#SetTheVCR: June 17-23, 2024

Monday, June 17

Presumed Innocent: Limited Series (Anytime / Apple TV+)

An eight-part limited series based on the novel of the same name by Scott Turow: it takes viewers on a journey through the horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorney’s office when one of its own is suspected of a crime. It Is What It Is. The first two episodes premiered on Wednesday, June 12, followed by a new episode every Wednesday through July 24.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MONKEY MAN (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)

An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless.
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Well, Brown John Wick looks way better than Brown Doogie Howser. Good start. While I’m unwilling to invest in Dev Patel as an Action Jackson I’ll check this out on streaming. This week Jessica Alba stars in Netflix’s Trigger Warning. Action movies are like the lottery, many will enter, few will win. Let’s see Patel’s body count, cool kills, degree of difficulty, mastery of hand to hand combat, ingenuity and resourcefulness, clever bad guys and more. All the standard hallmarks that all action movies are judged by. You ain’t gonna make a monkey outta me, I know what good action movies are.

Tuesday, June 18

Am I OK? (Anytime / HBO Max & Crave)

Yo: it’s Dakota Johnson, are you really gonna sit through this? Well fine: Lucy and Jane have been best friends for most of their lives and think they know everything there is to know about each other. But when Jane announces she’s moving to London, Lucy reveals a long-held secret. As Jane tries to help Lucy, their friendship is thrown into chaos. Sigh, I told you up front…it’s Dakota Johnson.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION (9:00 P.M. / PBS)

The definitive story of a new form of music and dance.
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Lotta disco lately, I know pop culture flows and goes in cycles but it’s a notable trend. PBS and the BBC have co-produced a docuseries about the classic rise and fall of disco: “co-opted by the commercial mainstream, the genre dominated and flooded the market – the airwaves and record shops – leading to a subsequent hate-fueled backlash. As a result, the music and its ethos went back underground, where it evolved into an electronic dance sound that laid the foundations for contemporary dance culture.” PBS also has the ironically titled American Experience featuring The War on Disco broadcast in 2023. (That can be seen online at PBS.) This is a fascinating docuseries, highly recommended. As with all things PBS, check your local listings to confirm dates and times. However Episode 1: Rock the Boat premieres on Tuesday, June 18 at 9 p.m. on PBS. Episode 2: Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now is on Tuesday, June 25, 9 p.m. on PBS while Episode 3: Stayin’ Alive can be seen on Tuesday, July 2, 9 p.m. on PBS. #SetTheVCR for all 3 dates if you wanna groove with this.

Wednesday, June 19

Power of the Dream (Anytime / Prime Video)

Power of the Dream is a basketball documentary about the empowering and unlikely true story of how a group of professional women’s basketball players took on a WNBA team owner and rallied behind now-Senator Raphael Warnock, forever changing the landscape of their sport and the course of U.S. politics. The WNBA documentaries are coming.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TRIUMPH: JESSE OWENS AND THE BERLIN OLYMPICS (8:00 P.M. / THE HISTORY CHANNEL)

Set during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, and just three-years before the start of WWII, African American track and field athlete Jesse Owens took the world stage and launched into international fame by making Olympic history after winning four gold medals in the 100-meter dash, long jump, 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter dash.
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I understand the cultural significance of Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens. However those legendary myths often obliterate all nuance. In 2007 Jeremy Schaap went on NPR and he “debunked a few of the myths surrounding Jesse Owens in his new book Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics. When we spoke to him from our studios in New York this past week, Schaap said that although Owens became an international celebrity after the 1936 Olympics, he had to struggle to support himself and his family. In fact, Owens really didn’t get his due until 1955.” Okay that gets interesting. Also, I wanna know how Jesse Owens is a straight line to the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute by two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. So then let’s see what narrator Don Cheadle has to say about all of that. Programming Note: This is on Canadian History Channel tonight but at 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 20

Federer: Twelve Final Days (Anytime / Prime Video)

