Summer TV Watch List: Jeff Bridges' Spy Games and JLo's 'Halftime' No images? [Click here](
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[- - -] [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of June 11 – 17 This week pretty much has it all â it has Jeff Bridges leading a cool-sounding new series, the end of an exemplary season of Bill Haderâs âBarry,â a new show from Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin (!) and the return of our beloved âEvil.â Plus, there are more big new movies streaming this week than are in theaters, including a new Chris Hemsworth thriller, a Jennifer Lopez documentary and a pair of buzzy Sundance breakouts â one starring Emma Thompson and the other with Dakota Johnson. So, yes, a very good week indeed! On with the television! [Premiere of the week]
âThe Old ManâThursday, June 16 at 9 p.m., FX Photo: FX This limited series has an ingenious, paperback thriller conceit (and, truth be told, it was based on a book of the same name by Thomas Perry) and a fine pedigree â it is Jeff Bridgesâ first regular role on a television series and the first two episodes were directed by Jon Watts, whose last film was a little indie art house darling called âSpider-Man: No Way Home.â Bridges plays a former spy who lives a sleepy life in New England with his dogs. When an assassin tries to kill him, he is forced out of retirement, pursued by various forces, including an FBI director played by John Lithgow. With a terrific cast that includes Amy Brenneman (as Bridgesâ uneasy partner) and Alia Shawkat (as a junior FBI agent working for Lithgow) and what looks like an emphasis on tightly wound suspense set pieces, âThe Old Manâ could be a sleeper hit for the summer. [[INTERVIEW](]
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[- - -] [Premiere of the week]
âBarryâSunday, June 12, HBO [bill-hader-barry-season-3-episode-7] Source: HBO âBarryâ has always been dark. The comedy has been threaded with bleakness from the beginning; the title character (played by co-creator and frequent writer and director Bill Hader) is an assassin trying to put his violent past behind him by enrolling in acting classes. But the third season has taken a much, much darker tone. Barry is even more unlikable, especially in regard to his strained, very nearly abusive relationship with girlfriend Sally (Sarah Golding). Thereâs also the increasingly bloody showdown between the various drug dealers (including our beloved Noho Hank, played by Anthony Carrigan) and the campaign of Barryâs former partner Fuchs (Stephen Root) to create a revenge army. Things reached a head with last weekâs episode, which saw Barry embarking on an odyssey through the afterlife after being poisoned by one of Fuchsâ vengeance-seekers. While the show has already been renewed for a fourth season, itâs probably safe to say itâs going to get worse before it gets better. Although the question remains: How much darker can âBarryâ go? [[RECAP](]
[- - -] [Premiere of the week]
âSpiderheadâ
Friday, June 17, Netflix [spiderhead-chris-hemsworth] Photo: Netflix Director Joseph Kosinski has the hottest movie in the world right now with âTop Gun: Maverick,â his blockbuster sequel to the 1986 classic. But since that film was fully finished in the summer of 2020, itâs not surprising that he already had another project lined up â in this case, âSpiderhead,â a contained sci-fi thriller (yes, filmed during quarantine) based on a George Saunders short story that originally appeared in The New Yorker. In âSpiderhead,â Kosinskiâs frequent collaborator Miles Teller plays a prisoner taking part in a mysterious medical test administered by a charismatic pharmaceutical rep played by Chris Hemsworth. (Jurnee Smollett is a fellow prisoner.) Of course, much weirdness abounds as Tellerâs character starts to figure out what is actually going on and Hemsworth continues to push the envelope on the mood-altering experiments. Trading the expansiveness of âTop Gun: Maverickâ for a kind of creeping claustrophobia, âSpiderheadâ is a wild and woolly blast (it was written by âDeadpoolâ scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick), full of sex, violence and yacht rock classics. [[TRAILER](]
[- - -] [Premiere of the week]
