Happy Friday, friends! The sun is shining and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I hope you're winding down from your work week and have some fun plans for Saturday and Sunday.
If streaming is on the agenda, here are a few things to look forward to:
- Today - Season two of Outer Banks (OBX for short) is now live on Netflix! This show stars the insanely gorgeous Chase Stokes. The first season ended on a cliff hanger, so I can't wait to see where they're taking things. I'll start watching tonight.
- Wednesday, August 11 - For my fellow teenage rom-com fans, The Kissing Booth 3 debuts in just two weeks! This movie is all about Elle's final summer before going off to college. Will there be a love scene on the beach? Probably.
- Monday, August 16 - This one is for Bachelor Nation. Our beloved summer spin off, Bachelor in Paradise, is returning to ABC next month. Personally, I can't wait for this fresh group of cast offs turned castaways.
- Friday, August 20 - Sandra Oh stars as a new university department head in the upcoming Netflix series, The Chair. The cast looks amazing, including Jay Duplass, Holland Taylor and Amanda Peet.
Before I get into this week's picks, I wanted to share that Good Trouble is back on Freeform. With my family visiting, I haven't been watching as much TV, so I missed the promotions for the summer premiere. You can watch it on Freeform or on Hulu.
I also just watched the series finale of Good Girls on NBC. I only started watching this show a few months ago, but I fell in love with it. If you're looking for something light and fun, this one kept me gripped.
Ok! Now onto this week's top picks.
1. The Movies That Made Us (Netflix) - I've been raving about this show since it first dropped on Netflix and this new season goes behind the scenes of some of the most iconic movies of my childhood - Pretty Woman, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump.
I started with the Pretty Woman episode because I just love that movie so much. While they don't interview Julia Roberts or Richard Gere, they do spotlight the movie's writer, producers and some of the supporting cast, including Jason Alexander. Director Gary Marshall is now deceased, so his daughter shared her memories of the project.
It turns out that the script was constantly changing, a lot of the best scenes were a result of improv and it all get stitched together at the very end before the studio saw the first cut. It's strange to realize a movie you were obsessed with came together kind of by accident.
If you enjoy these kinds of "tales from the set" interviews, you will devour these four episodes.
2. This Changes Everything (Netflix) - My mom and I were scrolling through all the streaming apps to choose something to watch together (a task that usually takes over an hour before we agree) and that's how we found This Changes Everything. It's a documentary about women in film and television, anchored by recent research done by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
The film is part history lesson, part testimonials from women trying to reshape Hollywood. Interviewees include: Geena Davis, Meryl Streep, Marisa Tomei, Shonda Rhimes, Jill Soloway, Sandra Oh, Taraji P. Henson, Reese Witherspoon, Rose McGowan, Natalie Portman, Chloe Grace Moretz and many more.
Their stories are powerful and made me feel even more committed to supporting shows and movies produced, directed, written and performed by women.
The documentary is 90 minutes. By the end, you're going to feel very fired up.
There you have it. This week's recommendations. Happy viewing!
*Images courtesy of Unsplash, Netflix and Town & Country.
