The It List: Ronan Farrow brings 'Catch and Kill' to TV with new doc, Chip and Joanna Gaines introduce Magnolia Network and the best in pop culture the week of July 12, 2021
The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for July 12-18, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
WATCH IT: HBO's Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes brings Ronan Farrow's hit podcast to life
Along with New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, journalist Ronan Farrow chronicled Harvey Weinstein's downfall in real time, bringing the former Hollywood mogul's decades-long history of sexual abuse and intimidation to light in a series of widely-read New Yorker articles. Those articles later formed the basis for his 2019 book, Catch and Kill, followed by the popular podcast of the same name and, now, an HBO docuseries, which adds new visuals and reporting to Farrow's previously released audio interviews. Each episode in the the six-part series spotlights the stories of specific individuals that helped bring down Weinstein, from veteran Hollywood reporters and ex-Miramax staffers to the many women he harmed directly — including actress Rosanna Arquette, assistant Rowena Chiu and model Ambra Gutierrez, who was part of a 2015 NYPD sting operation that played a pivotal role in bringing Weinstein to justice at last. Gutierrez tells her story in this exclusive clip from the first episode, recalling how she initially reported her assault to the police. "When I talked to the police guy, I said, this person assaulted me,'" she tells Farrow. "He said 'Again?' I don't know why but that, 'Again,' just made me feel burning [anger] inside." — Ethan Alter
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes premieres Monday, July 12 at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max.
STREAM IT: Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines is back!
It's an exciting day for Fixer Upper duo Chip and Joanna Gaines. Joanna's beloved cooking show returns for a third season, which coincides with the launch of the couple's lifestyle network, Magnolia Network, on Discovery+. It's something the Gaineses have built from the ground up for years. "What we've been working on is, 'How do we build this thing around people, their stories, their passions?'" Joanna told People. "We realized that what we loved, as a company and as a business, is the idea of curating stories and letting storytellers be part of this kind of a bigger picture." — Taryn Ryder
The new season of Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines premieres and the Magnolia Network debuts Thursday, July 15 on Discovery+.
WATCH IT: Bring home the year's biggest box-office hit, now that A Quiet Place Part II is available to stream
After a quiet year at the box office due to the coronavirus pandemic, movie theaters roared back to life in May when John Krasinski's sequel to his 2018 horror hit opened on multiplex screens across the country. And audiences turned out in droves, catapulting A Quiet Place Part II to the top of the charts, where it's remained ever since. Now that the movie's 45 days as a theatrical exclusive are up, Paramount is making it available to millions of viewers who opted to stay home. Starting July 13, horror fans can stream the second Quiet Place at Paramount+ or via most VOD services, while physical media collectors can pick up a 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray or DVD release on July 27. (It's available for pre-order on Amazon.) This exclusive clip from a behind-the-scenes featurette included with the movie features Krasinski and his real-life spouse (and favorite torture victim) Emily Blunt discussing the movie's killer creatures. — E.A.
A Quiet Place Part II premieres Tuesday, July 13 on Paramount+ and digital services, including FandangoNow.
WATCH IT: Experience Hot Shark Summer with fish-out-of-water thriller Great White
It just ain't summer without a killer shark wreaking havoc on the big screen. Enter Great White, 2021's answer to such popular shark attack pictures as Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and 47 Meters Down. Filmed on location in Australia, the movie stars 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden and Spartacus's Aaron Jakubenko as the romantically-involved owners of a charter plane company, hired by a trio of travelers to provide the adventure of a lifetime. But instead they end up fighting for their lives when a super-sized shark targets their expedition. This exclusive clip from Great White shows the title character attacking the group's seaplane, forcing them to make the rest of their trip to safety via an inflatable raft. You might say they're far from The Shallows now. — E.A.
Great White premieres Friday, July 16 in theaters and on digital and on demand services, including FandangoNow.
