8 new movies out this weekend, on streaming and in theaters: See ‘F1,’ watch Mariska Hargitay’s ‘My Mom Jayne’ and new ‘Looney Tunes’ on HBO Max
Hello, Yahoo readers! Brett Arnold here, and I'm back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything, recommending new release movies out the weekend of June 26. What's the first thing you auto know? Brad Pitt's F1: The Movie, hitting theaters nationwide, is a thrilling ride. Also in theaters is the killer AI robot flick M3GAN 2.0, which is a dumb fun time. For the couch potatoes, there's the documentary My Mom Jayne from actress Mariska Hargitay about the life of her mother, Jayne Mansfield. It's enlightening, well-crafted and deeply emotional, thanks to the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star's vulnerability. On streaming, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and A Working Man, the latest from Jason Statham, are on HBO Max and MGM+, respectively. But that's not all! Read on because there's something here for everyone.
What to watch in theaters
Movies newly available to rent or buy
Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have
🎥 What to watch in theaters
My recommendation: F1: The Movie
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R27ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframeWhy you should watch it: The main selling point of F1: The Movie, besides Brad Pitt, of course, is that the director of Top Gun: Maverick is taking his talents to the increasingly popular sport of Formula One racing, outfitting rocket-powered race cars with cameras and filming them practically the same way he did to fighter jets. The spurning of CGI here is key, and it's what makes both Top Gun and F1 stand out in an era of "let's just do it in post" blockbuster filmmaking; a throwback to '90s blockbusters, down to the Jerry Bruckheimer producer credit.
In F1, Pitt and his co-star Damon Idris were actually driving cars around Formula One tracks, and when the movie's in racing mode, it's inherently thrilling. They were also allowed to film with IMAX cameras during an actual F1 season, so there's plenty of awesome footage throughout.
Damson Idris in F1: The Movie. (Courtesy of WB/Everett Collection)The problems arise when it's not delivering cars going fast, which is far too often, especially considering the movie runs a whopping two-and-a-half hours. It's simply too cliché-ridden, both storywise and characterwise, for that massive runtime to go down easy. It's nice to see Kerry Condon of The Banshees of Inisherin fame here, though her character is so archetypal you can predict her and Pitt's arc from frame one. The movie does a good enough job of laying out the basics of Formula One so that amateurs can keep up and delivers where it needs to, even if it never reaches the highs — literally — of the director's Top Gun: Maverick.
A scene from F1: The Movie. (Courtesy of WB/Everett Collection)🍿 What critics are saying: Critics are largely into it, but there are detractors. Stephanie Zacharek at Time cleverly calls it a "perfect Brad Pitt vehicle," writing that, at 61, he's "finally aged into roles like these. And sometimes, as F1 proves, they’re the best thing that can happen to a guy." The Wrap's William Bibbiani, on the other hand, goes so far as to call it "limp" and "sterile."
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2eekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe👀 How to watch: F1 is now in theaters nationwide.
Get tickets
➕ Bonus recommendation: M3GAN 2.0
Why you should watch it: M3GAN 2.0 follows in the footsteps of the most famous artificial intelligence robot movie of all time, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, turning the villain of the first movie into the hero here as she’s forced to take on an even scarier threat than … well, herself. It doesn’t just shift perspectives, this sequel is another genre entirely.
Horror fans expecting another killer AI movie might be disappointed, but if you’re willing to follow the movie down the campy path it’s charting, you’ll be rewarded with some mindless thrills. Frankly, it's also crazy how much the new villain Amelia, played by Ukrainian actress Ivanna Sakhno, looks exactly like Elizabeth Olson, but that’s irrelevant even if it’s hard to dismiss. Speaking of dismissing things, its hard to ignore the “can’t we all just get along with AI” messaging that they’re clearly pushing. What genre should they toss M3GAN into next? I think a Western sounds promising.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R2lekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe🍿 What critics are saying: It's clearly a mixed bag! Mashable's Kristy Puchko declares that appealing to a broader audience killed the fun, calling it "a horrendous mishmash of ideas and influences" that's mostly "derivative, bewildering and bland." The Telegraph's Robbie Collins, however, had a great time with it, calling it "uproarious, if not especially scary" and that it leans into silliness "with infectious glee."
👀 How to watch: M3GAN 2.0 is now in theaters nationwide.
Get tickets
💸 Movies newly available to rent or buy
My recommendation: Pavements
Why you should watch it: This very meta quasi-documentary about the intentionally impenetrable indie band Pavement is a lot of fun for fans of the group, but even those unfamiliar may get something out of it. The movie is clever, some will argue too clever, as it mixes not just genres but entire forms; it purports to be a biopic about the band, complete with actors playing the band members (Joe Keery from Stranger Things is a delight as frontman Stephen Malkmus), while also existing as a documentary about the process of the band turning their discography into a jukebox musical, which was a real production that existed in New York City, and their 2022 reunion tour and also an art installation. Phew!
