#SetTheVCR: July 22-28, 2024

Monday, July 22

Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All (Anytime / Netflix-US)

With forty years of making music as the iconic folk-rock band Indigo Girls, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have made their mark as musicians, songwriters, and dedicated activists. They have represented radical self-acceptance to many, leading multiple generations of fans to say: “the Indigo Girls saved my life.”
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ABIGAIL (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.
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So…In New York City, young ballet dancer Abigail is abducted by six criminals and taken to the secluded Wilhelm Manor. Before leaving, their leader Lambert instructs them to guard Abigail for 24 hours, at which point they will receive an equal share of a $50 million ransom paid by her father. Got a Reservoir Dogs feel to it, yeah? Don’t use you real names or reveal your backstory. I appreciate Kathryn Newton goes with Sammy, fake name or otherwise. Super simple right? Well this Reservoir Dogs movie becomes Mean Girls…turns out Abigail is a vampire. A classic twist to the calls are coming from inside the house. Like Crystal Lake campers…who do you think is gonna make it out alive? Programming Note: This’ll be added on Prime Video for Canadians on on August 27th.

Tuesday, July 23

Love Lies Bleeding (Anytime / HBO Max & Hoopla & Prime Video-Canada)

Gym manager Lou falls for Jackie, a bodybuilder who is passing through town en route to a competition in Las Vegas. It is what it is.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: WILD WILD SPACE (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

The documentary chronicles the fast paced, high-stakes race of epic proportions in which companies compete to blast satellite-carrying rockets into low earth orbit.
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Have you read Ashlee Vance’s When the Heavens Went on Sale? Fantastic #SpaceIsThePlace non-fiction book. This isn’t about the billionaire space race (which, like most people I find inspiring. We need all the help we can get. China is gonna be a problem.). Rather the book and therefore this HBO documentary details rocket and satellite startups. Like Silicon Valley space has become a whole industry. Wild Wild Space follows three rocket and satellite companies – Astra Space, Rocket Lab, and Planet Labs. Space is the frontier which means devastating setbacks and “big brother” ethics that come with all technological advances. Space doesn’t just mean going to Mars, it also means satellites from planet-saving and environmental imaging to Scary Snowden Surveillance. Space remains as a realm of embarrassing ignorance…many people will be foolish in public saying why are we going to space? There’s the silly commentary on billionaires: lousy backseat driving from middle class folks about how they should spend their money. Cringey comments like that. You can be comfortably stupid about space in public. Yet going to space has given us hope…and the GPS and scratch-resistant lenses and the microwave. Humanity benefits when we go to space. I highly recommend Ashlee Vance’s book as well as Neil deGrasse Tyson & Avis Lang’s book: Accessory to War…The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military.

Wednesday, July 24

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam (Anytime / Netflix)

With never-before-seen archive and unique access highlighting the artists’ epic rise to global stardom, this series uncovers Lou Pearlman’s web of lies, revealing the harsh realities of fame, power, exploitation and greed. Why is Netflix release Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam a Lou Pearlman docuseries? Right this second on YouTube you can watch The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story. We did this already. What’s the value of exploiting this market…again?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: CHARLIE HUSTLE & THE MATTER OF PETE ROSE (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

The documentary series features intimate new interviews and verité footage of Pete Rose, chronicling his life and career in baseball.
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Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He’s just better than you. We went through all of this with Lance Armstrong: he’s just better than you. His gambling is loathsome but thankfully Rose was paid to win not to be a saint. Win he did. “Rose was an integral part of the famed Big Red Machine, the Reds teams that from 1970 to 1976 won five division titles, four NL pennants, and World Series championships in 1975 and 1976.” He then played for the Phillies and helped that team win the World Series in 1980. Gambling is wrong, and I actively advocate for harsh petalites for those who bet on the games. However, I acknowledge two crucial aspects: there’s a wonderful double standard in sports. Jordan gambling on games shouldn’t be treated like a loser bench warmer. Which leads to my second point: winning covers a multitude of sins. Did you win…yes or no? Were you good…yes or no? This looks fascinating. Programming Note: All four episodes will be available to stream Wednesday, July 24 on HBO Max. (First two parts are broadcast tonight, next 2 tomorrow night if you want to actually #SetTheVCR.)

