Because you don’t have time to find your horizons (let alone broaden them), we give you Meanwhile Elsewhere: InsideHook’s essential guide to cultural happenings. Also: don’t forget to check out our round-up of the month’s best new tunes on Spotify. Enjoy.
PERUSE: Imperial Publishing
Art? Smut? Both? Either way, these extremely limited edition photo journals — revolving around fetishisms, celebrities and “cinematic narratives on sexuality” — make for some wickedly great photo tomes. Just released: a black-and-white Polaroid collection featuring Emily Ratajkowski, completely starkers. (Out now)
WATCH: Trainwreck
Amy Schumer pushes buttons. While some people mind, her new movie (directed by Judd Apatow) wraps her foul-mouthed on-stage persona into a … foul-mouthed but immensely charming rom-com, and one that’ll appeal to all genders and temperaments. Plus: great cameo from LeBron. (July 17)
LISTEN: Tame Impala
TI mastermind Kevin Parker has slowly morphed his psych-rock group into something more electronic and melodic. On new record Currents, this means disco nods and synths meshing with fuzzy guitars and ethereal melodies. You’ll have standout track “Cause I’m a Man,” an ‘80s R&B groove, on repeat. Think MGMT before they went rogue, or a more guitar-centric Cut Copy. (July 17)
READ: Armada
Ernest Cline’s last book, Ready Player One, was a charming ode to ‘80s pop culture wrapped in gritty dystopian fiction (and Spielberg was totally on point when he recently optioned it). His latest, Armada, centers on a small-town boy who finds himself caught in a galactic battle and heaping with savvy self-awareness: it’s a literary, meta take on The Last Starfighter. (July 14)
Plus: The series prequel to the cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer starts streaming on Netflix, all original cast included (July 17) … Key & Peele returns, along with a new companion show featuring rising comic Hannibal Buress simply called Why? (July 8) … Crooked (July 28) might be the loopiest alt-history novel of the year (“Richard Nixon vs the supernatural”).
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