Upcoming summer movies and TV shows

One way to beat the Arizona heat is to head to the theaters or TV streaming services to catch some of this summer’s hits.

Bill Goodykoontz, Media Columnist at “The Arizona Republic,” joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss this summer’s biggest releases.

Some of the summer’s biggest movie releases include A24’s “The Materialists,” which stars Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. Formula One racing is highlighted in the sports drama “F1,” which stars Brad Pitt.

TV shows like “The Bear” and “Wednesday” are premiering new seasons this summer. Revivals of TV shows are also in store as the animated series “King of the Hill” is coming back after a 16-year hiatus.

Other shows coming out this summer Goodykoontz did not mention is the new season of “Love Island,” the revival of the Disney Channel Cartoon “Phineas and Ferb” and the third season of Netflix’s hit Korean show “Squid Game.”

There has been a noticeable decline in the popularity of the summer blockbuster season, Goodykontz shared some of the reasons for this.

“Two things, the pandemic and then all of the strikes kind of really, almost sounded a death note for movies in theaters. People kind of got into watching at home. But it’s starting to come back, but there used to be real seasons to it,” Goodykoontz said.

Goodykoontz shared some information and insight into the new “F1” movie.

“It’s sort of like an F1 race with a movie in the middle of it. It’s the same director as ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, it has a lot of similarities. This old guy showing the young guy how it’s done,” Goodykoontz said.

TV shows have also found their stride during the summer season. There are new seasons of TV shows and even revivals, such as “King of the Hill”.

“It’s great. I mean it’s, people, you know ‘The Simpsons’, which I think is the greatest show of all time, and certainly the best animated show of all time. I really love ‘Bob Burgers’. I think King of the Hill kind of got lost in the shuffle sometime there. But they’re coming back in real time, they’ve all aged the appropriate amount since the show was off the air,” Goodykoontz said.