Weekend Watch: August 11, 2023
Vamps on a boat, backyard aliens, time travelers' regret and hip-hop's unstoppable queens take center stage...
Happy Friday, TueNighters! We’re cruising into the weekend with another awesome list of movie releases, series drops, and tv shows, as seen on this week’s TueDo List — LET’S GO!
Here are this week’s picks:
Ladies First: A Story Of Women In Hip-Hop (Netflix): Named for Queen Latifah’s iconic 1989 single, this timely four-part doc series recontextualizes the role the irrepressible women of hip-hop played throughout the revolutionary genre’s 50 years by reinserting them into the canon where they belong: at the center, from day one to present day.
The production features TueNight faves Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, MJB, and a galaxy of trailblazers who speak on the unstoppable rise of women in rap.
The series wrestles with a perennial question for Black women across all genres in music: How can women who are so influential in pop culture also be so mistreated and underappreciated?
Painkiller (Netflix): Matthew Broderick, Uzo Aduba, and Taylor Kitsch star in the six-part limited series that explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of the perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin. An examination of crime, accountability, and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of Americans, the series is based on the book PAIN KILLER by Barry Meier and the New Yorker Magazine article ‘The Family That Built an Empire of Pain’ by Patrick Radden Keefe.
Trigger warning: While the series blends fact and fiction, the show dedicates a moment to highlight real-life stories of family members whose loved ones have died from opioid abuse at the top of each episode.
Aporia (Theaters): Since losing her husband Mal (Edi Gathegi) in a drunk-driving incident, Sophie (Judy Greer) has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Faithe Herman).
When her husband’s best friend Jabir (Payman Maadi), a former physicist, reveals that he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice—and unforeseeable consequences.
Fun Fact: The definition of Aporia is 1) an expression of real or pretended doubt or uncertainty and 2) a logical impasse or contradiction.
Only Murders In The Building | Season 3 (Hulu): The lethally delightful series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three strangers share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. In the new episodes, Oliver Putnam's (Martin Short) career comeback is in jeopardy when a murder disrupts his Broadway play, and it seems almost everyone involved is suspicious.
The third season also features new all-star cast members including Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Jesse Williams, and Ashley Park.
Critics’ Consensus (via Rotten Tomatoes): Each mystery still unravels with a fizzy, stylish pop, and every new twist is more entertaining than ever. It's one thing to draw top-tier celebrities to a show like this... Using them innovatively while channeling what we know about them takes a precise hand.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Theaters): Based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, The Last Voyage of the Demeter tells the terrifying story of the merchant ship Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo—fifty unmarked wooden crates—from Carpathia to London. Strange events befall the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship. When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck. There is no trace of the crew.
And the legend of Dracula is born: Historical vampire drama enthusiasts unite!
Jules (Theaters): The story follows Milton (Ben Kingsley) who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls “Jules.”
Things become complicated when two neighbors (Jane Curtin and Harriet Sansom) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. What follows is a funny, wildly inventive ride as the three neighbors find meaning and connection later in life — thanks to this unlikely stranger.
IndieWire’s take on “one of the weirdest movies of the year”: Sometimes, this peculiarly amusing film argues in its own special way, coming face-to-face with the weirdness that life throws your way can be the most important step towards learning how to live with it.
And we’re okay with that!
I'm putting many of these on my "tbw" list, thanks! I'm excited about "Theater Camp," a film by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, starring Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, and Amy Sedaris about a rundown theater camp that needs to do something quick to survive. I love theater, so this sounds like fun to me! (It's playing in one theatre in Madison right now. I'm not sure how big of a release it's getting...)
I started Fisk on Netflix. I’m a sucker for Australian comedies and I appreciate a GenX female protagonist!