What to Watch on TV and at the Movies This Week

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Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color (NatGeo, Disney+, Hulu)

Idris Elba, 51, narrates and coproduced this docuseries that tells the story you never saw in Saving Private Ryan — the dark-skinned troops who served on D-Day and at Dunkirk, including the original Black Panthers, whose tanks fought America’s bloodiest conflict, the Battle of the Bulge. These heroes found more honor in combat than back home yet helped inspire the civil-rights social change to come. “Ten percent of the soldiers were Black and brown, and that ten percent has not been pictured or honored with medals everyone else was given,” says Elba. His mom’s father left to fight in the war, leaving not even a photo behind. “My granddad has been erased, and the people reading their granddads’ and brothers’ testimonies in the film really put a lump in my throat.” Erased is preceded by The Real Red Tails, a one-hour doc about a Tuskeegee pilot’s mysterious crash in 1944, narrated by Abbott Elementary’s Sheryl Lee Ralph, 67.

​Watch it: Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color, June 10, 9 p.m. ET on NatGeo, streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu

Don’t miss this: What We Saw Backstage With the Rolling Stones in Vegas, in AARP Members Only Access

The Great Lillian Hall (Max)

Jessica Lange, 75, guns for an Emmy as a great stage actress stricken with dementia on the eve of her opening in The Cherry Orchard, comforted by her longtime assistant (Kathy Bates, 75) and a kind neighbor (Pierce Brosnan, 71).

Watch it: The Great Lillian Hall on Max

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Summer Camp, PG-13

Diane Keaton, 78, Kathy Bates, 75, and Alfre Woodard, 71, dive into the deep end in a reunion comedy in which the mature trio reunite after decades apart — river rafting, pillow fighting and calling each other on their crap. Enter the “boys:” Eugene Levy, 77, with a Bob’s Big Boy swirl of hair, and a hunky, grounding Dennis Haysbert, 69. Sure, the movie’s formulaic. And Keaton still can’t kick the Annie Hall wardrobe and antic tics. But, through good gags and misfires, the movie is mild entertainment with the advantage of bringing this big band of mature actors together for a serving of fun with a side of hard-won wisdom. As doofus camp worker Jimmy (Josh Peck) says in the end-credit outtakes, “This is like an AARP commercial!” —T.M.A.

​Watch it: Summer Camp, in theaters

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Ezra, PG-13

Heartbreaking and hilarious, Ezra is a contemporary audience-pleaser that inspires laughter and tears, sometimes simultaneously. Bobby Cannavale, 54, nails his lead role as Max, a self-sabotaging Brooklyn comic trying for a comeback. He filters the demands of his family — his autistic son, Ezra (played with a light touch by believable newcomer William A. Fitzgerald); his ex-wife, Jenna (real-life mate Rose Byrne), from whom he is semi-amicably divorced; and his loose-cannon-but-loving father, Stan (an engaging Robert De Niro, 80) — through his stand-up routines. More down-to-earth than the similar Silver Linings Playbook, the movie, directed by and costarring Tony Goldwyn, 64, searches for the Holy Grail of what family behavior is “normal.” Answers don’t come easily or in tidy packages, as Max discovers that in asserting his son’s right to an independent life, he also makes peace with his father, becomes the ex-husband Jenna needs and rediscovers his ability to laugh at himself. —T.M.A.

Watch it: Ezra, in theaters

Don’t miss this: Bobby Cannavale at 54: What I Know Now, on AARP Members Only Access

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ The Dead Don’t Hurt

​Viggo Mortensen, 65, directs an old-fashioned Western shot in the spectacular Durango region, and stars as Holger Olsen, Danish immigrant turned all-American sheriff in a Wild West town run by a monster plutocrat (Garrett Dillahunt, 59) and his psycho killer and rapist son (Solly McLeod), with eager help from the corrupt mayor (Danny Huston, 62). Olsen’s a man of few words who’s stunned with love when he meets a smart, self-reliant French immigrant (Vicky Krieps, who famously stole Phantom Thread from Daniel Day-Lewis), who tends bar at the violent honky-tonk. Mortensen gives and gets unusually deep performances, and despite a cliched script and a way-too-moseying pace, it’s Mortensen’s best-directed film yet, with his richest cast. —Tim Appelo (T.A.)

