Looking for some stuff to catch up on this weekend? Whether it’s TV, movies, books, or anything in between—VICE has you covered. Read on for our staff recommendations on what to take in during your downtime:
Twin Peaks
Not a single fucking soul on this Earth—OK, except for David Lynch, Showtime executives, and the gargantuan cast starring in it—knows what to expect from the return of the 1990s cult classic TV thriller. Will the story pick up where the second season left off? How many cups of coffee will MacLachlan consume? What does it all mean, man? My answer to all those questions is a resounding “Who cares?” One of the many appealing elements of Twin Peaks has been the show’s capacity to surprise, and the fact that we know close to nothing before its return (this Sunday at 9 pm) is peak, uh, Twin Peaks. We’ll all find out what this new chapter is all about at the same time, and isn’t that kind of marvelous? – Larry Fitzmaurice, Senior Culture Editor, Digital
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Robin Wasserman, Girls on Fire
Rolling Stone‘s Jason Diamond recommended this book to me because I loved the CW’s Riverdale, and I’m only sad it took me this long to read it. Like Riverdale, it begins with a dead boy—already a welcome departure from the pretty dead blond trope—but it’s not so much about him as it is about teen girl friendship. It’s an unflinching look at these friendships: passionate, obsessive, bitchy, beautiful, and terrifying all at once (and, in this case, with a heavy dose of Nirvana fandom). It’s a haunting read, but a good one, and it’ll remind you how lucky you are to make it out of high school alive. – Pilot Viruet, Associate Culture Editor
‘Alien: Covenant’
Regardless of your feelings about Ridley Scott’s worldbuilding attempts within the Alien cinematic universe, Alien: Covenant should be a fascinating watch. Scott’s previous installment in the franchise, Prometheus, did very well with atmospheric dead, ramping up to a wild climax that didn’t skimp on the gore. From what the trailer suggests, Alien: Covenant seems to have similar aims, and that’s not at all a bad thing. Plus: Michael Fassbender returns as not one, but two androids—irresistible. – LF
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Nerds everywhere rejoiced earlier this week when news broke out that Netflix is developing and producing an English-language show based on The Witcher. Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski’s sprawling medieval fantasy novels involve magic, monsters, sorceresses, and lots of sword-slinging, and the franchise reached an even wider audience over the past decade with a hugely successful video game series developed by CD Projekt.
The most recent game in the series, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, is one of the absolute best ways to spend your time. As the weathered monster mercenary Geralt of Rivia, you can take up contracts across the sprawling continent to kill grotesque creatures and tormented undead spirits, besting them with spells, potions, and good-old fashioned sword fighting. Or, you can immerse yourself in a story of intrigue, as you deal with kings, spies, and elves in the race to find your friend Ciri before the mysterious Wild Hunt gets to her first. Or, you can just hang out at brothels and pubs, getting into fist fights and wasting all of your hard-earned crowns on women and wine. If you’ve managed to actually complete the game’s incredibly lengthy story mode, you can dive into the expansion packs, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. With all the goodies and side quests and contracts that exist within the game, there’s more than enough to keep you busy until it’s time binge watch the Netflix show. – Wilbert Cooper, Senior Editor
Wavves, You’re Welcome
In 2009, I was a sophomore at University of Wisconsin, and I was the biggest Wavves fan on Earth. I bought the singles on vinyl. I spazzed out to Wavves and Wavvves constantly; when Nathan Williams came to town with Zach Hill on drums, I headbanged two feet away from that double kick bass drum, and it’s all been downhill since. I still have a shirt with a drawing of stoned antichrist Garfield from the show, and I wear it once a year max for fear it’ll disintegrate.
You’re Welcome, Wavves’s seventh album, came out this week. I don’t know how to feel about it. I listened to it once stoned and once sober, and I liked it more sober, which is disconcerting for this band in particular. Some songs, like “Daisy” and “Hollowed Out” and “No Shade,” I like alright. Others feel overproduced or corny or troll-y; some have singsong backup vocals and xylophone, which is borderline infuriating. But how many old assholes were around to shit on this music in 2009? One million, and now me. I guarantee you anyone who trashes this album is old as hell, because Wavves is for young brats. Do not listen to it unless you’re under 22 and a brat. If you’re older than that, listen to Wavves with me instead, and we can revel in our irrelevancy. – Tyler Trykowski, LGBTQ Editor
Unsolved Mysteries
A few months ago, the insanely popular Unsolved Mysteries hit Amazon Streaming, and it’s basically the best thing in the world. I know that in the era of Peak TV, there are too many shows to choose from, but honestly, you should ignore them all to just binge every weird, creepy, poorly reenacted episode of this. It ranges from basic true crime to mysterious disappearances to eerie paranormal stories (aliens! Ghosts!), most of which will crawl under your skin and give you nightmares. Plus, unlike a lot of true crime docs, it occasionally offers updates on the solved mysteries, providing a little closure. – PV
John Wick
Is John Wick the song of the summer? Sure, why not: The second installment of Keanu Reeves’s ultra-violent action franchise saw release earlier this year, and it hits VOD next Tuesday. Earlier this week, a co-worker shared a Facebook event promoting both volumes of John Wick playing back-to-back in Chicago’s Wicker Park to happen in August; upon further investigation, the event listing is actually fake (thanks for nothing, Matt!), but it still stands as evidence that people take to this franchise like a bullet to the head (or a knife to the chest, or… you get where I’m going with this). If you haven’t seen Volume 2 yet, why not give the first one a spin this weekend? Even if you have, watch it anyway—it’s not like you have anything better to do. – LF
