Welcome to See/Hear, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise. Every month, we round up the biggest upcoming movie, TV and album releases, ask some cool people to tell us what they’ve been into lately, make you a playlist we guarantee you’ll have on heavy rotation and recommend a classic (or unduly overlooked) piece of pop culture that we think is worth revisiting.
MOVIES
Another Simple Favor
May 1, Prime Video
Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Henry Golding and Andrew Rannells all return to reprise their roles in this sequel to Paul Feig’s 2018 mystery-comedy A Simple Favor. (Feig also is back to direct.) This time around, Emily (Lively) is getting married to an Italian businessman on the island of Capri, but her plans are derailed by murder.
Thunderbolts*
in theaters May 2
It wouldn’t be May without a new Marvel movie in theaters to kick off summer blockbuster season. This year, it’s Thunderbolts*, in which a group of antiheroes that includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Red Guardian (David Harbour) are forced to work together.
Pavements
limited release May 2, wide release June 6
It’s difficult to explain what exactly Alex Ross Perry’s ode to indie rock legends Pavement is. The film is part documentary, part fake Pavement biopic (complete with some fake behind-the-scenes footage from said biopic) with a jukebox musical thrown in for good measure. Perry weaves together real footage of the band from throughout their career with the spoof biopic (which stars Joe Keery as Stephen Malkmus) and scenes from Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical to turn the rock doc on its head.
Rust
in theaters May 2
It’s surprising that Rust will actually see the light of day after the on-set tragedy that occurred during filming and the subsequent legal battles, but here we are. Will it be received as a tribute to late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being accidentally shot on set with a gun that mistakenly had live rounds in it, or will its release be seen as being in poor taste?
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
in theaters May 2
This documentary gives us an inside look at Jerry Williams, better known as the genre-defying Swamp Dogg, and his self-described “bachelor pad of aging musicians,” which includes Guitar Shorty and Moogstar. The aging musicians in question wind up inviting other artists and collaborators over to jam and, yes, paint Swamp Dogg’s pool. The doc features appearances from Jenny Lewis, the late John Prine, Mike Judge and Johnny Knoxville.
Friendship
limited release May 9, wide release May 23
Male friendship can be tricky. (So much so that here at InsideHook, we devoted an entire month to delving into the male friendship crisis.) It’s such a rich subject to explore that Friendship isn’t even the first movie about it that Paul Rudd has starred in. But while I Love You, Man was a sweet, heartwarming bromance, Friendship looks to be a little darker. Tim Robinson plays Craig, a suburban man with no friends who meets his new neighbor Austin (Rudd) after a package of his is mistakenly delivered to him. They hit it off, but how long can they bro out before Craig inevitably makes it weird and things start to unravel? Given that Robinson has made cringe comedy his calling card on shows like I Think You Should Leave, I’m guessing not long.
Summer of 69
May 9, Hulu
Jillian Bell makes her directorial debut with this teen sex comedy, in which Saturday Night Live‘s Chloe Fineman plays an exotic dancer who agrees to impart her knowledge of the birds and the bees on Abby (Sam Morelos) in order to help her win over her crush. “Awkward teen tries to learn about sex and hijinks ensue” isn’t exactly a unique concept for a film, but when you fill the cast with funny people, who cares?
Hurry Up Tomorrow
in theaters May 16
The Weeknd co-wrote and stars in this companion piece to his recent album of the same name. Alongside Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega, he plays a fictionalized version of himself, and while not much is known about the plot, the film’s official description says it involves “an insomniac musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger.”
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
in theaters May 23
Can Tom Cruise save the movies again with the eighth (and potentially final?) installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise? As if Cruise hanging off the sides of planes and sprinting away from explosions wasn’t enough, The Final Reckoning also features Tramell Tillman — better known as Mr. Milchick from Severance.
Fountain of Youth
May 23, Apple TV+
This Guy Ritchie heist adventure features John Krasinski and Natalie Portman as Luke and Charlotte Purdue, two estranged siblings who begrudgingly team up to search for the legendary fountain of youth. Domhnall Gleeson, Arian Moayed and Stanley Tucci also star.
Bring Her Back
in theaters May 30
Who doesn’t love an A24 horror movie? This one stars Sally Hawkins as a woman unable to come to terms with the loss of a loved one who becomes obsessed with…well, bringing her back.