Thursday, July 25

The Decameron (Anytime / Netflix)

In 1348, a plague strikes hard in the Italian countryside as a handful of nobles take their servants to a grand villa for a lavish holiday. But what starts as a wine-soaked sex romp turns into a scramble for survival in this dark comedy.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO-CANADA)

The British military recruits a small group of highly skilled soldiers to strike against German forces behind enemy lines during World War II.
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Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is based on Damien Lewis’s non-fiction book about a secret combat organization formed during WWII that employed dirty methods (aka utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques) to combat Nazis. This special forces (and slightly rogue) organization was formed by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including James Bond author Ian Fleming. More than just Lewis’ book recently declassified files of the British War Department reveal how this organization has became a prototype of the modern black ops warfare. This true-life mission was called Operation Postmaster. Operation Postmaster marked the UK’s first-ever special forces mission during WWII. (And a significant breaking of all previously held rules of warfare.) Formally known as the Special Operations Executive, the objective of the mission was to thwart a Nazi U-Boat supply operation off the coast of West Africa by deploying a small force of freelance pirates. And the British offered these volunteer-pirates nothing but the potential for glory and all-but-certain death. How can you not wanna sign up for that?

Friday, July 26

Olympic Highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson (Anytime / Peacock)

Multiple episodes of this comedic recap series will stream each week throughout the Olympics. If you’ve enjoyed their annual Back That Year Up specials, you’ll dig this.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: KNOX GOES AWAY (ANYTIME / HBO MAX)

Michael Keaton directs and stars in this unpredictable thriller as John Knox, a hit man attempting to make amends before his recently discovered dementia takes over.
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I’m so annoyed, Crave didn’t add Knox Goes Away in their July listings. I hope whatever the odd rights are we still get it here…and soon. Here’s what we got: This is a low-key thriller starring Michael Keaton who plays John “Aristotle” Knox a hitman diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia. This seems to be the way we age now. Physically his body is fine, he can continue to be an effective contract killer. However his mind is oatmeal. This is us: we know older folks who are physically fine but their minds are mush. Or physically mush bodies but the mind is clear. Aging sucks. As a killer Knox has one final task to take care of before he fades away. What a compelling spin on the classic I’m trying to get out but they keep pulling me back in. (Speaking of that mafia classic Godfather actor Al Pacino is also in this movie.) We rarely get to see killers retire…they usually just die. In this case Michael Keaton’s mind is no longer as locked in as…Fort Knox. And if he can finish this one last obligation; his work is finally finished. And then Knox Goes Away.

Saturday, July 27

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two (Anytime / HBO Max)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Part 1 was added to HBO Max back in April: The Anti-Monitor (the Monitor’s evil counterpart) is released in the DC Multiverse and begins to destroy the different Earths that compose it. The Monitor attempts to recruit heroes from across the Multiverse, but is murdered. For now: Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three is now available on digital platforms.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: OLYMPIC BASKETBALL (VARIOUS TIMES / NBC & PEACOCK)

The first international games were played in the 1920s, and the first world championships took place in the 1950s. Basketball first featured at the Olympic Games as a demonstration sport at the St. Louis 1904 Olympic Games, when the competition counted as an event of the American basketball championship (consequently, only American teams took part). Basketball became an official Olympic sport at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games. Women’s basketball was included on the Olympic programme for the first time 40 years later at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games.
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The men’s basketball action tips off on July 27 — one day after the Opening Ceremony in Paris — with 12 countries competing in the initial Group Phase. Group Phase games will be played at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played at Bercy Arena in Paris. It’s impossible for the American team to flub. They’ve got strong coaching (Steve Kerr, Tyronn Lue and Erik Spoelstra) coupled with a fanatic player lineup. (Even with LeBron James who sucks so much and sucks so often.) Americans should be the favourites. Canada is also good…though a bit thin upfront. All that poutine and Canada can’t produce a handful of quality Big Men? France can surprise (they won silver in the 2020 Olympics) and so will Australia. Australia is the dark horse. Look at this line up: Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Josh Green, Dante Exum and Josh Giddey. It’s gonna be a fun tournament. I might watch Breaking, other than that I don’t care about the Olympics.

Sunday, July 28

Elite: 8th & Final Season (Anytime / Netflix)

Las Encinas will open its doors one last time in a new 8 episode season full of secrets, rivalries, corruption, and excess in the purest Élite style. Omar and Nadia reunite just as graduation nears for students at Las Encinas and one last mystery pushes friendships — and enemies — to the brink.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE BOY IN THE WOODS (ANYTIME / PARAMOUNT+ CANADA)

The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.
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Maxwell Smart’s book details his traumatic true-life survival story…a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe during World War II. His harrowing memoir has been adapted into a feature film directed by Rebecca Snow whose previous WWII work was Cheating Hitler: Surviving The Holocaust; a 2019 Canadian television documentary. The Boy in the Woods (the movie) is about a child-fugitive forced to fend for himself in the forests of Poland. Child actor Jett Klyne plays Max a Jewish boy aged 12 from Warsaw, trying to evade capture during the second World War. His selfless mother tells him to run away from the Nazi trucks which they are about to fatally board with his little sister. He succeeds in running away but is unable to find peace. And how, exactly is a boy supposed to survive in the woods? Alone? I just wrote about this and included a My Summer Lair conversation Jett Klyne in this recent My Pal Sammy dispatch.

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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.