Check out last month's IGN Pix, too!
It’s possible you may not have noticed but, uh… there are so many things to watch. Whether it’s streaming, on cable (dozens of us still have it. DOZENS!), or in theaters, there is an absolute waterfall of art being dropped on us all at any given second. It can feel pretty impossible to navigate that sometimes, but the IGN team is here to help make sense of it all.
…Ok, so the IGN team is here to talk about our favorite stuff! But maybe you like the same stuff we like. That’s helping, right?
This isn’t a roundup of the website’s top rated film and television, or any other kind of aggregate. We just love entertainment, and we want to chill out and chat about the art we loved this month. Some of it will be mainstream! Other times? Maybe you haven’t even heard of it! The world is our oyster. Also? Sometimes we get to shows and movies late, too! So you may even catch a couple older favorites on the list as you dig in!
Songs That Would Help the IGN Staff Escape Vecna
We wanted to add in a little bonus round this month. Since Vecna was such a fun, creepy new addition to Stranger Things we figured he would be the perfect place to start.
- Scott Collura: "Girlfriend in a Coma" — The Smiths
- Clint Gage: "I'll Believe in Anything" — Wolf Parade
- Amelia Emberwing: "Hands Held High" — Linkin Park
- Jacob Kienlen: "Somewhere Only We Know" — Keane
- Jesse Schedeen: "In Bloom" — Sturgill Simpson
- Tom Jorgensen: "Everlong" — Foo Fighters
- Bob Marshall: "Don't Change" — INXS
- Lindsey Salzer: "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" — Radiohead
- John Davison: "Enter Sandman" — Metallica
- Colin Stevens: "Heroes" — David Bowie
The Orville
Where to Watch: Hulu
Scott Collura, Executive Editor, Entertainment Features
Hey, I admit it – I’m super late to the Orville party. I watched the first couple of episodes back when it debuted in 2017 on Fox, but I didn’t quite gel with it. The earliest stories were a little too uneasy a mix of creator/star Seth MacFarlane’s trademark comedy approach and Next Generation-style sci-fi. But with a third season of the show finally debuting (now on Hulu as The Orville: New Horizons), I decided to dive back in where I left off. It turns out I had stopped at exactly the wrong spot, as Season 1’s third episode, “About a Girl,” is a terrific and sad story that is not only good, theme-driven sci-fi, but also quite affecting on an emotional level. From there the show continued to find the balance between its comedy and genre approach, and at this point I’m deep into Season 2 and can’t wait to see what New Horizons is all about…
Check out our series premiere review for The Orville
The Rental
Where to Watch: Netflix
Lindsey Salzer, Audience Development Manager
I was browsing Netflix the other night, (taking a break from watching Seinfeld) and Allison Brie’s lovely face showed up next to a title called The Rental. I thought to myself, “wait, what is she up to these days? Is this a rom-com or something?” When I watched the preview, I quickly realized it was no rom-com, but was a thriller. I didn’t know if it was going to be one of those cheesy movies with predictable jump scares and bad acting, but figured I’d be entertained either way, so let’s give it a watch. To my surprise, Dave Franco’s directorial debut, The Rental is now on my list as one of the best thrillers I’ve ever seen. It had a perfect balance of raw, realistic drama surrounding complicated relationships (with a prime cast including Jeremy Allen White from Shameless), and classic horror moments that had me truly spooked and questioning characters’ next moves. Set at a beach rental on the Oregon coast, the setting was dark and moody, and provided a solid ramp-up of chilly suspense and axe-murderer vibes to keep your attention throughout. My only personal letdown was an unexplained theme and unanswered question surrounding the ending, (what is up with that, Dave Franco?) In case you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil it, but just know I had to shut my blinds after it was over, so it was a great thrill.
Although we reviewed The Rental back in 2020, I’m just now getting around to seeing it in 2022 and am thankful it showed up in my Netflix feed, or else I could’ve missed it altogether!