WATCH IT: Superstar environmentalists Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier bring you the story of The Loneliest Whale
When they're not acting in major motion pictures like The Wolf of Wall Street or premium cable hits like Entourage, Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier are fighting for the future of the planet. The eco-conscious duo's latest bit of environmental activism is executive producing the documentary The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52, which chronicles scientists' decades-long mission to locate the famous 52 Hertz Whale — a majestic sea creature who communicates on a frequency that no other whale can hear. Directed by Joshua Zeman, who previously made the Netflix true crime series The Sons of Sam, the film features interviews with marine biologists and whale enthusiasts, along with footage of voyages to find the most solitary whale in the seven seas. This exclusive clip finds Zeman getting a hot tip on the current location of 52. — E.A.
The Loneliest Whale premieres Friday, July 16 on digital services, including FandangoNow.
Stream It: Crank up the volume as McCartney 3, 2, 1 goes deep inside the music
Paul McCartney offers an intimate, pop-music master class in this six-part Hulu series tracing highlights of his musical career from the Beatles to Wings to his solo work. Along for the ride is Rick Rubin — no slouch himself, having produced the likes of Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Tom Petty — who gets downright giddy as McCartney explains the alchemy behind his creative process, shares stories of classic cuts and plays seldom-heard outtakes and alternate versions of his greatest hits. — Marcus Errico
McCartney 3, 2, 1 premieres Friday, July 16 on Hulu.
WATCH IT: Space Jam: A New Legacy courts our attention
One of the wackiest film premises — a retiring Michael Jordan joining forces with Bugs Bunny and co. to fend off a motley crew of animated aliens on the basketball court — is at last getting another spin, some 25 years later. Jordan himself isn't involved this go-round, paving the way for a LeBron James-Looney Tunes mash-up that'll see the Akron native battling to save his (fictional) son from the still-nefarious toon Goon Squad. Can LeBron and a Lola Bunny (voiced by Zendaya) capture the bonkers-but-beloved magic of the original? I believe they can try. — Erin Donnelly
Space Jam: A New Legacy arrives Friday, July 16 in theaters and on HBO Max.
WATCH IT: Music's greatest photographers are ready for their close-up
As Rod Stewart once said, every picture tells a story, don't it? PBS's new six-part docuseries ICON — Music Through the Lens is chock-full of such rock 'n' roll tales, as told by music's most renowned photographers, including Mick Rock, Lynn Goldsmith, Laura Levine, Danny Clinch, Neal Preston, Bob Gruen, Deborah Feingold and the late Baron Wolman. Each episode will focus, so to speak, on one area of the art form —record cover photography, magazine portraiture, concert photojournalism, the digital revolution — with additional commentary from musicians who've posed for some of those iconic shots, like Metallica's Lars Ulrich, Alice Cooper, Ziggy Marley, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Craig David, Julian Lennon, Zara Larsson, Dizzee Rascal and Suede's Brett Anderson. — Lyndsey Parker
ICON — Music Through the Lens premieres Friday, July 16 at 9 p.m. on PBS.
WATCH IT: Good Trouble lets you live vicariously through the L.A. adventures of 20-something sisters Callie and Mariana
For diehard fans of The Fosters, this spin-off about the two sisters of the family has been a salve to the wounds left by that show's ending after five seasons (especially when the moms show up for a guest appearance). For everyone else, the sisterly dramas, peek into urban communal living and wide-ranging topics covered — Black Lives Matter protests, polyamory, therapy, parental grief, social justice for incarcerated mothers and mentally ill homeless folks and even a murder case at Callie's law firm — is enough to get and keep you hooked. — Beth Greenfield
Good Trouble premieres Wednesday, July 14 on Freeform and Thursday, July 15 on Hulu.
WATCH IT: American Horror Stories welcomes the triumphant return of... Rubber Man!
