Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts.
The Main Stream
You’ve seen Hiccup and Toothless animated. You’ve seen them in live-action. And now you can see them in live-action — from your couch! That’s because this year’s remake of How to Train Your Dragon is now available to rent or own on digital.
M3GAN 2.0: One of the more surprising box-office stories of the year so far has to be the disastrous launch of M3GAN 2.0. The sequel switched up genres, leaned all the way into the meme-ification of its predecessor, and seemingly turned into something that not many people were looking for. But perhaps M3GAN will have a second life on streaming, where it lands this week.
Cloud: For those of you lucky enough to live in New York City (or another city with a strong arthouse cinema scene in the coming weeks), one new release to keep an eye out for in theaters is Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s Cloud, a twisty thriller about an internet reseller that’s a complete joy to watch unfold and Japan’s selection for Best International Film. The director’s J-horror chops are still on display here in a creepy story about the terrors of modern-day capitalism, and the way in which Cloud unfolds makes it a very compelling watch, especially if you don’t know too much about what’s coming.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Taylor Sheridan-verse has notably eclipsed the Star Trek-verse as the most popular franchise on Paramount+ in recent years. But Strange New Worlds — the prequel series preceding The Original Series — is thankfully still boldly going forward into its third season… and beyond. Gold Derby’s Scott Huver confirmed that the pre-Kirk crew of the starship Enterprise will be able to deliver on the promise of a five-year mission. That buys current Trek creative lead Alex Kurtzman much-needed time to figure out what direction to steer the franchise next amidst corporate drama at Paramount and the need to connect with new audiences.
Live Aid celebrated its 40th anniversary last week — read Lyndsey Parker’s story all about it — and CNN turns their coverage up to 11 with the four-part docuseries Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took on the World. The first episode aired on July 13 and is currently streaming on CNN on HBO Max or CNN.com with select TV provider credentials.
Jaws on Netflix: Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the streaming waters, the Jaws franchise swims onto Netflix. All four movies have been on Peacock for the past month, but their arrival on the world’s biggest streaming platform is great promotion for the theatrical rerelease of Steven Spielberg’s original film on Aug. 29. But if we may stick up for Jaws 2 for a moment, that 1978 sequel does have some great kills and one of the funniest flubs in movie history.
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Reads and Feeds
Get ready to roar like a kaiju — Godzilla: The First 70 Years is another eye-popping cinematic encyclopedia from the good folks at Abrams Books that covers seven decades in the life of the notorious city-stomping lizard. Check out our exclusive excerpt revealing how the Oscar-winning 2023 hit Godzilla Minus One found its director.
Back in the ‘90s, Kevin Smith came this close to seeing his Superman Lives script brought to life by Tim Burton. That project instead joined the long list of never-made Superman movies, but the filmmaker has now seen — and reviews — the Man of Steel’s newest cinematic adventure from James Gunn on the latest episode of his always enjoyable Fatman Beyond podcast with entertainment journalist-turned-entertainment maker, Marc Bernardin. No spoilers … but he liked it.
When is a Donkey Kong game more than a Donkey Kong game? When that game is Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2. The new platformer is upsetting years of Kong lore by partnering D.K. with a teenage version of Pauline — Mario’s pre-Princess Peach paramour who got ape-napped in the 1981 arcade classic. Apart from the continuity glitch, the game is winning rave reviews, though, so no need to throw blame bananas around.
Speaking of throwbacks, the Biker Mice From Mars are riding their hogs to San Diego Comic-Con next week. The Nacelle Company dropped a preview of their SDCC exclusive action figures inspired by the superbly named ‘90s cartoon series. The offerings include the first-ever Biker Mice three-pack and a bootleg figure that’s available on an extremely limited basis — like 100-unit-only limited.
