The It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. During the coronavirus pandemic, when most of us are staying at home, we’re going to spotlight things you can enjoy from your couch, whether solo or in small groups, and leave out the rest. With that in mind, here are our picks for June 15-21, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
STREAM IT: Bryce Dallas Howard pays tribute to Dads with new documentaryÂ
Not gonna lie, one of the best things about Father’s Day is the free reign we as dads get to watch whatever sports we want that weekend, or at least that day, which usually coincides perfectly with the NBA finals, sometimes even a Game 7. We don’t have sports this year, obviously, but Apple TV+ does have something exciting to watch for families looking to celebrate Big Poppa this weekend. Bryce Dallas Howard, the actress who impressed behind the camera helming Episode 4 of The Mandalorian on Disney+, directs Dads, a charming and humorous documentary that celebrates the nation’s patriarchs. And she should know about great fathers — hers is none other than Splash and Apollo 13 director Ron Howard, who appears in the doc alongside other subjects including Will Smith, Conan O’Brien, Judd Apatow, Jimmy Fallon and Neil Patrick Harris. — Kevin Polowy
Dads airs Friday, June 19 on on Apple TV+.
STREAM IT: Joseph Gordon-Levitt flies the not-so-friendly skies in the new thriller 7500
There are no snakes on Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s plane in 7500, but the Inception star is in for a bumpy ride anyway. The debut feature from German writer/director Patrick Vollrath is essentially Captain Phillips in the sky, with Gordon-Levitt playing the first mate of a passenger aircraft that’s hijacked mid-flight. Unfolding in close to real time from that point on, the movie never leaves the cockpit where the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. This exclusive clip from 7500 gives you a sense of what Gordon-Levitt is up against, as he attempts to chart a course for an emergency landing while checking on his badly wounded co-pilot and listening to the increasingly desperate hijackers trying to find a way in. Where’s the Dark Knight when you need him? — Ethan Alter
7500Â premieres on Thursday, June 18 on Amazon Prime.
HEAR IT: John Legend brings us a Bigger Love
The EGOT-winner and outspoken activist’s seventh studio album is perfectly timed, from a voice America really needs to hear right now. “All of these songs were created prior to the world being rocked by a pandemic, prior to the latest police killings in the U.S. that sent so many to the streets in protest,†Legend wrote on Instagram. “During these painful times, some of us may wonder if it’s OK to laugh or dance or be romantic. Lately, the images of black people in the media have been showing us with knees on our necks, in mourning, or expressing our collective outrage. We feel all those emotions. But it’s important for us to continue to show the world the fullness of what it is to be black and human. Through our art, we are able to do that. This album is a celebration of love, joy, sensuality, hope, and resilience, the things that make our culture so beautiful and influential.†— Lyndsey Parker
Download/stream Bigger Love on Apple Music.Â
STREAM IT: Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi is food for the soul
Top Chef star Padma Lakshmi is on her own on this new food show that, like Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, looks at the people and traditions behind the dishes. For this 10-part series, the author of the Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World will visit immigrant groups across the country to find the people who created the foods we eat every day. As she says in the trailer, “Everything that the American cuisine is today is because all these different people and different cultures contributed to it.†— Raechal Shewfelt
Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi premieres Thursday, June 18 on Hulu.
WATCH IT: Court’s back in session with HBO’s new version of Perry Mason
Perry Mason Begins? That’s the approach HBO is taking with the latest reboot of famed fictional defense lawyer, Perry Mason, created by novelist Erle Stanley Gardner and popularized on television by actor Raymond Burr. Matthew Rhys headlines the HBO version, which starts in 1930s-era Los Angeles before Mason embarks on his sterling courtroom career. At this point, the future defense attorney is scraping by as a private investigator, when he gets caught up in a case that involves a nun (Tatiana Maslany), a lawyer (John Lithgow) and some deep, dark secrets. — E.A.