Fun Fact: IGN’s own Jacob Kienlen met the cute dog that often steals the spotlight in this movie, and his name is Chunk! (Lucky…)
Ms. Marvel
Where to Watch: Disney+
Amelia Emberwing, Streaming Editor
What an absolute joy Ms. Marvel has been. Iman Vellani is the best casting for a Marvel superhero since Robert Downey Jr. took on the mantle of Tony Stark. She just is Kamala Khan, and her love for this franchise is constantly overflowing from her character on screen. The series is endlessly vibrant and relentlessly heartwarming. There hasn't been a single episode that didn't have a moment that made me grin so hard my face hurt, and they're not skimping on the emotional impact, either. Pakistani-American culture is proudly on display here, all while showcasing an action-packed origin story that I am so thrilled exists. I feel like I would have been unstoppable if I'd seen this series when I was younger.
Here's Unzela Khan talking about watching Ms. Marvel as a Muslim woman.
Prehistoric Planet
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
Jacob Kienlen, SEO Specialist
I am a huge sucker for a good nature documentary and would literally watch grass grow in real time if it was narrated by David Attenborough. So naturally, the concept of a Dinosaur doc narrated by Attenborough was something I was excited about before it even came out. Prehistoric Planet is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in years, with some excellent CGI work that brings the whole experience to life. Although the series takes a look at life that hasn’t existed for millions of years, it truly feels like you’re getting a window into what planet earth was like in the distant past. It’s alien and yet somehow familiar.
The only downside of the documentary is that we can’t be sure exactly what dinosaurs looked like back then or even how they behaved – so many things are based on scientific guesswork. But as long as you don’t read too much into that and just enjoy the dramatization, it’s 100% worth watching.
Barry, Season 3
Where to Watch: HBO Max
Alex Stedman, Entertainment Reviews Editor
Barry has always walked a delicate tonal balance – always treading the line between dark comedy and, well, just straight-up violent darkness – but it’s never more noticeable than in the long-awaited third season, which is both the darkest and funniest season of the serial-killer series to date. The eight half-hour episodes make up a pretty slow burn as each character reaches their own new level of desperation, in both comedic and depressing fashion. There are a few incredible action scenes, more than a couple of inside-baseball Hollywood gags, and some white-knuckle moments of tension, but once again, the highlight of this hit is the acting. Bill Hader, of course, is once again in fine form, still managing to be charming as his character’s murderous tendecies constantly simmer under the surface, but don’t count out Sarah Goldberg as Sally, who walks a delicate line as both a domestic abuse survivor and a new showrunner who isn’t adjusting to her new clout quite as gracefully as you’d hope. It all culminates in a finale that’s really got me hoping we don’t have to wait for Season 4 as long as we waited for this installment.
Check out our Barry Season 3 Review!
Westworld: Season 1
Where to Watch: HBO Max
Jesse Schedeen, Senior Staff Writer
With Westworld finally back for Season 4, I made the somewhat belated decision to start rewatching the entire series. For all the shows that have tried to mimic Lost’s mystery box formula over the last two decades, there’s an argument to be made that Westworld: Season 1 did it best. This is such a tight, intricately crafted season of television. It takes the basic premise of the original Michael Crichton and pushes it into some truly mind-bending territory. The show cleverly plays with time and perception and doles out a steady stream of plot twists over the course of ten episodes. In a way, the show became a victim of its own success. The series struggles to build on that formula in Season 2, and it makes an imperfect transition to the outside world in Season 3. But even if Westworld has yet t oreally recapture the magic of its first season, it never fails to be a fascinating and rewarding experience.
Here's our review for Westworld Season 1.
