Weekly watch & listen May 18-24

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Alex Behunin, Reporter

As people continue to stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic, now is a great time to watch movies, binge television series, discover new music and listen to podcasts.

Here are some recommendations to occupy your mind during lockdown.

Movies and TV Shows:

“Snowpiercer”

The long-awaited TNT show has finally arrived. The television series is based on the film of the same name directed by Academy Award-winning director Bong Joon-Ho, and the French graphic novel the film adapted from, “Le Transperceneige.”. The TV series stars Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connelly.

“Snowpiercer” is set in a future post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland where the Earth’s remaining human population is aboard a perpetually moving train. Everyone is divided by a class system determined by wealth. The show encountered numerous production problems including the original showrunner leaving due to creative differences and the pilot episode having to be rewritten, according to an exclusive report from Variety.

The claustrophobic nature of the story relates to today’s times as people are hunkered in at home, similar to the characters.

Episode one of “Snowpiercer” premiered Sunday and will continue to air every Sunday on TNT.

“Celebrity Escape Room”

 

Jack Black serves as a gamemaster and host for this NBC special, which features Ben Stiller, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Adam Scott. The featured actors try to solve an escape room in honor of “Red Nose Day,” a campaign dedicated to raising money to fight against child poverty. “Celebrity Escape Room” is the latest special in NBC’s annual television charity event.

“Celebrity Escape Room” is available for viewing on NBC’s website or app.

“AKA Jane Roe”

Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe, the plaintiff in the landmark supreme court case Roe v. Wade, speaks her truth about the infamous 1973 case. “AKA Jane Roe” is the final series of interviews done prior to McCorvey’s death in 2017. Billed as her “deathbed confession” by McCorvey, she reveals the truth behind her story and why she advocated for the anti-abortion movement.

The documentary premieres Friday on FX and becomes available the following day on Hulu.

“30 for 30: Lance”

Following ESPN’s epic 10-part docuseries on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, ESPN returns with a two-part documentary about the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong’s cycling career. The documentary is directed by Marina Zenovich, who is known for her biographical documentaries such as “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind” and “Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out.” The “30 for 30” series has some of the best documentaries out there, even for people who aren’t huge sports fans.

The two-hour premiere of “Lance” starts Sunday and continues the following Sunday.

“The Lovebirds”

Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani star in this romantic comedy film, where they play as a couple who find themselves in a murder mystery during a date gone wrong. The film reunites Nanjiani with director Michael Showalter, whom Nanjiani worked with on the film, “The Big Sick.” This is Rae’s second romantic movie of the year, as she also starred in “The Photograph.” “The Lovebirds” was originally set to premiere at SXSW and then get a theatrical run, but the studio decided to sell it to Netflix.

“The Lovebirds” premieres on Netflix on Friday.

Music:

“High Off Life”

Atlanta superstar rapper, Future, returned with his eighth album “High Off Life” –– his first album since January 2019 –– on May 15. Future was originally planning to call it “Life Is Good” according to an interview with XXL in April, but he changed the title due to the pandemic. The album had five singles including “100 Shooters,” “Last Name,” “Tycoon,” “Trillionaire” and “Life Is Good.” “High Off Life” is 70-minutes long and features DaBaby, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Travis Scott, among others.

“High Off Life” is available on all music streaming services.

Podcast:

“The Joe Rogan Experience”

The podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” was launched on Dec. 24, 2009, and has received millions of views for his most popular episodes. But with the recent news that Rogan has signed a licensing agreement with Spotify, now is the best time to catch up and listen to the podcast before it moves to a different platform.

On Tuesday, Rogan announced that starting in September “The Joe Rogan Experience,” along with its video podcast, will be exclusive to Spotify. The agreement is reported to be worth more than $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Clips of the video podcast will continue to be posted on YouTube until December 2020. “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast is one of the most listened to podcasts and ranks number one in most podcasts services, according to Chartable. The podcast’s guests are wide-ranging, with notable guests such as Elon Musk, Kevin Hart, Tony Hawk, Bernie Sanders and Bill Burr.

The podcast is available on Stitcher and Apple Podcasts. The video podcast is available on YouTube.