I've scoured the new releases of Amazon's Prime and FreeVee platforms this month to present the best new, and new-to-streaming, movies and shows the services have to offer, plus a couple older choices for extra flavor.

If you're into fresh comedy, Amazon original movie Space Cadet could be your jam, and so could the new animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia. If you're into domestic drama, check out Tyler Perry's Divorce in Black. Action fans can choose between recent action flicks The Beekeeper or Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. So there's a lot to watch this month. Below are some suggestions.

Space Cadet

Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer is chosen to fly in a space shuttle mission? Space Cadet is like the training montage made into a fish-out-of-water comedy. It stars Emma Roberts as Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a Florida party girl who’s always dreamed of being an astronaut. Her background is in bar-hopping instead astrophysics, so she lies on her LinkedIn and gets into NASA’s competitive astronaut training program. Surrounded by ambitious PhDs and engineers, Simpson tries to keep up her “smart and accomplished” ruse long enough to be blasted into space. If you like female-led comedy and jokes about science, Space Cadet might be your favorite movie.  

Starts streaming July 4.

Sausage Party: Foodtopia

Based on 2016’s CGI feature Sausage Party, Foodtopia details the efforts of sentient hot dogs, bananas, and other foods to create a society where they won’t have their heads bitten off just because someone is peckish. It’s sure to be packed with the scatological and raunchy humor audiences enjoyed in the original film, so it’s definitely not for kids. The eight-episode series features the return of voice talent from the original, including Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, Sam Richardson, and Will Forte. If you like your comedy uncut, this might be your new summer show. 

Tyler Perry’s Divorce in Black

Prolific writer/director/producer Tyler Perry takes on divorce in this drama starring Meagan Good and Cory Hardrict. Good plays Ava, a bank professional, whose life is upended when her husband (Hardrict) walks out of their home. She’s set on fighting to save her marriage until she uncovers secrets that suggest her husband has a very dark side and sabotaged a past relationship with Ava’s true soulmate. 

Starts streaming July 11.

The Beekeeper (2024)

The Beekeeper should be terrible. The premise makes you picture a slimy producer at a Hollywood development meeting saying, “It’s John Wick—but with bees!” But miraculously, The Beekeeper is not terrible. People like this Jason Statham-led action movie enough that it’s sitting at 92% audience approval at Rotten Tomatoes.  Even finicky critics like The Beekeeper enough for a 71% fresh rating. It’s not going to change your life or anything, but it you’re looking for a dumb-fun action flick about a British badass who beats everyone up, The Beekeeper is for you. 

Starts streaming July 2.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)

In case you haven't heard of him, Tom Cruise is a national treasure and the world’s greatest movie star who does his own stunts even though he’s 112 years old. In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Cruise turns his charisma up to 15 million gigawatts in his recurring role of Ethan Hunt, agent of the Impossible Mission Force. The plot has something to do with an evil mastermind trying to take over the world with artificial intelligence or something, but it really doesn’t matter. Mission Impossible movies live or die based on the quality and quantity of their over-the-top action set-pieces, and Dead Reckoning over-delivers. It takes action to such ludicrous, even critics like it—the movie has a 96% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Starts streaming July 25.

My Spy The Eternal City (2024)

Released in 2020, My Spy is one of a fair number of action/comedies where a tough guy and a little kid become unlikely partners. The sequel explores this rarely-misses formula by reuniting stars Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman for a feel-good family adventure. It begins with JJ volunteering to chaperone his new daughter’s choir group on a trip to Rome to perform for the Pope. Things go south when the pair run afoul of International terrorists. Hilarious character actors Ken Jeong and Kristen Schaal return, and are joined by Anna Faris, Craig Robinson, and Flula Borg. Eternal City is full of stars, laughs, and exciting-but-not-distressing action—a perfect summer flick. 

Starts streaming July 18.

Sam Morril: You've Changed

Gravel-voiced stand-up Sam Morril takes the stage in a stand-up special where he drops hot takes on everything from the worst person he's ever dated, to the challenges of aging, to the dangers of social media, all delivered in the laid-back style Morril is known for. If you like people making ha-ha jokes at you, Sam Morril: You’ve Changed will make you laugh, or at least say “heh” a few times. 

Starts streaming July 9.

Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net

Cirque du Soleil, the circus that costs $100, had a rough time during the pandemic lockdown—it’s a cool show and all, but is it worth contracting Covid? Without a Net documents the struggles of Cirque's crew and performers as they dust off the trapeze and harnesses and work toward a grand re-opening in Las Vegas. With that famous the-show-must-go-on ethic driving it, the world’s most high-class circus journey’s back from the brink in an inspiring story. 

Starts streaming July 25

Rocky 1-6

If you’re looking for a summertime movie binge, consider hitting play on the first five Rocky movies and following the career of the Italian Stallion from his unlikely title fight shot in 1976’s Rocky to his brief career as a trainer in 1990’s Rocky 5. The Rocky franchise follows an arc as dramatic and erratic as its main character’s: It goes from a downbeat beginning about a palooka whose redemption comes through surviving a beating instead of winning a fight, to the over-amped, montage-heavy live-action cartoon Rocky IV, where Rocky KOs Ivan Drago in a battle that’s really about America-brand Freedom beating up Communist oppression. Then there’s the coda, Rocky V, where Rocky doesn’t even box. 

Starts streaming July 1.

Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly

There are few film franchises better than Sergio Leone’s “Dollars trilogy” (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good the Bad and Ugly), Steely-eyed Clint Eastwood defines cool as a nameless antihero locked in epic struggles against black-hatted adversaries (usually played by Lee Van Cleef) in a mythic version of the The American West. These aren’t really stories about cowboys as much as legends of Gods from some unfamiliar pantheon. So watch all these movies instead of doing anything else, please. 

Starts streaming July 1.

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

1981’s The Evil Dead is one of the best horror movies ever made, but sadly, it’s only on streaming on AMC+. Prime subscribers get a tasty consolation prize with Evil Dead Rise, a thoroughly enjoyable, suitably bloody, modern addition to the franchise. Evil Dead Rise drops the isolated cabin-in-the-woods location in favor of a deadite invasion in a city. It also features characters that are interesting enough that you might think they exist for reasons other than to be killed and eaten by undead monsters. They don’t, of course, because this is an Evil Dead movie. Like all the Evil Dead movies, it’s a gory, scary, silly, and fun treat for fans of horror mayhem.

Starts streaming July 2.

Last month's picks

Oppenheimer (2023)

Christopher Nolan's biopic about the inventor of atomic weapons took home seven Oscars, including best picture, and it also made over $900 million at the box office. Cillian Murphy stars as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, a complex, driven visionary tasked with creating the most destructive weapon in human history to fight the Axis powers during World War II. Spoiler: he succeeds, but Oppenheimer, both the movie and man, end up wondering if atomic weapons were actually such a great idea.

Starts streaming June 18.

The Boys, Season 4

The Boys, as they say, are back in town. In season four, the world is on the brink of collapse as evil Victoria Neuman gets closer to the Oval Office. If this were a normal superhero show, weirdos wearing underwear and capes would spring into action on behalf of mankind, but this is The Boys, so the corrupt, arrogant superheroes are causing the trouble in the first place, and only the titular team of un-super-powered CIA agents can stop them.

Starts streaming June 13.

Skyfall (2012)

In Skyfall, director Sam Mendes jettisons the campy gadgets and goofiness and goes for a "modern Bond" blend of intensity and breeziness that works perfectly with Daniel Craig's nuanced portrayal of the secret agent. The third James Bond movie starring Craig, Skyfall's Rotten Tomatoes score is 92%, and the Bond fan community generally places this flick in the company of the best films in the long-running series. If you know anyone who hasn't seen a Bond movie, this is a great way to jump in.

Starts streaming June 1.

I Am: Celine Dion

This original Prime documentary explores singer Celine Dion's struggle with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disease. Described in a press release as an "emotional, energetic, and poetic love letter to music," I Am: Celine Dion takes viewers from the dressing room to the recording studio to the stage and captures an intimate look at the superstar singer's private life and struggles.

