'The Boys' season 3 is going there
And a dormant Netflix fav returns
What to know
The Boys season 3 is REALLY going there | Collider
The Boys has never been a family friendly superhero show, but this is taking its debauchery to another level. The Amazon series is set to tackle the comic book’s “Herogasm” arc, which tells the story of a drug-fueled super hero orgy on a remote island. “From day one, everyone dared me to make this episode. CHALLENGE MET MOTHERFUCKERS,” show runner Eric Kripke teased on Twitter with a photo of an episode script titled “Hergoasm.” It will be interesting to see how much Amazon lets Kripke get away with and how true the episode stays to the comic book. You might want to screen season 3 episode 6 before letting the kids watch.
Pixar reveals new image and details for Luca | /Film
After knocking it out of the park with Soul, Pixar is set to debut its next movie Luca this summer. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, Luca appears to be about two boys coming of age on the Italian seaside — but we just learned the Pixar twist. SPOILERS HEREIN: “Luca and Alberto are actually sea creatures who appear human on dry land, but become fish-like creatures underwater,” /Film writes. Empire compared it to The Little Mermaid. Despite thinking the animation style was cool and unique, my interested wasn’t all that piqued by the teaser trailer. Now I’m definitely raising an eyebrow or two. I mean it’s Pixar so I was going to see it no matter what, but I’m a bit more invested now.
How Dick Van Dyke helped WandaVision | /Film
I LOVED the first two episodes of WandaVision. Series director Matt Shakman and writer Jac Schaeffer are walking a delicate tightrope: The show is at once a funny, accurate homage to old sitcoms AND a sci-fi mystery box thriller. Clearly influenced by Pleasantville, these two halves not only succeed on their own but feed into each other and heighten the other. It’s—as the kids say—extremely my shit. So it’s no surprise that in order to pastiche old sitcoms correctly, Shakman and Kevin Feige went to the best living source: Dick Van Dyke. In a meeting at Disneyland’s exclusive Club 33, Van Dyke explained how they kept things grounded on his series while pulling off broad physical gags — and that he wasn’t aware of the Marvel movies.
Aziz Ansari’s Master of None is reportedly coming back | ComingSoon
Master of None hasn’t put out new episodes since 2017, but apparently Netflix left a light on for Aziz. A website called Chortle is reporting that Ansari and co-writer Alan Yang are returning for a third season set in London. Naomi Ackie will be joining the show, and Lena Waithe will return too. The website also says that Ansari and Yang started shooting last Spring but then COVID happened. I can’t wait to see how Master of None has changed over the years. Some of its techniques, mainly doing episodes that deviate from the main characters, have been copied many times over — can Ansari and Yang keep reinventing the single cam comedy?
Also...
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel welcome new baby boy Phineas, no word on Ferb 👶
Peaky Blinders to end with sixth season. I never did peek at those blinders 🇬🇧
Disney is selling the watch from WandaVision’s eerie fake commercial. Call me when they’ve got lobster door knockers ⌚️
Ozark and The Crown lead Critics Choice TV awards. Aren’t good reviews the real critics choice? 🏅
James Gunn conceived of and wrote the Peacemaker show while bored in quarantine. Meanwhile, I grew out my hair ☮️
[Spoiler] might be returning for Thor Love and Thunder. No hints, but it’s definitely been a day, man.🔨
What to watch
One Night in Miami seems risky on paper. It imagines the night Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay), Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown came together to celebrate Clay becoming the champ and discuss their roles in the civil rights movement. It puts the big conversations in the biggest mouths. So many things could have gone wrong in its transfer from idea to stage to screen. The performances could have been too impression-y, the writing could have been overwrought, the directing could have been staid. And yet all of the talents involved: writer Kemp Powers, director Regina King, stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. pull it off spectacularly. I’ve been saying this phrase a lot recently, but add this to list of well-timed movies. I want to give a special shoutout to Leslie Odom Jr., who steals the film as Sam Cooke, with his mid-picture monologue (the one about song ownership and pie, you’ll know it when you see it) and his two musical numbers late in the runtime.
Also, A Serious Man is now on Peacock and Isle of Dogs is on Disney+. If you’ve never seen them before, they’re two of my favorites.
New notables this week:
Alone — Jan 18 — Amazon movie | RT 94%
The White Tiger — Jan 22 — Netflix movie | RT 89%
Derek Delgaudio's In & of Itself — Jan 22 — Hulu special | No RT yet
Flack — Jan 22 — Amazon series | RT 68%
Thanks for reading! If you like this and aren’t already subscribed, please consider signing up or forwarding this email.
As always, Tuesday and Wednesday editions are free, while the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday editions are accessible via monthly or the more-affordable yearly subscription. You can subscribe or upgrade via the ‘Subscribe Now’ button below.
Thoughts? Reply to this email or hit me up @alexrab on Twitter.
About the author: Alex Rabinowitz has led the way on social media and story packaging at media outlets big and small. With his acclaimed Tumblr site PopCultureBrain.com, Alex became a leading figure in emerging social networks and entertainment news. Sourced by many top destinations, including New York Magazine, BuzzFeed, and Videogum, Pop Culture Brain was featured by BuzzFeed and TIME as the best pop culture blog on Tumblr. Alex's writing has appeared on The Huffington Post, GQ.com, Mic, and Time Warner Cable.