More than 30 movies and TV shows to watch this summer

Margot Robbie as Barbie at her dream home.

By Los Angeles Times Staff

May 12, 2023 12 PM PT

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who knows that some of the best summer days are spent inside.

That’s because the season of beaches and barbecues is also the perfect time to hunker down in front of the TV on a hot day or escape to the movie theater for ice-cold sodas and buttery popcorn. And thanks to our summer preview, highlighted below, you won’t be short of ideas for what to watch. (If you run through the 30+ titles we’ve suggested, just come back to Screen Gab for more.)

Also in this week’s edition, recommendations for your weekend, talk show host Tamron Hall reveals her most memorable interview to date and more. Plus, we want to know what you’re watching. Pretend we’re at the water cooler and give us your review of a TV show or streaming movie you’ve loved; it may be included in a future edition of Screen Gab. (Submissions should be approximately 100 to 150 words and sent to [email protected] with your name and location.)

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

What Jonathan Majors’ dramatic rise and fall says about race and justice in Hollywood: The actor, who this week faced his first court date in a domestic dispute, may suffer more career damage than his Hollywood counterparts have. Is race a factor?

In ‘Yellowjackets,’ as in America, the dangers of childbirth are all too real: In the Showtime survival drama, we finally learned what happened to Shauna’s baby — and it’s based on a reality many women experience.

Queen Charlotte and King George III: What does the ‘Bridgerton’ prequel get right?: The “Bridgerton” spinoff explores unanswered questions about Queen Charlotte’s racial identity and King George III’s mental health.

In ‘Still,’ Michael J. Fox reminds us that despite Parkinson’s, he’s here. Thank goodness: The documentary on Apple TV+ by Davis Guggenheim is an intimate portrait of an actor who feels like family.

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Richard Harris, left, and Peter O'Toole.

Great actors are explorers, who go to wild places within themselves and come back to report so we don’t have to. Thus do we shower them with money and laurels. Britbox has posted a pair of documentaries on two of the finest — generational peers and friends, one Irish, one with Irish roots, with well-documented reputations as troublesome drinkers, yet who nevertheless filled long careers with extraordinary work. “The Ghost of Richard Harris,” directed by Adrian Sibley, is a gorgeously made, atmospheric recounting of the life and work of a man too many know only as the first Dumbledore, with sons Jared, Jamie and Damien — roaming through family bric-a-brac, riding in dad’s old Rolls — as guides on a journey of their own. (“MacArthur Park,” Harris’ hit single, is present and accounted for.) Directed by Jim Sheridan, who makes an appearance in the Harris documentary, “Peter O’Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba” is a more standard chronology, assembled from clips of stage and screen work and talking-head interviews with the likes of actors Derek Jacobi, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox and Sian Phillips, O’Toole’s wife at the height of his popularity. Each film makes a successful case for its subject’s genius and will send you looking for the movies they made, and the movies that made them. — Robert Lloyd

A close-up shot of a woman holding a landline phone to her ear

You could easily describe “Air” (Prime Video) as the best movie ever made about a shoe. Of course, the shoe spotlighted in “Air” is not just any shoe. It’s the iconic Air Jordan, the sneaker named after NBA superstar Michael Jordan. Nike launched on a risky mission in 1984 to produce the sneaker, the first time a major shoe line had been attached to a star athlete. The story behind that endeavor is chronicled with a mixture of drama, comedy and pathos, delivered by a team of Hollywood A-listers including Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker, Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck, who also directed. The film, which was a hit with audiences and critics, marks the third teaming for Damon and Affleck since their 1997 Oscar triumph in “Good Will Hunting,” and arrives as part of a spate of movies depicting the origin stories of consumer products. — Greg Braxton

Summer preview

This week, instead of catching up, look ahead

Normally, we reserve this slot in each edition of Screen Gab to suggest a recent film or TV series to bump to the top of your queue. But with the publication of The Times’ summer preview this week, we couldn’t pass up the chance to share our excitement for what’s still in the pipeline as the days lengthen and California’s rainy winter recedes. That means stocking up on sunblock to spend time with Patricia Arquette in the Yucca Valley-set “High Desert” (May 17); gearing up for “Fast X” (May 19), which hired a new helmer to see the street-racing saga to the finish line; and clearing out your vocal cobwebs to sing along to “The Little Mermaid” (May 26), starring Halle Bailey as Ariel. It’s not just upcoming titles we have covered, either: Break out your calendars and get ready for some quality time in the A/C with our lists of the 15 movies and 14 TV shows we’re most excited for this summer. — Matt Brennan

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Daytime television is not an easy business, especially when you’re up against the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Hudson. Since leaving longtime home NBC and launching her syndicated talk show “Tamron Hall,” though, the former “Today” co-host has more than held her own: Renewed for a fifth season in March, the series averages more than 1 million viewers daily and continues to add to its audience at an impressive clip. Hall stopped by Screen Gab recently to (reluctantly) discuss her most memorable interview, what she’s learned from the talk show format and what she’s watching. —Matt Brennan

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

I am still team “Yellowjackets” [Showtime]. Season 2 is heart-pounding!

