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. 22-28, 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: A filmmaker goes back to his roots in the HBO doc Katrina Babies
While there’s many documentaries on the death and destruction that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, this one stands apart because it specifically takes stock of how the kids of that era have been affected. And it’s made by first-time filmmaker Edward Buckles Jr., who was 12 when his parents decided, at the last minute, to evacuate from the city where his extended family made their home. He remembers being worried about his cousins whose parents had chosen to ride out the storm. He ended up going to a school in a parish to the north for almost an entire school year. And those cousins, the best friends that he’d spent so many hours with at regular family get-togethers? He didn’t see them for years, and it shook his identity to lose his community at such a young age. Others feel the same, they explain in interviews, their stories illustrated with news footage and cartoons. Sadly, many of them have continued to suffer the consequences long after the storm moved out, not just mentally but physically, too. One woman recounts having suffered a tumor after living in a FEMA trailer with formaldehyde, and another was killed amid the Crescent City’s increased violence not long after having sat for an interview. — Raechal Shewfelt
Katrina Babies premieres Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
STREAM IT: The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe tells the true story of a man who faked his own death
Faced with overwhelming debt, in March 2002, British prison officer John Darwin faked his own death, in order to wipe out his bills and cash in on his life insurance. He made it seem as though he had disappeared while canoeing, but he was actually in hiding the entire time the search for him was underway. And his wife knew about it all. Now, BritBox offers this four-part series inspired by journalist David Leigh’s account of the wild scheme. In this exclusive clip, an investigator tells the family of Darwin (Ray Donovan’s Eddie Marsan) that they need to prepare for the worst. His wife, played by Monica Dolan (Cyrano), appears anguished in front of the couple’s children, even as the missing man calls her on the phone. — R.S.
Story continues
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe is available Tuesday, Aug. 23 on BritBox.
STREAM IT: Get to know Mike in Hulu’s drama about ex-boxing champ Tyson
Hulu’s limited series Mike is about the controversial and colorful life of boxing legend Mike Tyson. Trevante Rhodes stars as Tyson, with a supporting cast that includes Harvey Keitel as Cus D’Amato, in this story that revolves around one of the most polarizing figures in the history of sports. “I’m the most vicious, ruthless champion there ever been. No one can ever match me. My style’s impetuous,” Rhodes’s Tyson says in the trailer. “I’m ferocious.”
Mike premieres Thursday, Aug. 25 on Hulu.
WATCH IT: The MTV Video Music Awards are red hot
This year’s MTV Video Music Awards are set to be an especially genre- and generation-crossing affair. First, legendary rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who received the Video Vanguard Award in 2000, return to the VMAs stage — 30 years after winning their first three Moonperson trophies for “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away” — will perform and accept another lifetime-achievement honor, the Global Icon Award. Nicki Minaj, who is this year’s Video Vanguard recipient, will also co-host the ceremony alongside rising pop star Jack Harlow (who is nominated in seven VMA 2022 categories) and hip-hop icon/former Grammy Awards host LL Cool J. Other performers include Latin sensations Anitta and J Balvin, K-pop group BLACKPINK, country crooner Kane Brown, Italian glam-rock band Måneskin, emo veterans Panic! At the Disco, EDM star Marshmello with Khalid, and the unstoppable Lizzo, while the night’s other top nominees are Kendrick Lamar, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Drake, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd. — Lyndsey Parker
The 2022 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. on MTV.
WATCH IT: TLC takes the idea of a Bad Hair Day to a whole new level
In this new limited docuseries, men and women struggling with a lot more than flyaways seek medical help and, in the vein of Dr. Pimple Popper and My Feet Are Killing Me, they get it. Dermatologists Dr. Isha Lopez and Dr. Meena Singh and Dr. Angie Phipps, a hair restoration surgeon, treat them for everything from hair loss to hair overgrowth in unwanted places — such as a woman’s chin and neck — to a growth so large that the patient uses his hair to cover it. As Dr. Phipps says in the trailer, “Hair really affects people’s mental health and the way they feel about themselves.” To her point, we see a woman saying that losing her hair was “the lowest point of my life,” and a man tearing up as he explains, “Looking at myself in the mirror, it’s, like, just unbearable sometimes.” — R.S.
