‘Dexter: Resurrection,’ ‘It’s Always Sunny,’ ‘Drop,’ and the best to stream this weekend: July 11
Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (July 11-July 13)
The main stream
Just like Slim Shady, Dexter Morgan's back (back again).
If you're keeping track at home, Dexter: Resurrection is the fourth series about the vigilante serial killer (portrayed by Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall). It's the sequel to the sequel of the original Emmy-winning drama (the fourth series in the popular franchise is a prequel). While we cannot say how Dexter survived a seemingly fatal gunshot wound in 2021's Dexter: New Blood, we're willing to bet the latest series — the first two episodes of which are now streaming on Paramount+ (the show airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime) — will answer this very question.
On Resurrection, the show's setting is moved to New York, and while there are impressive new cast members joining the fray, including Emmy nominee Uma Thurman and four-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, the returning cast might be the draw, as David Zayas, James Remar, John Lithgow, and Jimmy Smits are all back for another round. So, as difficult as it is to believe, Dexter: Resurrection is the awards contender to watch this weekend.
For the queue
However, if you’re not interested in yet another run-in with Miami's finest, other top offerings include:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Next month marks the 20th anniversary (!!!) of this beloved FX comedy, which earned the title of longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history with its 15th season in 2021. This week marks the debut of Season 17. To say no one thought the gang would survive even half this long is an understatement, but if Charlie (Charlie Day), Mac (Rob Mac), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) can surpass all our expectations, there is no reason you can't be successful at whatever dangerous and/or sociopathic endeavor you undertake as well. The first two episodes are now streaming on Hulu.
Big Brother: Also celebrating a big milestone birthday this year is this long-running CBS reality series, which turned 25 on July 5. The new season, which is actually Season 27, features a mystery theme (though hopefully no murders that require solving). Meanwhile, a new companion series hosted by three former Big Brother All-Stars, titled Big Brother: Unlocked, will debut at the end of the month and feature never-before-seen footage as well as exclusive interviews. The 90-minute season premiere is now streaming on Paramount+.
Murderbot: The first season of Apple TV+'s terrific sci-fi dramedy about a rogue cyborg comes to a close this week in "The Perimeter." Picking up in the aftermath of last week's explosive confrontation that resulted in the catastrophic failure of the titular SecUnit (Alexander Skarsgård), the Season 1 finale finds Murderbot's future in jeopardy when he's restored by the Company. The episode is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Home movies
Our top movie pick this week is Drop, a thriller from Blumhouse that did pretty well with critics and at the box office earlier this year. It stars woman of the moment Meghann Fahy (Sirens, The White Lotus Season 2) as Violet, a widow who goes on her first date since her husband died. During the date with Henry (1923’s Brandon Sklenar), she starts receiving threatening messages via the “Digi-Drop” feature on her phone. Whoever is sending them gives her an ultimatum: Kill Henry, or else her son will be murdered. So Violet and Henry have to figure out who is sending these drops before it’s too late.
Drop hails from Christopher Landon, the talented horror filmmaker behind Happy Death Day and Freaky. It’s a fun, tight thriller that gets in and out in 95 efficient minutes. It’s now streaming on Peacock.
If you do not accept this drop, here are some other movies to watch this weekend:
The Shrouds: The latest from legendary horror filmmaker David Cronenberg is now streaming on The Criterion Channel and is available to rent or buy on VOD platforms like Amazon as well. It stars Vincent Cassel as a businessman who invents a type of funeral shroud that allows the deceased’s loved ones the ability to view a live feed of their decomposing body. He invented this after the death of his own wife, and now someone is using her shroud to mess with him. As he investigates the conspiracy, he starts a psychosexual relationship with his wife’s identical twin (Diane Kruger). Even for Cronenberg, it’s very Cronenbergian. The Shrouds competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2024.
Brick: Matthias Schweighöfer, who Netflix subscribers may recognize from Army of the Dead and Army of Thieves, is back on the streaming service in Brick, a German dystopian thriller. Schweighöfer plays one member of a group of inhabitants of an apartment building that gets suddenly surrounded by an impenetrable black wall. They’re trying to figure out why the wall appeared, of course, but that’s secondary to trying to figure out how to get out. Hopefully they don’t kill each other before the wall does. The cast also includes Ruby O. Fee and Frederick Lau.
Opus: Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich star in this A24 horror film written and directed by former GQ editor Mark Anthony Green in his feature debut. Malkovich plays Alfred Moretti, a reclusive pop star from the 1990s who announces a comeback and invites several people, including journalist Ariel Ecton (Edebiri), to come to his mountain compound and listen to his new music. Once they arrive, they start to realize that Moretti has evolved from a pop star to a full-on cult leader. The film was unusually poorly received by A24 standards, but critics did enjoy Malkovich's performance. It’s now streaming on the newly rechristened HBO Max.
In the Lost Lands: This schlocky dystopian action flick comes from Paul W.S. Anderson, a director for whom bad movie aficionados have a lot of affection thanks to his work on the Resident Evil series, 1995’s Mortal Kombat, and the actually good Event Horizon. In the Lost Lands stars Dave Bautista and Anderson’s wife and frequent collaborator Milla Jovovich as magical desperadoes in a Western-fantasy setting. It’s based on a short story by George R.R. Martin. It was a tremendous theatrical flop, and it’s now streaming on Hulu, where Anderson completists can bask in its sepia-toned glory.
This cover is Too Much
Real-life romantic partners Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) and Kevin Morby team for a cover of the Fray's "You Found Me" off the soundtrack from Lena Dunham's latest series, Too Much. It's perfect for everyone who remembers Waxahatchee's pitch-perfect cover of "With You" from Girls.