Watch it: The Dead Don’t Hurt, in theaters

​The Beach Boys (Disney+)

Relive the golden days of the only ’60s band that rivaled the Beatles and Stones, from the days they harmonized in the back seat of their dad’s car to sometimes less harmonious days as chart-toppers. Their recording partner, folk singer and convict Charles Manson, was a problem, as was Brian Wilson’s mental illness and the Wilson brothers’ dad and manager, who bossed them around during concerts by holding a flashlight under his chin. “He looked like Boris Karloff,” recalls Beach Boy Al Jardine. But for the most part, this documentary is tuneful fun, fun, fun!

Watch it: The Beach Boys on Disney+

​Don’t miss this: Al Jardine Tells All About the Beach Boys in AARP Members Only Access

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, PG-13

The latest flick in the 10-film hominoid franchise is in most ways a Dune-sized winner, packed with action that feels less artificial than most blockbusters, absorbing characters, a story that makes sense if you haven’t seen the other films, and ape faces more exquisitely expressive than many botoxed A-list actresses can manage. It’s a superb SF epic that whisks you to a future when most humans have lost the power of speech and apes are ruled by the terrifying bonobo tyrant Proximus Caesar (Kevin Durand), who kidnaps our clever ape hero Noa (Owen Teague), kills his wise, witty old orangutan mentor Raka (Peter Macon), and tries to force smarter-than-the-average human Mae (Freya Allan) to open a vault full of ancient human war technology. William H. Macy, 74, is aces as a craven human who stays alive by reading Vonnegut and Roman history books to Proximus. The movie takes its own sweet time, and would be better minus half an hour. But even the longueurs are eye-poppingly watchable and serve the purpose of building a world that envelops us. —T.A.

Watch it: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, in theaters

​Mother of the Bride (Netflix)

This one has rom-com crowd-pleaser written all over it. Brooke Shields, 58, grapples with separation anxiety as her daughter (Miranda Cosgrove) is about to walk down the aisle at a destination beach wedding in Thailand. She snaps out of her funk the second she’s introduced (or reintroduced) to the groom’s dad, who just happens to be the old college boyfriend who broke her heart (Benjamin Bratt, 60). The fact that this was directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls) bodes well.

Watch it: Mother of the Bride on Netflix

​Don’t miss this: Brooke Shields on Life at 58: ‘There Are So Many Moving Pieces’

​Or this: 50 Things That Changed the World: Events, Movies, Shows, Books and Tunes That Turn 50 in 2024, on AARP Members Only Access

​In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin (AMC+)

Hamlin, 72, the L.A. Law star known as “the king of Bolognese,” invites Ted Danson, 76, Bobby Moynihan, Mary Steenburgen, 71, Ed Begley Jr., 74, and you to his home kitchen to cook up something wonderful where dinner party meets cooking show and documentary.

Watch it: In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin on AMC+

​Don’t miss this: Harry Hamlin: ‘I’m Just Getting Started ... I Don’t Think About Aging,’ on AARP Members Only Access

Hacks (Max)

The world needs more Deborah Vance, the Joan Rivers-esque, unsinkable comedian wisecracking her way through the slings and arrows of aging while headlining in Vegas. And the world definitely needs more Jean Smart, 72, the Emmy winner who inhabits Vance with elan and venom in equal measure. In the third season, the achingly millennial comedy writer Ava Daniels (Laraine Newman’s daughter, Hannah Einbinder) reunites with her unlikely mentor.