What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” [MTV, Hulu, Paramount+] takes me away from everything. And “Love Actually” [VOD, multiple platforms] even in the summer.

You’ve worked as a broadcast journalist since the early 1990s, so you’re already an expert interviewer. But this is your first talk show. What has the format taught you about interviewing?

It’s reminded me people want to be heard and they are looking for the right person to share their authentic journey and story with. I am very lucky that so many people have come to sit with me.

I would never ask you to pick a favorite guest — that would be unfair! But so far, who would you say is your most memorable and why?

You can’t do this to me… I would say Erykah Badu. She was recently a guest, and she took out her freshwater pearl custom grills mid-interview and set them on the table. It was epic.

Mail bag

Recommendations from Screen Gab readers

A security guard lay bloody on his back atop crushed cardboard boxes.

Check out “Community Squad.” I found this gem on Netflix while looking for an amuse-bouche mental cleanse after too many “Barry’s.” It follows a diverse group of “challenged” folks hired for the newly formed community civil patrol in an urban Argentine city. It’s smart and honest and had me laughing out loud.

Stasula
San Francisco

What’s next

Listings coordinator Matt Cooper highlights the TV shows and streaming movies to keep an eye on

Fri., May 12

“Air” (Prime Video): A sneaker-company executive (Matt Damon) tries to land young basketball star Michael Jordan for an endorsement deal in Ben Affleck’s fact-based 2023 drama. With Viola Davis.

“Children Ruin Everything” (Roku): The Canadian-made comedy is back, eh, for its third season. With Meaghan Rath.

“City on Fire” (Apple TV+): The murder of a young woman in New York’s Central Park in the summer of 2003 sets events in motion in this new mystery drama. With John Cameron Mitchell.

“Crater” (Disney+): To the moon! A youngster and his companions have a lunar adventure in this 2023 sci-fi tale. With Isaiah Russell-Bailey.

“The Great” (Hulu): Elle Fanning gets gussied up for a third season of this historical-ish drama about Russia’s Catherine the Great.

“Huesera: The Bone Woman” (Shudder): A pregnant woman needs to be delivered — from evil! — in this gripping 2022 Spanish-language horror fable.

“Mamas” (Roku): The instincts are both animal and maternal in new episodes of this nature series. “Nashville’s” Connie Britton narrates.

“The Mother” (Netflix): An assassin (Jennifer Lopez) uses her particular set of skills to rescue the daughter she left behind in this 2022 actioner directed by Niki Caro.

“Mulligan” (Netflix): It was the end of the world as they knew it, but now they’re getting a do-over in this new animated sci-fi comedy. With Daniel Radcliffe.

“Queer Eye” (Netflix): The boys are back to make you fabulous in new episodes of this rebooted makeover series.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” (Paramount+): They’re already fabulous as the competition returns for another cycle.

“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (Apple TV+): The beloved actor reflects on his life and career and battle with Parkinson’s disease in this intimate 2023 documentary.

“Great Performances” (KOCE, 9 p.m.): Sutton Foster, André De Shields, et al., give their regards to the Great White Way in “Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway’s Best.”

Sat., May 13

XFL Championship Game (ABC, 5 p.m.): The top two teams play for all the marbles. Remember marbles? Kids still play with marbles these days?

“Attenborough’s Global Adventure” (BBC America, 8 p.m.): The new doc looks back on memorable moments from the indefatigable naturalist’s storied career.

“Dream Moms” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.): Two women sidetracked by life renew their pursuit of Broadway stardom in this new TV movie. With Tamera Mowry-Housley.

“Maid for Revenge” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.): She doesn’t do windows, if that’s what you’re asking, in this new fact-based thriller. With Kathryn Kohut.

Sun., May 14

“Unfinished Business” (ESPN2, 6 p.m.): This new doc follows the New York Liberty as the team chases its first-ever WNBA title.

