Honestly, the best thing about the Fourth of July is that the whole weekend feels like a free pass for eating hot dogs and drinking beer. That and watching anything you want. Universal is trying to celebrate by giving us a quadruple dose of Minions. Thank you for your service, Gentleminions. A24 is popping the firework that is Maxine fucking Minx as she hits the silver screen for presumably the final time. Plus you can make your way back to the Island of Lost and check out a few documentaries. Okay, here’s everything to watch on TV and at the movie theater on your time off. —Savannah Salazar
Featured Presentations
.
Despicable Me 4
We got the long-awaited Gru (Steve Carrell) origin story two summers ago, and now it’s time to return to the present in Despicable Me 4. Now a reformed villain, Gru and his wife, Lucy (Kristen Wiig), are welcoming Gru Jr. to the family when they’re visited by a new villain duo (voiced by Will Ferrell and Sofia Vergara). Fun, dumb laughs ensue. —S.S.
➽ If only Minion Jack Antonoff made a cameo.
.
MaXXXine
The capper of Ti West’s trilogy, MaXXXine follows Mia Goth’s Maxine, the final girl from X, as she tackles Hollywood. After auditioning for a part in Elizabeth Bender’s (Elizabeth Debicki) horror sequel The Puritan, Maxine is haunted by her past in more ways than one. A splashy homage to ’80s horror, it’s a fun, gnarly little movie. —S.S.
.
The Imaginary
Not to be outdone by the Despicable Mes and Inside Outs of the animation world, Studio Ponoc is back with this new hand-drawn gem directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, a veteran of Studio Ghibli. It’s about imaginary friends who face an inevitable fate: that the children who believe in them might one day cease to do so. —Eric Vilas-Boas
The One-Sentence Review
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
“Goddamn It Foley, Here We Go Again would have been a perfect title for this movie.” (Now on Netflix; read our full review.)
Reality Bites
Barbecue Showdown season three
Pregame the fireworks and meat of Fourth of July weekend, by watching pitmasters work fire on meat on the third season of Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown. If you find the time pressure of most cooking contests too intense, Showdown is uncommonly chill, with everyone cooking low and slow. —Jesse David Fox
Genre Fare
Lost on Netflix
Time to go back to the Island — if you hadn’t already been enjoying this on Hulu, that is. For the rest of you, Netflix has just put up all six seasons of Lost. I embarked on my first-time watch last year, and it was quite nice to experience the final season free of opinions about the pop-culture phenomenon. —S.S.
➽ That said, if you do want opinions, we’ve collected plenty.
Mid-Season Check-in
House of the Dragon
Let’s dance, everybody. This week marks the halfway point in season two of House of the Dragon, and judging by last week’s events and the preview above, it’s high time the dragons went to war. Swap fireworks for fire-breathing dragons, baby. —S.S.
➽ If you want to watch with us, we have a very exclusive newsletter.
Vulture Recommends
More “Part 4s” for the 4th
If you’re not content with Axel F. or Despicable Me 4, try this one! And these 16 other best fourth films of various franchises.
Finally Streaming
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Pride month may be over, but Max is celebrating bisexuals by dropping Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on the service this week. Before you come for us, the color palette is literally pink and blue. Anyway, come for the promise of these two teaming up and duking it out, and stay for Kong tossing around a toddler gorilla and Godzilla using the Coliseum as his napping spot. Chaotic, these two. —S.S.
➽ Also babes, just wanted to let you know that Babes is available to rent — as is the delightfully animated Chicken for Linda!
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of June 28.