Starts streaming June 25

My Lady Jane

The real Lady Jane Grey was a Tudor noblewoman who became Queen of England in 1553 but only ruled for nine days before being beheaded. This Prime original series explores what might have happened if The Nine Days' Queen had kept her head. Based on the best-selling YA novel of the same name by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane is "an epic tale of true love and high adventure set in an alt-universe of action, history, fantasy, comedy, romance, and rompy-pompy," according to Amazon's promotional material.

Starts streaming June 27.

Counsel Culture

I'm intrigued by this upcoming Prime talk show. Based on host Nick Cannon's podcast of the same name, Counsel Culture is billed as a "safe space and a brave place for men to be vulnerable," but is a panel of dudes discussing mental health, masculinity, dating, and other dude topics the kind of thing men want to watch? Time will tell. Cannon is joined by therapist Dr. Mike Dow and psychiatrist Dr. Ish Major, and guest co-hosts include Howie Mandel, Lamar Odom, DeSean Jackson, and more.

Starts streaming June 6.

Marlon Wayans: Good Grief

Speaking of men sharing their feelings, in his new special Good Grief, stand-up comedian/actor/maker Marlon Wayans gets real about the death of his parents, but does it in a funny way. Filmed at Harlem's famous Apollo theater, Wayans's comedy-meet-therapy performance is based on the motto that "all grief is good grief," and touches on topics like which Wayans brother is funniest, and how remarkable it is that the matriarch of the Wayans family raised "five millionaires but only one crackhead."

Starts streaming June 4

Mean Girls (2024)

Written by and starring the supernaturally talented Tina Fey, this Gen-Z remake of the beloved 2004 movie adds original songs to the teen comedy mix. Up-and-comer Angourie Rice plays Cady Heron, a new girl at North Shore High School who is forced to navigate the backbiting cliques that make high school such a fantastic time. The cast includes Reneé Rapp, Jon Hamm, Auli'i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Tina Fey, and Tim Meadows, so if you like crowd-pleasing comedies with can't-miss performances, check out Mean Girls.

Judy (2019)

Judy explores the over-sized life of iconic movie star Judy Garland, specifically, her last years in London, when films like The Wizard of Oz were a distant cultural memory and Garland was too broke to pay her hotel bill. Trying to stage another in an endless series of "comebacks," Garland juggles her professional responsibilities with her fierce protectiveness over her children, all while battling alcoholism and drug addiction. Darci Shaw plays young Judy, but the movie really belongs to Renée Zellweger, whose portrayal of time-has-caught-up-with-her Judy is heartbreaking.

Starts streaming June 26.

Godzilla Movie Marathon

I associate Godzilla movies with the 1960s and 1970s, but there's more in the Godzilla cinematic universe than cheesy, guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks from 50 years ago: There's cheesy guy-in-a-rubber-suit flicks made more recently! In June, Prime is streaming eight made-in-Japan Godzilla movies released between 1999 and 2004, including Godzilla Vs. Spacegodzilla (1999), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2004), Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah (1999), and Godzilla, Mothra, And King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2003). All of these, I assume, are amazing.

Starts streaming June 1.

Hulu's schedule this month is a bit summertime light, but there are some gems premiering if you dig a little. There's a new season of Futurama, for instance, and a grip of shark-based specials streaming as part of National Geographic's Sharkfest. If you're a ghoul like me, you can check out a couple of interesting looking new true-crime shows too: Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order and Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer.

Futurama, season 12

Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's iconic sci-fi cartoon Futurama is back this month for a 12th season, with 10 new episodes coming. Fry, Bender, Leela, and everyone else will be back to discover the secret of Bender's ancestors, learn the story behind coffee, and make sardonic jokes about the present even though it takes place in the year 3,000 or so. If you've never seen Futurama, you'll have nearly all month to catch up on the previous 12 seasons—they're also available on Hulu.

Starts streaming July 29.

Sharkfest

You know why they don't call it "Shark Week" anymore? Because it's expanded to an entire damn month. Hulu will feature a ton of streamable specials in July concerning Mankind's underwater enemies, including Attack of the Red Sea Sharks, Baby Sharks in the City, Shark Attack 360, Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie, Shark vs. Ross Edgley, Sharks Gone Viral, Supersized Sharks, and When Will We Finally Kill all these Goddamn Sharks? (I made that last one up).

Starts streaming July 1.

Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order

If you're a true crime fan, do not miss Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order. Reid is a psychologist with a singular obsession: catching killers. So she recruited a cadre of women that share her passion from various disciplines and backgrounds, dubbed them "The Midnight Order," and started tracking down criminals. The Midnight Order works outside the system and uses cutting-edge data skills and forensic knowledge to heat up cold cases—like Batman, but not fake. This series takes viewers inside their most intriguing investigations and introduces us to the women who have made Justice their profession.

Starts streaming July 10.

Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer

In 1978, psychiatric nurse Ann Burgess received a call that would change her life. It was the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, and they wanted her help digging into the minds of serial killers. Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer explores this unsung woman who helped create criminal profiling as well as digging into the details of the killers who informed Burgess's work including infamous criminals like Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy, as well as lesser-known monsters like the Ski Mask Rapist.

Starts streaming July 11.

Hit-Monkey, season 2

The hero of Hit-Monkey is a Japanese snow monkey who teams up with the ghost of an American assassin to become the "killer of killers" and take out the most fearsome assassins in Japan. Season 2 finds the strange duo in New York trying to escape their shadowy existences, but it's not easy to give up that kind of life. Hit-Monkey is based on a Marvel comic, and the first season of the animated action show earned rave reviews from both critics and fans, so if you like heroes, action, cartoons, or just things that are awesome, check this one out.

Starts streaming July 15.

Last month's picks

The Bear, season 3

Hulu’s critically acclaimed, audience-favorite series The Bear is returning for a third nerve-jangling, poignant season. Now that they’ve opened The Bear, their ideal high-end restaurant, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the rest of crew must navigate the treacherous, cutthroat Chicago culinary scene. Expect things to get stressful. 

Starts streaming June 27.

Becoming Karl Lagerfeld

Before he became a fashion legend and fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld was just some guy named Karl; this Hulu original bio-series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld explores this remarkable transformation. The series follows Lagerfeld, played by Daniel Brühl, as he navigates the 1970s Parisian high fashion scene. He encounters fierce rival Yves Saint Laurent (played by Arnaud Valois), forms a business partnership with Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz), and develops a more personal relationship with bon vivant Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin). If you’re fascinated by fashion or the jet-set lifestyle, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld is a must-watch.

Starts streaming June 7.

Saw (1-7)

Saw movies are like comfort food to horror fans. From its humble beginnings with James Wan’s low-budget, indie horror movie Saw in 2004, the gritty franchise has grown into a horror mainstay with 10 feature films, a (bad) AAA video game, and more merchandise than you could collect in 10 lifetimes. Some are better than others, but all the Saw movies are variations on the theme of a madman putting people into devious traps so we can watch them die, escape, and/or enact revenge on their tormentor. Hulu is streaming the first seven movies in the series to celebrate the start of summer, a fact that will delight horror fans, even if horrifies everyone else. 

Starts streaming June 1.

Queenie

Queenie Jenkins, the hero of Hulu original comedy series Queenie, is a British Jamaican woman in the U.K. who is suffering from a quarter-life crisis, a bad breakup, and the general horror and annoyance of urban life in 2024 all at once. With the vibrant yet challenging landscape of South London as a backdrop, Queenie struggles to navigate her dual cultural identity and find her place in the world. If you enjoy witty, contemporary character studies that tackle themes of race and identity, Queenie is a must-watch.

Starts streaming June 7. 