Bad Hair Day premieres Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 10 p.m. on TLC.
HEAR IT: New boxed set showcases the ultimate Blondie ambition
No, you’re not dreaming. The definitive and first-ever authorized Blondie boxed set — the culmination of six years’ work — is finally here. Featuring a whopping 124 tracks, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982 comprises the seminal NYC band’s first six studio albums (remastered from the original analog tapes and cut at Abbey Road Studios), plus 36 previously unreleased recordings, some of which were stored in band co-founder Chris Stein’s barn for two decades. And picture this: The box also comes with a 144-page book with track-by-track commentary by all seven original band members and a 120-page illustrated discography with hundreds of vintage photos. Blondie completists will enraptured, for sure! — L.P.
Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982 by Blondie is available Friday, Aug. 26 to download/stream on Apple Music.
WATCH IT: Have a really good time (maybe even the time of your life) with Dirty Dancing 4K
(Image: Lionsgate)
In light of recent news that Jake Gyllenhaal is remaking the Patrick Swayze testosterone fest Road House, you have to wonder if the late actor’s biggest ’80s favorite of all, the swoony forbidden romance Dirty Dancing, is safe? At least the original is getting an upgrade on home entertainment. For its 35th anniversary, Lionsgate is dropping the Swayze-Jennifer Grey love story on 4K Ultra HD. Extras include new audio commentaries and a featurette. Just don’t put this baby in the corner of your collection. — Kevin Polowy
Buy Dirty Dancing on 4K Ultra HD from Amazon.
STREAM IT: Sylvester Stallone proves he’s no old man as Samaritan’s titular superhero
Three-time Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone stars in Prime Video’s Samaritan film as a superhero thought to be dead for 20 years only to be discovered by a young boy (Javon Walton who plays Ash on Euphoria) at a time when a hero is much needed. Stallone is no doubt an action movie icon at this point, so it’s no surprise that the 76-year-old is still going at it.
Samaritan premieres Friday, Aug. 26 on Prime Video.
HEAR IT: DJ Khaled drops another one
The hardest-working man in hip-hop is back at it, cracking open his impressive who’s-who Contacts list for his 13th (yes, 13th) studio album, God Did, the follow-up to last year’s Khaled Khaled. The superstar guests on this one include Drake, 21 Savage, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, Gunna, Barrington Levy, Buju Banton, Shyne and even Kanye West. To quote one of his famous lines from his days of judging The Four, DJ Khaled really came to eat! — L.P.
God Did by DJ Khaled is available Friday, Aug. 26 to download/stream on Apple Music.
WATCH IT: Ferngully: The Last Rainforest was one of the first of its kind
(Image: Shout!)
Sure, in more recent years it’s mostly brought up in jokey terms as the movie that inspired James Cameron to write Avatar. But 1992’s Ferngully: The Last Rainforest was way ahead of its time: The animated musical about fairies and a shrunken logger fighting back against pollutants was teaching kids about environmentalism and climate change long before the latter term was popularized. It was also the second best animated musical of 1992 starring Robin Williams (sorry, there’s just no topping Aladdin). Ferngully gets a special Blu-ray release this week for its 30th anniversary. — K.P.
Buy Ferngully: The Last Rainforest on Blu-ray from Amazon.
HEAR IT: Muse has the will to power
The ninth studio album by Britain’s favorite conspiracy-theorizing, stadium-rocking shredders blends glam, industrial and frontman Matt Bellamy’s usual soapboxing about the current sorry state of the world. Fiery, fist-pumping anthems like “Compliance,” “Liberation,” “Won’t Stand Down,” “Kill or Be Killed” and especially “We Are F***ing F***ed” will no doubt stir the masses as Muse hits the festival/arena circuit in 2022 and 2023. — L.P.
Will of the People by Muse is available Friday, Aug. 26 to download/stream on Apple Music.
— Video produced by Kyle Moss and edited by Jason Fitzpatrick
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