tish’s devoted mother.
This Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary tells the unbelievably inspiring story of Hatidze, a bee-hunter in North Macedonia who represents a dying breed of ecological custodians. Hatidze and her ailing mother live on a remote mountain range, where she peacefully coexists with the bees whose honey is her livelihood, but when new neighbors arrive to disrupt this fragile harmony, Hatidze must fight for her simple way of life. It’s a moving, intimate portrait of an inspiring woman, and a larger commentary on how our greed and ignorance can irreparably damage our surroundings.
As flashy and over-the-top as the sequin-spandex numbers that graced the ice back in the ’80s, I, Tonya manages to straddle a thin line. It’s both a biopic of one of the most notorious female athletes in the history of figure skating and a raucous comedy intent on mocking everything troubling about American culture at the time. Margot Robbie is brilliant in her role — playing a woman tortured by talent and her inability to capitalize on it — and you can literally hear Allison Janney chewing every scene she’s in as Harding’s narcissistic, chain-smoking mother. Plus that parrot bite is as funny as you could hope.
Terrible breakups are a universal experience and Jason Segel manages to tap into the deep yet hilarious insecurity that plagues us all in the aftermath. When he’s dumped by his movie star girlfriend, Peter goes on a vacation (and mild stalking) to forget his sorrows (and also cry a lot). Along the way, he discovers a little self-worth, a new lease on life, and love, because even with the gross-out humor, this is still a romantic comedy. A hilarious cameo from Paul Rudd and a scene-stealing turn from Russell Brand make this a romcom that will pass even the pickiest viewer’s test for the perfect lazy Sunday movie.
Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is this coming-of-age ode to friendship starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever. Feldstein plays Molly, a politically ambitious high schooler, who resolves to have one night of teenage fun before graduation. She ropes her best friend Amy (Dever) into her plan, and the two navigate a host of wild mishaps to make it to the biggest party of the year. It’s fun and heartfelt and a surprisingly confident first take from Wilde.
There are forbidden love affairs and then there’s this epic romance from French filmmaker Celine Sciamma. Filled with sexual tension and secret rendevous, this period piece centers on a young painter named Marianne who lives on the island of Brittany and is commissioned to complete a portrait of an aristocratic noblewoman named Heloise before she’s set to be wed. The two women form an intimate bond, one that tests their sense of self and their willingness to sacrifice for love.
Boots Riley’s directorial debut comes courtesy of this dark, absurdist comedy that manages to weave themes of class and capitalism into a bonkers tale about a telemarketer living in Oakland who figures out a way to use his “white voice” to make sales. As he moves up the ladder, selling while hiding his identity, he’s pulled into a conspiracy that forces him to choose between cashing in at humanity’s expense or joining his friends in a rebellion against the system. Lakeith Stanfield gives a riveting turn as Cassius Green, Cash, the kid at the center of this bizarre story, and Tessa Thompson gives a commendable performance as Cash’s radical feminist girlfriend, Detroit.
Adam McKay’s controversial biopic lands on Hulu with its impressive cast of Oscar-winners including Christian Bale, who undergoes a mind-blowing transformation to play former Vice President Dick Cheney. The film follows the build-up to Cheney’s White House appointment, as he gains power first as a Washington insider, then as the man pulling the strings of the Bush administrations. Amy Adams plays his supportive, just as morally compromised wife, Lynne, with Sam Rockwell turning in a hilarious performance as Bush himself.
Viggo Mortensen and Kathryn Han star in this feel-good drama about an unconventional family’s attempts to stay together despite outside forces closing in on their way of life. Mortensen plays Ben, the father to six children all living in a remote, wooded area. The kids keep a strict schedule, learning on their own, surviving in the wild, eschewing traditional schooling and activities for Ben’s regimen, which pushes them to think for themselves and find their own purpose. When Ben and the kids are forced to leave their utopia and interact with estranged family members in the real world, his teachings and their way of life is challenged in surprising ways.
Set during the touring years of The Beatles’ career, from 1962-1966, director Ron Howard crafts an intimate portrayal of the world’s most popular band with the help of both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. Featuring 4K restorations of some of the band’s most memorable concerts, this documentary is a must for any film lover, Beatles fan or otherwise.
John Krasinski’s breakout horror flick has made its way to Hulu. The film stars Krasinski and his wife, Emily Blunt, as a couple trying their best to raise their family in the middle of an apocalypse where the slightest sound might attract other-worldly creatures intent on hunting them down and killing them. It’s a thrilling turn for both actors, with twists you don’t see coming and a satisfying ending.
Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson return for round two of this boxing drama reboot. Still training with Rocky Balboa, Adonis Creed (Jordan) tries to bounce back after a dangerous beatdown, resolving to face off against the son of Viktor Drago, the man who killed his father. The film’s tension is heightened, the hits more violent, and Jordan is as confident as ever in his leading man status.
Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star in this women-on-the-run tale of revenge and the chase for freedom. Davis plays Thelma, a ditzy housewife who’s nearly raped in the parking lot of a roadside bar, and Sarandon plays Louise, her sharp-tongued best friend who shoots the would-be rapist dead before the pair flee cross country. Trying to avoid capture by the police even while committing petty crimes to drum up the cash needed for a border run to Mexico, the real thrill of this cat-and-mouse game is in watching these two women go to the mat for each other. It’s feminist art that inspired plenty of movies in the years that followed.
Australian director Jennifer Kent follows up her surprise success, The Babadook, with another dark tale, this time one that follows a young woman on a path of revenge. Aisling Franciosi plays Claire, an Irish convict sent to Tasmania in 1825 who chases a British officer (Sam Claflin) through the wilderness intent on making him pay for the crimes he committed against her and her family. Along the way, she recruits help from an aboriginal tracker and the two navigate racial tensions and prejudice on their quest. Franciosi is magnetic as Claire, a woman who refuses to let the horrible abuses she’s suffered break her and Claflin seems to delight in playing the villain of this story.
Merging high art and science fiction, director Lars Von Trier found inspiration for his story after suffering a depressive episode. Focused on two sisters with a strained relationship, they must now face the reality of a rogue planet set to collide with Earth. It premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where Kristen Dunst was given the Best Actress Award, and the following year the British Film Institute named it one of the greatest films of all time — a rare honor for any film made in the 21st century.
Helping to close out a decade of memorable teen films on a dark note, Heathers is a savagely funny deconstruction of the frivolousness of popular cliques that helped set the tone of many dark comedies that would follow in its wake. The plot involves a popular group of girls known as The Heathers who invite Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) to join them, guaranteeing that she would gain popularity by association. Eventually, Veronica finds herself teaming up with a dangerous sociopath (Christian Slater) in an attempt to break the Heathers’ tyrannical hold on the school.
Loosely based on the ground-breaking manga of the same name, Akira is considered a landmark in Japanese animation, as well as one of the best animated films ever produced. Set in a dystopian future in 2019, a teenager named Tetsuo gains tremendous telekinetic powers after a motorcycle crash, eventually going mad with power before bringing the military-industrial complex to its knees. A live action adaptation has been in the works in some form since 2002, but remains in development purgatory for the time being.
Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton), who’s unwilling and unable to properly care for her troubled son Kevin, watches her life unravel as her husband (John C. Reilly) ignores their problems and Kevin grows more and more sociopathic and violent. The story jumps around in time, showing Swinton’s character as both a new mother who blames her son for ruining her life and as a woman who eventually blames herself for what becomes of her son. Swinton proves once again that she’s the actress that indie movies need for complex characters that live their lives in grey areas. At its core, We Need To Talk is about the importance of proper parenting, communication, and probably therapy. And it’s not for the faint of heart.
Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey star in this Steven Spielberg classic that somehow, feels even more relevant some 35 years later. The film, based on Alice Walker’s iconic tale, follows Celie (Goldberg), a young African American woman who suffers decades of torture and abuse from the people closest to her. Celie’s not the only Black woman to endure hardship – her sister, her daughter-in-law, and her husband’s mistress do too – but the inspiring bit is how each woman finds strength in themselves through their relationships with each other.
Tom Cruise is joined by Superman himself, Henry Cavill in this latest installment in the action franchise. Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt who leads his IMF team but is joined by Cavill’s CIA Agent, August Walker, who’s tasked with monitoring the group after a mission gone wrong. Hunt is tracking some missing plutonium before a terrorist group called The Apostles can weaponize it against the world but he’s thwarted by a surprising enemy.
The war of the Fyre docs kicked off earlier this year with Hulu releasing their surprise flick just days before Netflix’s planned exposé. Both films rehash the same basic plot: a young entrepreneur scams thousands of millennials and investors out of millions of dollars, but Hulu’s movie takes a closer look the aftermath and damage caused by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule, in addition to interviews and close looks at the events of the Fyre Festival disaster with a critical eye.
