Have You Been Living Under a Rock? We’re Here to Help: Summer’s Biggest Films and TV Shows

In case you were in Antarctica over the summer, or if you just don’t take in any media whatsoever, The Leader is here to catch you up on all of the big conversations that took place — from new releases in TV, theaters, and music to whatever the hell has been happening in pop culture.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day 4.8/5

The new Spider-Man movie was genuinely my favorite release in the past year. The pacing, the action, the music, and the dialogue itself were beyond what I expected going into the theater. The tone of this movie was different from any of the Avenger-era Spider-Man movies. It was emotionally charged and raw with amazing acting performances from so many cast members.

As the audience we got to see Peter Parker go through a phase of isolation and see how life looks for him after everyone in his life forgets about him. We see how Peter finds the balance between his life as Spider-Man and as Peter. We also see his grief (or lack thereof) in his relationships with the people closest to him and how he struggles with it.

This movie is an experience. It’s fun, it’s sad, and most of all, it feels relatable. No matter if you’re a huge superhero fan or if you’ve never seen any superhero movie before, I think anyone will enjoy this movie.

The Odyssey 4/5

Though I am more than familiar with Homer’s “Odyssey,” I tried to go into this movie with as minimal exposure to others’ reviews as possible. I had heard about some of the casting decisions and was excited to see how that would affect the project.

Much to my surprise, Travis Scott — yes, that Travis Scott — set the tone of the movie right at the beginning. This intense tone carried on throughout the entire course of the film and really drew me in immediately. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), Punisher (Jon Bernthal), Batman (Robert Pattinson), Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) all within the movie. It was quite fun.

As per usual, Damon delivered an outstanding performance alongside strong presences from Himesh Patel, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, and Zendaya. When Athena, played by Zendaya, entered the screen I immediately had to acknowledge how busy her, Holland, and Bernthal had to have been this year due to the three of them also starring alongside each other in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

I truly think anyone with any remote background knowledge of Homer’s work will enjoy this work from Christopher Nolan. However, my favorite “Odyssey” adaptation still has to be “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Backrooms 4/5

The fictional psychological horror film based off of the YouTube series by the same name. The plot follows Clark, a furniture store owner who struggles to cope with alcoholism and his recent divorce. In his furniture store he finds a passageway that leads him to a seemingly endless maze of yellow interiors with dim lights, where he discovers much more danger than he previously thought.

As someone who loves creepypasta stories but had not seen the original series by Kane Parsons, I was extremely excited for this movie. During the movie I found myself intrigued by how massive and endless the Backrooms were. It was also interesting to see the “still life” within the Backrooms, which are insidious characters roaming the space. The sound design in the film was amazing, and the set design truly made me feel as if I was inside the Backrooms.

The film for me was extremely suspenseful because when I was watching the film, I often thought “What will happen next?” or “Where are the entities?” The chef’s kiss for me was the attention to detail with the set design, as the Backrooms are a multilevel “dimension.”

Sterling Point 4.5/5

I first heard about this new show with really good dialogue through the underground online communities on TikTok.com. The show has all of the necessary ingredients for a fantastic watch, from casting to directing to the writing itself.

The show follows Annie, a 17-year-old girl from New York City, on her journey of exploring her family history after the recent news of her estranged grandfather’s passing. Annie, played by Ella Rubin, travels to a secluded Canadian island she and her twin brother inherited from her deceased grandfather. While exploring the landscape, Annie discovers secrets hidden in the Canadian wilderness.

The plot itself kept me invested from the beginning of the first episode through the entire season. The dialogue and word choice felt authentic to the age of the characters with a distinctly Gen Z rhetoric style.

The core cast is primarily made up of young actors who were relatively unknown leading into the show’s premiere. Bo Bragason, Amélie Hoeferle, Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, and Daniel Quinn-Toye all surpassed my expectations for a cast of relatively young actors. Rubin shined in her first starring role, with support from veteran actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Missi Pyle.

The show’s writer and director, Megan Park, has now established her unique style with this show in addition to other Gen Z-centered projects like “The Fallout” (2021) and “My Old Ass” (2024). I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and recommend it for anyone to watch.

Outer Banks Season 5/Series Finale 3.7/5

With the latest season of Netflix’s “Outer Banks” comes the conclusion of the entire series. I was excited to see where the Pogues were going to pick back up after losing one of the key components of their unit, their dear friend JJ. As expected, the characters were all grieving and processing this loss while also continuing to play “the G game.” As someone who has followed this show since its premiere in 2020, it was cool to see how they wrapped the show up.

The Pogues, with the addition of Sarah Cameron’s older brother, Rafe, ended with the long-deserved win. Every season it seemed they would get beat out by the kooks, so ending with them winning the gold they were searching for from the beginning felt like a nice final win to close this chapter in their lives. Sarah and John B. got hitched and named their son after their lost friend, which I thought was a beautiful way to symbolize the Pogues’ loss of innocence and stepping into adulthood. I’m ex- cited to re-binge the show from start to finish.

Tom Holland stars as Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” || PHOTO BY Sony Pictures/TNS