Julie Cohen’s ‘Every Body’ doc celebrates intersexuality, travel across America to re-imagine ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ with Hulu’s ‘Anthem,’ ‘Is It Cake?’ returns

aThe It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for June 26 – July 2, including the best deals we could find for each.

WATCH IT: Every Body is a moving Pride Month primer about the intersex community

Not everything is binary… including gender. Julie Cohen’s new documentary, Every Body, profiles three members of the intersex community — people whose sexual and reproductive anatomy doesn’t easily fit into the standard male/female categories. For decades, intersex individuals had to shield their true selves or undergo painful procedures to “correct” what wasn’t broken. But the trio of subjects at the center of Every Body are able to fully embrace and take pride in who they are, making the film an ideal way to mark the end of Pride Month. This exclusive clip hands the mic to Sean Saifa Wall, a prominent Black intersex scholar and activist who makes the political personal. — Ethan Alter

Every Body premieres Friday, June 30 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.

WATCH IT: Please stand for Hulu’s Anthem

Anthem, a unique new documentary from Hulu, follows renowned composer Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, When They See Us, King Richard) and Grammy-winning music producer Dahi (Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Drake) as they journey across America in a bold quest to reimagine America’s “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the complex modern age. The film is part rockumentary/part travelogue, and it’s an insightful investigation of what the national anthem could sound like if it was written in 2023. — Lyndsey Parker

Anthem is premieres Wednesday, June 28 on Hulu.

WATCH IT: Big George Foreman brings both titles to Blu-ray

Is there any boxer in the history of the sport more under-appreciated than George Foreman? The man won not one but two heavyweight titles, and a whopping 21 years apart, winning his second belt at a staggering 45 years old, but is rarely celebrated with the likes of Ali, Frazier and Tyson. (And let’s not forget about those awesome grills, too. Name a better method for panini-making — you can’t.) The two-time champ finally got his cinematic due in April’s Big George Foreman, a spiritually themed warts-and-all biopic from George Tillman Jr. that underperformed at the box office but hopes to find a second life on Blu-ray this week. Watch an exclusive clip from the release above. — Kevin Polowy

Big George Foreman releases on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, June 27 on Amazon.

STREAM IT: All That Heaven Allowed recounts Rock Hudson’s greatest legacy

When Rock Hudson, the man who had once been the very definition of a Hollywood leading man, died of AIDS in 1985, it changed the way people thought about the disease — and him. There was much more to this gorgeous man than his good looks, his charming delivery of lines in Pillow Talk and his searing performance in Giant. In fact, he had long lived a double-life. His public image had been carefully crafted by the all-powerful studio system that reigned during his golden era of the 1950s and ’60s. Meanwhile, off-screen, he had lived his life as an openly gay man, albeit in constant fear that his truth would end his career. This part of his story is chronicled in this doc, the name of which is adapted from the 1955 film All That Heaven Allows, in which Hudson co-starred with Jane Wyman (a future star of TV’s Falcon Crest) and Agnes Moorehead (who went on to play Samantha’s mom on Bewitched). — Raechal Shewfelt

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed premieres Wednesday, June 28 on Max.

HEAR IT: Frank Zappa’s Funky Nothingness is everything

Funky Nothingness, a lost album considered a sequel to Frank Zappa’s classic 1969 release Hot Rats, is an absolute a must for Zappa collectors. “Funky Nothingness delivers on all fronts, showcasing Zappa’s love for rhythm & blues, picking up where Hot Rats left off with extended instrumental workouts fusing rock, jazz and classical elements into music that can only be described as Zappa,” reads a statement from “Zappa vaultmeister” Joe Travers, who compiled the collection with Zappa’s son, Ahmet. The collection includes 25 unreleased and rare tracks, spanning compositions, covers and jams from 1970’s Record Plant sessions with Aynsley Dunbar and Don “Sugarcane” Harris, and incudes both vintage FZ mixes and modern mixes by Craig Parker Adams. Zappa completists will want the expanded three-CD edition, which includes a 28-page booklet and audio not found on the double-vinyl version. — L.P.

Funky Nothingness by Frank Zappa is available Friday, June 30 to download/stream on Apple Music.

STREAM IT: Netflix’s Nimona is the hero we need right now

After years of production delays and studio switches, ND Stevenson’s groundbreaking graphic novel, Nimona, comes to life as a delightful — and emotional — animated feature film. Chloë Grace Moretz voices the title character, a gender non-conforming shapeshifter who teams up with the most hated man in his retro-futuristic kingdom, Ballister Blackheart (Riz Ahmed), to expose a scandal unfolding at the highest levels of power. The film couples the vibrant comic energy of Monty Python with the dramatic heft of vintage Pixar, and gives us a new kind of hero that speaks directly to our times. — E.A.

Nimona premieres Friday, June 30 on Netflix.

HEAR IT: Charlie Watts plays all that jazz

Slightly more than a year after legendary Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’s death comes Anthology, a four-LP or two-CD collection of his solo jazz recordings. The 27-track compilation, which spans two decades, includes collaborations with double-bassist Dave Green and saxophonists Peter King, Evan Parker and Courtney Pine, and is accompanied by an essay by veteran music journalist Paul Sexton and a guide to the essential jazz records Watts covers within. — L.P.

