Welcome to On the Radar, your monthly reminder of what’s coming down the pike in the world of entertainment.
We’ve got the latest TV shows, movies, books and more — all coming out in June.
Take a look and see what’s up this month.
TV
Relatively Nat & Liv (Hayu + E!)
Date: Sunday, June 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Social influencers and cousins Natalie Halcro and Olivia Pierson (who both previously starred in the reality series WAGS), along with their close-knit families, juggle their lives between the beauty and fame of Los Angeles and their humble and hilarious roots in Vancouver. The girls take time from their busy schedules to go back to their hometown to show a portion of their lives that can’t be found on any social platform. From quirky parents to competitive siblings, this crew takes on all of life’s adventures together and proves that no amount of fame can rival a family’s bond.
Black Mirror (Netflix)
Date: Wednesday, June 5
Black Mirror is an anthology series that taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode a sharp, suspenseful tale exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia leading to an unforgettable — and sometimes unsettling — conclusion. Black Mirror returns with its much-anticipated fifth season on Wednesday, June 5, exclusively on Netflix. Experience three all-new stories from mastermind Charlie Brooker and executive producer Annabel Jones, starring Anthony Mackie, Miley Cyrus, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topher Grace, Damson Idris, Andrew Scott, Nicole Beharie, Pom Klementieff, Angourie Rice, Madison Davenport and Ludi Lin.
The Hills: New Beginnings (MTV)
Date: Monday, June 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT
Based on The Hills, the series that changed the reality TV landscape, this show will reunite original cast members and add notable newcomers as they write their newest chapters in relationships, romance and success… *cue Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten.*
Big Brother (Season 21) (Global)
Date: Tuesday, June 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT
The two-night premiere date for Big Brother Season 21 has been announced: June 25 and 26. Returning for a 21st season, Big Brother follows a group of people living together in a house outfitted with 94 HD cameras and more than 113 microphones, recording their every move 24 hours a day. Each week, someone will be voted out of the house, with the last remaining houseguest receiving the grand prize of $500,000.
Movies
Dark Phoenix
Release date: Tuesday, June 7
The 12th instalment of the X-Men franchise, this movie focuses specifically on Jean Grey, previously played by Famke Janssen and now taken over by Sophie Turner. Taking place in the early ’90s (what isn’t these days?), the X-Men are hit by a solar flare, causing Grey to lose control and transform into the all-powerful Phoenix.
REESE The Movie: A Movie About REESE
Release date: Sunday, June 9
The REESE Peanut Butter Cup is starring alongside five of ASMR’s biggest artists, referred to as “ASMRtists”, in a feature-length ASMR film, REESE The Movie: A Movie About REESE, streaming exclusively on Crave beginning June 9. The film brings the sensory experience of the REESE Ritual to life using autonomous sensory meridian response, more popularly known as ASMR.
Men in Black: International
Release date: Friday, June 14
In Men in Black: International, secret agents team up to fight off aliens around the world while uncovering their biggest threat yet: a mole in the organization. This time around, Chris Hemsworth stars as Agent H and Tessa Thompson as Agent M. The film also stars Liam Neeson as head of the U.K. branch of Men in Black (MIB) and Emma Thompson as Agent O.
Toy Story 4
Release date: Thursday, June 20
Woody (Tom Hanks) has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. When Bonnie’s new craft-project-turned-toy, Forky (Tony Hale), declares himself “trash” and not a toy, Woody takes it upon himself to show Forky why he should embrace being a toy. But when Bonnie takes the whole gang on her family’s road trip excursion, Woody ends up on an unexpected detour that includes a reunion with his long-lost friend Bo Peep (Annie Potts).
Child’s Play
Release date: Friday, June 21
As we saw in the 1988 original movie, young boy Andy (this time around played by Gabriel Bateman) is living with his single mother (Aubrey Plaza), and she decides to cheer him up with a new toy: the Buddy 2, a.k.a. Chucky. Instead of being possessed by a serial killer’s soul — the plot of the original franchise — Chucky’s violent tendencies are caused by a defect in the toy’s programming code. It is 2019, after all, and the idea of a robot toy being evil based on a technological glitch is very contemporary.
Books
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
Available Tuesday, June 4
Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theatre world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.
In 1940, 19-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lacklustre freshman-year performance. Her affluent parents send her to Manhattan to live with her Aunt Peg, who owns a flamboyant, crumbling midtown theatre called the Lily Playhouse. There, Vivian is introduced to an entire cosmos of unconventional and charismatic characters, from the fun-chasing showgirls to a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer and a no-nonsense stage manager. But when Vivian makes a personal mistake that results in professional scandal, it turns her new world upside down in ways that it will take her years to fully understand. Ultimately, though, it leads her to a new understanding of the kind of life she craves — and the kind of freedom it takes to pursue it. It will also lead to the love of her life, a love that stands out from all the rest.
Now 95 years old and telling her story at last, Vivian recalls how the events of those years altered the course of her life — and the gusto and autonomy with which she approached it. “At some point in a woman’s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed all the time,” she muses. “After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.” Written with a powerful wisdom about human desire and connection, City of Girls is a love story like no other.
On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real and Listening Hard by Jennifer Pastiloff
Available Tuesday, June 4
On Being Human is an inspirational memoir about how Jennifer Pastiloff’s years of waitressing taught her to seek out unexpected beauty, how hearing loss taught her to listen fiercely, how being vulnerable allowed her to find love and how imperfections can lead to a life full of wild happiness.
Centred around the touchstone stories Pastiloff tells in her popular workshops, On Being Human is the story of how a starved person grew into the exuberant woman she was meant to be all along by battling the demons within and winning.
Exuberant, triumphantly messy and brave, On Being Human is a celebration of happiness and self-realization over darkness and doubt. Her complicated yet imperfectly perfect life path is an inspiration to live outside the box and to reject the all-too-common belief of “I am not enough.” Pastiloff will help readers find, accept and embrace their own vulnerability, bravery and humanness.
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Global News and Global TV are properties of Corus Entertainment.
—With files from Chris Jancelewicz and Arti Patel
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