Watch it: Hacks on Max

Don’t miss this: Jean Smart Talks Family, Grief and Aging: ‘Every Day Is Precious Now,’ on AARP Members Only Access

The Idea of You (Prime Video)

In a steamy flip on the traditional May-December romance, a 40-something single mom (Anne Hathaway) embarks on an unlikely fling with the 24-year-old lead singer (Nicholas Galitzine) of her teenage daughter’s fave boy band. The film, based on Robinne Lee’s bestseller, earned raves at its premiere at the SXSW Film Festival.

​Watch it: The Idea of You on Prime Video

Don’t miss this: 12 Classic Older Woman–Younger Man Movies to Watch After ‘The Idea of You’

Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story (Hulu)

Gather round, Jovi fans. This four-part docuseries takes us behind the spandex for an intimate history of the Jersey hair rock legends who gave us “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” including candid interviews with the band members. Fellow Jerseyite Bruce Springsteen, 74, weighs in: “Jon’s choruses demand to be sung by 20,000 people in an arena.” As testimonials go, that isn’t too shabby.

Watch it: Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story on Hulu

​Don’t miss this: Jon Bon Jovi, 62, on New Documentary: ‘It’s Each of Our Individual Truths’​​

3 Body Problem (Netflix)

In Netflix’s No. 1 hit show, the makers of Game of Thrones and True Blood bring you a sci-fi show about an astrophysicist (Rosalind Chao, 66) whose hunt for aliens in the 1960s causes big trouble for humanity years later.

Watch it: 3 Body Problem on Netflix

Don’t miss this: What You Need to Know Before Watching ‘3 Body Problem’

Fallout, Season 1 (Prime Video)

After apocalyptic bombs devastate the world, it’s overrun with mutant creatures and pragmatic bounty hunters such as The Ghoul (Justified’s Walton Goggins, 52). Kyle MacLachlan, 65 (Twin Peaks), plays Hank, the overseer of a vault where folks hide from calamity.

​​Watch it: Fallout on Prime Video

​Don’t miss this: Kyle MacLachlan Reveals How Prime Video’s ‘Fallout’ Blends Drama With Dark Humor, on AARP Members Only Access​

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Dune: Part Two, PG-13

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan compares this incredibly epic film of Frank Herbert’s SF classic to The Empire Strikes Back, which outdid the original Star Wars. He’s got a point. It’s an eye-popping, sonically stunning, highly original story with massively more action, character and plot than the 2021 Dune: Part One. Timothée Chalamet is more vibrant as Paul, the hero battling the Nazi-esque Harkonnens, and the grownups are great: Javier Bardem, 54, and Josh Brolin, 56, as his friends and mentors, Christopher Walken, 80, as the evil Emperor and Stellan Skarsgård, 72, as the Jabba the Hutt-like Baron Harkonnen. The amazingly confusing plot mostly holds your interest, but it’s the images that stick with you: Paul riding the giant sand worm, warriors erupting from the ground like skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts, rallies straight out of Triumph of the Will, fabulous battles. It’s like a trip to other planets. —T.A.

Watch it: Dune: Part Two, in theaters

​Don’t miss this: Everything You Need to Know Before You Watch Dune: Part 2

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bob Marley: One Love, PG-13

Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played Malcolm X in the Oscar-nominated 2020 One Night in Miami ..., delivers a smartly focused performance as reggae legend Bob Marley. He nails the late star’s Jamaican patois (you sometimes wish the film had subtitles), but what’s missing is the Soul Rebel who brought stadiums of fans to their feet. You can feel director Reinaldo Marcus Green straining against the family-approved biopic format, in which less attractive episodes such as infidelities and arrests get only a glancing mention. When the focus stays on Marley’s singular talent — for example, a lingering scene in which he and the band piece together the classic tune “Exodus” — One Love succeeds in getting things together so you can feel all right. —Thom Geier (T.G.)

Watch it: Bob Marley: One Love, in theaters

Don't miss this: Ziggy Marley reveals his father’s final words to him on AARP Members Only Access​​