Shoresy
Where to Watch: Hulu
Tom Jorgensen, Senior Video Producer
I’ve just been made aware that Amelia wrote about Shoresy last month… but any chance we here at IGN can take to convince you that Shoresy (and by extension, Letterkenny) are required viewing, we take. Letterkenny’s resident king of chirping struck out on his own at the end of last season, and for a character who always worked best in small doses, I’ve been consistently impressed at how winning a lead character Shoresy has become only a few short episodes into his solo series. As Shoresy struggles to keep his promise to never lose another game of hockey with his new team, we get to know the character better through his interactions with his adopted family and the youth hockey players he mentors… all while he absolutely shreds them with his signature, creative barbs.
Dig into our Season 1 Review of Shoresy.
Evil
Where to Watch: Paramount+
Bob Marshall, Social Media Director
The X-Files, but for demons! If that sounds interesting, may I introduce you to Evil, now in its third season from The Good Wife’s Robert and Michelle King. Once the most batshit insane show on CBS, it’s since moved to Paramount+ where it continues its tightrope walk balancing gruesome horror, deep Catholic mythology, psycho-sexual tension, and slapstick comedy, but now gets to include swear words. So, watch as a forensic psychologist mother of four who is definitely a murderer (Katja Herbers), a former-sex-addict-turned-priest prone to hallucinations (Mike Colter), and a tech guy who thinks this is all stupid (Aasif Mandvi) investigate possessions, hauntings, and other paranormal activity all on the Catholic church’s payroll. You’ll laugh, you’ll scream, you’ll gasp, and you’ll most definitely laugh again.
Check out our review for Season 1 of Evil.
For All Mankind
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
John Davison, Publisher
Of the many reasons to sign up for Apple TV+ if you haven’t already, alt-history sci-fi drama For All Mankind from former Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica producer Ronald D. Moore is firmly establishing itself as the strongest and most consistent offering from the service. If you’ve bought an Apple device in the past year, chances are you’re sitting on something that will give you at least a free week, and you should absolutely use it to binge your way through the first two seasons before jumping into season three, which is currently dropping new episodes every Friday. While the first two seasons focused on the tense rivalries between the USA and the Soviet Union establishing a presence on the moon in the 1970s and 1980s, season three explores something much more like current events with a story that sees private companies joining the space race and competing with government agencies in their quest to colonize Mars. Part of the thrill of the show is seeing how with each new season its vision of technology diverges more and more from our reality, and by season three’s 1990s, we’re seeing 21st century flatscreens and mobile tech enabling vast space craft and space stations that are inching their way closer and closer towards more Star Trek-like tech. In-between all the beautiful CG spaceship porn it’s also a tense political and family drama that weaves real-world historical events into its larger story. If you really want to get sucked in, don’t sleep on the fake news reports that serve as clever world-building by filling the gaps between seasons using real historical news footage to tell alternate versions of world history.
Here's our Season 3 review of For All Mankind.
Dark Winds
Where to Watch: AMC+
Michael Calabro, Director of Video Programming
Out of the gate, AMC+’s new crime drama Dark Winds opens up on a deadly armored truck heist that culminates with the robbers fleeing in a helicopter toward a nearby Navajo reservation. This ‘70s-based Psychological thriller follows two Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as they hunt down the thieves and try to solve a couple of murders with a supernatural bend that might be related to the heist.
It stars Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn, but you might remember him from other roles like Westworld, Doctor Sleep, and his best role (in my opinion) Fargo season 2 as Native American tracker/hitman “Hanzee” Dent. Seriously, that McClarnon kills in that show. Like literally, when a character had a scene with him in Fargo, odds are it was their very memorable and horribly violent last scene.
Anyway, Dark Winds slaps and you should definitely check out McClarnon, who is just as captivating as a white hat sheriff as he was as a Vietnam vet hitman. Oh, and one last reason to check out Dark Winds, it’s executive produced by Robert Redford and George R. R. Martin.
Honorable mentions go to the wonderful Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy, Stranger Things Season 4 Part 1 and Obi-Wan Kenobi for its strong first season. But what were your favorites this month? We want to hear! Sound off in the comments about what you loved! And don't forget to sound off on what song would save you from Vecna!