Marcel the Shell With Shoes On; The Bear.
Photo: A24; FX
The world of things to watch is vast. There’s too much to watch and so little time. That’s when the weekends come quite in handy: Sure, you can still go out and have a good time (it’s summer, for God’s sake!), but what about the times you want to unwind and relax inside the air-conditioning (it’s summer and it’s hot, for God’s sake!)? That’s where we come in to help navigate your weekend viewing. Here, a list of movies and shows for you to check out.
Austin Butler is giving his “a hunk, a hunk” in Elvis, a bombastic biopic about the King of rock and roll and his manager Colonel Tom Parker. Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film has all the beats and language of a Luhrmann flick, meaning Elvis has a ton of flash, a loaded soundtrack (with a great Doja Cat lead single), and some neat camera tricks, which all culminate in what could very much be your thing or not. It’s how it goes with Baz, but an extravagant Baz film is better than another boring biopic.
Director Scott Derrickson has done the impossible: make me think Ethan Hawke isn’t hot for once. But to be fair, it’s only because I’m deathly afraid of whatever Hawke’s character has going on here. A child murderer with a scary mask who puts children in a terrifying soundproof basement is just a “no, thanks” from me. However, I’m sure I will contradict myself and end up watching this through my fingers, so you win, Derrickson.
When I was seated for a showing of Everything Everywhere All at Once, one of the trailers that played beforehand was for Marcel the Shell — and readers, that trailer already had me welling up with tears. Directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp, this sweet little film is based on Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate’s YouTube shorts about a tender young seashell (voiced by Slate). In the feature film, Marcel and his grandmother Connie are discovered by a documentarian who helps bring Marcel’s story online in an attempt to hopefully find his lost family. Bring a box of tissues.
Released in its entirety on Hulu, The Bear is a fast-paced series about a young fine-dining chef (Jeremy Allen White) who inherits his family’s sandwich shop in Chicago after his brother’s death and struggles with the switch and responsibilities. It’s a comedy, it’s a drama, it’s a drama, but above all, it’s a must-watch. (Or at least try watching the finale first before you decide.)
The recently released Gordita Chronicles is an incredibly sweet and charming sitcom. Similar to shows like Fresh Off the Boat, The Wonder Yearsand The Goldbergscreator Claudia Forestieri and showrunner Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz’s comedy recounts its lead character (played effervescently by Olivia Goncalves) Cucu’s coming-of-age — with narration from the character’s older self — as her family moves from the Dominican Republic to a technicolor ’80s Miami.
How are we feeling, Westworld heads? Confused? Yeah, that seems about right, but unfortunately, we’re in too deep. Why stop now? Westworld season one was such an elusive gem of HBO sci-fi prestige (and season two even had its moments), so if you’ve made it as far as season three, we might as well see what’s next … even if the show fell into its own trappings of being a confounding style-over-substance mystery box. But alas! Season four promises Ariana DeBose and the return of James Marsden in an interesting love triangle with Evan Rachel Wood’s new not-Dolores character Christina. Ohhhh, Westworld.
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