Breakin' On The One

This documentary tells the story of how the Black and brown kids from New York’s poorest neighborhoods spawned a worldwide musical and cultural revolution through dance, music, and fashion. On August 15, 1981, New York breakdance crews the Rocksteady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers appeared at the Out-of-Doors Festival to settle their differences through a breaking battle. Ripples from the showdown reverberated all over the world, and Breaking on The One explores that epic breakin’ battle and the significance of breakdancing and hip-hop through archival footage and interviews with the dancers, DJs, MCs and B-boys and girls who were there. If you’re into hip-hop, or fascinated with how cultural revolutions begin, check out Breakin’ on the One. 

Starts streaming June 24.

Candis Cayne's Secret Garden, season one

Trans icon Candis Cayne hosts a gardening show like none other. In her “literally groundbreaking” comedy/DIY/gardening show, Cayne and her friends will teach you how to transform your home and garden into a magical place. Billed as a whimsical and visually stunning experience that combines the real-life gardening expertise of Candis Cayne with a playful and imaginative world, each episode of Secret Garden presents a different DIY project designed to inspire your imagination and motivate you to make your backyard and home magical. 

Starts streaming June 9.

Brats

To teenagers in the 1980s, no one was cooler, sexier, or more famous than The Brat Pack, that cadre of young actors that starred in every teen movie and seemed to rule Hollywood. Directed by original brat packer Andrew McCarthy, Brats gives us a view from inside the fame fishbowl through interviews with brat packer Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Emilio Esteves, Ally Sheedy and more. (Spoiler: being in the Brat Pack wasn’t as much fun as you probably imagined.) 

Starts streaming June 13. 

Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown

This National Geographic docuseries examines the history, impact, and people behind Jim Jone’s terrifying People’s Temple cult. Told through never-before-scene footage and interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown explores the group’s rise and eventual mass murder/suicide in Guyana, shedding light on the causes of the grisly day that shook the world.

Starts streaming June 17. 

I've pored over Netflix's release schedule to bring you the best movies and TV shows premiering on the service this month. Netflix is packed in July. The month starts with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the long-anticipated sequel to 1984's Beverly Hills Cop; a few weeks later, the first part of the final season of Cobra Kai drops; and the month closes out with a new season of Unsolved Mysteries.

Not everything on the streaming service is based on intellectual property from the 1980s, though. There's a new season of "very-now" reality show Too Hot to Handle, Exploding Kittens (based on the card game), and a pair of getting-ready-for-the-Olympics documentaries: one on gymnast Simone Biles and one about the world's top sprinters.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F 

It's been almost 30 years since cop-out-of-water Axel Foley busted bad guys in Beverly Hills, and Eddie Murphy returns to the title role with some world-weariness to add to his panache. Old pals Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton) are on hand, but there's some new blood too: Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Axel's partner, and Taylour Paige plays his daughter, whose life is in danger until Pop F. comes to save the day. The mixture of action, comedy, and Eddie Murphy worked in the 1980s, but will it in 2024? Watch Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F to find out.

Starts streaming July 3.

Cobra Kai Season 6, Part 1

Cobra Kai's mix of 1980s nostalgic meta-comedy, teen soap opera cheese, and martial arts shouldn't work so well, but somehow, the charm of its cast and its breezy, "none of this is important in any way" tone make it a must-binge series. This is the first part of the sixth and supposedly final season for the show, and it sees the members of the Miyagi-Do dojo pondering “if and how they will compete in the Sekai Taikai—the world championship of karate." So the plot is whatever, but the original cast are all expected to return to their places in the karate-based alternate universe in which they live, which is reason enough to watch.

Starts streaming July 18.

Too Hot to Handle

The hook of Too Hot to Handle is brilliant: the reality-competition show puts a gaggle of extremely attractive and sexed-up 20-somethings together in an exotic location, makes them sleep in pairs, then penalizes them for hooking up—the only way anyone can win the $250,000 prize is through abstinence. It's dumb reality show spectacle, perfect as a mid-summer guilty pleasure, and I promise I won't tell anyone you watched it all.

Starts streaming July 19.

The Man with 1000 Kids 

If you're interested in the future of Humanity, check out docu-series The Man with 1000 Kids. It tells the story of Dutch musician Jonathan Meijer who is accused of fathering hundreds, maybe thousands, of children through sperm donation. If the accusations are true, Meijer's DNA will have more influence on succeeding generations than just about anyone else's on Earth, and he's a super-creepy YouTuber who eats raw meat, stares directly at the sun, and makes absolutely terrible music. Good luck, human race!

Starts streaming July 3.

Exploding Kittens 

Based on the popular card game, Exploding Kittens is a cartoon-for-adults in which God and the Devil are sent to Earth in the form of house cats. That's not in the game, but it does capture the oh-so-random tone of the source material. Whether it'll work or not remains to be seen, but producers Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head) and Greg Daniels (The Office) know something about making comedy, so it's a solid bet.

Starts streaming July 1

Sprint: The World's Fastest Humans

Sprint: the World's Fastest Humans takes us into the world of elite sprinters so we can learn what motivates someone to devote their lives to the pursuit of speed. If you're planning to watch the track and field events at the Olympics later in the month, this is a perfect way to get to know some of the top athletes competing.

Starts streaming July 2.

Receiver 

Last summer's Quarterback followed three of the NFL's best quarterbacks; in this summer's Receivers, we learn about the dudes they throw to. This Netflix original documentary series details the 2023 seasons, both on and off the field, of Davante Adams, Justin Jefferson, George Kittle, Deebo Samuels, and Amon-ra Saint Brown, five best-of-the-best players that football fans either totally love or begrudgingly admit are awesome, even though they hate them, depending on their team loyalty.

Starts streaming July 10.

Back to the Future series 

Back to the Future is a perfect movie, and the other two entries in the series are alright too. If you have a few rainy days this summer, there are a lot worse ways to spend them than gathering the family and basking in the '80s glow of this trilogy. It still works all these years later.

Starts streaming July 1.

Lost: Seasons 1-6 (series)

Lost's ending was so epically terrible, it's easy to forget that its first few seasons were as good as any prestige television that has ever been produced—and it was made before "prestige television" even existed. Co-created by J.J. Abrams, and co-written by Damon Lindelof, Lost features a talented cast that includes Evangeline Lilly, Terry O'Quinn, and Dominic Monaghan, and mind-bending plot that ultimately doesn't make much sense, but it's still a fun trip.

Starts streaming July 1.

The Boy Next Door (2015)

Jennifer Lopez stars in good, old-fashioned domestic thriller The Boy Next Door. She's a teacher who has an affair with her much younger new neighbor, but he turns out to be one of her students, and he's a psycho who sets out to destroy her family and her life. You know the drill—it's a potboiler, but with the always charismatic J-Lo at its center.

Starts streaming July 16.

Simone Biles Rising

Gymnast Simone Biles grabbed the world's attention when she withdrew from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. But the shocking move, partly in response to Biles' mental health concerns, didn't end her career. Biles is back for another go at Olympic glory this year, and Simone Biles Rising details her hard road back to potential greatness at the 2024 Olympics. This docuseries is a pre-Olympics must-watch.

Starts streaming July 19

Star Trek: Prodigy (Season 2)

If you've been looking for a first Star Trek series to watch with your children, Star Trek: Prodigy is for you. The CGI-animated series captures the thoughtful adventure-and-exploration vibe that makes Star Trek great, and does it in a kid-friendly way that isn't adult-unfriendly. The first season of the CGI series earned a 94% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes for taking the dusty franchise in unexpected directions; hopefully season two measures up.

Starts streaming July 1.

Skywalkers: A Love Story 

If you like white-knuckle cinema, Skywalkers is for you. It chronicles the life and relationship of Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, a young couple who live to climb the world's tallest buildings. Skywalkers: a Love Story follows the couple's elaborate plans to conquer Malaysia’s Merdeka 118 super-skyscraper without harnesses, ropes, or permission. It makes me nervous just thinking about it.

Starts streaming July 19

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam 

Lou Pearlman, the impresario behind The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears might not have been a super honest guy—shocking, I know. Dirty Pop details how Pearlman changed music while building his personal empire, and doesn't shy away from the dark side of the business of fame, power, and exploiting talented young artists.

