Futurama is back! But as one series returns, another sees an end, of sorts, with Henry Cavill’s final episodes on The Witcher. There’s also a LOT to choose from on the movie front, including They Cloned Tyrone, Sisu, Polite Society, Kandahar, and more!
SERIES
Futurama S8
Disney+ – 24 July 2023
It’s time for an embarrassing confession. I think I’ve only ever seen one season of Futurama in total. Maybe. GASP! SHOCK! HORROR! Yes, yes, I know. You can tar and feather me later. It’s an oversight I will be correcting though, especially since Matt Groening’s beloved animated series is back after a whopping ten-year hiatus! This was a show that was already cancelled once, revived as a batch of direct-to-video films on Comedy Central of all places, then revived again for two more seasons. And now it’s back! You just can’t keep a professional slacker who was cryogenically frozen for 1000 years, before being revived in the future and finding work at an interplanetary delivery company alongside a group of lovable misfits down!
The Witcher S3 – Vol.2
Netflix – 27 July 2023
I have to admit, I’ve been a little surprised about the lack of online buzz around the third season of The Witcher. It went from being Netflix’s biggest show to just… nothing. Seeing as how this is fan-favourite Henry Cavill’s last run as Geralt of Rivia before handing over his sword and amulet to Liam Hemsworth, audiences would be clamouring to give him a big send-off. It’s entirely possible that this season is just not as good as the first two, hence the reduced noise. I personally wouldn’t know because my busy schedule and increasingly large backlog of stuff to watch has meant I haven’t gotten around to this yet. I should probably get around to that soon though, as next Thursday sees the release of the second half of The Witcher season 3, and spoilers will be everywhere shortly thereafter about how Cavill intends to exit.
Bel-Air S2
Showmax – 24 July 2023
I’ve never watched the first season of Bel-Air, Peacock’s dramatic reimagining of Will Smith’s classic 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, so I’m probably not the best person to recommend whether you should watch the upcoming second season. However, the fact that there is a second season tells me that enough of you did watch it – and hopefully enjoyed it – to warrant some kind of recommendation. Especially since the show has already been renewed for a third season already as well!
MOVIES
They Cloned Tyrone
Netflix – 21 July 2023
John Boyega first gained attention with an indie sci-fi action film (the brilliant Attack the Block) so I’m really happy to see him returning to his roots. They Cloned Tyrone could not be more different though. Co-starring Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx, this 1970s-set, Blaxploitation-inspired romp which follows a morally grey drug dealer, an unscrupulous pimp, and a street-savvy prostitute as they uncover a government cloning conspiracy that is waaaay above their heads.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
Prime Video – 18 July 2023
I would apologize and say this one is on me, but the reason why I missed that Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant debuted on Amazon Prime Video this past Friday is because the local Prime Video PR accounts seemingly thought it was a good idea to do no pre-release promotion for a movie from a fan-favourite director starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The Covenant (not to be confused with the utterly terrible movie of the same name from the early 2000s) just appeared on my app, which I must admit was a pleasant surprise. Especially since the movie is actually pretty good, and easily the best work Ritchie has done in a while as it blends tense war-time action with unexpected amounts of heartfelt drama.
Shin Kamen Rider
Prime Video – 21 July 2023
Well, damn! This is going to be super niche, but I would never have expected to watch Shin Kamen Rider (aka Shin Masked Rider, if you want to get English about it) on a local streaming service. The original 1970s Kamen Rider was an iconic tokusatsu superhero television series that spawned a decades-long multimedia franchise… all about a grasshopper themed cyborg-mutant hybrid superhero on a motorcycle who fights against the evil S.H.O.C.K.E.R. organization. Yes, that is an actual sentence that I just typed. There have been many cinematic iterations of Kamen Rider, but this latest was written and directed by acclaimed Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno to celebrate the franchise’s 50th anniversary, and is the fourth and final film in the filmmaker’s “Shin Japanese Heroes Universe”, a series of modern reimaginings of classic Japanese properties that features, Shin Godzilla, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, and Shin Ultraman.
