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 are highly tentative.
REMEMBER: Hanna
Amazon’s seemingly unnecessary reboot of the very good 2011 action flick about a young girl assassin placed a surprisingly strong emphasis on the frustrations of teenage life with just enough conspiracy/thriller elements to woo adults — sort of like the middle of a Venn diagram between the CW, Jason Bourne movies and Killing Eve. Now that Hanna’s discovered a whole complex of trained girl assassins, we may see the action side more in Season 2. (July 3, Prime Video)
Other returning TV shows: A reboot of Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix, July 1); Desus & Mero (July 5, Showtime); 30 Rock as a special one-off (July 16, NBC); The Alienist (July 19, TNT); Muppets Now (July 31, Disney+); and Umbrella Academy (July 31, Netflix).
RENT: Hamilton
You were never gonna get a ticket anyway, so you might as well watch Lin-Manuel Miranda’s epic historical musical with the original cast in an ideal home setting. The star insists this filmed adaptation of the hit stage show gives you a view that’s “better than the best seat in the house.” (July 3, Disney+)
More new films and specials coming to your TV screen: The Tom Hanks submarine thriller Greyhound (July 10, Apple TV+); Charlize Theron’s sci-fi/action epic The Old Guard (July 10, Netflix); Andy Samberg’s Groundhog Day-esque Palm Springs (July 10, Hulu); the gritty, Arthurian Cursed (July 17, Netflix); and Dave Franco’s horror/thriller The Rental (July 24, VOD).
DISCOVER: Peacock
NBC’s entry into the streaming wars has a few advantages, including a deep roster of classic hit shows and a free plan (there’s also a $5/month premium service). Among the new shows you’ll get are an adaptation of the dystopian classic Brave New World, U.K.-set thriller called The Capture, the TV-movie sequel to the long-running USA series Psych, a reality series starring Ryan Lochte and, because it’s NBC, the return of David Schwimmer in the comedy Intelligence. (July 15)
New TV series and specials: The exactly how-it-sounds Warrior Nun (July 2, Netflix); The Grudge prequel series Ju-On: Origins (July 3, Netflix); stand-up special Jim Jeffries: Intolerant (July 7, Netflix); Amy Schumer’s pregnancy/reality series Expecting Amy (July 9, HBO Max); a strip club drama called P-Valley (July 12, Starz); and Black Is King, aka Beyonce’s new “visual album” (July 31, Disney+).
BUY: Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits
A seven-disc set honoring the martial arts great, featuring 4K digital restorations of The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death and The Way of the Dragon, a 2K restoration of Enter the Dragon, tons of new interviews and documentaries, and more. (July 14)
More Blu-ray releases: Pair Bruce with Donnie Yen’s comedic Enter the Fat Dragon (July 14). And discover James Gunn’s first superhero flick The Specials (July 14) as it celebrates its 20th anniversary in a new Blu-ray edition.
READ: Utopia Avenue
David Mitchell’s tackled everything from multi-century, intersecting dystopias (Cloud Atlas) to literary horror (Slade House). Now, he chronicles the life and times of a fictional U.K. psychedelic folk band in the late ‘60s, but really, it’s how Mitchell gets to his story that’s always interesting.
More new books: Antkind by Charlie Kaufman (July 7); Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carrey and Dana Vachon (July 7); The Answer Is … by Alex Trebek (July 21); Chasing the Light by Oliver Stone (July 21); The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (July 21)
LISTEN: The Streets
Mike Skinner’s early-aughts hip-hop was decidedly British and also extremely clever. After a nine-year hiatus between albums, Skinner and his full band return with a mixtape release featuring a duet on every track, including collabs with IDLES and Tame Impala. Plus, he directed his own music video in quarantine, as seen above. (July 10)
More new music: The 50th anniversary release of the Grateful Dead’s Workingman’s Dead (July 10); the physical release of Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters (July 17); The Chicks (July 17); The Pretenders (July 17); X (July 24); and Fontaines DC (July 31).
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