Starts streaming July 24.

The Decameron

If you like unconventional comedy, check out The Decameron. Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, published in the 14th Century, this Netflix period comedy is set in Florence, Italy, in 1348 among a rag-tag group of nobles and their servants who are camped out in an opulent villa as the plague rages outside. To pass the time, they tell each other stories that range from from touching to ribald, while the social order descends into chaos. Seems relatable. Netflix describes it as "Like Love Island, but Back in the Day," and that's enough for me to give it a watch.

Starts streaming July 25.

Unsolved Mysteries, Volume 4

The first three seasons of Netflix's revival of Unsolved Mysteries are excellent. Netflix hasn't released a ton of details about volume four yet, but if previous seasons are any indication, it will feature a mixture of unexplained deaths, strange disappearances, paranormal activity, UFOs, and other "what the hell?" content presented in a thorough, thoughtful way.

Starts streaming July 31.

Tickled (2016)

Tickled is one of the strangest documentaries I've ever seen. Journalist David Farrier starts off hunting a quirky story about the "sport" of competitive tickling, but uncovers a strange underworld that's not funny at all. I don't want to spoil any of the twists and turns in this narrative, so I'll just urge you to watch this movie.

Starts streaming July 10.

Last month's picks

Hit Man

Directed by the supremely talented Richard Linklater, Hit Man tells the real story of a fake Hit Man. Gary Johnson's job is pretending to be a professional killer for police sting operations (where can I send a resume?) but he puts everything on the line when he falls in love with a potential client. Co-written by and starring Glen Powell, Hit Man takes a darkly comedic look at an unusual lifestyle. If you're looking for a funny, perfectly crafted, and intelligent movie, look no further.

Starts streaming June 7.

A Family Affair

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King lead the cast of A Family Affair, a romantic comedy that begins with Zara (King) walking in on her mom (Kidman) and her ex-boss (Efron) in the middle of a passionate tryst. The ex-boss is an impossibly self-centered celebrity—so Zara is not at all sure how to deal with the new relationship. This exploration of love, sex, and identity is the kind of charisma-powered, crowd-pleasing movie that romantic comedy fans can't get enough of.

Starts streaming June 28.

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, Season 5

David Letterman's in-depth interview series My Next Guest Needs no Introduction returns for a fifth season where Dave chops it up with basketball legend Charles Barkley and pop-singing legend Miley Cyrus. If you care about these specific people, or you're interested in larger-than-life people in general, Letterman's long-form, deep-dive interviews are worlds better than five minutes of banter on a late-night show's couch.

Starts streaming June 12.

Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial

At the risk of starting a sentence with "You have to hand it to the Nazis for..." Hitler and company inspired more compelling documentaries than anyone else in history. This one examines the post-World War II trials of the Nazi leaders who survived. Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial explores our failing cultural memories of the Third Reich and asks if forgetting about the past dooms us to a hellish repeat. It's not a lighthearted movie, but it is an important one.

Starts streaming June 5.

Trigger Warning

For her role as Parker in Netflix original action movie Trigger Warning, Jessica Alba learned Indonesian knife fighting skills to make the flick's intense hand-to-hand combat scenes extra real. Parker is a Special Forces commando who returns to her home town her father's funeral, only to discover a dangerous conspiracy that might be responsible for his death. Does she confront the evil men behind the plot with Indonesian knife-fighting skills? Goddamn right she does. Mark Webber, Tone Bell, Jake Weary, Gabriel Basso, and Anthony Michael Hall also appear in this treat for action movie fans.

Starts streaming June 21.

Worst Roommate Ever, Season 2

Learning that a second season of Worst Roommate Ever was coming to Netflix is the best news I've heard in months. If you're not familiar, this documentary series tells the stories of bad roommates through interviews with victims and animated re-enactments. If you're like, "Why would that even be interesting?" you're not grasping how monumentally, spectacularly, and unbelievably horrific these people are. Imagine your worst college roommate, now multiply their awfulness by 100; these people are worse than that. If you like well-made freak show TV as much as I do, you'll be hitting "play" at midnight on the 25th, too.

Starts streaming June 26.

How to Rob a Bank

I love true crime movies, especially when they're not about murderers, so I'm looking forward to How to Rob a Bank. This Netflix original documentary tells the story of the stylish and prolific bank robber Seattle cops nicknamed "Hollywood." His real name is Scott Scurlock, and he pulled off a string of audacious bank robberies in the 1990s, often using tricks and techniques inspired by action movies. How to Rob a Bank promises all the cat-and-mouse thrills of heist movies like Point Break with the added bonus of it all having actually happened.

Starts streaming June 5

Sweet Tooth, Season 3

In dark-fantasy series Sweet Tooth, Christian Convery plays Gus, a half-human, half-deer chimera who lives in a future where everything went to hell after a contagious disease killed 98% of humanity. Humanimals like Gus are seen as either abominations to be stamped out or as keys to a cure for the sickness. With the help of pig/girl Wendy (Naledi Murray), Gus will face off against the First Men, a paramilitary group that wants all the hybrids dead.

Starts streaming June 6.

Keith Robinson: Different Strokes

Keith Robinson is a very funny comic, but his new Netflix stand-up special should be extra hilarious and/or poignant because of its subject matter. In 2020, Robinson popped a Viagra on an airplane and had a stroke, and in Keith Robinson: Different Strokes he tells the whole story with his distinctive, no-bullshit style.

Starts streaming June 11.

Tour de France: Unchained, Season 2

Even if you don't care about bicycle racing, check out Netflix's excellent documentary series on the Tour de France. The annual race has been a national obsession in France since 1903, and Tour de France: Unchained explores the people, passion, fame, athleticism and power that makes it so fascinating. Understanding the backstory makes watching a bunch of European guys pedal fast riveting.

Starts streaming June 11.

Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution

This Netflix original documentary tells the story of LGBTQ+ stand-up comedy through interviews, stand-up performances, archival materials, and verité footage featuring huge comedians like Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Eddie Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, and Rosie O'Donnell. Outstanding explores the history of queer comics, the societal changes that came from their work, and the future of LGBTQ+ stand-up.

Starts streaming June 18.

That '90s Show, Season 2

Set 15 years after That ‘70s Show’s ending, That '90s Show continues the comic adventures of parents Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), but now they're grandparents, and they have a new group of teenagers to wrangle, harass, and joke around with. But these are '90s teenagers, so expect lots of flannel shirts and Pearl Jam jokes. Season two sees the return of That '70s Show's Laura Prepon reprising her role as Donna. (Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, and Ashton Kutcher will not be returning.)

Starts streaming June 27.

Warm up your credit card: Target is throwing a mid-summer bargain-palooza to compete with Amazon Prime Day. Target Circle Week runs from Sunday, July 7 through Saturday, July 13, and the company promises savings of up to 50% on thousands of things you totally need and want. Plus, the company is rolling out a new paid subscription service, Target Circle 360, for half-price during sale week. Target's old loyalty program, Target Circle will remain free.

According to the company, a year of Target Circle 360 will cost $49 instead of $99 if you sign up between July 7-13. 360 members can use Target's same-day delivery as much as they'd like, with no delivery fees on orders over $35.

I think saving should be a complicated and aggressive nightmare, and shopping should be a source of misery, but Target disagrees. According to Cara Sylvester, Target's executive vice president and chief guest experience officer, "We believe saving should be simple and shopping should be fun." I guess that's why Target is worth a billion dollars and I'm barely a thousandaire.

"Is Circle Week really going to be as awesome as I imagine?" you're probably asking yourself. Well, buddy, check out the early Circle Week deals below and make up your own mind.

Early Target Circle Week Deals

• Up to 50% off select toys including LEGO, Monster Jam, and LOL Surprise!