âHalftimeâTuesday, June 14, Netflix [Halftime] Photo: Netflix How about a new Jennifer Lopez documentary to make things right? âHalftimeâ uses Jennifer Lopezâs spectacular performance at the 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show to assess Lopezâs life and career at 50 â where sheâs come, where sheâs headed and everything sheâs accomplished in between. (Let us all take a moment and consider that somehow she wasnât Oscar nominated for 2019âs masterpiece âHustlers.â) For a figure as public as Lopez, this promises to be an illuminating look behind the scenes. And since it was directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amanda Micheli, you know that it wonât be some fluffy nonsense. [[REVIEW](]
[- - -] [Premiere of the week]
âLovecraft CountryâHBO Max [Jonathan Majors Jurnee Smollett Lovecraft Country] Photo: HBO Sure, J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peeleâs âLovecraft Countryâ was uneven and sometimes incomprehensible. But itâs hard not to appreciate what it was going for and miss its unmoored oddness. Misha Greenâs series, loosely based on the novel by Matt Ruff, takes place in an alternate version of the American South, one that is stuffed full of witchcraft, wizardry and inhuman creatures. It didnât wholly work, but the game cast (including Jonathan Major, Jurnee Smollett, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael K. Williams and Abbey Lee), inventive visual effects and flights of fancy (including an entire episode set during Majorâs time in the Korean war, during which he has an affair with a supernatural creature), made it a frequently entertaining and never-boring delight. While the series wasnât picked up for a second season (with some owing that to Green fostering a toxic work environment), it was fun while it lasted. [[WATCH](]
[- - -] [Premiere of the week] âEvilâSunday, June 12, Paramount+One of TVâs best series returns. And weâre fairly sure itâll be just as evil as ever. âEvil,â created by âThe Good Wifeâ creators Robert and Michelle King, follows a team of investigators, led by Katja Herbers and including Mile Colter and Aasif Mandvi, who look into supposedly supernatural occurrences at the behest of the Catholic Church. The show thrives on its own wickedness and this season, the first where the creative team knew it would be streaming on Paramount+ instead of network television, could get even wilder. (âLostâ co-star Michael Emerson plays a devil-worshipping weirdo.) If youâve never seen âEvil,â itâs never too late to be swayed by the demonic impulse. [[TEASER](] âDark WindsâSunday, June 12 at 9 p.m., AMCAn adaptation of Tony Hillermanâs Leaphorn and Chee novels (there were nearly 20 of them), âDark Windsâ focuses on a pair of Navajo detectives (played by Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon) who investigate crimes in the 1970s Southwest. (It was previously adapted by documentary filmmaker Errol Morris into a narrative feature in 1991.) This new version is produced by Robert Redford and âGame of Thronesâ author George R.R. Martin and boasts a hooky premise, terrific actors and the possibility of being a midsummer breakthrough. [[TRAILER](] âFather of the BrideâThursday, June 16, HBO MaxHere comes the bride! Another adaptation of the 1949 Edward Streeter novel, this HBO Max original film is set in the Cuban-American community and stars Andy Garcia as the fretful father, Gloria Estefan as his put-upon wife and Adria Arjona as the bride-to-be. (Chloe Fineman is the over-the-top wedding planner, a role immortalized by Martin Short in the 1991 Disney remake.) [[TRAILER](] âCha Cha Real SmoothâFriday, June 17, Apple TV+A breakout of this yearâs Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Apple TV+ for a whopping $15 million, âCha Cha Real Smoothâ focuses on Andrew (writer/director Cooper Raiff), a bar-mitzvah party host who falls in love with a young mother (Dakota Johnson). The film won Sundance’s Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition and was rapturously received by critics, who praised the humor and heart. Could this be the next âCODAâ? [[REVIEW](] âGood Luck to You, Leo GrandeâFriday, June 17, HuluAnother Sundance smash, âGood Luck to You, Leo Grandeâ stars Emma Thompson as a widow retiree who is looking for some steamy fun after a largely boring marriage. She hires a male sex worker named Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) and they share a night together. Critics adored the film and Disneyâs art-house arm Searchlight scooped it up for a Hulu premiere. Sometimes you need a little prestige at home. [[REVIEW](]
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