Happy Friday, friends! We did it. We made it through another week of working from home.
I had an excellent week of streaming and I'm excited to share those recommendations with you. Before we hop into this week's list, here are a few shows and movies to look forward to:
- Sunday, August 2 - It's finally time for Bravo to welcome back the fiercest ladies in Maryland, The Real Housewives of Potomac.
- Friday, August 7 - Season three of Selling Sunset premieres on Netflix. Work It, a movie about a high school student starting a dance team, will also be released on Netflix this same day.
- Monday, August 10 - Josh Duhamel and Leslie Bibb co-star in a new Netflix movie called The Lost Husband.
- Friday, August 16 - My celebrity crush, Eddie Redmayne, hits Netflix in the film adaptation of Les Miserables.
OK! Now onto this week's top six.
1. The Kissing Booth 2 (Netflix) - The best thing I watched this week was The Kissing Booth 2, a follow up to The Kissing Booth, which originally aired in 2018. Joey King plays Elle, a senior in high school trying to do long distance with her boyfriend, Noah, played by Jacob Elordi.
Now, thankfully, I had my bestie to clue me into this - the timing of this movie being released is important. During The Kissing Booth, Joey and Jacob started dating and apparently had a long relationship that was well documented on Instagram. Eventually they broke up and then they had to film this movie after they had split! Awkward.
As you watch it, you won't find any hint of disdain. They are clearly professionals, who could draw on those past feelings to make us all believe. And believe I did!
2. Banana Split (Netflix) - A guy I grew up with is one of the producers on Banana Split. It was his Instagram post announcing its arrival on Netflix that prompted me to give it a shot.
The story is about two girls, April and Clara, who come into one another's orbit because of a guy, Nick. April was dating him and now Clara is. Nick is played by Dylan Sprouse (his twin brother, Cole Sprouse, plays Jughead Jones on Riverdale). He is serving major Jordan Catalano vibes in this role.
It's a story about an unlikely friendship and all the crappy things that happen in high school. Warning: it's a bit crass and there's a ton of swearing, so I wouldn't watch this with kids in the room.
3. The Story of Us (Netflix) - There are a ton of old movies popping up on Netflix and I was happy to see this one co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Bruce Willis.
The movie came out in 1999, but the story of a marriage falling apart still holds up. In fact, the entire time I was watching, all I could think about was A Marriage Story.
4. Love on the Spectrum (Netflix) - Last week I talked about how Indian Matchmaking was filling the void of The Bachelor franchise and this week Love on the Spectrum accomplished that goal. As the name suggests, the show is about singles on the autism spectrum.
The show follows about 10 people as they navigate the world of dating. Some meet with a coach in advance, some attend speed dating events, while others go on classic blind dates. There are also two couples featured who have been together for quite some time and we get to see both of their romantic engagements.
What I loved most about the show was seeing the singles interact with their families. Their parents, who tend to be over protective, would look straight into the camera and gush about their children's outstanding qualities. I was particularly moved by Mark's dad, who spoke about how difficult it was for him and his wife when Mark was young and how overjoyed they are that he has grown into such a sweet, kind, caring adult.
5. Fear City: New York vs. The Mafia (Netflix) - What do you do when you've already seen all the rom-coms available on the internet? You decide to watch a documentary about the mob. This three-part series on Netflix follows the FBI in the 1970s and 1980s as they seek to take down the NYC mafia with the RICO Act.
You hear from FBI agents, Rudy Giuliani (who was an attorney at the time) and members of some of the biggest crime families in New York.
I had only planned to watch the first episode and then I found myself watching all three in one sitting.
6. Spotlight (Netflix) - I saw this movie when it first came out in 2015 (here's my original review) and if you haven't had a chance to watch it, now you can. It's the true story of the Spotlight team at The Boston Globe, a group of investigative journalists who are about to break a story about sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
This movie has an all-star cast: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Liev Schreiber.
Though I didn't love the ending, the movie brings you behind the scenes of the newsroom in a way that feels exhilarating.
There you have it! This week's list. I'll be back next Friday with a fresh round of picks.
*Images courtesy of Unsplash, Seventeen, PEOPLE, Netflix, NBC News, Den of Geek and The Movie My Life.