• Up to 40% off kitchen and floorcare, including Keurig, KitchenAid, Ninja, Dyson, Shark and Bissell

• 30% off tees, tanks and dresses for the family

• 30% off bedding and bath, including Casaluna and Threshold

• 30% off select backpacks, including Cat & Jack

• 30% off kids' school uniforms

• 20% off select skincare, suncare, and fragrances, including CeraVe, La Roche Posay, Neutrogena, Olay, Sun Bum, Banana Boat, Fine'ry and many more

• Buy one, get one 50% off food and beverage summer favorites, including ice cream, all chilled juices and chilled coffee beverages, all fresh berries and more

• Spend $50 on home care products and receive a $15 Target GiftCard

• Spend $40 on select products at Ulta Beauty at Target and receive a $10 Target GiftCard

How to sign up for Target Circle

It’s almost comically easy to join either the Target Circle or Circle 360 program and they will accept anyone, even total jerks. Simply visit the Target Circle signup page, click “create account” and give ‘em your name, email, and phone number.

The perks of Target Circle membership go beyond the admiration of your peers. You’ll also enjoy access to members-only deals, 1% rewards on non-RedCard purchases you can use at Target, 5% off an item purchased during your birthday month, and the chance to influence how Target focuses its charitable giving.

What should you do if an errant piece of space junk lands in your yard or crushes your two-car garage? And who is legally on the hook for damages to your property or person?

It's an astronomically unlikely occurrence, but it happened at least once. In March, a piece of the International Space Station tore through the roof of a home in Naples, Florida, and narrowly missed homeowner Alejandro Otero's 19-year-old son.

"We weren't sure if there had been an earthquake or what," Otero reported. "When [my son] saw the hole coming through the house, he realized something fell through." After some sleuthing, experts determined the mystery object, about the size of a soda can, was a battery pallet from the International Space Station.

Who's responsible for falling space junk?

The aftermath of the incident raises some interesting questions, the most immediate being: How dangerous is it? Determining this should be the first thing you do in the astonishingly unlikely event that some space junk hits your house. The Oteros followed sensible space-junk protocol and contacted their local sheriff after the incident. Eventually, NASA determined that this piece of space junk wasn't toxic or radioactive, but you never know, so exercise extreme caution. Don't put your lips on it.

The second question is more complex: who is responsible for the estimated $15,000 in damage to the Oteros' property, and any emotional and mental anguish the Oteros suffered as a result of the incident?

The first payee is likely to be their insurance company, so if this happens to you, give them a call. Homeowner's insurance policies generally cover property damage from anything that falls from outer space, manmade or natural. Responsibility for damages above what your insurance covers, and for non-property claims like emotional distress, has a more complicated answer—you'll need to hire a lawyer to sort that out.

According to the United Nations' Office of Outer Space Affairs' 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1972 Liability Convention, the government of the country where a launch took place is responsible for the financial compensation for any space junk damage from that launch, no matter what other country it might land in, even if a private company launched the satellite.

If the debris had landed in another country, the liability would be clear under the UN rules, but this was NASA junk that landed domestically, so international law no longer applies, according to space law expert Mark Sundahl.

"It becomes a domestic legal issue," Sundahl told NPR. "A homeowner would have to bring a tort action against the federal government."

According to the family's lawyer, the Oteros have filed a claim with NASA. A spokesperson for the space agency said NASA won't comment on a pending claim, so stay tuned as this unique case works its way through the legal system.

Who owns the space debris that lands on your property?

You might think that the Oteros would get to keep the space junk that fell into their home—what a conversation piece, right?—but the rule of "finders keepers" doesn't apply here. The debris belongs to NASA and it has already retrieved it.

If a meteorite or asteroid lands on your house, it's a different story. In that case, the law is clear in the U.S.: you own it in all ways. You (well, you and your insurance company) are responsible for any damages, and you get to keep your space rock. Just be careful the meteor isn't full of invasive alien plant matter so you don't end up like Stephen King in Creepshow.

Who is responsible for damages if a flying saucer crashes into your house?

If a flying saucer or other interstellar alien spacecraft crashes through your roof, you would probably have a valid claim with your insurance company. Policies cover damage from falling "spacecraft," which presumably includes flying saucers.

It's unlikely you would be able to collect anything above whatever homeowner's insurance coverage you carry though; suing Gleepzorp from Romula V would probably be impossible: "As far as I know, only human beings, and those specifically granted personhood status by state legislatures or other laws, are subject to being parties to a lawsuit," Chicago-based attorney Wesley Johnson told me. (Full disclosure: Wesley is my brother—I'm embarrassed to contact an attorney I'm not related to with this question.)

"Space aliens would probably be judgment-proof anyway, as they don't have any money, at least money that could be exchanged for U.S. money," Johnson added, displaying impressive patience.

I’m going to be first in line to see Fly Me to the Moon when it opens on July 12. Judging from the trailer, the movie tells a lighthearted, but believable tale of how and why NASA might have faked the moon landing. The clip even offers a tongue-in-cheek nod to the conspiracy theorists who are going to eat this movie up like buttered popcorn.

By creating fictional characters based on real people and mixing actual details of the governments’ attempts to “sell” the moon landing to the public with fanciful elements and a “they faked the whole thing” conclusion, Fly Me to the Moon will keep soft-headed people saying “That’s exactly how it happened!” for years, even if the movie is clearly intended as a joke. (Conspiracy theorists are not famous for their senses of humor.)

Five movies that have shaped conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists usually aren’t very creative either, so they’ve always borrowed heavily from movies when it comes time to build out their paranoid worldviews. Where you and I see entertainment, they see veiled revelations and covert agendas—confirmation that their weirdest ideas are the truth. To get ready for next month's disinformation campaign, let's delve into five science fiction films that have significantly influenced conspiracy theorists and explore the connections between these cinematic tales and real world beliefs .

Metropolis (1927)

Fritz Lang’s vision of a world where the careless elite live in glittering skyscrapers while the lowly proles toil in misery below has been influencing conspiracy theorist for nearly 100 years. While I don’t imagine most modern conspiracy theorists are actively checking out silent German cinema from the 1920s, Metropolis influenced every science fiction film that followed, and the whole conspiracy theory blueprint is laid out in the movie: There's the way robot-Maria controls the citizenry’s minds, the simplified portrayal of the class system meant as illustration but taken as literal truth, the use of esoteric imagery of the Tower of Babel and the Whore of Babylon—fringe thinkers love connecting things to misunderstood antiquity. It's all there.

Where to stream: The Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, Kino Film, digital rental

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

This 1962 film heavily shaped the public’s idea of “brainwashing." Shadowy actors covertly influencing the minds of innocent people through nefarious mechanisms is present in just about every conspiracy theory, usually because it’s the only explanation for why the SHEEPLE don’t see the TRUTH that’s right in FRONT OF THEM. (All-caps is another dead giveaway.) But The Manchurian Candidate’s portrayal of brainwashing and mind control isn’t especially accurate or useful. How people’s thoughts can and can’t be manipulated is way more complex and nuanced than the film portrays. It’s a shame that the CIA destroyed (or HID) most of the results of its (very real) research on mind control, because if you do a deep dive on “Project Paperclip” and other covert influence programs, it starts to feel like the research actually came to the depressing conclusion that esoteric methods like hypnosis, “truth serums,” secret LSD dosing, and similarly gross human rights violations don’t work as well as just beating confessions out of people.

Where to stream: MGM+, The Criterion Channel, Tubi, digital rental

Capricorn One (1978)

Moon landing conspiracy theories began with the publication of Rockedyne employee Bill Kaysing's pamphlet “We Never Went to the Moon." It was popular enough to inspire the release of 1978 O.J. Simpson vehicle Capricorn One, a movie in which the government fakes a mission to Mars to ensure the space program will continue to be funded. (A quaint idea; why would they even care what the public thought?) The film went on to inspire further moon landing conspiracy theories in an unholy feedback loop, including one that posited the film The Shining was Stanley Kubrick's covert admission that he'd helped NASA create the footage of the astronauts bouncing across the lunar surface. Capricorn One is cheesy treat for fans of 1970s science fiction, but seen through modern eyes, it disproves moon landing conspiracy theories by demonstrating how impossible it would have been to convincingly fake footage of a space mission—this was a big budget production where they really tried for realism, but Capricorn One’s Mars mission looks fake as hell. 

