Something to Stream Every Day this Week: Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Halftime’ Drops, New ‘Iron Chef’ Series, ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Premiere
In a world where there is an insurmountable amount of content to watch and an ever-increasing number of streaming services to watch it on, sometimes you need something (or someone) to just tell you what to watch on a given day. So while you certainly don’t have to take all of my recommendations, I’ve selected one thing every day this week that promises to be a worthwhile streaming option. So here are my picks for what to stream every day of the week from Monday, June 13 through Sunday, June 19, 2022.
Monday, June 13
Game 5 of the NBA Finals | fuboTV
Through four games, the NBA Finals have not disappointed in the drama department. While some games have bordered on blowouts, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors have traded victories thus far to keep the series even as two wins apiece.
On Monday, the teams return to Sacramento as the Warriors and Stephen Curry look to capitalize on the home-court advantage and put themselves one victory away from a fourth Larry O’Brien Trophy in eight seasons and their first since 2018.
For their part, the Celtics will need star Jason Tatum to be more consistent from the floor if they want to pull off the road victory. Despite getting points elsewhere, Tatum is shooting just 23.1% from two-point range, outside of bunnies. He will likely need to turn that around if the Celts don’t want to fall into a difficult hole.
Tuesday, June 14
“Halftime” | Netflix
Jennifer Lopez has been one of the most popular entertainers in the world for over 25 years, and while fans have always been fairly privy to her personal life, in the new Netflix documentary “Halftime,” the multi-talented superstar takes fans behind the scenes of one of the biggest moments of her life and career.
Halftime
Global superstar Jennifer Lopez reflects on her multifaceted career and the pressure of life in the spotlight in this intimate documentary.
The doc chronicles JLo’s career with special focus on her performance at the 2020 Super Bowl. Marketing for the film has shown Lopez’s disappointment in her willingness to share the stage with Shakira in what otherwise would have been a solo, career-defining moment.
This look behind the curtain will undoubtedly be filled with incredible performances and an unguarded look at one of this generation’s biggest icons.
Wednesday, June 15
“Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” Series Premiere | Netflix
For more than two decades, American audiences have enjoyed multiple variations of the venerated kitchen competition show “Iron Chef.” Now, after spending most of its life on the Food Network, the first U.S. streaming edition of the show premieres on Netflix.
Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend
The legendary Iron Chef series is reborn with a supersized approach to the ground-breaking culinary competition that started it all. It’s been called the toughest culinary challenge a chef will ever experience. This is where world-class cuisine meets high-octane sports. Five new trailblazing Iron Chefs will welcome brave Challenger Chefs to the reimagined Kitchen Stadium, where they’ll face off and be pushed to the limits of endurance and creativity, as they cook up extraordinary culinary creations. The competition’s most successful Challenger will return to battle in a grand finale for the chance to be named the first ever “Iron Legend.”
Longtime announcer Alton Brown returns, as does Mark Dacascos as The Chariman. Kristen Kish will also join Kitchen Stadium for the eight-episode season as five returning Iron Chefs will do battle against a slew of Challenger Chefs in what is being billed as “the toughest culinary challenge a chef will ever experience.”
The best Challenger will return for the finale episode in hopes of being named the first-ever Iron Legend.
Thursday, June 16
“Rutherford Falls” Season 2 | Peacock
Look, I get it. You don’t have Peacock, and you barely even know what Peacock is, but trust me when I tell you that the sitcom “Rutherford Falls” is worth either the subscription price or figuring out if you get the service for free via any number of fairly complicated bundles.
Rutherford Falls
A small town in upstate New York is turned upside down when local legend and town namesake, Nathan Rutherford fights the moving of a historical statue.
Created by Ed Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas, and Michael Schur, Helms and Jana Schmieding star as lifelong friends who end up on opposite sides of a centuries-old debate. As you would expect from a show co-created by Schur — who is responsible for “Parks and Recreation,” “The Good Place,” and more of your favorite sitcoms — the show is sweet, smart, and funny.
The entire eight-episode second season hits the NBCUniversal streamer on Thursday and is well worth a four-ish hour marathon.
Friday, June 17
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” | Apple TV+
While other movies dropping on streamers on Friday might get more attention, like “Jerry and Marge Go Large” on Paramount+ or “Spiderhead” on Netflix, don’t let “Cha Cha Real Smooth” fly under your radar. After premiering at Sundance earlier this year, the indie movie was snatched up by Apple TV+ and currently has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Fresh out of college and stuck at his New Jersey home without a clear path forward, 22-year-old Andrew begins working as a party starter for bar/bat mitzvahs—where he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mom and her teenage daughter.
The film, written and directed by Cooper Raiff, follows Andrew (played by Raiff) who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host as he develops a unique friendship with Dakota Johnson’s Domino, the mother of an autistic daughter. Leslie Mann and Brad Garrett also star in the film.
Fresh off of the first streaming Best Picture win at the Oscars for “CODA,” “Cha Cha Real Smooth” could be Apple’s next awards contender to tug on audience’s heartstrings.
Saturday, June 18
“The Ipcress File” | AMC+
Saturdays are tough for streaming outside of sports, and while the day will give you the chance to watch Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals (sorry Rangers fans) and the third round of the U.S. Open, both of those events are primarily going to be carried on broadcast networks, so I figured today would be a good chance to catch up on a show that you might have missed.
The Ipcress File
As the Cold War rages, ex-smuggler turned reluctant spy Harry Palmer finds himself at the centre of a dangerous undercover mission, on which he must use his links to find a missing British nuclear scientist.
Based on Len Deighton’s 1962 spy novel and the 1965 film adaptation, “The Ipress File” is a smart and sophisticated thriller from AMC+. Joe Cole stars as a schemer doing time in a military prison during the Cold War. His character, Harry Palmer, is given a chance to lessen his sentence by helping a secretive British spy agency rescue a kidnapped nuclear scientist.
Jumping at the chance, Palmer is teamed with Lucy Boynton’s Jean Courtney under the direction Tom Hollander’s Major Dalby. Their search takes them around the world in an exciting, slow-burn game of cat and mouse. The finale is scheduled to drop on June 23, so this weekend is a perfect time to catch up before the final episode.
Sunday, June 19
“I Love That for You” Season Finale | SHOWTIME
We’ve all said and done things that at the time seemed necessary, but in hindsight might not have been the wisest thing to do. Such is the case for Joanna Gold in the HBO comedy “I Love That for You.” Played by Vanessa Bayer, the home shopping channel host tells her colleagues that her childhood cancer has returned in an effort to save her job.
I Love That for You
A woman overcomes childhood leukemia to achieve her dream of becoming an on-air host at a home shopping network.
The lie works, but it also puts her in quite the precarious position at work. After her time at “Saturday Night Live,” it is nice to see Bayer have a project that fully exploits her prodigious talents.
The season finale airs on Sunday and will almost certainly bring a healthy dose of laughs alongside some much-needed resolution to Joanna’s big lie.