You’d be forgiven for describing the new streaming releases this week as a man’s world. Specifically, The Man from Toronto – a new Kevin Hart/Woody Harrelson action-comedy – and Man vs. Bee – Rowan Atkinson’s latest bit of buffoonery. To balance things out though, we also have the debut of the Korean remake of Money Heist, and more!
MOVIES
The Man from Toronto
Netflix – 24 June 2022
Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson are the very definition of an odd couple and could not be more different. And I guess that is part of the goofy charm of The Man from Toronto, Hart’s sales consultant is somehow mistaken Harrelson’s deadly assassin, with the former forced to pull off a mission for the latter or else! Directed by The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Patrick Hughes, I don’t expect too much from this one, but this could make for a good two hours of popcorn munching.
Blasted
Netflix – 28 June 2022
When you think of UFOs, it’s usually the likes of Roswell, New Mexico that comes to mind. However, did you know that Norway has had a huge phenomenon of UFO sightings for a while now thanks to a spate of unexplained lights in the Hessdalen valley? And much like their American counterparts, the Norwegians are making movies about it. Funny movies, in fact, like Blasted, in which a weekend away bachelor party turns messy thanks to some pesky extraterrestrial body snatchers!
Beauty
Netflix – 29 June 2022
Musical dramas about a young talent trying to make it big without getting chewed up by the vicious entertainment biz are admittedly dime a dozen, but there’s a reason this genre appeals to us so much as it has a way of digging into human drama with amazing effect. And that’s exactly what Beauty, a new film featuring the likes of Giancarlo Esposito, Niecy Nash, and Sharon Stone, is trying to do.
SERIES
Man vs Bee
Netflix – 24 June 2022
No, this is not the tale of a middle-aged South African white male’s struggle to get a job. That would be Man vs BEE. This is the goofy new family comedy series starring British legend Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling dad/house-sitter who’s life is turned upside down by a single, seemingly unstoppable, insect which has claimed dominion of a posh mansion. I’m not sure how this premise can be stretched for 9 episodes, but I’m here for Mr. Bean-esque escapades!
Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area
Netflix – 24 June 2022
Two of Netflix’s biggest success stories of the last few years have been Money Heist and all the streamer’s Korean fare. So of course they’re getting combined! Somehow being billed as both a remake and spinoff set in the same universe as the record-breaking original Spanish series, this Korean-language effort puts a local spin on things, following a heist in the Korean Peninsula inspired by the infamous exploits of “El Profesor” and his team.
Loot
AppleTV+ – 24 June 2022
Don’t you just hate it when your marriage of 20 years falls apart and now you’re left with a $87 billion divorce settlement and you don’t know what to do with it? Happens to me all the time. So annoying! In the case of Maya Rudolph’s Molly Novak in this new dramedy, the wealthy divorcee decides to reengage with the charitable foundation she once started, and along the way learns a thing or two about herself and the real world. Reviews for this one have been praising the always reliable Rudolph, so this should be entertaining.