Nobody puts this movie in the corner … or leaves it off a binge-watching guide. A romantic drama starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, this film has become part of the cultural lexicon. It’s got drama, dancing, and some surprisingly deep commentary on controversial issues – remember that abortion subplot? Of course, the most memorable part of this film is Swayze’s portrayal of a bad boy dance instructor working at a resort for the one-percenters during the summer, and his love story with Grey’s Baby, a young woman ready to strike out on her own. Everything else is just a bonus.
Pen15‘s Maya Erskine and ‘ Jack Quaid star in this modern rom-com about a pair of friends, who agree to suffer a summer of wedding invites together. Alice and Ben have been pals since college, but when their mutuals start getting hitched, and they’re left without dates to the happy nuptials, they make a pact to be each others’ “plus one.” What begins as a chance to score free booze and food quickly spirals into a neverending series of interactions that remind them how lonely they both are and force them to confront their hidden attraction.
A charming, unconventional story about what it means to be a family, Hunt for the Wilderpeople follows a juvenile delinquent named Ricky (Julian Dennison), who is adopted by a couple living on a farm in a remote region of New Zealand. After Ricky fakes his suicide and escapes into the bush, his (reluctantly) adopted father Hec (Sam Neill) goes looking for him, and after a series of mishaps, the two are forced to survive in the woods together for months. It was released during SXSW in 2016 (you can read our review here), and after rave reviews from critics the world over, it’s gone on to become the highest-grossing film in New Zealand history.
Before the Tina Feys, Amy Poehlers, and Maya Rudolphs of the world made Saturday Night Live a female-led powerhouse, comedian Gilda Radner starred on the sketch comedy series. She’s an icon, an absolute legend in the world of stand-up, and she played her bigger-than-life characters on the show with a kind of quirky abandon that made you laugh at them and care for them all at once. This doc looks back at her career, her struggles in an industry that wasn’t always accepting of her gender, and her brushes with more serious issues, like illness and eating disorders. Despite those serious topics, it’s a breezy, feel-good watch for comedy lovers of every generation.
Coherence is one of those low-budget sci-fi stories that is extremely tough to explain without either giving too much away or requiring an extended entry. Essentially, a group of friends sifts through their own issues and insecurities during a mind-bending paradoxical experience. Taking place almost entirely in the same room on a single night, the characters struggle to find answers just as much as the viewer. It’s a challenging yet enthralling film, perfect for those who love to overthink things.
This highly-anticipated comedy from SNL alumn and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg feels like a spiritual successor to a Bill Murray classic, a millennial Groundhog’s Day except this story is set in the sunny world of Palm Springs. Samberg’s Nyles meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti) at a wedding, and the two are pulled through a weird portal that causes them to repeat the same day, over, and over again. Honestly, it’s the perfect quarantine watch.
A decidedly unusual twist on the giant monster movie, Nacho Vigolando’s Colossal follows Gloria (Anne Hathaway), an unemployed writer who moves back to her hometown after her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens) breaks up with her. After moving into her childhood home, Gloria’s heavy drinking starts to take a toll on her before she starts to realize that she may have a significant connection with a towering monster that spontaneously appears over Seoul, South Korea.
The NBA has been in the Orlando bubble for weeks now, but Thursday night was when the restart began in earnest as the seeding round began with a doubleheader on TNT. The Jazz and Pelicans tipped things off, with a Lakers-Clippers tilt serving as the nightcap, and before the games began, Inside The NBA set the table with a 90-minute pregame show that went far beyond the court to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, the push for racial equality from the league and its players, and ending police brutality and systemic racism.
Prior to the game and prior to the first demonstration from players, TNT ran an intro video narrated by Meek Mill — who is vocal about criminal justice reform after his time in jail for a probation violation sparked a national conversation — speaking from center court in Philadelphia, discussing the need for social justice reform, the pandemic, and much more in a powerful video.
.@MeekMill delivers a powerful message for The Return.
The entire handling of the night by TNT was impressive, not only not shying away from the discussion but actively keeping it at the forefront, which is something the players have been consistent in asking for from the league in its restart. After the Meek Mill video, players gathered on the sideline by the benches and all kneeled together above the Black Lives Matter that is printed on the court during the national anthem, issuing a statement of solidarity and protest.
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