The Week in Culture (August 7th)
WATCH
Hot Ticket: Freakier Friday and Weapons The former reunites Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis for a nostalgic family romp 20+ years on from their last body swap. The latter finds the director of 2022’s Barbarian following up his cult hit with a smalltown horror tale of 17 disappearing children starring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner (Ozark). Both have garnered some of the year’s best reviews and calls for a mini Barbenheimer. Now playing in theaters.
Pamphleteers’s Pick: Akira Kurosawa: A Retrospective The Belcourt brings 14 films from the Japanese master back to the bigscreen. From universally beloved classics Seven Samurai, Ikiru, and Rashomon to Shakespeare adaptations Ran and Throne of Blood, it's a chance to experience some life-altering movies as they were meant to be seen.
For a complete list of upcoming titles, check out the 2025 Film Guide.
STREAM
King of the Hill (Hulu) Mike Judge’s classic 90s animated sitcom about a smalltown Texan propane salesman has gone from charming oddity to downright prophetic over the last twenty-five years. Now, it’s pulling off a MAGA Era revival like Roseanne did. And it hasn’t lost an ounce of its appeal.
The Devil and Miss Jones (Roku and Plex) Jean Arthur stars in this 1941 hidden gem about a tycoon (Charles Coburn) who goes undercover as a shoe salesman at a department store he owns when the employees threaten to strike. Ethically complicated, morally sound, and hilarious, it should have a place right next to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in the classic Hollywood canon.
READ
Cold War Country: How Nashville's Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism. Historian Joseph M. Thompson traces a half century of collaborations between Nashville and the military that found greats like Elvis, Roy Acuff, and Johnny Cash stoked by their dominance on Armed Forces radio and their love of the nation on the homefront.
LISTEN
Every Ghost Kelsey Waldon The Kentucky native bridges Loretta and Tammy with 21st century flyover life on this brass tacks country record, With ballads like “Comanche” and confessionals led by the gorgeous “Lost In My Idlin’,” it’s the perfect antidote to the pomposity of Maren Morris and her lesser imitators.