STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: Last summer, it was Barbenheimer, as well as Hollywood strikes, that put a lot of production on hold. This summer, movie theaters have Marvel superheroes, personified emotions and a "Bad Boys" sequel already a box office hit.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE")
MARTIN LAWRENCE: (As Marcus Burnett) I got this.
WILL SMITH: (As Mike Lowrey) But you don't, though.
INSKEEP: We got this, too, because there's more to sort through on TV. A certain Hulu show is coming back.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BEAR")
JEREMY ALLEN WHITE: (As Carmy Berzatto) Ebra, make sandwiches. Don't stop making [expletive] sandwiches.
EDWIN LEE GIBSON: (As Ebraheim) Yes, chef.
WHITE: I'm gonna make three sections, OK?
INSKEEP: You get to see that unbleeped. More fighting for the Iron Throne on HBO. Glen Weldon and Aisha Harris, two hosts of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, have been sorting through it all for you and are here to tell us what's coming. Hi, guys.
AISHA HARRIS, BYLINE: Hey.
GLEN WELDON, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK, so, what should I watch? Aisha, you start.
HARRIS: Well, "Hit Man" has been out for a few weeks now, and folks can check it out on Netflix.
INSKEEP: Yeah.
HARRIS: I really enjoyed it, and you've probably heard about it. It stars Glen Powell in what I think is a very star-making role. He plays a university professor who happens to moonlight as an undercover cop for the New Orleans Police Department.
INSKEEP: As so many university professors do. Anyway, go on.
HARRIS: (Laughter) Exactly. It's actually based very loosely on a true story, but this is a movie that kind of starts off as, like, a sort of fun procedural. He plays a fake hitman who's trying to get the people who hire him locked up for hiring a fake hitman, but then it also turns into sort of a sexy noir, crime-thriller action film, so "Hit Man" - definitely worth checking out on Netflix. Another movie I would also suggest is "Thelma," which is actually going to be out this Friday in theaters, and it stars June Squibb as a 93-year-old who gets pulled into a scam call and conned out of a bunch of money.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THELMA")
JUNE SQUIBB: (As Thelma Post) What about my money? Am I supposed to just let them have it?
(As Thelma Post) I'm going to get it back.
(As Thelma Post) I need a ride.
HARRIS: I actually caught this one at Sundance. It's really delightful, and this is Squibb in a rare leading role here. She's very wry, dynamic, and she gets to tag-team with Richard Roundtree in one of his final roles. They have really great chemistry as they try to seek vengeance for the scammers who have scammed her.
INSKEEP: Wow. I would have thought that "Thelma" was completely owned by that other movie, but OK - there's a new...
HARRIS: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: ...Thelma in theater now. Go ahead.
HARRIS: Yes, and one more I'm also excited for is "Fancy Dance." So those of you who saw "Killers Of The Flower Moon," you'll definitely remember Lily Gladstone, and here, she's in this movie, playing a woman who cares for her young niece on a Native American reservation after her sister goes missing.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FANCY DANCE")
LILY GLADSTONE: (As Jax Goodiron) This is Jax Goodiron again. I'm calling about my sister's case.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Wadatawi.
GLADSTONE: (As Jax Goodiron) No, I didn't speak to the sheriffs.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Wadatawi.
GLADSTONE: (As Jax Goodiron) No. They said the res is federal jurisdiction.
HARRIS: Now, I loved her in "Killers Of The Flower Moon," but she has even more to do here. This is a really, really special performance. She's the central focus, and it's, like, a part crime drama, part road trip movie, and that'll be in theaters this Friday, but on Apple TV+ on the 28, so definitely check that out.
INSKEEP: Wow. This is fantastic. This is already more than I'm going to get to this summer. But, Glen, you get a turn.
HARRIS: (Laughter).
WELDON: Yeah.
INSKEEP: What are you watching, or what do you want me to watch?
WELDON: Well, you remember, Steve, last year's "Poor Things" that starred Emma Stone? That was a very weird film, a very divisive film, but if you loved it like I did, you're going to look out for a movie called "Kinds Of Kindness," which is rolling out in theaters over the next few weeks. This reunites Emma Stone with her "Poor Things" director, Yorgos Lanthimos. Full-service journalism here - it is 2.5 hours long.
