The It List: Aubrey Plaza shines as 'Emily the Criminal,' 'I Just Killed My Dad' tells never-been-told-before true story of the Templet family and all the best in pop culture the week of Aug. 8, 2022
The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for Aug. 8-14, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
WATCH IT: Aubrey Plaza steals the show in the Sundance hit Emily the Criminal
Since leaving Parks and Recreation in 2015, Aubrey Plaza has become independent movie royalty, headlining buzzy Sundance-approved favorites like Ingrid Goes West and Black Bear. Plaza was back (virtually at least) at Sundance this year with Emily the Criminal, a low-key thriller that puts her in the driver's seat as a debt-ridden minimum wage jockey who finds financial success running scams on the side. Sons of Anarchy's Theo Rossi plays the Pied Piper that leads her into a life of crime, and Gina Gershon has a small, but memorable role as a supposedly legitimate employer who turns out to be as greedy as the criminal element that Emily consorts with. But make no mistake — this is first and foremost a showcase for Plaza, and the star flexes her dramatic muscles in new ways. Check out this exclusive clip where Emily makes like Jason Bourne and hijacks a car under stressful circumstances. You might say that Plaza's performance is so good... it's criminal. — Ethan Alter
Emily the Criminal premieres Friday, Aug. 12 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.
STREAM IT: True crime doc I Just Killed My Dad digs into the case of Anthony Templet
On June 30, 2019, 17-year old Anthony Templet fatally shot his father, Burt, in their Baton Rouge, La. home. Anthony called 911 immediately afterward and confessed. But beyond that, the legal case captured in this three-part docuseries becomes murkier. It turns out that the teen had suffered abuse — both physical and emotional — from his father for years. When he was younger, he was kidnapped from his home — a home that later had surveillance cameras to record the family's every move — and had never been enrolled in school. In the trailer, Anthony himself says, "I shouldn't be charged with anything, because I didn't do anything wrong." Not everyone is so sure. Director Skye Borgman, who also helmed this year's Netflix doc Girl in the Picture and the 2017 nonfiction film Abducted in Plain Sight, promises to get at not only the story behind Anthony's decision to commit murder, but what has happened to him after the crime… if it was really a crime at all. — Raechal Shewfelt
I Just Killed My Dad premieres Tuesday, Aug. 9 on Netflix.
READ IT: iCarly alum Jennette McCurdy reminisces on her unhappy time as a child star in I'm Glad My Mom Died
The title tells you exactly the kind of black humor that McCurdy, perhaps best known for playing Sam on Nickelodeon's iCarly, in which she starred alongside Miranda Cosgrove from 2007 to 2012, and then on spinoff Sam and Cat, with Ariana Grande, in 2013 and 2014, uses in this memoir. McCurdy has previously said that her mother, who died of cancer in 2013, abused her both physically and emotionally and was the one who pushed her into acting when she was barely old enough to go to school. Now 30, the actress-turned-writer/director speaks candidly in her book about her struggles with addiction and eating disorders and the fact that her mother's death prompted her to ask herself, for the very first time, what she really wanted — and didn't want — in life. — R.S.
I'm Glad My Mom Died is available Tuesday, Aug. 9 at Walmart and other booksellers.
WATCH IT: Go on down to South Park and have yourself a time
South Park has featured many rockin’ moments, like the Cure frontman Robert Smith’s brilliant cameo, the all-star “Chef Aid” festival and Isaac “Chef” Hayes’s many inappropriate school singalongs. So, after a crazy quarter-century, there’s no better way to celebrate this legacy than with South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert, starring South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, theme song performers Primus and bizarro indie-rockers Ween. Filmed at Red Rocks in Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny’s home state of Colorado, the epic event will feature memorable songs from the sick and twisted series. Will we get Cartman’s compulsive warp-speed rendition of Styx’s “Come Sail Away”? Jesus and Santa battling for Christmas supremacy on a non-denominational version of Duran Duran’s “Rio”? The Oscar-robbed “Blame Canada”? Just sit back on your sofa with a plate of chocolate salty balls and Casa Bonita burritos and enjoy the show, which airs exactly 25 years to the date of South Park Season 1’s premiere. — L.P.
South Park: The 25th Anniversary Concert premieres Saturday, Aug. 13, 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.
STREAM IT: A League of Their Own offers a fresh take on the 1992 baseball favorite
There's no crying in baseball, but you may catch yourself tearing up as you binge your way through Prime Video's adaptation of Penny Marshall's 1992 favorite A League of Their Own. Overseen by Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, the new eight-episode series once again follows the on and off-field exploits of the Rockford Peaches, one of the all-female teams that played ball for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Jacobson plays Rockford catcher, Carson Shaw, who finds herself drawn to her glamorous teammate, Greta (The Good Place star, D'Arcy Carden). Meanwhile, supremely skilled Black pitcher Max (Chanté Adams) encounters a different set of obstacles to baseball glory than her white counterparts. Written with plenty of sensitivity and heart, the series openly discusses subjects and themes that were elided in Marshall's film, including the experiences of queer women at the time. — E.A.
