Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important pop-culture happenings.
WANDER: El Segundo Art Walk
Art walks like the ones in downtown and Venice have become a bit of a zoo. But the one in El Segundo is still easy to manage, especially for families, and is loaded with solid works of art and live performances by small local bands. (Aug. 17)
WATCH: Logan Lucky
Welcome the unretirement of Steven Soderbergh with this Channing Tatum-led heist flick with a NASCAR bent — or, a “hillbilly take on Ocean’s 11,” as one scribe put it. Who cares if the screenwriter may not exist? (Aug. 18)
DANCE: Brazilian Girls
The Brazilian Girls cross genres with a style that’s part electronic and part world music. They’ll be at the Teragram Ballroom, a small venue ideal for shaking one’s tailfeather. (Aug. 18)
BINGE: Comrade Detective
In this extremely meta bit of Cold War nostalgia, Tatum (again!), along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Nick Offerman, dub over a fake 1983 Romanian police drama that celebrated Communist ideals. (Aug. 4 on Amazon Prime)
Speaking of meta, James Van Der Beek mocks the real-life superstar DJ Diplo in the promising mockumentary series What Would Diplo Do? (Aug. 3 on VICELAND)
READ: Mrs. Fletcher
The Leftovers author Tom Perrotta pivots from The Rapture to (no joke) MILF porn in his latest book, which is more a satire on cultural identity, age and sexuality — but does really center around one middle-aged woman’s discovery of a site called MILFateria. (Aug. 1)
VIEW: Happy Birthday Mr. Hockney
August is typically a slow month for galleries. Perfect time to go see some of the exhibits up that you may have missed. We’ll be at Happy Birthday Mr. Hockney, a retrospective of David Hockney’s portraits and photography now up at The Getty. (Ongoing)
LISTEN: Our monthly Spotify playlist
Our 30-song playlist of great new music for the end of summer, including new songs by Cut Copy, Arcade Fire, The War on Drugs, Gogol Bordello, Action Bronson and a ton of new artists.
DRINK: Statesman Bourbon
Out today, Statesman is a special bourbon from Old Forester that’s actually a big part of the upcoming film Kingsman: The Golden Circle (wherein an American spy organization operates as a distillery as a front). We tested it out earlier this summer, and at 95 proof, it packs real heat and a lot of character. Along with Mr. Porter’s upcoming Kingsman wardrobe, this is the rare blockbuster series that lends itself well to … well, not cosplay, but let’s say enhanced adult dalliances.
ROCK OUT: Echo Park Rising
If you like emerging bands with ironic names then look no further than Echo Park Rising, an indie music festival featuring a plethora of local talent. It consumes the hipster neighborhood this month, bringing with it lots of food and cheap beer. (Aug. 17-20)
PERUSE: Heidi Klum by Rankin
Celebrity photog Rankin creates a nude portfolio of the international supermodel and TV personality, because we should all celebrate looking this good at 43. (Sept. 1)
BUY: Eric Nado’s Typewriter Guns
The Montreal artist reassembles old typewriters into works of deadly art … like, say, a vintage Remington fashioned into a rifle.
AND DON’T FORGET: We’re a bit worried about The Dark Tower, but Idris Elba hasn’t let us down yet (Aug. 4) … Aubrey Plaza chases down a social-media star in the promising, of-the-moment satire Ingrid Goes West (Aug. 11) … Horror auteur Adam Wingard (You’re Next) tackles the Japanese manga Death Note, in which a teenager figures out he can kill anyone by writing their name in a mystical notebook (Aug. 25, Netflix) … It’s Keanu Reeves, Traci Lords and two wacky Euro detectives squaring off in the decidedly odd new series Swedish Dicks (Aug. 2) … … Another year, another Madden NFL video game (Aug. 25) … Finally, the welcome return of Hard Knocks (Aug. 8), Broad City (Aug. 23) and The Tick (Aug. 25)
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