INSKEEP: OK.
WELDON: Be prepared. It is three different stories though, and all three feature the same cast, who are playing different roles.
INSKEEP: Wow.
WELDON: And it's a great cast. You got Stone. You got Jesse Plemons. You got Willem Dafoe. You got Hunter Schafer, who folks might know from "Euphoria." Look, this thing - I haven't seen it yet. I know it's going to be dark. It's going to be weird. It is going to be the summer movie for all of us who hate summer.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "KINDS OF KINDNESS")
JESSE PLEMONS: (As character) Open your eyes and look clearly at what's going on around you. We might all be in danger.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)")
EURYTHMICS: (Singing) Some of them want to use you.
INSKEEP: I'm really liking the idea. It's almost like a repertory company that's going to come to us with different tales.
WELDON: Yeah, exactly. They're calling it a triptych - because, of course, they are. And, again, that's going to be rolling out in theaters over the next couple of weeks. In July, I've been looking forward to a film called "National Anthem" from a first-time director, Luke Gilford. This guy made his bones as a photographer, and this movie is about a young man in New Mexico who's trying to take care of his family - his alcoholic mother, his little brother. He takes a job at a homestead for queer rodeo performers, and, as often happens in small films like this, he comes to learn things about himself.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NATIONAL ANTHEM")
MASON ALEXANDER PARK: (As Carrie) You must really love her.
CHARLIE PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Yeah.
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Why do you have to make my life so hard?
ROBYN LIVELY: (As Fiona) My life is hard.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
INSKEEP: You can just feel the particular heartstrings that are going to be reached for there.
HARRIS: Yeah.
WELDON: There you go.
INSKEEP: OK - what's on TV?
WELDON: Scrappy little show called "House Of The Dragon." Its second season started last night. That is, of course, the "Game Of Thrones" prequel series on HBO. We're back in Westeros. We've got two sides of the same family fighting over the Iron Throne, and I'll agree that the first season was uneven - it felt like a lot of throat-clearing - right? - a lot of preamble, but now we are deep in the amble.
(LAUGHTER)
WELDON: No more pre. We've got dragons fighting dragons. We've got war. We've got palace intrigue, and I'm going to be recapping this on NPR for folks who want to watch along.
INSKEEP: Oh, great.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HOUSE OF THE DRAGON")
EMMA D'ARCY: (As Rhaenyra Targaryen) Alicent's son sits my throne.
(As Rhaenyra Targaryen) I mean to fight this war and win it.
INSKEEP: So there was a preamble, then this is the amble, and then your recap - that's the post-amble, if I'm not...
(LAUGHTER)
WELDON: It's the post-amble.
INSKEEP: OK.
WELDON: Lots of of ambling going on.
INSKEEP: OK. Aisha, we mentioned a Hulu show is coming back - a certain show, "The Bear." When does that happen?
HARRIS: Yes. "The Bear" is out June 27. Glen and I are definitely very excited for this, I think it's safe to say. You might recall that when we left off last season, the newly rebranded Chicago restaurant, The Bear - it had a very messy soft-opening night, which included the restaurant's owner, Carmy, who's played by Jeremy Allen White, getting trapped in the walk-in freezer and having, basically, an existential crisis.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BEAR")
WHITE: (As Carmy Berzatto) You know, maybe I'm just not built for this, right? Maybe that's OK. Maybe that just is.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) He's stuck in the walk-in?
INSKEEP: Isn't it, like, a classic TV thing?
(LAUGHTER)
INSKEEP: Like, I'm thinking, like, "Brady Bunch" or...
HARRIS: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ... "Happy Days" or something - they did this decades ago.
WELDON: It's a bottle episode, yes.
INSKEEP: OK.
HARRIS: Yes. It's almost like a bottle episode. Hopefully, in Season 3, he's not still stuck in that closet.
WELDON: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Aisha Harris and Glen Weldon, thanks for your advice. Really appreciate it.
HARRIS: Thank you.
WELDON: Thank you. They are the hosts of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast and your guides to the big screen and the small one this summer.
(SOUNDBITE OF EURYTHMICS SONG, "SWEET DREAMS (ARE MADE OF THIS)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
