What to Watch This Weekend: Our Top Binge Picks for June 13-14
Anyone else ready for the weekend?
Temperatures are starting to soar as we head into the last weekend of spring, so what better way to cool off than by blasting your A.C. and binge-watching some new shows or catching up on some gems you may have missed recently?
This weekend, one of Netflix's reality dating series returns for its second season, while its Fab Five are back in action and ready to make you feel all warm and fuzzy.
Plus, one of the decade's most powerful films is free to stream all month long, one of 2019's biggest movies is finally hitting VOD and we've got your guide to celebrating the Olsen twins' birthday in style. Finally, we're helping you catch up on one of the most popular shows currently airing in time for the finale everyone on your feed will be taking about next week. You're welcome!
Here are our top binge picks for this weekend, June 13-14...
Good TV Shows That Started Out as Movies
If You Are Looking for More Content From Black Creators: We provided a list of movies, TV shows, books and podcasts for you to check out from Black voices last week, but that was just a small offering.
This weekend, we highly recommend watching Selma, Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed 2015 movie documenting Martin Luther King Jr.'s (played by David Oyelowo in a stunning breakthrough performance) 1965 campaign to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to secure equal voting rights for Black Americans.
"We've gotta understand where we've been to strategize where we're going," DuVernay tweeted after Paramount Pictures announced the movie would be free to rent through the end of the month. "History helps us create the blueprint. Onward." (Where to Watch: Free rental on all U.S. digital platforms)
If You Want to Start Prepping for the 2021 Oscars Now: Legendary director Spike Lee's new film Da 5 Bloods may be his most ambitious and timely one yet, with Lee telling Variety, "This film's coming out at the right time for the world we live in."
The movie tells the story of four Black Vietnam War veterans who return to their old battleground decades later to find their fallen leader's remains (played by Chadwick Boseman), as well as the promise of the fortune that was buried with him. Starting preparing now for this urgent and necessary movie, as well as a career-best performance from Delroy Lindo. (What to Watch: Netflix)
If You Are Single and Miss Being Able to Go on Awkward Dates: One person. Five dates. Endless awkward moments. One of Netflix's most underrated reality series when compared to the attention Love Is Blind and Too Hot to Handle received, Dating Around returns for its second season, focusing on singles going on dates in New Orleans (season one was set in NYC).
A fascinating social experiment, Dating Around tracks the dates from drinks to dessert (if they even make it that far), showing how routine dating can be...but also how magical. Plus, it's always fun trying to predict who, if anyone, the main subject will decide to go on a second date with. (Where to Watch: Netflix)
Movies to Be Released Early On-Demand and Streaming in 2020
If You Want to Be at the Coolest Virtual Watch Party This Weekend: At midnight tonight, there are exactly 46 hours until Insecure's season four finale airs on Sunday at 10 p.m. on HBO, capping off one of its best seasons yet. So that means you have more than enough time to binge-watch all 33 episodes of Issa Rae's hit series so you can be a part of the conversation on Twitter. No excuses, stream like a champion! (Where to Watch: HBO Max)
If You Can Totally Tell the Olsen Twins Apart in Any Photograph: What better way to celebrate Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's 33rd birthday than by watching some of their straight-to-home video movies they wish we would all forget about?!
Billboard Dad (the sisters try to set their dad, "cool to the Max," up by putting him on a billboard while wearing tinted tiny glasses!), Switching Goals (the sisters switch soccer teams and their dad/coach doesn't notice!) and Passport to Paris (the sisters' first international trip that results in escargot, their first kisses and winning over the French Foreign Minister!) are all just waiting for you to press play on. (Where to Watch: Hulu)
If You Are Missing Baseball And/Or Eating a Hot Dog At a Game Pretending to Be Into the Game: ESPN's 30 for 30 Sunday night run continues with Long Gone Summer, which documents the 1998 home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, with both former MLB stars opening up about the summer of swings and the fallout that's plagued them ever since. (Where to Watch: Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN or ESPN+)
And if you missed last week's movie, we highly recommend streaming Be Water, Bao Nguyen's intimate look at the life of pop culture icon and martial arts legend Bruce Lee. (Where to Watch: ESPN+)
If You Are Still Obsessed with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas' Season of Dog Walks and Coffee Dates: Rejoice, Knives Out, one of 2019's biggest movies is available to stream. Rian Johnson's comedic mystery is a wild romp filled with twists, Internet obsession (Hi, Chris Evans' sweater) and a stacked cast led by Ana de Armas in her breakout performance. (Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video)
If you were a fan of Knives Out, however, we also recommend checking out Ready or Not, which also came out in 2019 and has a similar dark sense of humor as a woman must survive her wedding night with her new in-laws—literally as they are determined to kill her. Plus, morally ambiguous Seth Cohen! (Where to Watch: HBO Max)
Inside the Love Lives of Queer Eye's Fab Five
If You Are Just Craving a Hug: Sorry to remind you of physical touch, but at least the new season of Queer Eye feels like a hug for your heart? The Fab Five is back for their fifth season, taking over Philadelphia and causing your eyes to rain. Forget face masks and baths, Queer Eye is the ultimate self-care. (Where to Watch: Netflix)
If You Know What It Takes and You Know You Can Make It Through: In honor of the two-year anniversary of Drake's "I'm Upset" music video that reunited many of the original Degrassi: The Next Generation stars, let's binge-watch some old episodes of the iconic series? (Where to Watch: Tubi and Pluto TV)