Where to stream: Prime Video, Peacock, Hulu, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Freevee, digital rental

Alternative 3 (1977)

British pseudo-documentary Alternative 3 is another conspiracy theory blueprint movie. Not many people saw the original broadcast—it was only aired in the U.K. and Australia— but its ideas are still resonating in conspiracy circles. The film begins with an investigation of the mysterious disappearance of 24 British scientists and ends with a shadowy secret government program that sees the elites running off to colonies on the moon and Mars to escape global warming. In Alternative 3, the moon landings are legitimate, but are only undertaken as a smoke screen to cover up the real space program. So Alternative 3 has secret space programs, a shadowy cabal of rich people pulling the strings, slave colonies on the moon, and even aliens, all of which became gospel to a certain variety of fringe thinkers. It’s easy to see why it's been so influential. It’s a really well done film (check out how this movie brilliantly faked a Mars landing.) Here in the U.S., the “novelization” of the film was released in the form of (fictional) secret documents and quickly became a bestseller. Due to an error involving the publication date that affected some bookstore chains, it was put on store shelves early, then quickly removed, leading to hysteria among the fringe newsletters and reactionary radio shows that made up the pre-internet conspiracy theory community. It sure looked like the government censored the book’s release. 

Where to stream: YouTube

The Matrix (1999)

Unlike Alternative 3, few people believe 1999’s The Matrix is literally a documentary, but if you accept the premise of the film—that reality itself is suspect so you can’t trust even your own senses—that doesn’t matter. The idea of alternative realities wasn’t invented by The Matrix, but the movie packaged it so attractively that it spread even among people who normally wouldn’t be considering such esoteric ideas. The idea that you have “taken the red pill” and can see the real reality where the rest of us are stuck in our pods being fed a stream of fake sensory information is intoxicating to some, both because it removes the cognitive dissonance that comes from having your beliefs challenged, and it helps explains why everyone backs away from you when you start telling them about how they faked the moon landing.

Where to stream: Netflix, digital rental

This week, I'm starting things off with a look at Brawl Stars. I know the game has been out for ages, but if you're like I was as of a few days ago, you have no idea what it is. Seems that without our knowledge, this mobile game has become so widely played among young people that an obsession with it is nearly universal.

Meanwhile, putting green onions in coffee and "raw-dogging" plane flights remain much more niche pursuits. Read on to learn all about all of it.

Everyone is playing Brawl Stars, but what is Brawl Stars?

I was talking with my kid the other day about the lack of communal experiences in current culture. I thought I was being wise in pointing out there are no longer as many of those unifying pop culture things like Star Wars or Nirvana that everyone either likes, or is at least is familiar with. He said, “Not true. I can walk up to any kid, anywhere, and say, ‘wanna play Brawl Stars?’ And their phone is coming out.” 

So here’s the deal with Brawl Stars: It’s a cartoonish, multiplayer online battle arena game featuring 3-player teams fighting each other while operating under a bunch of different rule sets. It’s available on both Android and iPhone, and it’s free to play, but you can buy cosmetics upgrades with real money. There are reportedly 376 million registered users (For reference, Nirvana’s Nevermind sold 30 million copies.) Brawl Stars was created by a Finnish company called Supercell and published in 2018. To sum up: It’s Angry Birds, but for now.

What is Man the Game?

Unlike Brawl Stars, Man the Game is not actually a game. Or it wasn’t, until someone made it in into one. The name and concept comes from a “brain rot” meme created by TikToker @alexlussy that explores the nostalgia a person living in 2027 might have for 2025. One of the things they are nostalgic for is a PS5 game called Man the Game. The original poster included box art for both the original game and eventually for the sequels, but offered no details.

Naturally, TikTokers started running with the idea, and people started posting reviews and editorials about the controversy surrounding Man the Game 9, basically creating a fictional mini-universe in which the game exists. It also inspired the creation of an actual point-and-click Man the Game that you can play online. (Spoiler: It’s really stupid.)

So what does it all mean? Nothing really—school’s out, so young people have a lot of time on their hands. But if you want to take a deeper dive, here's more info.

People are putting onions in coffee and they must be stopped

There’s a new TikTok trend in which people are flavoring iced lattes with green onions. The basic recipe: mix up milk, espresso, ice, and a generous helping of green onions, then drink it all down! (Shudder.)

While scallions add nutritional content to the beverage, taste wise it sounds uniquely unappetizing—but that may be the point. The drink supposedly originated in China, where it’s part of the larger “dark cuisine” trend of combining foods in unusual ways, like blue soda chicken wings. According to this TikToker, dark cuisine is often employed as a way to curb people’s appetites to help them lose weight. Mission accomplished—I’m sure I’d take one sip of onion-coffee and throw the rest in the bin—but if you left the milk and the onions out of the iced coffee to begin with, it would taste great and contain no calories, so I’m not sure the logic works. Either way, I’m not going to try it, but some people on TikTok have given it a shot, and the reviews are mixed. Some people "don't hate it", others are like: “I can’t even fake any redeeming qualities. This is horrific.”

Travel trend: Raw-dogging plane flights

It’s hard to say how widespread this TikTok trendlet actually is, but some people are bragging online about “raw-dogging” long plane flights—that is, sitting there with no headphones, no movies, no book, no nothing. They just stare at the flight map and wait. Some even book the middle seat on purpose. 

The aggressive music choices on most of these TikTok videos, coupled with their braggadocios tones, serve up “ain’t I hardcore?” vibes that indicate it might all be a joke, but even so, it’s also an interesting look at the cultural reaction to the ready availability of things meant to distract and entertain us. My first reaction to hearing about this was a blanket “that’s dumb,” but I thought about it a little more, and I’m not sure. Boasting about sitting on a plane and not at least reading a book may seem like a pathetic flex, but there’s been a lot of consideration lately, both online and off, about what we’re actually doing when we’re doing nothing. How do the supposed hits of dopamine we get from video games or social media affect us, and what are we missing when we reach for them at every opportunity?

It might seem like we’re not missing much on an airplane, but the chance to do literally nothing is rare. Before the adoption of seatback entertainment centers, smartphones, and tablets, airplanes used to enforce that on us. You’re alone with just your thoughts, which used to be the default state for almost everyone, almost all the time, but is now something to brag about, give a name to, and, I guess, post about on social media so others don';t have to be alone with their thoughts. 

Viral video of the week: "I made the worlds most powerful soccer shoe"

This week’s viral video comes to us from YouTuber I Did a Thing, and it’s part of one of my favorite genres of online video: mad engineering. In these videos, people make the kinds of ridiculous inventions you might have daydreamed about in homeroom, like a ceiling fan with machete blades, or an insanely dangerous giant Bey Blade. In this case, I Did a Thing is trying to make the world’s most powerful soccer shoe. His plan is to basically build a gun-shoe that uses blank rounds to force a steel toe to propel a soccer ball faster than anyone could kick it.

It is a potentially deadly project, and it’s probably illegal in many jurisdictions, but I Did a Thing is from Australia and has a delightfully casual style of pursuing the build. He’s not one of those DIY folks who create perfectly engineered gadgets (like the father of the genre, Mark Rober); I Did a Thing makes a ton of mistakes, rarely measures anything, and often injures himself while testing his gadgets. His projects rarely work out the way he planned, and it all usually ends up as a mess, but, damn it, he tries. I relate to his methods and the kludged together monstrosities he creates, as they remind me of too many of my own projects.

Just about everyone is wrong about sunscreen. On one hand, there’s a low murmur in online spaces questioning the safety and effectiveness of sunscreen, with people like Primal Physique, a "transformation coach,” posting TikTok videos claiming that sunscreens contain dangerous ingredients and should be avoided.

