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There are roughly 47,000—oh, wait, a new Netflix Original just dropped; make that 47,001—TV shows and movies coming out each week. At Obsessed, we consider it our social duty to help you see the best and skip the rest.
We’ve already got a variety of in-depth, exclusive coverage on all of your streaming favorites and new releases, but sometimes what you’re looking for is a simple Do or Don’t. That’s why we created See/Skip, to tell you exactly what our writers think you should See and what you can Skip from the past week’s crowded entertainment landscape.
See: Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part 1
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part 1 is a testament to both the blood pressure-spiking power of practical stunts and the madness of Tom Cruise, who leads the seventh M:I film—a timely diatribe against AI—with an infectious fearlessness.
Here’s Nick Schager’s take:
“Having pulled off a miraculous multifaceted mission with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick—which revitalized the post-pandemic box-office, reconfirmed its headliner’s eternal youthfulness, and bested its illustrious ’80s predecessor in thrills and charm—Tom Cruise returns to the spy game fold with Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One, the first installment of a two-film franchise finale that aims to demonstrate that the 60-year-old leading man can still do it all.
That includes, of course, executing astonishing stunts on his own, which Cruise does in the third act of this summer-season sequel, driving a motorcycle off a ramp-like cliff in the Austrian Alps and parachuting onto a moving train. It’s yet another testament to his enduring virility, as well as the latest in a long line of daredevil feats designed to take moviegoers’ breath away and raise the blood pressure of the tentpole production’s insurers.”
See: Joy Ride
Joy Ride recalls the bombastic buddy comedies of yore, with a refreshing, gender-swapped twist—all male objectification, all the time—and is better for it. It’s not flawless, but what it lacks in cohesion, it makes up for in raunchy, scene-stealing performances.
Here’s Fletcher Peters’ take:
“Any movie that features a group of friends butt-chugging and hoarding cocaine between various parts of their body should be considered with the utmost highest regard. Joy Ride features such a scene. Because of that alone, the sex comedy should be the romp of the summer. The movie nearly achieves that, but it falls short of total amusement.
Still, coming in at just over 90 minutes, Joy Ride, a fast-paced, whip-smart R-rated comedy, is worth a boisterous theatrical viewing. Adele Lim’s flick fits in with the likes of Bridesmaids and Girls Trip—which is to say, underneath all the big schlongs and frequent tonguing, there’s actual emotional depth. After the characters do 80 lines of coke or show off their ‘pussy tats,’ they also muse about their identity, question their choices as young Asian women, and analyze their friendships with each other. That might sound like a wonky tonal balance. And yet, Joy Ride manages to feel breezy, while still touching on the sentimental parts of friendship.”
See: Sonja & Luann: Welcome to Crappie Lake
Sonja & Luann: Welcome to Crappie Lake might be a blatant ripoff of The Simple Life, but its shamelessness is its strength. Sending two Bravolebrities to hack it in small-town Illinois is the ideal brain-melting television for the summer season.
Here’s Coleman Spilde’s take:
“When you look back on the summers of your adolescence, you might think about lemonade stands and mowing lawns for a Buffalo nickel. I, on the other hand, fondly remember spoiled heiresses wreaking havoc in small-town America. I guess we’re just different like that!
Some of my favorite summer memories as a preteen involve watching Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie ‘that’s hot’-ing their way through culture shock, as they traveled the country in their seminal reality show, The Simple Life. By the time the show moved to the E! network for its fourth season in the summer of 2006, my parents blessedly considered me mature enough to watch. My sister and I would take in the marathon of reruns that would air throughout the day, frying our lobes to dangerous levels. When people say that television melts a kid’s brain, they’re not exactly wrong, but boy, does it feel oh so right.
If you too were of the Simple Life generation—or if raucous reality television where rich women invade small towns to try to “help” their residents is your idea of fun—you will be delighted by Sonja & Luann: Welcome to Crappie Lake.”
See: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has the same charm as the classic Star Trek series, but with one major change: a new portrayal of the beloved Captain Pike that stands out as the franchise’s best, thanks to a memorably warm lead performance.
Here’s Geoffrey Bunting’s take:
“Annoying Star Trek nerds, like me, will always cringe at this question: ‘Who’s the best Star Trek Captain?’ When I started watching Star Trek, back when we still played Game Boys and enjoyed this new show called The Simpsons, the answer was refreshingly binary: James T. Kirk (William Shatner) or Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). But in the years since then, the question has become more complex.
Or it would be, if the answer weren’t so obvious. Christopher Pike—played by Anson Mount in the currently airing Strange New Worlds, Star Trek’s twelfth series—is the best Star Trek captain. Story over. With decades of baggage, it might come as a shock to learn that one of Star Trek’s newest captains is the best. But Pike’s folksy demeanor and warm, paternal leadership style makes him stand apart. Mount’s abundant, positive, dad-like energy distinguishes his take on Pike. He’s not just his crew’s dad—he’s all of our dads.”
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