Here are the new TV shows and films you should absolutely binge for this month
Lots of new stuff to watch this month! What are your picks?
Note: This feature was first published on 4 Aug 2020.
Image: HBO
August hath come. A whole new wave of TV shows and movies are about to hit us, and it might just be impossible to sort through them all. You still need something to watch during weekends after all, but never fear! This list is jam-packed with the best new content that’s launching this very month. From great animated series to movies about pickled men, this is a pretty fun time for new releases.
An American Pickle (August 6) - HBO
Get this: Seth Rogen plays Herschel Greenbaum, an immigrant in 1920s America who struggles to provide for his family. While working a laborious factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for a full 100 years. Preserved perfectly, he suddenly emerges in present-day Brooklyn, Captain America-style. Having not aged a day, Greenbaum then seeks out his only surviving family - Ben Greenbaum, a computer coder he can’t even begin to relate to.
I mean, for that premise alone? This is worth a watch.
The Truth About Takeaways (August 6) - BBC Earth/BBC Player
Image: BBC
This one is a little more sobering than the pickle movie. Given the ongoing pandemic, we’ve all likely indulged in food delivery and takeaways a little more - without going to the trouble of eating outside. BBC’s new documentary answers troubling questions, like how addictive foods are changing our appetites, and which fast food might be the healthiest to eat. If you’re willing to take a critical look at the feel-good food you love so dearly, this documentary is for you.
Project Power (August 14) - Netflix
This is certainly shaping up to be one of Netflix’s biggest blockbuster movies of the year. New Orleans has begun to see the rise of a mysterious new drug - a pill that grants unique superpowers to whoever takes one. The catch of course, is that you don’t know what power you’re going to get until you take it. Superpowered criminals start tearing the city apart, and a local cop, teenage dealer and former soldier team up to stop things from getting worse.
Ted Lasso (August 14) - Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s new comedy has two great things going for it: Jason Sudeikis and Bill Lawrence. Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso, an American college football coach who gets brought over to coach an English soccer team. He has no experience whatsoever in English football - hence the hijinks. Bill Lawrence co-created the show with Sudeikis, the former of whom also created Scrubs and Cougar Town. All in all, this looks like a wholesome good time.
Avatar: The Legend of Korra (August 14) - Netflix
Image: Nickelodeon
The world recently went a little nuts over Avatar: The Last Airbender, and rightly so. It’s one of the best series of all time, so it’s a little puzzling that many haven’t seen its sequel. The series follows Aang’s successor as the new Avatar, a brash young woman named Korra. In Book One: Air, she heads off to Republic City to learn airbending from Aang and Katara’s son Tenzin. That doesn’t quite go as planned.
The Legend of Korra might be weaker than The Last Airbender overall, but Book Three: Change is worth the journey alone. A phenomenal season all around.
Lovecraft Country (August 16) - HBO
Lovecraft Country is a horror drama starring Jonathan Majors, who was incredible in The Last Black Man in San Francisco. He plays Atticus Black, a man who teams up with his uncle and an old friend to road trip across 1950s America in search of his missing father. Unfortunately, the group soon encounters monsters ripped from the pages of a H.P. Lovecraft horror story - can they even hope to survive?
Lucifer Season 5 (August 21) - Netflix
Netflix has picked up Lucifer for a couple more seasons after an abrupt cancellation, and it’s certainly paying off for fans. The latest season sees Lucifer Morningstar seemingly return to his friends after serving as the king of hell, but there are shenanigans afoot. That’s pretty much all I can say without spoiling anything - unlike the very spoiler-y trailer above. Season 5 will also have a musical episode!
Cobra Kai Seasons 1 and 2 (August 28) - Netflix
Fans of the original Karate Kid movie are going to want to tune in for this. Thirty years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny Lawrence decides to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo - which stokes the flames of his old rivalry with Daniel LaRusso. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka both return to their roles here, in a series that has generated a surprising amount of critical acclaim.
Netflix recently picked up the series from YouTube Premium, and plans to release a third season soon.
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