Will Twisters be the summer blockbuster of the year? It’s probably a fool’s errand to try and guess nowadays, but hell, I had fun watching. Glen Powell dressed as a cowboy riding around in a pickup truck rigged with gadgets is probably the most fun thing you’ll watch on this list. But if chasing tornadoes isn’t your thing (sigh), there’s still more to watch, from Natalie Portman as a grizzled reporter, to Karate Kid–style action, to two girlies duking it out for a role on Broadway. Here are your weekend watches on TV and at the movies. —Savannah Salazar
Featured Presentations
Twisters
I’ve already seen some people try to equate Twisters with Top Gun: Maverick. I’m not entirely sold on that yet, but someone in my screening audience did yeehaw over the credits, so maybe Twisters will have the juice. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell chase storms as rivals, with the former joining her buddy Javi (Anthony Ramos) and the latter leading his group of internet-famous livestreamers. It doesn’t quite reach the marvelous thrill of its perfectly ’90s predecessor, but there are still plenty of tornadoes to gasp and holler at. —S.S.
In theaters now
Lady in the Lake
One of the journalist turned novelist Laura Lippman’s most twisty-turny, socially observant novels is now getting the prestige-TV treatment, directed by Alma Har’el. Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram lead as Maddie, a Jewish woman who abandons her family to pursue a career as a reporter, and Cleo, the Black woman whose death Maddie investigates. Expect a fever-dream quality to complex relationships, grudges, and fears. —Roxana Hadadi
Streaming on Apple TV+
Cobra Kai season 6 part 1
If you’re feeling sad about the conclusion of this Karate Kid saga, please know: They are dragging this thing out by releasing it in three parts. The first five episodes drop first. To the surprise of no one, the students of Ralph Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence are once again preparing to compete in a major karate tournament. —Jen Chaney
Streaming on Netflix
Skywalkers: A Love Story
There’s falling in love, and then there’s the adrenaline-pumping climbing (and not falling) that Moscow couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus attempt day after day. Co-directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina, Skywalkers focuses on Nikolau and Beerkus as it spins through years of their journey trying to climb a super-skyscraper. —S.S.
➼ Skywalkers? Maybe they should double-check they’re not secret twins first.
Streaming on Netflix
Hit-Monkey season 2
One of Marvel’s wackiest and most underrated shows follows a Japanese macaque who becomes the protégé of an American assassin’s ghost and takes on the Japanese yakuza. The series is quickly paced and colorfully animated. —R.H.
Streaming on Hulu
Omnivore
If you’ve been watching The Bear and wondering what all the fuss is about the Copenhagen restaurant Noma, this docuseries is here to sate your curiosity. Celebrity chef René Redzepi, who cameoed in The Bear, hosts. Each episode will focus on an essential ingredient in our diets, like coffee or salt, and chart its development and culinary use over decades and around the world. —R.H.
Streaming on Apple TV+
Those About to Die
Don’t you want to watch other people exert themselves while you stay inside during air-conditioning season? Summer is for the swords-and-sandals epics, like this series set in ancient Rome during the era of gladiator blood sport. Prepare to ogle some beautifully sculpted physiques before they rip each other apart for our pleasure. —R.H.
Streaming on Peacock
Finally Streaming
Smash on Peacock
Time to let Smash be your next streaming show. It’s been over a decade since the NBC television series debuted and was swiftly canceled after two seasons. Despite its messy origins, Smash surprisingly lives on. It’s even getting a Broadway adaptation. In Smash, the show was about bringing a Marilyn Monroe musical titled Bombshell to life on Broadway, but the actual Broadway show is bringing Smash, the show, to life. Kind of trippy, I know. —S.S.
Streaming on Peacock
➼ Loves Lies Bleeding is on Max. Someone get Love a Band-Aid.
Grand Finale
The Acolyte
Maybe it was the help of Manny Jacinto’s arms, but The Acolyte really solidified itself as great Star Wars television in its second half. So now’s as good a time as any to catch up on this fascinating dissection of the Jedi Order and, yeah, some cool-ass lightsaber fights. —S.S.
Streaming on Disney+
➼ Plus, The Boys finale (complete with a political violence disclaimer).
Double Feature
How About Another 33 Disaster Movies?
If Twisters wasn’t enough to satiate your disaster-movie thirst, how about we recommend 33 extra films (including Twister!) to give you the ultimate movie marathon. Read more here. —S.S.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of July 12.
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