If you don't have plans on stepping out this weekend because COVID concerns are sticking around or it's just too darn hot out there, perhaps you'll be bowing down before King James in the reboot of the Looney Tunes/NBA mashup Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max (despite the lackluster reviews). But if you're looking for something else to stream, Cheddar's digital team might have a few suggestions to get you through the weekend.
Note: Spoilers possible. Proceed with caution.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Starz
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
As writer and showrunner Courtney Kemp would say, “Power never ends.” Premiering this Sunday is the second spinoff of Starz’s hit television series Power, titled Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The spinoff, a prequel to the Power series, is set in 1990s southside Jamaica, Queens and will track the origin story of rapper 50 Cent’s character, Kanan Stark. If you’re new to the Powerverse, no need to go back to the previous series to catch up but you should be prepared for a rough ride, centered around a savage family of criminals in the drug business. Starring in the series are a number of fresh faces including Mekai Curtis and Hailey Kilgore as well as some familiar ones like Omar Epps.
Gunpowder Milkshake
Netflix
Picked by Copyeditor Mike Nam
Need a cool, smooth streaming snack? Netflix's Gunpowder Milkshake offers up a stylish, vibrant action film performed by some top notch leading ladies. Marvel's Nebula, Karen Gillan, kicks off the blood-drenched, neon-noir-ish gunplay as an assassin rescuing a young girl with the help of her killer mom Lena Headey and some "librarians" played by Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, and Michelle Yeoh.
Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Season 1, Episode 12
Disney+
Picked by Copyeditor Mike Nam
For more family- friendly fare, Star Wars: The Bad Batch continues with episode 12 of its inaugural season, Rescue on Ryloth, where the turncoat clone warriors crossover with a previous animated series, Star Wars: Rebels, as they aid young ace-pilot-to-be Hera Syndulla, whose parents have been arrested by the Empire.
Black Summer Season 2
Netflix
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
In most cases, you'd be excused for skipping over the latest zombie TV series. They are a dime a dozen, and it's hard to tell what's good and what's just padding out the horror sections of streaming platforms. But Black Summer, which last month released its second season on Netflix, is a notable exception. The show, helmed by action director John Hyams and producer Karl Schaefer , forgoes exposition and extended dialogue scenes in favor of a near-constant string of nail-biting set-pieces. Each episode is a lean, mean horror-thriller: no build-up or delayed gratification, just incident after incident. In a classic example of showing and not telling, the characters come to life through their actions, rather than endless, half-whispered dialogue. Come for the thrills, stay for the almost elemental portrayal of survival and struggle.
The Kominsky Method
Netflix
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
When I'm only three years behind in my streaming playlist that's not too bad, and I am grateful I've finally had time to get around to The Kominsky Method on Netflix. It's dark, it's hilarious, and it's very, very bingeable. You need Hollywood royalty like Alan Alda and Michael Douglas to pull off this kind of humor about things we, as humans, unfortunately have to deal with at times: death, addiction, medical emergencies — fun stuff like that. After getting through a crazy day, it's just the kind of entertainment I need. And luckily at this point, I have three seasons ahead of me!
The holiday season is here again ー and as consumers buy and spend, more personal information is being exposed online. The number and severity of cyberattacks are on the rise, and both consumers and businesses need protection. Shane Wall, chief technology officer at HP and global head of HP Labs sat down with Cheddar on Monday to discuss the state of cybersecurity heading into the new year.
The issue of food waste has the distinction of being a massive sustainability problem, the solution to a worldwide humanitarian crisis, and a dilemma that is eminently fixable. As part of Cheddar's The Future of Food special report, we spoke to two companies at the opposite end of the spectrum ー one a huge multinational conglomerate, the other a Philadelphia-based start-up ー trying to innovate their way out of a $1 trillion problem.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Cheddar's Class Clown Award Goes to Elon Musk.
The Impossible Burger earned its Halal certification on Monday from the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, marking a major milestone on the meat industry disruptor's path to feeding the world. Soon the Impossible Burger will be available in grocery stores, too, for home chefs who want to try their hand at cooking the meatless burger. David Lee, the COO and CFO of Impossible Foods, joined Cheddar to discuss the company's plan to "serve the world."
Mattel's newest game, "Silicon Valley Startups," is training the entrepreneurs of the future ー and there's real money on the line. The new game pits entrepreneurs against each other to pitch ideas to investors. In a related contest, one aspiring entrepreneur will walk away with $50,001, thanks to a partnership between Silicon Valley Startups and "Shark Tank" investor Daymond John. Together John and Mattel will award the entrepreneur with "the best of the worst" idea. "I love pitching, I love startups ー and believe it or not some of the worst ideas have become the best things," John told Cheddar on Monday.
Daymond John, an investor on ABC's "Shark Tank," told Cheddar on Monday he's all-in on ride-hailing. And with both Uber and Lyft planning to go public, he's gearing up to invest in Uber, but only once the market has stepped back a bit following the initial public offering. He said he likes the company because his own life would be disrupted if it disappeared. "If Uber or Lyft went away, my life would be disrupted ... I think it's been around for quite some time and I think they're just going to expand globally and I like it," he said.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Dec. 10, 2018.
A.I. robot Sophia is getting a software upgrade, one that will inch her ー and perhaps A.I. ー even closer to humanity. According to her creator, not only will Sophia earn her citizenship, she will reach a level of advancement equal to human beings in roughly five to 10 years.
Birchbox wants a bigger piece of the cosmetics market, but courting obsessive shoppers is not part of its plan, according to CEO and co-founder Katia Beauchamp. "We are focused on that non-obsessed consumer, that casual consumer," she said in an interview with Cheddar Friday.
The markets plunged again on Friday, capping off a wild week on Wall Street. Fears of slowing global growth, exacerbated by U.S.-China tensions, and a weaker-than-anticipated jobs report contributed to the losses. The tech-heavy Cheddar 50 Index, which measures the performance of Cheddar's 50 top companies ー from Apple to GM ー fell 4 percent on Friday.