The perfect summer fright is around the corner and it's giving us everything we want. The terrifying world of Ryan Murphy's series American Horror Story is turning into a star-studded weekly anthology series, in which each episode is a different story. While its recurring star, Evan Peters, has not been listed in the network's press release, fan theories are beginning to swarm around an epic cameo given the return of one of the show's most famous (and spooky) characters… Rubber Man! Of course, Peters played the creepy Rubber Man in AHS season 1 and it's since been played by folks like Dylan McDermott, Zachary Quinto and Cody Fern. Returning to the franchise are fan-favorites Billie Lourd, John Carol Lynch, Matt Bomer and Naomi Grossman. Fans of Murphy's work can look forward to seeing recognizable newcomers to the AHS franchise including Aaron Tveit, Dyllon Burnside, Kaia Gerber, Kevin McHale, Danny Trejo and Paris Jackson. Get ready for some spooky nights! — David Artavia
American Horror Stories premieres with two episodes on Thursday, July 15, exclusively on FX on Hulu.
STREAM IT: Joshua Jackson returns to television in Dr. Death
Based on the hit true-crime podcast of the same name, Dr. Death follows sociopathic neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch (Jackson), who leaves his patients either permanently maimed — or dead. The show has no shortage of star power as Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater play two fellow physicians who try and stop the egomaniac. The dark, eight-episode thriller is surely one that will hook viewers. — T.R.
Dr. Death premieres Thursday, July 15 on Peacock.
STREAM IT: Mash up Twilight Zone and show tunes and you get Schmigadoon!
The hills are alive with the sound of music… and Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key are wondering WTF is happening. So goes the setup for Apple TV+'s charming six-episode series, starring Strong and Key as a couple on the rocks who stumble into a magical land where life's literally a musical. The only way out of the tune-cursed town is to discover true love, be it with each other or one of the offbeat locals. At turns celebrating and lovingly lampooning Broadway's greatest musicals — from Brigadoon to The Music Man to pretty much the entire Rodgers and Hammerstein oeuvre, including Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music and Carousel — with a Pleasantville-esque twist, Schmigadoon! is a must-stream for theater geeks, who are guaranteed to chuckle at all the inside jokes while humming along with a Tony-worthy cast featuring Kristen Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Ariana DeBose, Aaron Tveit, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Ann Harada and Dove Cameron. — M.E.
Schmigadoon! premieres Friday, July 16 on Apple TV+.
STREAM IT: Naomi Osaka opens up in new documentary
Get a look inside the four-time Grand Slam winner's private world. The three-part docuseries follows Osaka in the years after her breakthrough win against Serena Williams at the 2018 U.S. Open. The tennis champ explores her cultural roots and opens up about her activism and mentor Kobe Bryant. "I think the amount of attention that I get is kind of ridiculous," she says in the show's trailer. "No one prepares you for that." The 23-year-old has made headlines in recent weeks as she's been prioritizing her mental health over the sport. But Osaka will return to the court for her first Olympic Games later this month. — T.R.
Naomi Osaka premieres Tuesday, July 13 on Netflix.
HEAR IT: John Mayer is in a 'Sob Rock' state of mind
Positioning himself as the heart-on-blazer-sleeve John Waite, Richard Marx or Peter Cetera of his generation, John Mayer is back with a Don Was-produced collection of smooth-sailing yacht rock jams, ingeniously titled Sob Rock. If you can judge an album by its cover (in this case, a cover boasting a bubble-font "Nice Price" sticker, Miami Vice pastels, venetian-blind shadows and Mayer's Marx-like mullet), the breezy lead single "Last Train Home," or the fact that two touring Toto musicians are even listed in the credits, Sob Rock will likely be summer 2021's perfect mellow gold soundtrack. — L.P.
Sob Rock by John Mayer is available Friday, July 16 to download/stream on Apple Music.
WATCH IT: 10 global fashion designers face off in Making the Cut
"Let's start the fashion show!" In a sort of Project Runway 2.0, this thoroughly bingeable fashion face-off offers the magical chemistry of hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, as they mentor 10 established designers from around the world who are competing for the prize of selling their designs on Amazon. This season — the second — features celeb judge Winnie Harlow. — B.G.
Making the Cut premieres Friday, July 16 on Amazon Prime Video.