Chronicling the final 12 days of Roger Federer’s professional tennis career. Originally a home video never intended for public viewing, the film captures Federer at his most vulnerable and candid self as he says goodbye to a game and the fans that shaped his life for the last two decades. What’s not to Love…
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: GODZILLA MINUS ONE (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.
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Godzilla was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954, and released nationwide on November 3, 1954. Why not celebrate the monster’s 70th Anniversary with a recent movie? (I’ve never read any Godzilla comics…like ever. I like the movies; they’re fun (well not the American movies so much.). That Godzilla has lasted 70 years is inspiring. Like, on November 29 2004 Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That’s some powerful Monday Motivation hope (or whatever day you read this): if an immigrant with no command of the English language can succeed to become a major Hollywood icon you too can succeed! Also: fire-breath your enemies.

Friday, June 21

Off Script with The Hollywood Reporter-Stand Up (Anytime / AMC+)

A round table discussions with stand up comics including Mike Birbiglia and Ramy Youssef. A ghetto Dinner for Five. Man, I miss that TV show.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TRIGGER WARNING (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

A skilled Special Forces commando (Jessica Alba??) takes ownership of her father’s bar after he suddenly dies and soon finds herself at odds with a violent gang running rampant in her hometown.
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Trigger Warning for true! This Netflix movie asks you to believe that Jessica Alba can go all John Wick. Ha: stop it. Nobody’s intimated by Alba. However, Anthony Michael Hall continues to shine as a Donald Sutherland duplicitous douchebag. Hall is built for these nasty roles. Did you see him in The Dark Knight and Halloween Kills? Awful person. He must have a mental Dead Zone.

Saturday, June 22

Kung Fu Panda 4 (Anytime / Peacock)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: After Po is tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, he needs to find and train a new Dragon Warrior, while a wicked sorceress plans to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm. Programming Note: This’ll be added to Prime Video-Canada on July 12th.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MARMALADE (ANYTIME / HULU)

A criminal seeks help from a fellow inmate to escape and reunite with an electrifying woman who has stolen his heart. Marmalade centers on the recently incarcerated Baron (Joe Keery), who strikes up a friendship with cellmate Otis (Aldis Hodge), a man with a well-versed history of prison breaks.
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The trailer opens with a seductive offer: “Let’s…rob…a bank.” To which Joe Keeery can only reply: “Do what now?” Bank heist movies are my jam…or I guess in this case, my Marmalade. While this isn’t Heat I’m in the mood for a everybody put up your hands, this is a stick-up movie. I’ll “bank” this for a later viewing…

Sunday, June 23

Orphan Black: Echoes: Season 1 (Anytime / AMC+ & BBC America)

Set in the near future and takes a deep dive into the exploration of the scientific manipulation of human existence. It follows a group of women as they weave their way into each other’s lives and embark on a thrilling journey, unraveling the mystery of their identity and uncovering a wrenching story of love and betrayal.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: STEVIE VAN ZANDT: DISCIPLE (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)

Stevie Van Zandt, known as New Jersey’s most famous consigliere to Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano, takes center stage in this feature documentary.
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Who is Stevie Van Zandt? Your answer depends on where you know him from: New Jersey’s most famous consigliere to Bruce Springsteen, an actor in The Sopranos and Lilyhammer (the first original Netflix series) or host of Little Steven’s Underground Garage, a weekly syndicated radio show. What a career, what a life. This is “a story told through a wealth of rare performance footage, takes us back to the emergence of the Jersey Shore sound in the mid-1970s when Van Zandt, Springsteen, and Southside Johnny rocked The Stone Pony club in Asbury Park, N.J. with their particular brand of rock music infused with the sounds of soul and backing horns. Filled with insight from luminaries within the music, film, and political circles that Van Zandt toggles between, this revealing film explores the many facets of Van Zandt, including his vital collaborations on many Springsteen albums, his departure from the E Street Band at the height of their fame and his work as front man of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.” Featuring interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, David Chase, Eddie Vedder, Bono, Joan Jett, Peter Gabriel and more. When you can assemble a dynamic group like that you know you’ve lived a fantastic life.

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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.