Welcome to Culture Hound, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise.
WATCH: The Dead Don’t Die
The next film from beloved American indie auteur Jim Jarmusch looks decidedly more audience-friendly (Cannes indifference aside) than the oddball comedies he’s known for. The grade-A cast includes Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Danny Glover and Rosie Perez — at least some of whom will at some point become the flesh-eating undead who local police officers Adam Driver, Bill Murray and Chloë Sevigny are charged with eradicating. (June 14)
For more movies, check out our 20 Movies You’ve Gotta See Between Now and August
BUY: Suntory Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary
A tongue-and-lips-enhanced bottle of blended whiskey, including a malt from 1962 (the years the Stones formed) and another from 1971, when the iconic logo was designed. Only 150 bottles were released in 2012; a single bottle, estimated to fetch up to $44,000, will be at the upcoming Bonhams Whisky Sale. (June 5)
STREAM: Too Old to Die Young
Can Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Neon Demon) bring his poetic, stylish and often ultra-violent vision from the indie-film arthouse into the streaming world? Co-written by crime and comic book writer Ed Brubaker, Too Old is a miniseries that follows a grieving police officer (Miles Teller) into a seedy underworld of Russian mafia, Yakuza and teen killers. (June 14, Prime Video)
SUBSCRIBE: Podcasts by Robert Plant and David Gilmour
Two of the most famous names in classic rock debut new podcasts this month. The former Led Zeppelin frontman launches Digging Deep, where he delves into his back catalog and “tell(s) stories of inspiration, collaboration and intervention,” drawing on experiences he’s had “from The Midlands to Morocco, from Nashville to North Wales.” As for the Pink Floyd guitarist, Gilmour’s podcast is related to an upcoming charity auction of his classic guitars that’s set to take place in New York. (Available now)
WATCH: The Loudest Voice
“People don’t want to be informed … they want to feel informed.” Director Tom McCarthy helped Spotlight win several Oscars in 2016. Now, he turns the spotlight from an award-winning investigative newsroom to the story of former Fox News head Roger Ailes (played by Russell Crowe), as told in a seven-episode miniseries that also stars Josh Charles, Sienna Miller and … Seth MacFarlane. Have fun discussing this one with dissenting friends and family! (June 30)
READ: Dystopian fiction with a retro flair
Two new near-future novels (warnings?) channel the spirit of J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick. In her debut Oval, Elivia Wilk tackles corporate behavior, sustainability and pills that rewire the brain to make people more generous. Best-selling sci-fi author Neal Stephenson’s Fall; or Dodge in Hell: A Novel examines life in the near future where the dead live on as digital souls in “Bitworld.” (Oval, June 4; Fall, June 11)
For more great reads, check out The 9 Books You Should Read This Month.
LISTEN: Our monthly Spotify playlist
All of the month’s best new tunes from artists old and new, including tracks by White Reaper, Underworld, Silversun Pickups, Mark Ronson, The Raconteurs and more.
And don’t forget … Didn’t we have a perfect ending to Toy Story? Nonetheless, the fourth installment adds a new character — the homemade spork/toy “Forky” — and a road trip with some existential overtones (June 21) … Automobile visionary, con man, disgraced drug trafficker: the doc Framing John DeLorean tackles all sides of a complicated man (June 7) … Missed ‘em in the theater? Spring hits Captain Marvel (June 4) and Us (June 11) are out on Blu-ray … Nature writer Robert Macfarlane explores the planet below the surface (catacombs, underground fungal networks, buried nuclear waste disposal sites) in Underland: A Deep Time Journey (June 4) … Bob Dylan’s legendary mid-’70s rock tour, the Rolling Thunder Revue, is memorialized in both a 14-disc box set and a Martin Scorsese-led Netflix doc (June 12) … And finally, the welcome small screen return of The Handmaid’s Tale (June 5), Black Mirror (June 5), Baskets (June 13), ‘90s Nickelodeon sketch comedy All That (June 15) and Legion (June 24). Plus (sigh) The Hills (June 24).
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