Perry Mason premieres June 21 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
PLAY IT: Get dystopic with the blockbuster video game sequel, The Last of Us Part II
The post-apocalyptic adventure, The Last of Us, took the gaming world by storm when it premiered on PlayStation in 2013. Unfortunately, getting the sequel made proved to be an adventure in and of itself. After a seven-year wait, players get to return to a terrifying near-future version of America that’s been decimated by a virus and is now populated by cannibals and other enemies. Set five years after the events of the previous game, the secrecy-shrouded story finds the now-19-year-old protagonist, Ellie (played by Ashley Johnson), on a mission of vengeance against the backdrop of a new Civil War. It may not sound like feel-good entertainment, but gamers are definitely feeling good about finally being able to play The Last of Us Part II. — E.A.
The Last of Us Part II is available Friday, June 19 from Amazon and Walmart.
HEAR IT: Bob Dylan returns to his Rough and Rowdy Ways
The 39th studio LP by the legendary singer-songwriter is his first album of original songs since 2012, and he’s making up for lost time: It’s a double-album, led by the epic, nearly 17-minute “Murder Most Foul,†an examination of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the context of the current political climate, which Dylan surprised-dropped back in March. — L.P.
Download/stream Rough and Rowdy Ways on Apple Music.
STREAM IT: Look sharp: Psycho premiered 60 years ago
On June 16, 1960, a lil’ Hitchcock film about a sinister motel clerk premiered at New York City’s DeMille Theatre and folks have been double-locking their bathroom doors ever since. Famed for its stabby shower scene soundtracked by a screechy Bernard Herrmann score, the horror classic fetched an Oscar nomination for Janet Leigh (the ill-fated Marion Crane). But the Academy sadly overlooked lead actor Anthony Perkins, whose chilling turn as Norman Bates remains an iconic performance and a role he’d reprise in three significantly less successful sequels. We all go a little mad sometimes… — Erin Donnelly
Psycho is available to stream on Amazon.
STREAM IT: Disney’s Pocahontas celebrates its 25th anniversary
The Disney classic hits a milestone this week. Its 1995 release made Pocahontas the first Native American Disney Princess — and, along with Jasmine, among the first women of color to be a lead character in a Disney film. (Mulan and Tiana followed soon after.) Pocahontas, voiced by Irene Bedard, wasn’t your typical princess either. While, yes, there was a love story — with white settler John Smith, voiced by Mel Gibson (before he became… problematic) — it wasn’t the typical happily ever after, big white wedding ending. And while there were definitely stereotypical depictions, Pocahontas, who was fictionalized from the already fictionalized story of the real-life heroine, is portrayed as strong, brave, adventurous, an Earth and animal lover. She was also a loyalist to her tribe. There are a lot of things about her you can get behind. Watch (or re-watch) it — listening for Christian Bale‘s voice role as Smith’s friend (also Linda Hunt and Billy Connolly) — and try not to get “Colors of the Wind” stuck in your head as you cheer her on. — Suzy Byrne
Pocahontas is available on Disney+.
READ IT: Bigfoot delivers big scares in Max Brooks’s Devolution
The author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z ditches the undead in favor of rampaging Sasquatch in this perfect summer page-turner about the last days of a would-be utopian, off-the-grid village. As he did in WWZ, Brooks stitches together the narrative — and ratchets up the fear factor — with fragmentary documents and various voices to recount the ill-fated encounter between a group of transplanted eco-loving urbanites and a displaced troop of bloodthirsty Bigfoots (Bigfeet?). And the all-star audiobook, featuring the voices of Judy Greer, Nathan Fillion and Jeff Daniels, is ideal for a summer sojourn to a remote locale. Just don’t wander too far off the trail. — Marcus Errico
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre is available in print, ebook and audio formats from Amazon.
WATCH IT: Friday the 13th strikes again with 40th Anniversary Blu-ray edition
Certain horror movies never get old, and the original Friday the 13th is right up there near the top of the list. So we’ll gladly celebrate every anniversary the slasher classic that finds Jason Voorhees terrorizing the teens of Camp Crystal Lake reaches — and this year it commemorates its 40th birthday (that makes you feel old, too, right?) with a brand-new Blu-ray Steelbook release. Bells and whistles include artwork from the original movie poster, the uncut and unrated version of the film, plus previously released bonus features like commentary, interviews with cast and crew and making-of featurettes. — K.P.
