Comedy Central announced this week that it is rebooting “Ren & Stimpy,” the ’90s Nickelodeon cartoon. It joins “Daria,” “Beavis and Butt-Head” and seemingly thousands of other reboots as part of humanity’s quest to triumph over death. |
This weekend I have … a half-hour, and I miss the silly parts of ‘Barry’ |
 | | Sue Perkins, left, and Mel Giedroyc in “Hitmen.”Sky UK Limited |
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You might know Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc from their time hosting “The Great British Baking Show,” but in this breezy comedy they play endearing assassins. While “Hitmen” doesn’t have the dark intensity or moral complexity of “Barry,” it does share its affection for clash-of-context comedy, in which characters indulge in pop culture banter or a game of charades while carrying out horrible crimes. There’s a fun zip here, and if you watch a lot of British television, you will recognize every supporting player. The first episode is free on regular Peacock, but the subsequent five are available only with a subscription to Peacock Premium. |
… 90 minutes, and try the gray stuff (it’s delicious) |
 | | Howard Ashman and Paige O’Hara at a recording session for “Beauty and the Beast.”Disney+ |
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This new documentary biography of the playwright and lyricist Howard Ashman traces his life from his childhood in Baltimore through his death from AIDS in 1991. Ashman is best known for writing the book and lyrics for the musical adaptation of “Little Shop of Horrors” and for writing the lyrics for “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and parts of “Aladdin,” but this film pays ample attention to his student work and earlier pieces, too. The archival material here is wonderful, especially the initial character designs for Ursula in “The Little Mermaid” and the footage of Ashman coaching Paige O’Hara, the voice of Belle, on the exact intonation for a lyric that eventually taught a generation of children the word “provincial.” |
… many hours, and empty stadiums bum me out |
 | | Jackie Joyner-Kersee competed in the long jump at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.Barton Silverman/The New York Times |
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Bud Greenspan’s Olympic films |
When to watch: Now, on the Olympic YouTube channel, HBO Max and the Criterion Channel. |
Sunday would have been the closing ceremony for the Tokyo games had the coronavirus not ruined everything, so if you’re missing the spectacle and catharsis of it all, try one of the many Olympic films directed by Bud Greenspan, 10 of which are currently available to stream. I’m partial to “Calgary ’88: 16 Days of Glory” and “Atlanta’s Olympic Glory,” which includes a segment about the track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee and her final Olympic Games. Or, for a fuller understanding of what athletes endure, listen to the podcast “Heavy Medals,” which chronicles some of the abusive coaching practices in women’s gymnastics. |
Your Friday double feature: On the campaign trail |
 | | George Stephanopoulos, left, and James Carville in “The War Room.”October Films |
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‘The Candidate’ and ‘The War Room’ |
Political campaigns can be measured by the distance between their idealism and their pragmatism, between a candidate’s core principles and whatever it takes to win an election. A few years after serving as a speechwriter on Eugene McCarthy’s 1968 presidential campaign, Jeremy Larner brought his experience to bear on his Oscar-winning screenplay for “The Candidate,” one of the most subtly damning films ever made about American politics. |
Now streaming on HBO Max, “The Candidate” is categorized as political satire, but Larner and the director Michael Ritchie rarely put any spin on the ball; their idea of a joke is having a former California governor publicly acknowledge his son’s U.S. Senate campaign only after the polls start to tighten. Robert Redford stars as a handsome liberal recruited to run against a popular Republican incumbent because no big-name Democrat wants to get embarrassed. His advisers promise him the opportunity to speak his mind on the issues, but as he starts gaining ground, his message turns entirely to watered-down platitudes. (“This country cannot house its homeless, feed its foodless.”) |
Two decades later, life imitated art in D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus’s documentary “The War Room” as Bill Clinton sought to break a 12-year Republican lock on the presidency. The film catches political lightning in a bottle, following Clinton through the scandals and bare-knuckled brawls of the primary and the general election. It also made media stars out of James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, two political consultants of the kind “The Candidate” might have parodied. — Scott Tobias |
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