#SetTheVCR: March 11-17, 2024

Monday, March 11

Somebody Feed Phil: Season 7 (Anytime / Netflix)

Globe-trotting gourmand Phil Rosenthal samples and savors culinary delights from Dubai, Edinburgh, Kyoto and more in this warmly humorous series.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ROBODOC: THE CREATION OF ROBOCOP (ANYTIME / TUBI-CANADA & PRIME VIDEO-US)

An immersive 4+ hour journey into the making of the seminal sci-fi movie RoboCop. With over 60 cast/crew interviews and exclusive behind the scenes materials, RoboDoc is a unique, comprehensive and fully explorative scene-by-scene retrospective.
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Following their work on Pennywise: The Story of IT and Hollywood Dreams and Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story the nerdy-lads behind those popular IP documentaries have released RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop. The 1987 film was in part inspired by writer Edward Neumeier’s work in the art department on Blade Runner. Makeup effects vet Rob Bottin (The Thing, Total Recall) created the RoboCop design and handled the film’s makeup effects. Like, yo: what a pedigree. Produced by Gary Smart, the docuseries is directed by Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen who previously collaborated with Smart on Pennywise: The Story of IT. The second episode is outstanding as that episode focuses on the goons including my favourite Joe Cox. RoboCop is a remarkable movie based on a ludicrous premise that effectively works. RoboDoc reveals how the magic of this 1987 movie works; crafting an indelible character who continues to have a powerful pop culture presence. Programming Note: For more on RoboDoc, I was fortunate to talk to all three creators about making this fresh IP doc as well as hear their favourite RoboCop lines. Some impressive classic movie one-liners. Eastwood Allen, Chris Griffiths & Gary Smart were recent My Summer Lair guests.

Tuesday, March 12

Boat Story: Season 1 (Anytime / Freevee)

The series follows two strangers, Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph as Janet and Samuel, who can’t believe their luck when they stumble upon a shipwrecked boat full of cocaine. This is a Binge Release: all six episodes will be available upon premiere.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: TURNING POINT: THE BOMB AND THE COLD WAR (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)

From Luminant Media and director Brian Knappenberger, comes the definitive documentary on the Cold War and its aftermath post the collapse of the Soviet Union leading to the rise of Vladimir Putin.
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“History has a way of roaring back into our lives,” says Director Brian Knappenberger speaking on The Truth of the Matter podcast. This Cold War 9-part docuseries is so timely. Nolan’s Oppenheimer was a prologue. We’ve never fully processed atom-bomb-fueled culture. The pandemic was also a prologue. From Page 163 of Michael Lewis’ Premonition: “But then, on April 9, 2018, President Trump hired John Bolton as his national security adviser, and the next day, Bolton fired Tom Bossert, and demoted or fired everyone on the biological threat team. From that moment on, the Trump White House lived by the tacit rule last observed by the Reagan administration: the only serious threat to the American way of life came from other nation-states. The Bush and Obama administrations’ concern with other kinds of threats was banished to the basement. Bolton redesigned the White House to focus on hostile foreign countries rather than, say, natural disasters or disease. Bad people, rather than bad events.” Bad people is the story of the Cold War. And it’s not history so much as a prologue. Shoutout to all the incompetent teachers who trained students to hide under wooden school desk in the event of a nuclear attack.

Wednesday, March 13

I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (Anytime / Prime Video-Canada)

In this parody of blaxploitation movies, a black hero wannabe reunites former black heroes from the 70s to help him get revenge on Mr. Big. What Blazing Saddles did for Westerns, Git You Sucka does for blaxploitation.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LITTLE WING (ANYTIME / PARAMOUNT+)

Follows a 13-year-old girl who is dragged into the world of pigeon racing as she deals with her parents’ divorce and the impending loss of her home.
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I thought Little Wing was gonna be a teen movie. It’s more of a I have no money so let’s steal what we need to make ends meet movie. “Little Wing follows Kaitlyn, a teen who is reeling from her parents’ divorce and the pending loss of her home. She and her best friend hope to solve her mother’s financial woes by stealing a valuable bird, but Kaitlyn, instead, forms a bond with the owner that leads her to a new outlook on life.” So more like Oceans 11 with teens? I’m sure they’ll get The Perfect Score.

