City on Lock
The new YouTube docuseries follows rap-duo City Girls as they work towards their second LP, City on Lock. Not only do they have to manage the pressures that come with high-profile fame, but JT serves her prison sentence for credit card fraud while Yung Miami hides her pregnancy from the public out of her fear that people will “limit” her. Despite the group challenges, the teaser highlights JT’s release and plenty of love from their fans – including one who praises the group for their “bad bitch anthem.” (July 2nd)
Greatness Code
Seven athletes – including Lebron James, Tom Brady, and Alex Morgan – reflect on the moments that defined their careers and solidified their reputations as the best in their sport. Vivid animation detailing the athletes’ inner thought processes breaks up the interview footage. In one scene, James recounts a 2012 career-defining game against the Boston Celtics. At the peak of his performance, he says “I felt absolutely nothing.” As the clip ends, James says, “I wish I could bottle ‘nothing’ up, I’ll tell you that.” (July 10th)
The Go-Go’s
“In the course of a year we had gone from playing dive bars to Madison Square Garden,” says Jane Wiedlin on the all-female New Wave band’s rapid ascent to fame. The new Showtime documentary pays homage to the L.A. punk scene that the women came up in and delves into the impacts of the success that followed. Looking back on the early days, punk poet Pleasant Gehman says, “Their set was three songs long and two of them were the same song!” (August 1st)
Made in Italy
Father-and-son Robert (Liam Neeson) and Jack (Micheál Richardson) haven’t spoken in months, but the desire to sell an old Tuscan home brings them back together to confront their past and complete poorly executed home-improvement projects. Working on the long-abandoned family home stirs up memories of Jack’s late mother and unresolved grief, but as the clip hints, there’s also the possibility of newfound love. (August 7th)
Mucho Mucho Amor
A new Netflix documentary delves into the life of the beloved Puerto Rican astrologer, Walter Mercado. The clip shows Mercado clad in elaborately bedazzled capes, sharing wisdom, love, and of course, horoscopes, with his millions of viewers. Mercado was everywhere on Spanish-speaking television – until he suddenly wasn’t; along with his legacy, the film examines Mercado’s time away from the public eye and the struggles he faced as he came to terms with aging near the end of his life. (July 8)
Respect
In between powerful scenes showcasing Jennifer Hudson’s performance of “Respect,” the biopic’s latest clip shows Hudson fully transformed into Aretha Franklin, claiming due recognition from both the music industry and the men in her life. When an executive says, “Aretha, you do talk don’tcha? Not just sing?” she cooly responds by asking to be called Ms. Franklin. In the clip’s final moments, Franklin tells a congregation that “You have to disturb the peace when you can’t get no peace.” (December)
