Today's Entertainment

18 • July 19 - 25, 2020 • Brainerd Dispatch By Jessica Gosse TV Media WHAT'S NEW ON NETFLIX "The Kissing Booth 2" (2020) One of Netflix's most popular teen ro- mances gets a sequel when this com- edy premieres Friday, July 24, on the streamer. Joey King ("Slender Man," 2018) reprises her role as a now se- nior Elle Evans, whose life drastically changed after her summer romance with bad boy Noah Flynn (Jacob Eldori, "Euphoria"). However, Noah is now away at Harvard while Elle still has her senior year of high school ahead of her. The two struggle with maintaining a long-distance relation- ship, especially when Noah becomes close with a college girl (Maisie Richardson-Sellers, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow") and Elle befriends a handsome new classmate (Taylor Zakhar Perez, "Embeds"), causing them to question how much they really trust each other. All the while, Elle faces what is likely the most com- mon senior student problem: getting into her dream college. Luckily, she still has her best friend, Lee (Joel Courtney, "The Messengers"), his girlfriend, Rachel (Meganne Young, "Black Sails"), and Mrs. Flynn (Molly Ringwald, "Riverdale"), her pseudo- mom, to turn to for support. "How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)" Season 2 On Tuesday, July 21, Maximilian Mundt ("Radio Heimat," 2016) returns to Netflix as high school student Moritz Zimmerman in the Season 2 premiere of this German coming-of-age series based on the real case. Season 1 saw Moritz have his heart broken by his girlfriend, Lisa (Anna Lena Klenke, "The Silent Revo- lution," 2018), and, in an effort to win her back, began selling ecstasy online. With help from his best friend, Lenny (Danilo Kamperidis, "The Peppercorns"), their small business venture quickly spiraled out of con- trol and thrust them into the world of major drug trafficking. Now, Moritz and his friends begin to expand their business, but the more successful they become, the more dangers they face, whether it be rival dealers or the police. "Norsemen" Season 3 Head back to the year 790 when this Norwegian comedy series returns for a third season Wednesday, July 22, on Netflix. While Vikings are usually best suited for dramas, this series manages to balance the typical bloody and serious storylines with witty and well-timed humor. The first two seasons follow the life of Chief- tain Olav (Henrik Mestad, "Okku- pert") and his wife, Hildur (Marianne Saastad Ottesen, "Lilyhammer"), as they handle day-to-day life in their village of Norheim. Together they deal with a rival tribe led by Jarl Varg (Jon Oilgarden, "Helt Perfekt"), con- flicts with neighboring villages, and a Roman slave (Trond Fausa, "Neste Sommer"), who constantly tries to modernize their way of living but only causes chaos. Despite entering their third season, the series is actually set to take viewers back in time for a pre- quel season that has been deemed "Season 0" and shows the origins of the characters. "Animal Crackers" (2020) Come one, come all, to the premiere of this animated family film Friday, July 24, on Netflix. John Krasinski ("The Office") lends his voice to Owen Huntington, a man leading a boring life working in a dog biscuit company that keeps him so busy he barely sees his wife, Zoe (voiced by Emily Blunt, "A Quiet Place," 2018), and his daughter. Life looks fairly bleak for Owen until he finds out that his mysterious uncle has left him ownership of a circus. Owen finally gets excited, having loved the circus when he was a boy, but his joy quickly fades when his other uncle, Horatio (voiced by Ian McKellen, "Mr. Holmes," 2015), shows up furi- ous that he wasn't given the circus and announces that he intends to take over. Despite this, Owen and Zoe reopen the circus, but with aging performers and no animals things don't go well ... that is until a clown named Chesterfield (voiced by Danny DeVito, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia") lets Owen in on his uncle's secret: a box of magic animal crackers. The crackers turn whoever eats them into that animal and replaces the animal cracker with a human cracker they must eat to become human again. Owen begins to use the crackers, performing in the circus as various animals each night. But when Horatio has someone steal the box of crackers one night, Owen is stuck as an animal unless he can get it back. Now, Owen, his family and the circus members must work together to stop Horatio and make Owen human again. WHAT'S NEW ON DISNEY+ "Rogue Trip" When thinking of taking a vacation, most people will think of a resort somewhere tropical like the Baha- mas, or if they are feeling extrava- gant, maybe they'll think of some- where European like Paris or Rome, but while these are truly amazing places to visit, they are geared to- wards tourists. On Friday, July 24, re- nowned journalist Bob Woodruff and his 28-year-old son, Mack, take view- ers on an adventure through some of the least likely vacation destinations in this new Disney+ docuseries. Traveling around the globe, the father-son duo explores the hidden beauty in misunderstood and rogu- ish nations, with stops in Pakistan (to see the stunning Attabad Lake), Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia and more. Despite having suffered a se- vere injury from a roadside bombing while reporting in Iraq back in 2006, Bob remains optimistic about the world and through this docuseries shows the kindness and hopefulness of humanity that lies just beyond the chaos we so often focus on. WHAT'S NEW ON PRIME "Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love" (2019) Muses aren't just mythical beings of creativity and inspiration, some- times they're real people — John Lennon had Yoko Ono, Paul Mc- Cartney had Linda Eastman, Kurt Cobain had Courtney Love, I could go on and on. But the relationship between artist and muse can be quite tumultuous. The delicate nature of these relationships is explored when this documentary joins the Prime lineup on Sunday, July 19. "Words of Love" looks specifically at the relationship between legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and his muse, Marianne Ilhen. The pair met in the early '60s when Co- hen was still just a poet and went to live on the Greek island Hydra, which was known for being filled with artists. With footage from old home movies and interviews, the film shows how their relationship changed from being a carefree island romance to more trying as Cohen discovered himself as a singer. Ilhen was the inspiration behind many of Cohen's poems and songs, though the most no- table is, of course, the 1967 hit "So Long, Marianne." Though the pair was only together for 10 years (which seems like simply a blip in Cohen's illustrious career), the documentary shows how their love lasted long after their split right up until Ilhen's tragic death from leukemia in 2016 and Cohen's own death three months later. WHAT'S NEW ON HULU "The Last Full Measure" (2019) Based on the true story of William H. Pitsenbarger, don't miss this amazing war film when it comes to Hulu on Tuesday, July 21. During the Vietnam War, Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine, "Treadstone") served as a U.S. Air Force pararescueman, sav- ing more than 60 men, and on his last mission died in the field after choosing to stay behind and help his fellow soldiers rather than being taken to safety. Now, over 30 years later, Pitsenbarger's best friend and partner on his final mission, Tom Tulley (William Hurt, "Goliath"), is requesting that Pitsenbarger be awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor. However, despite his heroic actions, the request can't go through without the circumstances being investigated, and up-and-coming Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan, "Avengers: End- game," 2019) is assigned to the case. With help from Tulley, Huffman manages to track down three Army veterans who witnessed Pitsenbarg- er's heroism — Billy Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson, "Glass," 2019), Ray Mott (Ed Harris, "Westworld") and Jimmy Burr (the late Peter Fonda, "Ghost Rider," 2007). The more Huffman learns about Pitsenbarger, the more he begins to question why he was never awarded the medal in the first place. He soon uncovers a high-level conspiracy but is torn when he real- izes his own career is on the line if he comes forward with the truth. Meganne Young, Joel Courtney and Joey King in "The Kissing Booth 2" Mack Woodruff as seen in "Rogue Trip" Sebastian Stan and William Hurt in "The Last Full Measure"

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