The Phoenician Scheme
limited release May 30, wide release June 6
Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated follow-up to Asteroid City has been in the works for quite some time. Back in 2023, the director revealed he’d already written The Phoenician Scheme before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes began that year. He described it as “a three-hander” and “a character study,” adding that “it might read as sort of an adventure. It has some globe-trotting to it.” We now know that it features Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, a wealthy businessman who names his only daughter, who happens to be a nun (played by Mia Threapleton), as sole heir to his estate. We don’t know much else beyond that yet, though based on the trailer, Michael Cera appears to be the third character in that “three-hander.” It’s the first live-action Anderson movie that was not shot by his regular cinematographer Robert Yeoman; instead, it was filmed by six-time Oscar nominee and frequent Coen Brothers collaborator Bruno Delbonnel. As always, the cast includes plenty of Anderson favorites: Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Hope Davis, Willem Dafoe and, of course, Bill Murray all make appearances.
Bono: Stories of Surrender
May 30, Apple TV+
This adaptation of the U2 frontman’s memoir isn’t quite a documentary. In addition to anecdotes from his life, it also features performances of some of his most beloved hits, and it reimagines his 2022 one-man stage show Stories of Surrender: An Evening of Words, Music and Some Mischief…
Mountainhead
May 31, Max
It’s unfair to reduce Mountainhead to simply “Succession on a mountain,” but fans of the HBO series are sure to latch onto this one. Written and directed by Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, it follows a group of billionaires (including one who owns a social media platform riddled with alt-right trolls — sound familiar?) who treat themselves to a snowy retreat while the rest of the world is left to cope with an unfolding financial crisis. Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef star.
TV/STREAMING
The Four Seasons
May 1, Netflix
Tina Fey reimagines the 1981 Alan Alda movie of the same name as a miniseries following a group of friends as they go on four different vacations together — one for every season of the year. The three couples are forced to navigate a changing dynamic after one pair’s rift seeps into the rest of the group. Steve Carell, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani star.
Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 2
May 8, Max
“Set Conan loose in a foreign country and see what happens” is never a bad strategy, and his travelogue series Conan O’Brien Must Go is proof of that. O’Brien shows us why he was late night’s king of the remote segment, and in his second season of his HBO series, he visits places like New Zealand, Germany and Spain with guests like Javier Bardem and Taika Waititi. He is, of course, accompanied by his trusty sidekick/punching bag Jordan Schlansky.
Poker Face Season 2
May 8, Peacock
It feels a little harsh to call the first season of Poker Face a “surprise hit,” given that it came from the mind of Knives Out director Rian Johnson and featured a murderer’s row (figuratively and literally, given the subject matter) of guest stars. But fans have been clamoring for another installment of the Natasha Lyonne mystery-of-the-week series for some time now. What can they expect? “Charlie Cale is back on the run, and in Season 2 we’ve taken her journey to the next level one murder mystery at a time,” Lyonne and Johnson wrote in a joint statement. “From minor league baseball to big box retail, from funeral homes to alligator farms and even a grade school talent show, Charlie navigates her crime solving existential road-trip with deadpan wit, human empathy, and her signature uncanny lie-detecting ability.” The list of guest actors this time around is truly insane: David Alan Grier, Richard Kind, John Mulaney, Carol Kane, Cynthia Erivo, Ego Nwodim, Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Sam Richardson and Simon Rex are just some of the familiar faces confirmed for this new season.
Bad Thoughts
May 13, Netflix
Tom Segura’s six-episode series has been described as a sketch-comedy version of Black Mirror, finding laughs where we maybe wouldn’t expect them: body dysmorphia, deepfakes, even conjoined twins. In addition to Segura’s wife/creative partner Christina Pazsitzky, the show includes appearances from Dan Stevens, Rachel Bloom and Shea Whigham, as well as Rob Iler in his first role since he starred as A.J. Soprano on The Sopranos.
Duster
May 15, Max
J.J. Abrams created this crime thriller set in the Southwest in 1972. Rachel Hilson plays Nina, the first Black, female FBI agent, as she tries to take down a crime syndicate with the help from a talented getaway driver (played by Josh Holloway).
Welcome to Wrexham Season 4
May 15, Hulu
The fourth installment of this docuseries chronicling Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ownership of a Welsh soccer team will feature a new face, and it’s none other than Tom Brady. Brady is a part of the ownership group behind Birmingham City, Wrexham’s bitter rivals who ultimately went on to (spoiler alert) win the league. Expect the NFL legend to play a prominent role in this season.