“Postcards from the Edge” (TCM, 7:15 p.m.): A Mother’s Day marathon includes Mike Nichols’ 1990 comedy based on the Carrie Fisher novel. Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine star.

“Earth Focus Presents” (KCET, 8 p.m.): Middle East neighbors set differences aside to protect an ecologically essential body of water in the new episode “Dead Sea Guardians.”

“Fear the Walking Dead” (AMC, 9 p.m.): This entry in the horror franchise shuffles in with the first half of its eighth and final season.

“Match Me Abroad” (TLC, 10 p.m.): Lonely hearts rack up the frequent-flier miles in pursuit of love in this new unscripted series.

Mon., May 15

“The Other Wife” (Acorn TV): A woman discovers she wasn’t her deceased hubby’s one and only in this new two-part drama. With John Hannah.

“Street Outlaws: Locals Only” (Discovery, 8 p.m.): Drivers vie for a chance to compete against franchise favorites in this new spinoff.

“Summer Baking Championship” (Food Network, 9 and 10 p.m.): If they can’t stand the heat, that’s too bad in this new entry in the franchise.

“Renovation Wild” (HGTV, 9 p.m.): Two resorts in the African nation of Zambia are getting makeovers — and safari, so good — in this new series.

“Independent Lens” (KOCE, 10 p.m.): A journalist shares her own journey of recovery from childhood sexual abuse in the unflinching 2022 documentary “Silent Beauty.”

Tue., May 16

“Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me” (Netflix): This new documentary retells the tragic tale of the Texas-born model and reality TV star who died in 2007.

“Zarna Garg: One in a Billion” (Prime Video): The Indian American comic riffs on cultural differences and more in this new stand-up special.

“Dirt: The Last Great American Sport” (FS1, 7 p.m.): NASCAR’s Kyle Larson tries his hand at dirt-track racing in this new five-part docuseries.

“American Masters” (KOCE, 9 p.m.): The new episode “Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV” salutes the trailblazing Korean American video artist who died in 2006.

“Angel City” (HBO, 9 p.m.; also Wednesday-Thursday): They’re leaving it all on the field in this new three-part doc about L.A.’s very own women’s pro soccer team.

“CMT Crossroads” (CMT, 10 p.m.): Southern rockers the Black Crowes share the stage with country music’s Darius Rucker in this new episode.

Wed., May 17

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (Disney+): There are no small roles, only small actors in Marvel’s 2023 sci-fi three-quel. With Paul Rudd.

“The Family Stallone” (Paramount+): Sylvester Stallone plays second banana to his wife and daughters in this new reality series.

“High Desert” (Apple TV+): A hard-partying gal (Patricia Arquette) gets into the private-eye game in this new dark comedy set in Yucca Valley. With Matt Dillon.

“McGregor Forever” (Netflix): Audacious, pugnacious and never not tenacious, MMA superstar Conor McGregor is profiled in this new docuseries.

“Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl” (Hulu): A socialite, a publicist and a blogger walk into a bar in this new doc about the rise of the celebutante.

“Working: What We Do All Day” (Netflix): You load 16 tons and what do you get? You get this new docuseries hosted by former President Barack Obama.

“The Masked Singer” (Fox, 8 p.m.): The latest celebrity winner is unmasked in the season finale. Nick Cannon hosts.

“Nova” (KOCE, 9 p.m.): This is “Your Brain” in this new two-part look at the inner workings of the human mind. Any questions?

“Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories With David Rubenstein” (KOCE, 10 p.m.): Saddle up for this new episode that explores the mythic image of the cowboy.

“Sisters” (IFC, 11 p.m.): A woman and her long-lost sibling search for their deadbeat dad in this new comedy. “Barry’s” Sarah Goldberg stars.

Thu., May 18

“Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss” (Peacock): The former “Office” co-star seeks out the happiest places on Earth in this new travelogue.

“XO, Kitty” (Netflix): The kid sister from the “To All the Boys” trilogy is all grown up in this new spinoff series. With Anna Cathcart.

“Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime” (NBC, 8, 9 and 10 p.m.): The franchise mothership and its spinoffs end their seasons.

“Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC, 9 p.m.): The Seattle-set medical drama closes out its 19th season with a double episode.

“I Survived Bear Grylls” (TBS, 9 p.m.): The “Man vs. Wild” star puts everyday folks through their paces in his latest outdoor-survival series.

“Re(solved)” (Vice, 9 p.m.): The death of the aforementioned Anna Nicole Smith is reexamined in this new episode.

“The Price of Purity” (Vice, 10 p.m.): This new exposé takes a deep dive into the dark side of the essential oils industry.