The Best Movies, TV, Books and Music for June

Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise. 

Note: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, release dates remain tentative. 

DISCOVER: Loki

The best villain in the Marvel Universe gets the star treatment in a series that covers both time and the multiverse. Plus, Owen Wilson!

Other new TV series and specials: A comedy about a Muslim all-women punk band? We’re game for We Are Lady Parts (6/3, Peacock); Lisey’s Story (6/4, Apple TV+) is a Stephen King adaptation via J.J. Abrams; A half-child, half-animal hybrid looks for safety with his own kind in the adaptation of the DC Comics title Sweet Tooth (6/4, Netflix); Sitcom tropes get satirized, quite darkly, with Kevin Can F— Himself (6/20, AMC)

STUDY: VICE VERSA: The Neglected Pandemic, 40 Years of HIV & AIDS

A documentary that takes a detailed look, both scientifically and through personal accounts, at what it’s like to be HIV positive in the USA in 2021. Narrated by Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness. (6/2, Vice)

More new documentaries: Penguin Town (6/16, Netflix); Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer (6/18, National Geographic)

WATCH: In the Heights

Based on the play by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), this musical follows the lives of a bodega owner and a wide community of people in New York’s Washington Heights. Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians). Premieres 6/11 on HBO Max and in theaters.

More new films coming to the small screen and big: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (6/4, HBO Max/theaters); The Amusement Park (6/8, Shudder); Awake (6/9, Netflix); Ghostbusters: Afterlife (6/11, theaters); Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (6/16, theaters); Fatherhood (6/18, Netflix); Luca (6/18, Disney+), Good on Paper (6/23, Netflix); False Positive (6/25, Hulu); The Mysterious Benedict Society (6/25, Disney+); F9 (6/25, theaters)

STREAM: Tuca & Bertie

After being unceremoniously dumped by Netflix after a single season, the critically acclaimed anthropomorphic animated series (featuring Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong) now arrives via Adult Swim. (Adult Swim, 6/13)

Returning TV series and specials: MasterChef (6/2, Fox); The Bachelorette (6/7, ABC); Lupin (6/11, Netflix); Dave (6/16, FXX), Rick & Morty (6/20, Adult Swim), College Bowl hosted by Peyton Manning (6/22, NBC)

READ: Reborn in the USA

Wildly entertaining soccer commentator Roger Bennett (Men in Blazers) describes how he, as an English lad, came to fall in love with America and, surprisingly, American football (primarily via William Perry and the Chicago Bears).

More new books: (6/1) Rememberings by Sinead O’Connor; The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris; Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn

LISTEN: The Avalanches

This writer’s favorite record of the 21st century — Since I Left You — is a beautiful, sunshine-y bit of pop and dance built upon hundreds of samples. For the 20th anniversary re-release, the Australian act recruits new mixes from MF Doom, Black Dice, Prince Paul, Leon Vynehall, Sinkane, Mario Caldato Jr. and Carl Craig. Want something new? Here’s a new Cola Boyy track featuring The Avalanches. (6/4)

More new music: Crowded House; Japanese Breakfast; Liz Phair; Rise Against (6/4); Danny Elfman; Garbage; mammoth WVH; Maroon 5; migos; Sleater-Kinney; Wolf Alice; Cold Cave (6/11); Modest Mouse; The Mountain Goats (6/25). Re-releases and box sets: The Shins (6/11); Muse (6/18).