Overcompensating
May 15, Prime Video
Benito Skinner stars as a closeted former football player trying to fit in at college, and he’s joined by the likes of Adam DiMarco (who you’ll recognize from season 2 of The White Lotus), Connie Britton, Kyle MacLachlan, Kaia Gerber, Charli XCX, Bowen Yang, Megan Fox, Matt Rogers, James Van Der Beek, Lukas Gage and more.
Murderbot
May 16, Apple TV+
You can probably guess from the title that this is a show about a robot who murders people. Alexander Skarsgård plays said robot, who must hide the fact that it has become sentient as it carries out dangerous missions. The show is based on the sci-fi book series The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.
Tucci in Italy
May 18, Disney+ and Hulu
Actor Stanley Tucci returns to Italy for another installment of his travel series. This time around, he spends five episodes visiting Tuscany, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo and Lazio, eating and drinking as much as he possibly can. It’s hard not to be jealous.
Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2
May 21, Hulu
This Nicole Kidman series about an unhinged wellness guru was originally believed to be a limited series. But season 2 sees her swapping the luxury tropical resort for the chilly Austrian Alps, where she’ll be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Henry Golding, Lena Olin, Annie Murphy, Christine Baranski, Lucas Englander, King Princess, Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Mark Strong and Aras Aydin.
Sirens
May 22, Netflix
This limited series takes place over one weekend at a beach property, where Devon (Meghann Fahy, who has made these types of darkly funny ruminations on rich white people sort of her calling card) grows increasingly worried about her sister (Milly Alcock) and her creepy relationship with her new boss. Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon and Glenn Howerton also star.
Pee-wee as Himself
May 23, Max
Get the tissues ready for this one: this two-part docuseries was filmed in 2023 and involved more than 40 hours of interviews with Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) before his death. Reubens, who spent the majority of his career in character as the beloved children’s character, speaks as himself in the doc, coming out as gay and even filming one final message the day before he passed away. “Determined to correct the record and tell the factual story of his life, Reubens excavates his kaleidoscopic influences, origins in the circus and avant-garde performance theater, and career choices, while reflecting on the reasoning behind, and the consequences of, severing his beloved alter ego from his authentic self,” the doc’s synopsis reads.
And Just Like That Season 3
And just like that…there’s another season of this Sex and the City sequel series.
MUSIC
Blondshell, If You Asked for a Picture
May 2
Sabrina Teitelbaum, better known as Blondshell, describes her highly anticipated follow-up to her 2023 self-titled breakthrough as “twelve songs about searching for love, family, and friendship in many right and wrong places.” Its title is a reference to Mary Oliver’s 1986 poem “Dogfish.” (“If you asked for a picture I would have to draw a smile/under the perfectly round eyes and above the chin/which was rough/as a thousand sharpened nails.”)
Car Seat Headrest, The Scholars
May 2
The first new album in five years from Will Toledo and company is a rock opera set on campus at the fictional college Parnassus University. Each track tells the story of a different student or staff member. The sprawling “Gethsemane” introduces us to Rosa, a medical school student who revives a deceased patient by absorbing their pain. “Each night, instead of dreams, she encounters the raw pain and stories of the souls she touches throughout the day,” Toledo explains in a press release about the track. “Reality blurs, and she finds herself taken deep into secret facilities buried beneath the medical school, where ancient beings that covertly reign over the college bring forth their dark plans.”
PUP, Who Will Look After the Dogs?
May 2
“Within days of announcing our last album, coincidentally titled The Unraveling of PUPTHEBAND, my life unexpectedly imploded. I wrote the lyrics for ‘Hallways’ while all that was going on. It was a weird fucking week,” PUP’s Stefan Babcock reveals in a press release about their new LP. “The title of our new record, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, is what I wrote at the top of the page, the very first thing written for this album. I think it’s devastating, but in a ‘holy shit this is overdramatic’ kinda way. At least in context of the line that comes before it. That’s what makes it funny to us. That overblown stuff we all say in our dark moments can be hilarious once you’ve cooled off a bit. I don’t know if anyone else thinks it’s funny, but sometimes you gotta laugh at yourself. It’s the only way out of the abyss. Trust me.”
Arcade Fire, Pink Elephant
May 9
This one’s more of a curiosity than an endorsement: Arcade Fire’s seventh studio album, Pink Elephant, is the band’s first project since frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by five women in 2022. The press materials claim that the title refers to “that paradoxical effect where the effort to suppress a thought leads to it being impossible to avoid,” but will fans be able to avoid the obvious dark cloud surrounding the band, or will the group eventually fizzle out and fade away a la Ryan Adams?