Thursday, March 14

Frida (Anytime / Prime Video)

An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time — drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews — Frida reaches new visual heights with lyrical animation inspired by her life and unforgettable artwork.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: ROMI (ANYTIME / TUBI-US)

When a young woman on the run is forced to hide out at a smart home, she becomes terrorized by ROMI, its sinister digital assistant.
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In ROMI Alexa Barajas plays Maddie, a young woman who is forced by her mother to hide out in a state of the art smart home. Maddie meets ROMI the house’s Hal 9000 which is malfunctioning thanks to a “ghost in the machine.” A smart home with that disembodied voice and different sounds and cycles operates no different than a haunted house. For Alexa who plays Maddie it’s not long before ROMI the smart home’s digital assistant begins to terrorize her. Isolated and alone it’s hard to maintain a firm grip on reality. Technology can anticipate our needs but technology can also incapacitate our needs. This is the current AI debate we’re having. I brought up these issues and more when I sat down with director Robert Cuffley and actor Alexa Barajas to talk about ROMI. Programming Note: For more on ROMI, director Robert Cuffley and acttor Alexa Barajas were recent My Summer Lair guests.

Friday, March 15

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) (Anytime / Disney+)

Directed by Sam Wrench this is a concert movie of the recent Taylor Swift: Eras Tour. It…Is What It Is.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: MANHUNT: LIMITED SERIES (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)

A conspiracy thriller about one of the best known but least understood crimes in history: the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
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Limited Series Premiere: John Wilkes Booth! Like Lee Harvey Oswald (why does every President killer have 3 names!) Booth was shot (in the back) and failed to faced his crimes. Jon Meacham’s And There Was Light is a fantastic Booth refence. However, this adapted from James L. Swanson’s non-fiction book. The Hunt…is on!

Saturday, March 16

Trolls Band Together (Anytime / Peacock & Prime Video-Canada)

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Poppy discovers that Branch was once part of the boy band ‘BroZone’ with his brothers, Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay. When Floyd is kidnapped, Branch and Poppy embark on a journey to reunite his two other brothers and rescue Floyd. This is what…the third Trolls movie?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: INVINCIBLE: SEASON TWO PART TWO (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)

Still reeling from Nolan’s betrayal in Season One, Mark struggles to rebuild his life as he faces a host of new threats, all while battling his greatest fear – that he might become his father without even knowing it.
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Saturday Morning Cartoons: Invincible based on the groundbreaking comic book by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley recently celebrated its 21st anniversary of the comic book’s inception (January 22, 2024). And with this adult animated superhero series it continues to connect and find new audiences. As you may know 18-year-old Mark Grayson is your standard teenager…except his father is (or was?) the most powerful superhero on the planet. If you’ve seen Season One you know there is fallout from that revelation as well Invincible must continue to face threats. He may indeed be Invincible but that doesn’t mean his heart is. Programming Note: The first 4 episodes of Season 2 were released weekly from November 3-November 24, 2023. Then, starting on March 14, 2024 and concluding on April 3rd, Prime Video released the final four episodes. So Season 2 ran from November 3, 2023 to April 4, 2024 releasing only 8 episodes.

Sunday, March 17

NCAA Selection Sunday (6:00 p.m. / CBS)

Selection Sunday is the day when the Selection Committee reveals the full NCAA tournament bracket, including all teams and all seeds. The NCAA Championship Game is April 8.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON (ANYTIME / MGM+ & CRAVE)

In Restless Dreams follows Paul Simon inside the studio making his new album Seven Psalms while looking back on his six-decade career with countless musical peaks from Sounds of Silence to Graceland.
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Excellent: we can all go to Graceland, together. Crave has picked up this two-part Paul Simon docuseries airing simultaneously on MGM+. Dreams is directed by Alex Gibney whose previous musical docs were Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, Sinatra: All or Nothing at All, Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge (the magazine not the band.). I highly recommend all 3. (He’s best known for his 2015 documentary: Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief. Oh yes, remember that one?) The doc’s official description promises that it is Simon’s “definitive musical biography.” More? “Granted unprecedented access to the making of a new album [last year’s Seven Psalms], the filmmakers also show never-before-seen footage of Simon’s extraordinary career, from Simon & Garfunkel to the phenomenal global success of Simon’s solo album Graceland.” Graceland is an incredible and sublime album. If you don’t care about this documentary, all good. Do check out Graceland. Enjoy that. Programming Note: In Restless Dreams premieres on March 17 and 24 on MGM+ on Crave both nights at 9 p.m.

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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.