Here’s The Cool Stuff Coming To Hulu In June

Florida governor Ron Death Sentence may be doing everything he can to prevent people from publicly saying “gay.”  Thankfully Hulu in June presents various ways to say “gay” loudly and clearly.  A modern gay take on “Pride and Prejudice” puts “Saturday Night Live”’s Bowen Yang in the Jane role.  Or take a gander at Tanya Saracho’s wonderful look at love and gentefication in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights neighborhood.  Or else strap in for the farewell season of the “Love, Simon” spinoff.

Elsewhere this month, find out how a trio of true crime podcasters/amateur sleuths deal with the newest homicide in their New York City apartment building.  Or see a fantastic romantic dramedy that earned its female lead a Best Actress award at Cannes.  Or catch Emma Thompson inverting sex comedy cliches as a widowed schoolteacher who hires a much younger male prostitute.

Whether you want to catch the joys of the Bonnaroo Music Festival from the comfort of your couch or watch Carey Mulligan and Elizabeth Olsen show off their lead performer chops for the first time, these suggestions will hopefully make your Hulu streaming time worthwhile.

The Worst Person In The World

June 1

An Education–In this endearing drama that made Carey Mulligan a star, Jenny (Mulligan) is a bright teenager in early 1960s London who’s determined to get into Oxford.  An accidental encounter with the charmingly urbane and far older David (Peter Sarsgaard) introduces her to an exciting world of nightclubs and trips to Paris.  Will the temptations of the adult world permanently undermine Jenny’s shot at entering Oxford?  Director Lone Scherfig adapts Lynne Barber’s memoir from a Nick Hornby script.  Mulligan deservedly garnered an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

Get Low–When backwoods hermit Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) learns of the death of an old friend, he makes one of his rare visits into town.  Bush enlists undertaker Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) in his “get low” plans.  Basically, the hermit wants Quinn to come up with a corker of a burial ceremony that Bush can enjoy while he’s still alive.  The undertaker obliges, which results in a big party where old hurts are healed and unspoken truths are finally spoken.  Based on a true story.   

The Last Tourist–This documentary examines the sins of the multi-trillion dollar tourism industry.   These problems include cruise ships exploiting their ports of call, snapping pictures for the ‘Gram rather than taking time to observe a new place, and voluntourism feeding the white savior complex.  What can people do to be better travelers and create shared value for all?

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene–Long before Elizabeth Olsen became known as the Avengers’ Wanda Maximoff, she made her feature film debut in this tale of a former cult member who finds she hasn’t emotionally escaped the cult she used to belong to.  Martha (Olsen) is an escapee from Patrick’s (John Hawkes) rural cult.  Refuge seems possible via a stay with her well-off married older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and her pretentious architect husband Ted (Hugh Dancy).  But while Lucy does care for Martha, neither she nor her husband truly realize just how emotionally damaged the younger woman is.  Frequent mental flashbacks to her time under Patrick’s sway feed Martha’s constant fears of the cult tracking her down.

Results–Indie writer/director Andrew Bujalsaki does an offbeat romantic comedy set in an Austin, Texas gym.  At the Power 4 Life gym, founder Trevor (Guy Pearce) has ambitious plans for his gym even if he can’t articulate them very well.  The ferociously judgmental Kat (Cobie Smulders) competes with the gym’s other personal trainers for clients…and is secretly sleeping with Trevor.  Wealthy schlubby New York transplant Danny’s entrance into Trevor’s and Kat’s lives soon creates an unexpected romantic triangle.  But that’s nothing compared to Trevor’s and Kat’s being disconcerted by their rigidly controlled lives soon becoming far less controlled. 

Try Harder!–Debbie Lum’s darkly comic documentary follows five students from San Francisco’s Lowell High School.  They show an impressive and frightening dedication to their studies, typified by one student’s not sleeping much to keep up with their homework.  But what will they do when it turns out getting good grades isn’t necessarily the golden ticket to admission to the college of their dreams?

Try Harder!

White God–-When teenaged Lili is dropped off at her estranged father’s home in Budapest, it is not the beginning of happy times for the girl.  She struggles to get along with her father and fit in with her teenage peers.  Meanwhile, Lili’s beloved mutt Hagen has been deliberately abandoned to die in Budapest’s streets by Lili’s stingy father.  Encounters with such cruelties as heartless pound owners and a dog-fighting ring soon turn Hagen into a feral angry creature ready to take down the human scum.