Maren Morris, D R E A M S I C L E
May 9
A lot has changed for Maren Morris since 2022’s Humble Quest. In the years since her last record, she’s gotten divorced, stepped away from country music and come out as bisexual. Presumably, those changes will be reflected in these 14 new tracks. “It represents a lot of influences, a lot of leaps of faith — just true artistic freedom, which is what I’ve always wanted, and I’ve had, but not in this way, where it’s dovetailing with my personal life freedom,” Morris said in a press release. “I’ve gotten to wear many hats in my career, but with my own personal project upcoming, there are no training wheels. I’m being my truest, most secure self.”
Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke, Tall Tales
May 9
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and British electronic musician Mark Pritchard are no strangers to collaborating with one another. Back in 2016, they teamed up for “Beautiful People,” which appeared on Pritchard’s Under the Sun album. They’re at it again, this time with a full-length album, Tall Tales, which also includes accompanying visuals from multi-disciplinary artist Jonathan Zawada. Of lead single “Back in the Game,” Zawada said in a press release, “Ultimately the film for ‘Back in the Game’ ended up depicting a sort of blind celebration taking place as civilization slowly deteriorates around it, a kind of progression through regression. Overlaid onto this is an exploration of how and where we choose to place value in our collective cultural expression and how we collectively confront major cultural shifts in the 21st century.”
Ezra Furman, Goodbye Small Head
May 16
Singer-songwriter Ezra Furman’s 10th studio album gets its name from a lyric from Sleater-Kinney’s 1999 single “Get Up,” and Furman describes it thusly: “Twelve songs, twelve variations on the experience of completely losing control, whether by weakness, illness, mysticism, BDSM, drugs, heartbreak or just living in a sick society with one’s eyes open. These songs are vivid with overwhelm. They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart. The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.’ I can agree with that, except for the tranquility part.”
Tune-Yards, Better Dreaming
May 16
Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner are back with a follow-up to 2021’s Sketchy, and it seems to be a family affair: their three-year-old can be heard on lead single “Limelight.” “This one almost didn’t make it onto the album because it felt trite, especially given multiple genocides across the globe and the particular impact on children (the kids are not ‘alright’),” Garbus writes in a press release. “But it kept coming back as people kept responding positively to it, in particular our own kid. Who am I to talk about getting free, about us all getting free? Fannie Lou Hamer said, ‘Nobody’s free until everybody’s free’ and it feels vulnerable but important to see myself as part of that ‘everybody’.”
Lana Del Rey, The Right Person Will Stay
May 21
Look, there’s a very strong possibility that Lana Del Rey’s new country album, which she recently teased at Stagecoach, won’t actually come out on May 21. The singer basically admitted as much in a recent Instagram reel after releasing lead single “Henry, come on”: “I’m really excited, and I’m really happy for this album to be moving along,” she said. “And I do have a lot more to say about it. I mean, you know it’s not going to come on time, right? Should I even tell you that the name changed again? Should I even tell you that while you’re so happy that you have a song? Maybe I’ll wait.” As of now, there have been no further details about a potential new title or release date, so we’ve still got this one tentatively penciled in, but don’t be too surprised if it winds up getting pushed to June.
Stereolab, Instant Holograms On Metal Film
May 23
This one’s a big deal for fans of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier: Stereolab is back with its first new album in 15 years. Instant Holograms On Metal Film also features guest contributions from Cooper Crain, Rob Frye, Ben LaMar Gay, Ric Elsworth, Holger Zapf, Marie Merlet and Molly Read.
Alan Sparhawk, With Trampled by Turtles
May 30
As you might have guessed based on the title, Low’s Alan Sparhawk’s latest solo record is a collaboration with his fellow Minnesotans in Trampled by Turtles. The two acts have toured together in the past, and it was only a matter of time before they joined forces. “When the opportunity seems right, you jump,” Sparhawk explains in a press release. “When playing together is that powerful an embrace, why stop there?”
Garbage, Let All We Imagine Be the Light
May 30
Shirley Manson and company are back with an album that seems perfect for the times we find ourselves in. “Going into making this record, I was determined to find a more hopeful, uplifting world to immerse myself in,” Manson said in a press release. “The title of the album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, is the perfect descriptor for this new record as a whole. When things feel dark it feels imperative to seek out forces that are light, positive and beautiful in the world. It almost feels like a matter of life and death. A strategy for survival.”