Joe Keery as Stephen Malkmus, Stephen Malkmus (Courtesy of Utopia/Everett Collection)But the real off-Broadway production and the art show were, ultimately, just fodder for this movie, which is mocking the entire idea of a biopic about a self-important band, while actually making one. It's got layers, man, and it's a beautiful and funny love letter to the band and their unique sardonic nature.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R30ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe🍿 What critics are saying: It's a hit with critics, scoring an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Washington Post's Ann Hornaday calls it "a completist’s dream," adding that "if its appeal lies mostly in servicing the most devoted core, that’s of a piece with a history that’s always felt like a super-intense secret handshake. Adam Solomons at IndieWire nails it with this: "It’s a reminder that the fourth (and fifth and sixth) wall can be smashed, that the rock doc can be reinvented."
👀 How to watch: Pavements is now available to rent or buy.
Rent or buy 'Pavements'
📺 Movies newly available on streaming services you may have
My recommendation: My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R38ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframeWhy you should watch it: This is a deeply personal and affecting documentary made with tender love and care by the only person who could have done so: Mariska Hargitay, the daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield, who died tragically in a car accident at age 35. Mariska was 3 at the time; she and her siblings were in the car when it happened, all surviving in the backseat.
The film tells Hargitay's story of how she was told not to engage with the books that exist and all the other media surrounding her mother, as none of what's written is true, and how she suppressed everything about her mother until now. It's a well-crafted and enlightening look at Mansfield's life that gets into big ideas like public perception versus reality — she was perceived as a "dumb blonde," but that was a very calculated image — and dark family secrets are unearthed along the way. It becomes an intensely emotional experience, as Hargitay and her family get incredibly vulnerable.
🍿 What critics are saying: Deadline's Pete Hammond sums it up well: "This film is less standard showbiz bio and more Mariska’s effort to use the documentary format to uncover the past, to find her own place in her mother’s life and to move on in what is essentially a journey to healing — and that includes a very happy ending that just might have you in tears."
👀 How to watch: My Mom Jayneis will be streaming on HBO Max Friday evening.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R3dekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframeStream on HBO Max
➕ Bonus recommendation: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Why you should watch it: This movie is, somehow, the first-ever feature-lengthmovie in the 96-year history of Looney Tunes that is 100% animated. Every other Looney Tunes movie has a live-action element (think: Space Jam or Brendan Fraser in Looney Tunes: Back in Action).
The movie stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck and plays like a kiddie version of B-grade sci-fi movies that parents will recognize, full of references to the genre. As I wrote earlier this year, both kids and adults are likely to find it funny throughout, and the stunningly beautiful hand-drawn animation will make you wish more kids fare took the time to look this good.
Daffy Duck, Porky Pig in The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. (Courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment/Everett Collection)🍿 What critics are saying: They love it! Indiewire's David Ehrlich writes that the movie "isn’t arguing for the past at the expense of the future, it’s simply trying to put a modern spin on a classic formula in a way that makes you wonder why we ever left it behind." Frank Scheck at the Hollywood Reporter agrees, calling it a "delight for kids and adults alike."
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R3lekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe👀 How to watch: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is now streaming on HBO Max.
Stream on HBO Max
🤔 If that's not for you...
Jason Statham in A Working Man. (Courtesy of MGM/Everett Collection)A Working Man: Sadly, the latest collaboration from Jason Statham and David Ayer is no Beekeeper. That movie was self-aware about its silly premise and still delivered exciting action, whereas this one takes itself way too seriously and features no memorable action whatsoever. It's entirely forgettable, but it'll have to do until The Beekeeper 2 comes out next year. Now streaming on MGM+.
The Woman in the Yard: If you're willing to meet the movie where it's at — that is, going in knowing that it's more a somber film about trauma and suicidal ideation masquerading as a crowd-pleasing jump-scare horror film — you just might come away impressed. Some may find it glib given the seriousness of the subject matter, but it's better than your average "elevated horror" film because it actually engages with its heavy themes, and because Jaume Collet-Serra directs the hell out of it. Now streaming on Peacock.
Escape from the 21st Century: This Chinese time-travel comedy is hilariously clever, visually inventive, and just plain old wacky cartoonish fun. The fact that it's consistently surprising and still manages to have something to say about The Way We Live is a bonus. In the film, 3 friends discover that they have the power to travel back and forth 20 years with a sneeze. However, the future is not as good as they hope, and they need to take on the responsibility of saving the world. Imagine something directed by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer) by way of Back to the Future. A blast! Now streaming on Fandor, which offers a free 7-day trial.
That's all for this week — we'll see you next Friday at the movies.