June 2

The Orville: New Horizons—It’s the third season of Seth MacFarlane’s “Star Trek”-inspired science fiction dramedy.  As the new season begins, viewers will at last find out if the Orville crew succeeded in their attempt to restore their timeline from one where Earth is annihilated and half the known galaxy is conquered.  While details of what to expect this season have generally been kept under wraps, some info has dropped.  The Orville will get a serious redesign after getting humongously dinged during a space battle.  Also, the ship and crew will jump 400 years into the future.  Otherwise, it’s the same old same old.

June 3

Fire Island–Director Andrew Ahn’s (“Spa Night”) film is inspired by the Jane Austen classic “Pride And Prejudice.”  The title refers to a popular gay vacation destination not far from Long Island.  Best friends Noah (stand-up comedian Joel Kim Booster) and Howie (Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”) have come with the other members of their chosen family to this paradise for their annual week of love and laughter and responsible partying.  But some unexpected events this year threaten to push their interpersonal bonds to the limit.  Other cast members include legendary comedian Margaret Cho as Erin, the mother hen of Noah and Howie’s group, and Conrad Ricamora (“How To Get Away With Murder”) as Will aka the Mr. Darcy character.

June 7

Between Me And My Mind–Trey Anastasio is the frontman for the rock band Phish.  Despite fitting the visual stereotype of the Middle American granola rocker, he displays an incredible work ethic.  This low-key biographical portrait of Anastasio follows the unassuming rocker recording songs for the solo album “Ghosts of the Forest.”  The album’s a homage to childhood friend Chris Cottrell, who’s been diagnosed with Stage IV adrenal cancer.

Queens Of Pain–Meet the Gotham Girls Roller Derby team.  They’re a very successful New York City’s sports team whose roster boasts a mix of elite athletes and misfits.  Cassie Hay and Amy Winston’s documentary focuses on three of the Gotham Girls: Suzy Hotrod, Evilicious, and Captain Smack Sparrow.  But athletic success doesn’t mean this trio of women can stop fighting against America’s sexist constraints or not show they’ve still got what it takes to stay on the team.

Vida

Vida Seasons 1 & 2–When Vidalia Hernandez dies suddenly, her estranged daughters Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera) return to their old Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights to sell off their mother’s bar and move on with their lives.  Emma, who has a successful business career in Chicago, hasn’t forgotten the pain of Vidalia’s homophobia towards her.  Lyn’s life seems to be a constant few steps away from burning down around her.  And gentefication is slowly pushing the existing Latinx residents out of Boyle Heights.  However, the two sisters soon find reasons to stay in Boyle Heights and even attempt to resurrect Vidalia’s bar.  If you missed out on Tanya Saracho’s smart queer Latinx series the first time around, don’t make the same mistake again.    

June 13

The Worst Person In The World—Renata Reinsve won the Best Actress prize at Cannes for her performance as the titular character in this darkly comic romantic drama.  Joachim Trier’s film follows four years in the life of Julie (Reinsve), a woman who may be entering her 30s yet hasn’t yet figured out what she wants out of life.  Should she study medicine or photography?  Should she become a mother or stay childless?  Should she be in a relationship with a successful comic book artist or a simple barista?  How Julie eventually figures out the answers to these questions forms the movie’s core, and makes this one of June’s must-sees.

June 15 

Europa Report–What happened to the half-dozen astronauts sent on a privately-funded mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to confirm the existence of water on that moon as well as possible ocean life?  A combination of pre-launch video footage plus footage made by the crew after contact with Earth was lost might hold some clues.  Yet the astronomical wonders captured in the footage can’t disguise the reality that the astronauts are also getting killed in the course of their discoveries.      

Love, Victor Season 3–It’s the final season for this spinoff series set in the world of “Love, Simon.”  It’s senior year for high schooler Victor and he faces some big questions.  Who will Victor (re)start a relationship with: first love Benji or Rahim, the new student Victor convinced to come out of the closet to his Muslim family?  He’s also trying to decide who he will be in the future, a decision which the STD he’s about to be hit with will hopefully not complicate.  Meanwhile, the relationship between Pilar and Felix is starting to come to a boil, while Lake starts exploring her own sexuality.