A League of Their Own premieres Friday, Aug. 12 on Prime Video.
READ IT: An epic Dune adaptation to tide you over until the movie sequel
Fantasy and sci-fi fans still have a year to go before the release of Denis Villeneuve’s hugely anticipated Dune: Part Two but in the meantime they can feast their eyes on another visually enthralling version of the Frank Herbert masterwork. Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad’Dib, the second installment in the three-part tag-team adaptation written by Brian “Son of Frank” Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and illustrated by Raúl Allén and Patricia Martin, picks up after the events of the first volume (released in 2020), with the hero Paul Atreides (the eponymous Muad’Dib) finding his way amid the desert Fremen as he plots revenge against those who betrayed his family. — Marcus Errico
Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 2: Muad'Dib is available Tuesday, Aug. 9 from Amazon and other booksellers.
WATCH IT: RuPaul's Drag Race has a new secret
Undergoing a gag-worthy makeover of sorts, the RuPaul’s Drag Race spinoff series RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race is adopting a fun new Masked Singer-esque format for its second season. Nine secret celebrities will compete in drag disguise (with help from Drag Race alumni Brooke Lynn Hytes, Eureka, Gottmik, Jujubee, Katya, Monét X Change, Morgan McMichaels, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Violet Chachki), and their identities will only be Ru-vealed once they're eliminated from the competition, one by one. Which famous body-ody-odies might be under all that padding and pancake stick? Racers, start your engines… and may the best celebrity win! — Lyndsey Parker
RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race Season 2 premieres Friday, Aug. 12 8 p.m. on VH1.
WATCH IT: The kids are all right in the Finnish coming-of-age story Girl Picture
A breakout hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Finnish director Alli Haapasalo's Girl Picture plays like the anti-Euphoria. Like that hit HBO series, the film follows a group of young women as they navigate life and love in the social media era. But Girl Picture largely avoids any of the over-the-top sensationalism — and overt moralizing — that can trip up Rue, Cassie and the rest of the East Highland gang. While Haapasalo's young characters are still messy and flawed, the film empathizes with them in a way that recalls teen classics like My So-Called Life and Judy Blume's various tomes. By the time the credits role, Girl Picture proves itself to be one of the most purely enjoyable movies of the year... and one of the best. — E.A.
Girl Picture premieres Friday, Aug. 12 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.
HEAR IT: Erasure gets a Glo-up
The legendary synthpop duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell builds on the success of their 2020 comeback album The Neon with a new companion LP, Day-Glo (Based on a True Story). It’s the fascinating result of Clarke (genius founder of two other iconic new wave bands, Depeche Mode and Yazoo) manipulating raw files from The Neon and finding a “hidden landscape” in each “track within a track.” The improvisational record — which bears little resemblance to the original source material — showcases a band still working at the peak of its creative powers, after more than 35 years together. — L.P.
Day-Glo (Based on a True Story) by Erasure is available Friday, Aug. 12 to download/stream and on CD and vinyl on Amazon.
READ IT: Michael Mann brings the Heat in his long-awaited sequel Heat 2
The action is the juice in Heat 2, Michael Mann's follow-up to his 1995 action favorite that pitted Al Pacino's cop against Robert De Niro's robber. This sequel novel moves back and forth in time, chronicling the events that occurred prior to the original film, and the fallout that takes place after Pacino and De Niro's climactic encounter. Written with Meg Gardiner, Heat 2 has a super-sized scope with multiple narratives playing out around the world. Even in book form, Mann's obsession with style, process and ’90s machismo shines through. The director has already said that he wants to turn Heat 2 into a movie, and you can practically see the images spilling off the page as you read. — E.A.
Heat 2 is available Tuesday, Aug. 9 at most booksellers, including Amazon.
HEAR IT: Goo Goo Dolls choose Chaos
John Rzeznik and Robby Takac return with Chaos in Bloom, a pandemic album recorded on vintage instruments amid the tranquility and isolation of Woodstock’s Dreamland Studios. True to its title, Chaos in Bloom — the Goos’ 13th studio LP, but the very first to be solely produced by Rzeznik — boasts a more experimental sound than the ‘90s stadium band’s usual material, and it showcases them truly blossoming artistically. — L.P.
Chaos in Bloom by Goo Goo Dolls is available Friday, Aug. 12 to download/stream on Apple Music.
— Video produced by Kyle Moss and edited by Jason Fitzpatrick
