Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise (note: you can find our monthly book guide a little later this week).
WATCH: Cocaine Bear / Knock at the Cabin
I rarely recommend two films per month, but each comes with expectations and caveats. Elizabeth Banks’s Cocaine Bear is a comedy based on the real-life story of a 500-lbs black bear that ingests a large amount of cocaine and goes on a rampage in a Georgia forest. It could be hilarious, or it could be a concept that doesn’t hold up and there’s too much bad CGI.
Meanwhile, the apocalyptic Knock at the Cabin has all the trappings of an M. Night Shyamalan movie — it’s a psychological genre flick with a “twist,” which can go either way with the filmmaker. That said, the source material (Paul G. Tremblay’s book The Cabin at the End of the World) is really unsettling and works as both a smaller tale (a home invasion movie) and as a larger apocalyptic horror flick. Early social media reviews have been positive and Tremblay himself seems to like the adaptation.
More new films coming to the small screen and big: 80 For Brady (2/3, theaters); Magic Mike’s Last Dance (2/10); Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2/17, theaters); Linoleum (2/24, theaters)
WELCOME BACK: Party Down
“Are we having fun yet?!?” The cult Starz sitcom (which brought us Adam Scott and Martin Starr) about a dysfunctional Los Angeles catering team returns with most of the original cast back from the initial 2009-2010 run…and the addition of Jennifer Garner and James Marsden, among other newcomers.
More returning TV shows: South Park (2/8, Comedy Central); Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special (2/9, HBO Max); You (2/9, Netflix); Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2/15, Hulu); Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (2/19, HBO)
BINGE: The Consultant
Christoph Waltz is a mysterious consultant who takes charge of a troubled gaming studio and begins a reign of terror. Based on a 2015 satirical novel by Bentley Little, there may be some parallels today with a certain tech company and its new outspoken owner. (2/24, Prime Video)
More new TV series: Detective Conan: The Culprit Hanzawa (2/1, Netflix); The Ark (2/1, Syfy); Dear Edward (2/3, Apple TV+); Animal Control (2/16, Fox); Hello Tomorrow! (2/17, Apple TV+)
PLAY: PlayStation VR2
If you’re one of the lucky ones to get their hands on a PlayStation 5, you may want to pony up for this compatible VR headset, which offers 4K HDR visuals, a 110-degree field of view, headset feedback and a small but potent lineup of games at launch (including iterations on Gran Turismo and Resident Evil). (2/22)
LISTEN: Gorillaz
On their eighth full-length album Cracker Island, Damon Albarn and co’s animated alter egos bring in Thundercat, Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Beck and Tame Impala (among others) for an assist on their weird, funky art pop.
More new music: Paramore (2/10); Yo La Tengo (2/10); Wig Wam aka the band behind the Peacemaker theme song (2/10); Pink (2/17); Lucero (2/24)
STUDY: Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark
The veteran comedian and podcaster surprisingly lands his first comedy special ever on HBO. Certainly bleak (“I don’t want to be negative, but I don’t think anything is going to get better ever again”) and definitely funny, Maron tackles death, the pandemic, father-son relationships and antisemitism. If you want something slightly cheerier, Jim Jeffries has his own comedy special on Netflix a few days later. (2/11, HBO)
More new documentaries and specials: Gunther’s Millions (2/1, Netflix); Murf the Surf (2/5, MGM+); Super Bowl LVII (2/12, Fox); Planet Sex with Cara Delevingne (2/14, Hulu); The Reluctant Traveler (2/24, Apple TV+)
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