The Friday the 13th: 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Steelbook is available on Amazon.Â
BUY IT: Dice Through Time with Marty McFly or take a Jungle Cruise with Dwayne Johnson with two new board games from Ravensburger
Relive all three Back to the Future movies on one tabletop with Ravensburger’s latest board game, Back to the Future: Dice Through Time. After Hill Valley’s big bully Biff steals Marty and Doc’s DeLorean, it’s up to you and your pals to fix the temporal damage by resolving various paradoxes and returning stolen items to their proper era. The action spans 1885 to 2015, and your luck can change with the roll of not just, but six dice.
Once you’re back in the present day, explore a more tropical climate with the Jungle Cruise adventure game, based on the Disney theme park ride-turned-blockbuster movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. (Originally set for release this summer, the film has been pushed back to 2021.) Navigate your boat down a jungle river and deliver your passengers and cargo to safety while avoiding the dangers that lurk along the banks. And be careful not to get stuck between a Rock and a hard place. — E.A.
Back to the Future: Dice Through Time is available for pre-order at Target; Jungle Cruise is available now at Amazon.
WATCH IT: 45 years later, Jaws is still scaring audiences
Ever notice how little screen time sharks actually get in the ultimate summer blockbuster, 1975’s Jaws? And yet somehow it’s terrifying, both while you’re actually watching and anytime you’re dipping into the ocean afterward… if you can even do that. Forty-five years after it was released, the popcorn classic, co-starring Roy Schedier, Richard Dreyfuss and the late Robert Shaw, deserves another look. While the way the score is used to whip up drama is impressive, the scenario of people wanting to keep the beaches open despite the potential health threat is eerily timely. — R.S.
Jaws is available on HBO.
HEAR IT: Gabby Barrett taps a country Goldmine
Barrett, who placed third on American Idol in 2018, proves the long-running Idol franchise can still create stars. The country belter’s debut single “I Hope” has been certified gold, topped Billboard’s Country Streaming Songs and Country Airplay charts, and helped break the curse against female artists at country radio when it recently became was first top 10 Hot Country Songs debut by a solo woman since October 2017. — L.P.
Download/stream Goldmine on Apple Music.
STREAM IT: Sooner or later Dick Tracy’s going to turn 30
Baby, it’s time that you face it: Warren Beatty’s comic strip-inspired labor of love — which the star produced and directed in addition to suiting up in the title detective’s jazzy yellow trench and fedora — is now 30 years old. While reviews to the big-budget adaptation were mixed, the film’s campy tone, splashy art direction and bizarre prosthetics sported by its all-star cast (including William Forsythe’s square-brained hitman Flattop and Al Pacino’s hefty gangster “Big Boy†Caprice) continue to hold a certain fascination — or maybe they’re so just so bad they’re good. Speaking of which, let’s not forget real-life Beatty flame Madonna’s appearance as femme fatale Breathless Mahoney. The pop star would go on to perform the Stephen Sondheim-penned original jazz ballad “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)†at the 1991 Oscars, shortly before it won for Best Original Song. It’s one of three shiny gold men nabbed by the film, which ties Black Panther for the most wins for a comic book movie. — E.D.
Dick Tracy is available to stream on Amazon.
STREAM IT: It’s all cats, all day with the Quarantine Cat Film Festival
No, we don’t mean those Cats. (But if you’re brave enough to watch Cats all day, more power to you.) In a purrr-fect initiative to support independent cinemas nationwide, Friday will mark the first ever Quarantine Cat Film Festival — featuring the very best of some 1,100 kitty vids submitted worldwide. Ticket buyers will have access to this plethora of cuteness for three days. And yes, we know, we know, there are an infinite amount of cat videos for free on YouTube, and you’ve already bookmarked them all for those times you need to distract the kids or forget what you’ve just watched on CNN. But movie lovers should feel much better watching these ones knowing the great cause it supports. — K.P.
Get your tickets for the Quarantine Cat Film Festival, climbing into our laps Friday, June 19, here.
HEAR IT: Phoebe Bridgers’s Punisher feels so good
The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, known for her work in the indie-rock supergroups boygenius (with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) and Better Oblivion Community Center (with Bright Eyes’s Conor Oberst), releases her much-anticipated second solo album. Contributors include Oberst, Baker, Blake Mills, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s Nick Zinner and superstar drummer Jim Keltner.  — L.P.
Download/stream Punisher on Apple Music.
— Video produced by Gisselle Bances