Anthology by Charlie Watts is available Friday, June 30 to download/stream on Apple Music.

WATCH IT: Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken has laughs, thrills and some boldness to it

The newest trend in animated movies: turning kids into creatures (or vice versa). There was Luca, where the titular tween was a sea monster in disguise; Turning Red, where a pop-loving teen transformed into a giant red panda; and now Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, where, well, the title does the explaining. It’s not too much of a good thing, though. With a spirited voice cast led by Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Ruby Gillman has some witty laughs for adults and colorful thrills for the kiddies. Its boldest move, though? Making the beloved mermaid the film’s antagonist. Ariel’s gonna be pissed. — K.P.

Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken opens in theaters Friday, June 30; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.

READ IT: Go back ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ in this eye-popping art book

The most visually stunning movie of the year has spawned the most visually stunning book of the year. Brimming with mind-blowing concept art reflecting its myriad animation styles, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie goes deep inside the creation of the blockbuster film, tracing its development literally from drawing board to the big screen. Check out some excerpts above to tingle your spider senses. — Marcus Errico

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — The Art of the Movie is available for pre-order from Amazon and other book sellers.

READ IT: Elsewhere in the Spider-Verse…

Available in English for the first time, Yusuke Osawa’s 2019 manga Spider-Man: Fake Red offers the best comic story involving the web-slinger in years. Yu Onomae, a geeky teen with absolutely no superpowers, finds Peter Parker’s discarded Spidey suit in a dumpster and decides to give it a spin… and winds up confronted with some of the gnarliest villains in town, including Doc Ock, Mysterio, Vulture, Rhino and Kraven the Hunter. Fake Red is the real deal — and a welcome addition to the burgeoning Spider-Verse. — M.E.

Spider-Man: Fake Red is available in digital and paperback formats from Amazon and other booksellers.

HEAR IT: Lucinda Williams shares her stories

One of music’s greatest storytellers and most authentic rockers returns with Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart. Williams’s anticipated 15th studio album features a who’s who of fellow rock icons, including Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, Margo Price, Angel Olsen, and the Replacements’s Tommy Stinson. Stories continues the three-time Grammy-winner’s triumphant comeback after she suffered a stroke in 2020, and it is already being heralded by critics as one of her greatest records yet. — L.P.

Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart by Lucinda Williams is available Friday, June 30 to download/stream on Apple Music.

STREAM IT: Is It Cake, Too? will once again have you seeing cake everywhere

Just when you thought you were done seeing ordinary objects revealed as cake, Netflix brings back the competitive baking show designed to make you wonder whether your television might be a chocolate layer cake. This season’s lineup of themed battles include a bathroom face-off, a ’90s throwback and some good ol’ fashioned overnight camping. By the end of the eight-episode season, you might just try eating your shoe to see if its cake… or not. — E.A.

Is It Cake, Too? premieres Friday, June 30 on Netflix.

WATCH IT: Insidious takes its legacy even further with 4K Ultra HD release

Insidious was one of the horror movies that feels like it crept out of nowhere when it was released in 2010. But looking back at its pedigree, it’s easy to see why this scarefest — about a couple (Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne) whose comatose son becomes a vessel for ungodly demons to enter their realm — was such a success. It was written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan and produced by Jason Blum and Oren Peli. Those guys all know a few things or two about what makes good horror. It’s actually scary how successful the film and its sequels have been. The four films have grossed a combined $542 million on a combined budget of $26 million, with a fivequel hitting theaters next month. In the meantime the original lands on 4K Ultra HD this week. — K.P.

Insidious releases on 4K Ultra HD Tuesday, June 27 on Amazon.

BUY IT: Lush’s Asteroid City line of bath products are out of this world

Asteroid City may be a small desert town, but that doesn’t mean its citizens don’t prioritize their skin care. Wes Anderson’s latest film scores a Lush line of bath and shower products fit for Hollywood royalty like Scarlett Johansson. Retailing for between $9-$25, the products include an Asteroid Bath Bomb and Shower Gel with notes of grapefruit and bergamot oils, as well as UFO Shower Jelly and blackcurrant-scented Doomsday Soap. Killer soundtrack not included. — E.A.

Lush’s Asteroid City line is available now on the official store site.

PLAY IT: New TMNT toys deliver additional Mutant Mayhem 

Those pizza-chomping Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are heading back to movie theaters this August with the Spider-Verse influenced animated film, Mutant Mayhem. But Playmates isn’t wasting any time giving turtle boys and girls their toy fix. Having previously unveiled four new movie-accurate action figures and a pizza-firing van, the company is now unleashing the rest of the Mayhem line, including new versions of classic characters like Bebop and Rocksteady and some super-sweet rides like a Ninja Kick Cycle and a Battle Cycle. Cowabunga! — E.A.

Playmates Mutant Mayhem figures are available now at most major retailers, including Amazon.

Originally published June 26, 2023 at 11:00 AM