WATCH IT: You'll learn how to spot a killer on Oxygen's Charmed to Death
Not all cold-blooded killers are what they seem. Following the true stories of manipulative dangerous criminals who've used their charm to lure victims into romantic relationships before committing the ultimate crime of murder, each hour-long episode of Oxygen's Charmed to Death reminds viewers that not everyone is what they seem. Told through the perspectives of surviving friends and family members, who in many cases are still waiting for justice, as well as the hard-working investigators on the case, these real-life stories act as a sad reminder to always be on your guard. From a dance instructor who realizes her handsome chef lover is a wanted fugitive to a small-town, all American boy-next-door who is discovered to be serial killer, get to know the red flags from the people who experienced it themselves — so you won't have to. Are you looking over your shoulder yet? — D.A.
Charmed to Death premieres Sunday, July 18 at 7 p.m. on Oxygen.
HEAR IT: Gary Kemp knows this much is true
The former Spandau Ballet man, who penned perennial '80s hits like "True," "Gold," and "Only When You Leave," breaks out with his first solo album in 25 years, galvanized after touring with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets — an experience that introduced the New Romantic pioneer to a whole new classic rock audience. The autobiographical opus INSOLO, a stock-taking reflection on middle age, features Gary's younger brother/Spandau bandmate Martin Kemp as well as Queen's Roger Taylor. — L.P.
INSOLO by Gary Kemp is available Friday, July 16 to download/stream on Apple Music.
BUY IT: Add the unauthorized Star Wars oral history, Secrets of the Force, to your Jedi Archive
The sheer volume of behind-the-scenes Star Wars stories could fill several Holocrons, but longtime journalists and sci-fi fans, Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, manage to turn up some fresh intel in their 600-page unauthorized oral history, Secrets of the Force. Forged out of interviews with people directly involved with the film series, including cast members Harrison Ford and Adam Driver, and producers Gary Kurtz and Howard Kazanjian, as well as a wide swath of creative types involved in the larger Star Wars galaxy — think authors like Alan Dean Foster and George Lucas biographer Brian Jay Jones — the book covers all nine Skywalker Saga movies, plus the franchise's new home on Disney+. And speaking of Lucas, the original Jedi Master lends his voice to the narrative as well. The source of the Force he is. — E.A.
Secrets of the Force will be available Tuesday, July 13 at all major booksellers, including Amazon.
HEAR IT: Barenaked Ladies take a fascinating 'Detour'
Canada's finest workshopped their 16th studio album, Detour de Force, in 2020 isolation at band member Ed Robertson's Ontario cottage — and the record title's is a nod to how the pandemic forced them to reset, regroup and rethink their artistic process. The result, more than three decades into BNL's career, is one of their strongest efforts to date, featuring introspective and sometimes downright dark musings about social media and fake news ("Flip"), alcoholism ("Live Well") and parenthood and aging ("Man Made Lake"), as always blended with their signature sardonic humor. — L.P.
Detour de Force by Barenaked Ladies is available Friday, July 16 to download/stream on Apple Music.
BUY IT: Get in the game with all kinds of Space Jam: A New Legacy toys and apparel
The movie theater isn't the only place to celebrate the new installment of the Space Jam franchise. Space Jam toys and apparel are flooding shelves just as the much-anticipated sequel arrives in theaters and on HBO Max. Moose Toys is leading the charge with an action figure line that includes tricked-out plastic versions of King James and his Looney Tunes teammates, as well as a basketball-themed playset with assorted mini-figures, plush versions of the beloved animated characters and a set of super-stretchy Heroes of Goo Jit Zu figures. If you're looking for bendable figures, the Noble Collection has you covered with 7-inch sculptures of Bugs, Daffy, Lola and LeBron that can be put in a variety of gametime poses. And thanks to their longstanding partnership with James, you can bet that Nike is doing a full-court press when it comes to shoes and apparel. Choose between multiple Space Jam-branded footwear, as well as shorts, jerseys, backpacks and more — all of which will help you fly like an eagle. — E.A.
Space Jam toys from Moose Toys and The Noble Collection are available now on Amazon, and shoes and apparel can be purchased at Nike.
— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo
