Charlize Theron, Bikini Books and the Return of Shark Week

Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important pop-culture happenings.

WATCH: Atomic Blonde
Basically the stylized violence of John Wick (they share a director), but with Charlize Theron kicking ass in the ‘80s. (July 28)

READ: The Watch Book Rolex
Watch expert/historian Gisbert L. Brunner deep-dives into the past and present of the luxury timepiece. He does not, however, explain how you can afford one. (July 15)

CHECK OUT: Bonnie and Clyde
The whole slate of events in the library’s Summer of Love festival is amazing — not limited to a DIY workshop on macrame plant holders — but our pick is the free afternoon screening of Bonnie and Clyde. Who needs lunch? (July 20)

LISTEN UP: Quest
The YBCA’s slate of music docs in its Global Sounds on Screen fest is great down the line, but we’ll be there for this story of one family’s fight to make music in North Philly. (July 13 and 16)

SNAP TO: Shipwreck
If you love the written arts, you must turn up for this 50th-show celebration of Shipwreck, in which six writers reframe, shall we say, one master work — this time, The Great Gatsby. (It’s instructional to recognize this as “San Francisco’s premier literary erotic fanfiction event.”) (July 6)

BINGE: Friends From College
The husband-wife team of Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors) and Francesca Delbanco helms this semi-autobiographical take on, basically, what happens to your idiot college buddies as they grow up. Great cast: Keegan-Michael Key, Cobie Smulders, Fred Savage, Billy Eichner, plus guest appearances by Seth Rogen and Kate McKinnon. (July 14)

PERUSE: The Last Days of Summer
Fashion photog Akila Berjaoui uses analog cameras to capture bikini-filled beaches around the globe. It’s a perfect ode to the season. (Out now)

LISTEN: Our monthly Spotify playlist
Thirty songs to get you through the sweltering summer, from the welcome return of a few favorites (Arcade Fire, Queens of the Stone Age, Vince Staples) to some choice newcomers (the hard-to-classify Algiers, the Daft Punk-assisted Parcels).

And don’t forget: Summer blockbusters that are also good movies. Who knew? We’ve got three in a row with Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7), War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14) and Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (July 21) … “Some of you will put this down and go back to your predictable lives in the matrix.” Fighting words from admittedly successful angel investor Jason Calacanis in his new get-rich tome Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups – Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 Into $100,000,000 (July 18) … Deadlier fun, the return of Game of Thrones (July 16) or the return of Shark Week (July 23)? … Maybe it’s Ozark, Jason Bateman’s new Netflix drama about a family on the run from a drug cartel (July 21) … Relive the glory of ‘80s synths when the Stranger Things soundtrack arrives on cassette (July 14) … And finally, new Rick and Morty (July 30)