On the other hand, there are people like you and me thinking, “What a load of crap. Sunscreen is totally safe.” We’re wrong too (only a little wrong, but still). Surprisingly, some of what sunscreen deniers claim is true—most of it is wrong, but there’s real reason to be concerned about the safety of some types of sunscreens.

Before I sift through the TikTok bullshit for flakes of truth, here are the undisputed facts: Direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light causes 80-90% of skin cancers. The link between the sun and cancer was suspected as far back as the late 19th century and was proven conclusively in the 1940s. It’s settled science. Use of sunscreen that blocks UV radiation lowers incidents of skin cancer significantly. Dermatologists nearly universally recommend sunscreen if you’re going to be exposed to sunlight. 

The case against sunscreen

Putting research aside for a sec, let’s look at the claims of sunscreen skeptics. The specifics vary from influencer to influencer, but the arguments against sunscreen usually include the following:

• Sunscreen contains cancer-causing ingredients that get absorbed into your body. As this mustachioed gentleman puts it, “you’re literally rubbing cancer into your skin!"

• Sunlight is actually good for you. 

• Humans have done without sunscreen for hundreds of thousands of years and we’re still around.

• You can prevent sunburns and skin cancer through natural means.

Does sunscreen cause cancer?

The most compelling argument against using sunscreen is that it contains benzene, a cancer-causing substance. This is true—kind of. Beginning in 2021, there were numerous recalls of sunscreens and other skincare products based on the discovery of benzene in them. A study from independent testing company Valise showed that 29% of the sunscreen products tested contained the carcinogen, often in levels high above the safety threshold.  

Sunscreen manufacturers weren’t adding benzene to their products, though, so how it ended up there is a bit of mystery. It's thought that the benzene was either a contaminant, or a by-products of aerosol propellants used in spray-on sunscreen. The research is ongoing, and ultimately the safety of chemical-based over-the-counter sunscreens that contain accidental benzene is not known. But it’s probably not good for you. 

Benzene isn’t the only potential problem: The FDA is currently asking for research to determine whether a number of common sunscreen ingredients that are absorbed into the skin are harmful, but, again, we really don’t know what, if any, harm these ingredients do. 

This is not to say you should stop using sunscreen. We may not know how harmful it is to rub benzene-tainted sunscreen into your skin, but we do know that exposing your skin to UV radiation without protection leads to skin cancer. If you're concerned, you can check your sunscreen against this list of brands that weren’t found to contain benzene. 

Is sunlight is good for you?

People who question the use of sunscreen often point out that exposure to sunlight is natural and good for you. They are mostly wrong. Exposing your skin to sunlight is a way to maintain healthy vitamin D levels, and we need vitamin D to avoid rickets and other issues, so in that way, exposure to sunlight is “good,” but skin cancer is definitely bad, and a much bigger problem than rickets. Luckily, you can get adequate vitamin D from your diet or from supplements, and you’re probably exposed to enough incidental sunlight for vitamin D production without seeking it out. Endocrinologists and dermatologists generally agree that the risk of skin cancer from sunlight exposure is a way more compelling health problem than a potential Vitamin D deficiency.

People have been exposed to sunlight for thousands of years and we’re still around

It’s true that cavepeople didn’t wear sunscreen, but how many cavemen have you seen around lately? The argument that we naturally evolved to be able to handle sunlight without using sunscreen falls apart when you consider that evolution’s influence ends at reproductive age. Skin cancers tend to show up later in life, when we’re not spreading our genes around, so there’s no compelling reason why we would evolve to have UV-tolerant skin. 

Can you prevent skin cancer through “natural” means?

On a recent podcast with sunscreen denier and reality TV star Kristin Cavallari, eastern medicine practitioner Ryan Monahan suggested that you eat "an anti-inflammatory diet” to build up "antioxidant reservoir" in the body, and develop a "base coat" through incremental sun exposure you won't need sunscreen.

Monahan’s advice about gradual exposure to sunlight is stupid and dangerous. It’s the worst advice possible for preventing skin cancer, because research shows that the risk of cancer from UV exposure is cumulative: Ramping up your sun exposure makes cancer more likely, not less so. A “base coat” tan might make you less likely to get a sunburn, but it’s doing nothing to prevent cancer, and it’s actually proof that your skin has already been damaged by UV light.  

As for the “inflammatory antioxidant reservoir” song and dance, there’s some research that suggests there may be some link between nutrition and skin cancer, but it’s not particularly compelling. There’s no research anywhere that suggests your diet can “counter” the cancer-causing effect of UV radiation. UV light damages the DNA in your cells, leading to cancer. This will happen no matter how much broccoli you eat.

Bottom line: Wear sunscreen

As annoying as it is that online transformation coaches, reality TV stars, and wellness influencers are a tiny bit right about sunscreen (or anything), remember that they're mostly wrong. It's not actually a complicated matter: You should wear sunscreen if your skin is exposed to sunlight because skin cancer is common and very bad.

If you're looking for a new show to watch this week, streaming has you covered. Some of them are even worth your time!

My choice for the must-watch show of the week should be The Bear—the third season of this prestige series about the restaurant biz is better than just about anything in recent TV history after all—but then I see there's a new season of Worst Roommate Ever streaming on Netflix, so I'm torn. I'm going to say it's a tie. And that's before I consider Wondla, My Lady Jane, and everything else listed below.

Here are most interesting new shows streaming this week.

The Bear, Season 3

Hulu’s critically acclaimed audience-favorite The Bear is returning for a third nerve-jangling, poignant season. Now that they’ve opened The Bear, their ideal high-end restaurant, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the rest of crew must navigate the treacherous, cutthroat Chicago culinary scene. Expect things to get stressful. The whole season has dropped at one, so you can binge it as fast as you like.

Where to stream: Hulu

Worst Roommate Ever, Season 2

Finding out a second season of Worst Roommate Ever was coming to Netflix was the best news I'd heard in months. If you're not familiar, this documentary series tells the stories of bad roommates through interviews with victims and animated re-enactments. If you're like, "Why would that even be interesting?" you're not grasping how monumentally, spectacularly, and unbelievably horrific these people are. Imagine your worst college roommate and multiply their awfulness by 100; these people are worse than that. If you like well-made freak show TV as much as I do, you hit "play" at midnight on June 25 too.

Where to stream: Netflix

WondLa

If you have a literate kid in you house, you're probably familiar with the massively popular Wondla series of children's science fiction/fantasy novels by Tony DiTerlizzi. Like the first book, Wondla, the animated adaptation has a perfect YA set-up: 12-year-old protagonist Eva Nine was raised in an underground bunker by a robot. She's never seen the sun, walked through grass, or seen another living being. With only a photograph of an unknown person labeled "Wondla" to guide her, Eva finally leaves her home in search of connections with other people who may not even exist.

Where to stream: Apple TV+

That 90s Show, Season 2

Set 15 years after That ‘70s Show’s ending, That '90s Show continues the comic adventures of parents Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), but now they're grandparents, and they have a new group of teenagers to wrangle, harass, and joke around with. But these are '90s teenagers, so expect lots of flannel shirts and Pearl Jam jokes. Season two sees the return of That '70s Show's Laura Prepon, reprising her role as Donna. (Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, and Ashton Kutcher will not be returning.)

Where to stream: Netflix

My Lady Jane

The real Lady Jane Grey was a Tudor noblewoman who became Queen of England in 1553 but only ruled for nine days before being beheaded. This Prime original series explores what might have happened if the Nine Days' Queen had kept her head. Based on the best-selling YA novel of the same name by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, My Lady Jane is "an epic tale of true love and high adventure set in an alt-universe of action, history, fantasy, comedy, romance, and rompy-pompy," according to Amazon's promotional material.