Matt Berninger, Get Sunk
May 30
The National’s Matt Berninger’s latest project is a solo album, but it also features contributions from an impressive roster of collaborators. Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), Julia Laws (Ronboy), Kyle Resnick (The National, Beirut), Garret Lang, Sterling Laws, Booker T Jones, Harrison Whitford, Mike Brewer and The Walkmen’s Walter Martin and Paul Maroon all make appearances on Get Sunk, and producer and engineer Sean O’Brien also co-wrote a handful of its tracks.
Ty Segall, Possession
May 30
On his 16th LP — which focuses on “quintessentially American stories,” per a press release — Ty Segall is delving into new sonic territory, adding strings, horns and piano to the mix. It also features some lyrical contributions from filmmaker Matt Yoka, also lending a more sweeping, cinematic feel to the whole affair.
Miley Cyrus, Something Beautiful
May 30
Miley Cyrus’s forthcoming Lemonade-esque “visual album” is centered around the theme of “healing,” and just like Beyonce’s 2016 creative triumph included writing contributions from Father John Misty and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Something Beautiful boasts some unexpected indie rock bonafides. It was co-produced by Jonathan Rado of Foxygen and Alvvays frontwoman Molly Rankin, both of whom also have writing credits on the project.
YOUR MONTHLY PLAYLIST
We tend to think of the holiday season as the time of year when we spend the most time around extended family, but I’m willing to bet you’ve already got something on your calendar for May, too. It’s the beginning of wedding season, and it’s when the teens and young adults in our lives start thinking about prom and graduation parties. Maybe you’ve got a Mother’s Day gathering or a Memorial Day barbecue planned. Whatever it may be, your odds of being at an event that includes a large group of people of different ages and musical tastes and/or a dancefloor to tear up are pretty high this month. You’ll need a playlist full of songs that are guaranteed to appeal to everyone — your kids, your friends and neighbors, even Grandma. So with that in mind, we’ve compiled a handy playlist of 50 dancefloor classics that are guaranteed to get everyone moving and having a good time, whether they’re shaking it like a Polaroid picture or twisting and shouting.
WORTH REVISITING
Middle Brother, Middle Brother (2011)
I couldn’t tell you why exactly I’ve spent a lot of time getting reacquainted with Middle Brother’s only album lately. Maybe it’s because these recent unseasonably warm days remind me of burning under the Austin sun while watching their excellent SXSW set in 2011. Maybe it just reminds me of 2011 in general: there’s probably no other album I associate with being in my 20s more than this one, based purely on how often I listened to it back then, and when I listen to it 14 years later, I’m instantly transported back to a very specific chapter of my life.
But whatever the reason, it’s been on heavy rotation again for me, and it should be for you, too. The indie-rock supergroup — which consisted of Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, Deer Tick’s John McCauley and Delta Spirit frontman Matt Vasquez — was a one-off, and as such it doesn’t get as much attention as any of their main projects. But I’ve always found it to be better than the sum of its parts. (That’s not a knock on any of their primary bands — all three of which I was sufficiently obsessed with at the time Middle Brother came out.) They take turns singing lead and catering to each other’s wheelhouses (earnest, Laurel Canyon-inspired ballads from Goldsmith, more raucous uptempo stuff from Vasquez and road-weary revelations from McCauley), but the whole thing manages to sound cohesive, and you get the sense that there’s no mode they wouldn’t be capable of tapping into.
You’d be hard-pressed to find lovelier harmonies than the ones that open the record on “Daydreaming,” which begins with McCauley setting the scene: “Early in the morning, too hungover to go back to sleep/Every sound is amplified, every light so dizzying.” On their self-titled single, they get a little goofy with an assist from Jonny Fritz (who was still performing under the Jonny Corndawg moniker back then), and they even try their hand at covering The Replacements’ “Portland.” In retrospect, it’s absolutely ridiculous that at age 23 I identified with a jaded line like “Mama gave a camera to her little star/All she gets is pictures of hotels and bars” simply because I happened to spend a lot of time bopping around between various music festivals back then, but when you’re that age, everything that happens to you still feels like the most important thing in the world because your prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed yet. But the more time I spend with Middle Brother at age 36, the more I come to realize that there’s still plenty to latch onto; maybe in another decade or so it’ll remind me of my 30s instead.
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