Polite Society
Google Play Movies/Apple TV – 20 July 2023
If you’re looking for something far less heavier, check out Polite Society, which is now out for rental on Google Play Movies and Apple TV. This British martial arts action-comedy drama (yes, we’re just throwing all the genres in there!) follows British-Pakistani teenager Ria, a burgeoning martial artist with dreams of becoming a stuntwoman one day, who drags her friends on an insane adventure to stop the pre-arranged marriage her beloved older sister to a man she believes is not only wrong for her but actually up to something sinister.
Kandahar
Google Play Movies/Apple TV – 20 July 2023
Aaaaand we’re back to serious war dramas again. Gerard Butler has sort of earned a reputation for churning out serviceable but not great action movies for the last few years now. However, there’s one entry in his filmography that really stands out for me: Greenland. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, what initially appeared to be a dumb, end-the-world disaster movie, ended up being a sobering drama-thriller with serious emotional stakes. It shocked me with how good it was. And now Butler and Waugh are teaming up again on Kandahar, which at first glance once again looks like a simple action movie, but hints at there being more to this. The film is currently only available to buy on Google Play Movies and Apple TV for R150, but there should be rental options in the coming week or so. I will definitely give it a try.
65
Google Play Movies/Apple TV – 20 July 2023
And now for the first of two movies that I’m pretty sure are exactly what they look like. 65 does contain a bit of a twist, but unfortunately it’s one that was already revealed in the film’s first trailer: Adam Driver is a soldier from the planet Somaris who crash lands his spaceship on Earth with a young female passenger… but surprise! This is actually Earth from 65 million years ago, and now the mismatched duo have to survive not being eaten by dinosaurs! And that’s pretty much the movie… and I’m totally down for it! This one is also only available for purchase for now, but you should be able to rent it soon.
The Pope’s Exorcist
Google Play Movies/Apple TV – 19 July 2023
Looking for a bit of horror in your entertainment? Maybe with some added Russel Crowe putting on a silly little accent? Well, then The Pope’s Exorcist has you covered. Another one of those horror movies “inspired by” real world events (make of that what you will), Crowe plays Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, who stumbles across a centuries old conspiracy when investigating the demonic possession of a young boy. Reviews were mixed for The Pope’s Exorcist when it hit cinemas in April, but R40 is all it will cost to rent this one at home.
Sisu
Google Play Movies/Apple TV – 19 July 2023
I know that several of you reading this would probably never have heard of Sisu. More of you probably wouldn’t watch it based purely on the fact that it’s in Finnish with subtitles. Well, you’re going to have to put aside your hang-ups, because Sisu is f—ing awesome! That’s according to pretty much everybody who was lucky enough to watch it when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in January and promptly blew minds everywhere. The film immediately got picked up by Sony for international cinematic release, but we never got it here in South Africa, so I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see it’s already available for purchase on Google Play Movies/Apple TV, with a rental option coming soon. Based on the buzz so far though, this tale of a Finnish WWII commando and gold prospector who has to defend himself from a brutal SS death squad while trying to secure his gold, is definitely worth the price to own it.
Happiness for Beginners
Netflix – 24 July 2023
And now for something completely different! With roles in The Office and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Ellie Kemper has proven to be an absolute sweetheart on-screen to the point that I’ll watch pretty much anything she’s in. And that includes Happiness for Beginners, an upcoming romantic comedy-drama that seems to be ticking all the predictable boxes, but hey, you don’t generally watch these types of movies for wild plot twists! Based on Katherine Center’s best-selling book of the same name, this one sees Kemper as a despondent recent divorcee, known for her risk aversion, who decides to join an eclectic group of strangers on an outdoor survival course, in the hopes of reigniting her spark for life again.