Where to stream: Prime

One South: Portrait of a Psych Unit

Max's two-part original documentary takes viewers inside Zucker Hillside Hospital in Queens, a psychiatric hospital for young adults in acute crisis. One South presents a portrait of patients suffering from depression, anxiety, psychosis, as well as the dedicated mental health professionals dedicated to helping them get well. So it's not the most fun mini-series, but it looks fascinating.

Where to stream: Max

Last week's picks

House of the Dragon, season 2

A new season of House of the Dragon showing up on Max is cause for celebration all over. The first season was a banger, with critics giving it 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and things are going to get dragon-breath hot in season 2 with Westeros on the brink of a civil war, and King Aegon and Queen Rhaenyra locked in battle to sit on The Iron Throne.

Where to stream: Max

Hotel Cocaine

Hotel Cocaine was created by an expert in TV shows about drugs, Chris Brancato, the man behind Narcos, and Narcos: Mexico. Set in the 1970s, Hotel Cocaine the story of Roman Compte, a Cuban exile who managed the Hotel Mutiny on Miami's Biscayne Bay. The hotel is ground zero for the glamorous part of the drug trade, where celebrities rub shoulder with cocaine dealers, and Compte is in the middle of it all. Unknown to his low-life associates, though, he's secretly working with the DEA. Drugs, retro fashion, and a main character leading a double life—what more can you want from a crime show?

Where to stream: MGM+

Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown

This National Geographic docuseries examines the history, impact, and people behind Jim Jone’s terrifying People’s Temple cult. Told through never-before-scene footage and interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses, Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown explores the group’s rise and eventual mass murder/suicide in Guyana, shedding light on the causes of the grisly day that shook the world.

Where to stream: Hulu

Chopper Cops

If you've ever looked up at police helicopters surveilling the people who live in your neighborhood and thought, "what kind of person would do that for a living?" Chopper Cops has the answers. Along with profiles of the men and women who fly these buzzy aircrafts, this docuseries shows off the high-tech infrared cameras, augmented reality mapping technology, and other military style hardware that The State purchased with your tax money so they can oppress you. Wait, I mean, "keep you safe."

Where to stream: Paramount+

Looking to settle in with a good movie? Me too. That's why I've pored over the release schedules of major streaming services to bring you the best original and new-to-streaming movies you can watch right now.

My stream-of-the-week pick is Fancy Dance. This Apple TV+ original is the kind of thoughtful, quiet film you used to have to go to an arthouse to see. If you're like, "Dude, it's summer; what else ya got?" you could check out surprisingly good cartoon Kung Fu Panda 4, or do a diva-double-feature with documentary I Am: Celine Dion and biopic Judy.

Fancy Dance

I've been reading hot-takes about the death of small, smart, indie cinema for my entire life, but the spirit lives on in movies like Fancy Dance. Lily Gladstone stars as Jax, whose life on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation in Oklahoma consists of caring for her niece Roki, played by Isabel Deroy-Olson, and searching for her missing sister. When custody of Roki is threatened by Roki's father, Jax grabs her niece and goes hunting for Roki's mother, a search that becomes a deeper investigation of the place of Indigenous women in a colonized world.

Where to stream: Apple TV+

Kung Fu Panda 4

It seems impossible that the fourth movie in a series about a Panda who knows martial arts would be good enough to have a Rotten Tomatoes audience score 87%, but Kung Fu Panda 4 smashes through conventional ideas of cinematic quality like they're wooden planks at a strip mall dojo. Jack Black is back as Po, and this time he's looking for a protege to take over as Dragon Warrior so he can be promoted to Grand Head Poobah or something. To find the right animal, Po heads out on one last (yeah, right) adventure. The search puts Po and his pal Zhen in the crosshairs of the wicked sorceress Chameleon and tests the limits of his kung fu skills. If you have kids, they'll like it, and if you happen to catch a scene or two when you're not looking at your phone, you won't mind it.

Where to stream: Peacock

I Am: Celine Dion

This original Prime documentary explores singer Celine Dion's struggle with Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological disease. Described in a press release as an "emotional, energetic, and poetic love letter to music," I Am: Celine Dion takes viewers from the dressing room to the recording studio to the stage and captures an intimate look at the superstar singer's private life and struggles.

Where to stream: Prime

A Family Affair

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King lead the cast of A Family Affair, a romantic comedy that begins with Zara (King) walking in on her mom (Kidman) and her ex-boss (Efron) in the middle of a passionate tryst. The ex-boss is an impossibly self-centered celebrity—so Zara is not at all sure how to deal with the new relationship. This exploration of love, sex, and identity is the kind of charisma-powered, crowd-pleasing movie that romantic comedy fans can't get enough of.

Where to stream: Netflix

Judy (2019)

Judy explores the oversized life of iconic movie star Judy Garland—specifically, her last years in London, when films like The Wizard of Oz were a distant cultural memory and Garland was too broke to pay her hotel bill. Trying to stage another in an endless series of "comebacks," Garland juggles her professional responsibilities with her fierce protectiveness over her children, all while battling alcoholism and drug addiction. Darci Shaw plays young Judy, but the movie really belongs to Renée Zellweger, whose portrayal of time-has-caught-up-with-her Judy is heartbreaking.

Where to stream: Prime

Breakin' On The One

This documentary tells the story of how the Black and brown kids from New York’s poorest neighborhoods spawned a worldwide musical and cultural revolution through dance, music, and fashion. On August 15, 1981, New York breakdance crews the Rocksteady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers appeared at the Out-of-Doors Festival to settle their differences through a breaking battle. Ripples from the showdown reverberated all over the world, and Breakin' On The One explores that epic breakin’ battle and the significance of breakdancing and hip-hop through archival footage and interviews with the dancers, DJs, MCs, and B-boys and girls who were there. If you’re into hip-hop, or fascinated with how cultural revolutions begin, check out Breakin’ on the One. 

Where to stream: Hulu

Last week's picks

Monkey Man

Mumbai isn't usually associated with martial arts, but first-time director Dev Patel's Monkey Man is a punch-in-the-face action movie that may change minds. Patel plays the title character, named for the mask he wears, a scrapper who makes a brutal living in underground fight pits where he's beaten up nightly for money. When he figures out how to infiltrate the secret society of rich jerks who pull the strings, Monkey Man unleashes a torrent of rage and revenge so satisfying it earned an 83% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Where to stream: Peacock

Oppenheimer (2023)

Christopher Nolan's biopic about the inventor of atomic weapons took home seven Oscars, including best picture, and it also made over $900 million at the box office. Cillian Murphy stars as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, a complex, driven visionary tasked with creating the most destructive weapon in human history to fight the Axis powers during World War II. Spoiler: he succeeds, but Oppenheimer, both the movie and man, end up wondering if atomic weapons were actually such a great idea.

Trigger Warning

For her role as Parker in Netflix original action movie Trigger Warning, Jessica Alba learned Indonesian knife fighting skills to make the flick's intense hand-to-hand combat scenes extra real. Parker is a Special Forces commando who returns to her home town her father's funeral, only to discover a dangerous conspiracy that might be responsible for his death. Does she confront the evil men behind the plot with Indonesian knife-fighting skills? Goddamn right she does. Mark Webber, Tone Bell, Jake Weary, Gabriel Basso, and Anthony Michael Hall also appear in this treat for action movie fans.

Where to stream: Netflix

Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution

This Netflix original documentary tells the story of LGBTQ+ stand-up comedy through interviews, stand-up performances, archival materials, and verité footage featuring huge comedians like Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhard, Wanda Sykes, Eddie Izzard, Hannah Gadsby, Tig Notaro, and Rosie O'Donnell. Outstanding explores the history of queer comics, the societal changes that came from their work, and the future of LGBTQ+ stand-up.

Where to stream: Netflix

Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.

Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play was one of the most celebrated, provocative, and fearless plays ever staged on Broadway. In this documentary, Harris takes us behind the scenes of the groundbreaking production, showing us the actors workshops, run-throughs, and rehearsals that brought it to life. But Harris goes deeper and uses the documentary to comment on his own part of Slave Play's creation.

Where to stream: Max