Two Lovers

Two Lovers–After getting dumped by his fiancee, depressed Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) has moved back to his parents’ place and does deliveries for his father’s dry cleaning business in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood.  Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) has a father who wants to buy out Leonard’s father’s dry cleaning business.  Both Leonard’s and Sandra’s parents agree their children marrying each other is a great idea.  But these plans get thrown into disarray when Leonard becomes fascinated by Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) and starts trying to have a secret relationship with her.  However, Leonard’s blindness to Michelle’s red flags of emotional neediness and heavy drug use may very well wreck his chances for happiness.  Director James Gray delivers some well-earned curves on the standard romantic drama.

The Wrecking Crew–Are you a fan of such 1960s and 1970s rock music as The Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” or The Mamas and The Papas’ “California Dreamin’?”  Then thank The Wrecking Crew.  That’s the name of the long unsung studio musician group which helped bring those songs and many others to life.  Director Denny Tedesco, son of Wrecking Crew member Tommy Tedesco, interviews both former musicians of the group as well as some of the famous acts they supported.   

June 16-19

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival 2022–Since 2002, Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennessee has been home to an annual music and arts festival.  Over 700 acres and more than 10 stages, festival goers get to see 150 different music and comedy acts.  To celebrate 20 years since that first festival, Hulu will be streaming all four days of the festival.  This year’s shows will include such headliners as Gryffin, The Chicks, 21 Savage, Stevie Nicks, and Machine Gun Kelly.   

June 17

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande–Just to show the LGBTQ+s shouldn’t have all the sex-positive fun this programming month, try this hit from the recent Sundance Film Festival.  Widowed Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) is a retired schoolteacher who survived a long marriage to a man totally uninterested in her sexual needs.  One day, she decides to hire much younger sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack, “Peaky Blinders”) to take her on a night of sexual self-discovery.  Nancy is openly jittery about doing this (e.g. “There are nuns with more sexual experience than me”), but Leo’s calmly trying to address her concerns while keeping his own issues out of the way.   

June 22

Motherland: Fort Salem Season 3–It’s the final season of this fantasy set in an alternate America where witches are real and have been recruited into the U.S. military.  The uneasy political relationship between non-magical humans and witches has degenerated into open antagonism.  For the series’ central quartet, they’ve gone from military cadets to fugitives.  Finding safety in the Cession might be a non-starter given the quartet’s penchant for getting into trouble.  Then again, thanks to the undue influence of the witch-hunting Camarilla inside the White House, fighting to the death for the right to even exist might be the only option left for the series’ heroines.  

June 23

The Bear–After his brother commits suicide, young chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White, “Shameless”) returns home to Chicago to help run The Original Beef Of Chicagoland aka the family sandwich shop.  This career move is admittedly a big step down from Carmy’s career in the world of fine dining.  But Carmy’s emotional plate soon gets filled with such headaches as running a small business, dealing with a very strong-willed kitchen staff, his lingering strained relationship with his family, and his own unaddressed grief over his brother’s death.  Perhaps discovering a found family might be the answer for Carmy…  

June 28

Only Murders In The Building

Only Murders In The Building Season 2–Hulu’s hit comedy about true crime podcasts and amateur detectives goes meta for its sophomore season.  Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short) have become famous for solving the murder of one of their neighbors in the Arconia apartment building.  So what do they do when they become the prime suspects in the murder of the Arconia’s board president?  Do they try to prove themselves innocent or try to milk their unwanted fame for all it’s worth?  Other developments this season include: Mabel gets a new love interest in art gallery owner Alice (Cara Delevingne); Charles learns more about the history of the Arconia…and its connection to his childhood; and comedian Amy Schumer becomes an unbearable new resident of the Arconia who’s interested in doing a screen adaptation of the first season murder mystery from the point of view of the murderer.  The legendary Shirley MacLaine will also drop by for a few episodes.

June 30

Prince Avalanche–One of writer/director David Gordon Green’s best films is this remake of the Icelandic film “Either Way.”  It’s 1988 and a bunch of devastating fires have turned the woodlands of Texas’ Bastrop State Park into a wasteland.  Prickly Alvin (Paul Rudd) has been repairing the park’s damaged roads since spring by repainting the lane dividers and hammering in new road markers.  Lance (Emile Hirsch), the younger brother of Alvin’s girlfriend Madison, is helping the more experienced man out for the summer.  Alvin hopes the work will motivate Lance to be more mature.  But so far, all the flaky younger man lives for is enduring the admittedly monotonous work week until he can get laid on the weekend.  Ironically, both Alvin and Lance will need each other to learn how to grow.