A DATE WITH THE EIGHT
Plus the venerable Dave Matthews Band is back with new CD, Chris Lackner writes.
Big releases on June 8: Ocean’s Eight.
Big picture: First an all-female Ghostbusters and now an all-female heist crew led by an Ocean. Girl power! I predict a sitcom called Two and a Half Women (with Britney Spears in the Charlie Sheen role).
This Ocean’s instalment is billed as George Clooney-free ( but don’t be surprised by a cameo) and stars Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean — Danny’s sister (Clooney played Danny in the previous Ocean’s reboots). Debbie Ocean plans an “impossible heist” at New York’s annual Met gala.
In order to pull it off, she must — of course — assemble a multiracial team of eccentric, charming, wisecracking, completely un-threatening super criminals. (Clearly, she knows her brother’s successful blueprint).
From a hacker to a jewel specialist to a fashionista, a superb cast that includes Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson and Cate Blanchett fills in Debbie’s band of merry women. Forecast: Another Ocean will make being a thief seem like romantic, enchanting, carefree fun. Count on the next Ocean’s franchise instalment being a mash-up pitting Debbie versus Danny on the same heist.
TV
Big events: Dietland (June 4, AMC; The Staircase (Netflix, June 8).
Big picture: , Dietland stars Joy Nash as a ghostwriter for a trendy New York fashion magazine who goes through a personal transformation amid a city abuzz with the deaths and disappearances of multiple men accused of assault. Julianna Margulies costars as her insufferable boss. Meanwhile, The Staircase is billed as the original true-crime documentary series — before our current era in which, essentially, every unusual crime gets its investigative movie or miniseries. Director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s heralded series follows the trial of author Michael Peterson, accused of killing his wife Kathleen. To this day, he claims she fell down the stairs. Netflix has deftly combines the original 2004 series, a followup miniseries from 2013 and three new episodes as Peterson continued to battle to clear his name. Family secrets, implausible theories (an owl did it!), police corruption, a shady central figure! This one has all the hallmarks of the now-thriving genre. Forecast: Fiction or non-fiction. You choose the crime. Or is the real crime not spending more time enjoying the nice weather?
MUSIC
Big releases on June 8: Dave Matthews Band (Come Tomorrow); Lily Allen (No Shame).
Big picture: Dave Matthews crashes into your playlist yet again with his band’s first effort in six years.
This is for those nostalgic for the 1990s or who enjoy a smooth, mature group that can masterfully veer from ballad to festival crowd-pleaser. Meanwhile, British pop queen Lily Allen returns with a new attitude and confessional album of personal songs. It beats her lacklustre 2014 effort Sheezus, which deserves some degree of shame for its name alone. Forecast: In the spirit of women’s long overdue, slow-and-steady takeover of some of Hollywood’s best franchises, I predict bands called Beach Girls, Backstreet Girls and Girlz II Women.