Weekend Watchlist, 6/13: Streamer of Streamers
A good new Predator movie, plus two very funny TV shows to catch up on
Happy Friday, PV Guide readers! I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you.
Every Friday, I’m recommending a few great things to watch that the algorithm might not be pushing at you right now, with a focus on variety, so every reader can find something they’re interested in. The Weekend Watchlist will always be 100% free.
This past week, I watched The Rundown, Sinners, Captain America: Brave New World, 11 Rebels, a whole ton of Predator movies (more on that in a second), the incredible French Open finals, and wrapped up the first season of Murderbot. Most of those were highlights, with one glaring MCU exception.
What I’m watching this weekend: Celebrating some family birthdays this weekend, so probably not much! But surely something will pop up – been thinking about doing a Final: Destination franchise watch before Bloodlines comes to streaming.
This week’s recs
Predator: Killer of Killers
If you like: Predator movies, animated anthologies, Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior
Watch at: Hulu
Watch trailer here
I was late to Predator, watching it for the first time just before Prey came out. I loved both, and have been excited for Prey director Dan Trachtenberg’s two (!) new Predator movies this year: the upcoming Predator Badlands, and the newly released Predator: Killer of Killers.
Well, Killer of Killers was such a blast that I was immediately compelled to watch all the Predator movies I haven’t seen. Every one of these movies are fun in their own way, but some are more effective than others. A quick digression for a franchise ranking:
Predator movies, ranked
- Predator
- Prey
- Predator 2
- Predator: Killer of Killers
- Predators
- Alien vs. Predator
- Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
- The Predator
Back to the rec, Killer of Killers is an animated anthology following accomplished warriors (a viking, a samurai and a ninja, a fighter pilot) across Earth’s history and their encounters with a Predator. The story is light, but it’s a really appealing premise that builds out even more of the franchise’s fascinating lore, with brutal action design that makes most of the animated medium. My favorite beat: When the viking warrior combines the two halves of her broken shield to deflect a heavy blow underwater, sending her and her opponent rocketing in opposite directions.
Taskmaster Series 19
If you like: Funny people doing funny things, ridiculous contests, British humor
Watch at: YouTube — episode 1 embedded above
Watch trailer here
The British panel comedy show Taskmaster has been a balm for my soul in challenging times, and Series 19 is one of the best installments in a while. The cast is great, the tasks are hilarious, and this season has felt like a perfect balance of personalities and types of humor.
But there’s another reason I’m suggesting you watch this: I have a two-part interview with the hilarious Jason Mantzoukas that I’ll be running later this month. Stay tuned!
Murderbot
If you like: Funny sci-fi, shows that aren’t an hour long, depressed robots
Watch at: Apple TV Plus
Watch trailer here
I’ve heard great things about Martha Wells’ Murderbot books, and watching the show only made me more interested in checking them out. Murderbot is about, well, Murderbot – a security cyborg who has recently unlocked its own autonomy but must keep it secret. Its new assignment: protect a team of hippie-ish scientists with ~ Moral Integrity ~ on a dangerous mining expedition.
The show has surprisingly well-paced ~25-minute episodes, and a great ensemble cast that makes it a fun hang. Alexander Skarsgård in particular makes the very difficult lead part of Murderbot work very well – it’d be easy for the character’s frequent sardonic voiceover asides to become grating, but Skarsgård makes it not only natural, but hilarious… and sometimes, maybe, all too relatable?
