Category: Worldwide

Indie band Men I Trust make sprawling, dreamy songs that drew the attention of Joey Badass, who sampled their seductive “Show Me How” for his “Show Me.” The glimmering guitars serve as the perfect backdrop for his flows. After taking the track to late-night television, he’s back with an accompanying short film featuring actress Serayah.

Earlier this week, he teased this music video by posting a romantic picture of him and Serayah at dinner together, getting quite close. It sparked dating rumors immediately. The video, though, is full of as much spice as the song would suggest. The chemistry between the pair is palpable, as they live out a passionate relationship for the entirety of the nearly five-minute track.

Joey has plenty of acting experience himself. Last year, he spoke to HipHopDX about his role as Kadeem “Unique” Mathis in the TV show Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

“Acting, in general, comes pretty instinctively to me,” he said. “Just in a way where you kind of go somewhere else. Like on that stage, I gotta go into superstar mode. I’m still here, but it’s like a superstar hangover, but when I’m home, it’s a different vibe where I’m chill.”

Watch the video for “Show Me” above.

Nas finally played his hometown Madison Square Garden last Friday, February 24. The one-night-only event celebrated Nas’ collaborative King’s Disease trilogy with Hit-Boy, and the New York legend is keeping King’s Disease III top of mind. The album arrived last November, but “30” received the video treatment today, March 1.

Directed by Sarah McColgan, Nas’ “30” video is poignantly simplistic. Shot in black-and-white, Nas enters an empty warehouse alone. It’s dark, except for light shining through the slightly cracked door. Nas lets his longevity do the talking — melodically running through everything he’s overcome (“I’m done with star chicks, I survived divorces”) and asserting his resiliency (“I’m wild for keepin’ it so timeless / Almost half a century with a crispy lineup”).

“Goin’ on thirty summers,” Nas raps. “We been movin’ how you f*ck n****s want / And my ’30 for 30′ highlights doin’ numbers.” (Of course, his iconic debut album, Illmatic, dropped in 1994.)

Last week, Nas visited The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and explained that, to him, King’s Disease encompasses “over-indulgence” and detailed how he’s navigated its potential pitfalls over the years.

“I read about a lot of artists that came up in our time or before our time, and some of them were wild people. And I learned a lot from them, and it kind of gave me some of the guidelines in this business,” he said, adding that the only way to cure the King’s Disease is to “kill the ego” and “make it about the music, make it about the art, and live your life.”

That approach paid off. King’s Disease peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 2020, followed by King’s Disease II at No. 3 in 2021 and King’s Disease III at No. 10 last year. The first of the bunch earned Nas his first-ever Grammy by claiming Best Rap Album at the 2021 Grammys.

And while it’s billed as a King’s Disease trilogy for now, 50 Cent hinted at King’s Disease IV.

Watch the “30” video above.

Michelle Yeoh is currently enjoying the biggest success of her life, and with good reason: She has always kicked ass. (For proof, watch this mind-blowing clip of her and Cynthia Rothrock in 1985’s Yes, Madam!, the first starring role for both of them.) Many Americans first saw her in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, in which she out-badasses Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond. You’d think it would have led to a flurry of great parts. But in a recent interview, Yeoh revealed that during that period, she didn’t work for two full years because the roles were so crap.

In a new interview with People (in a bit teased out by Insider), Yeoh says that she got more heartache than happiness after her Bond movie. For one thing, she said, “people in the industry couldn’t really tell the difference between whether I was Chinese or Japanese or Korean or if I even spoke English.” She added, “They would talk very loudly and very slow.”

Then there were the insulting offers: “I didn’t work for almost two years, until Crouching Tiger, simply because I could not agree with the stereotypical roles that were put forward to me.”

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon wound up being a watershed, becoming one of the biggest martial arts hits at the global box office, even in America, and despite it being subtitled.

Luckily, it doesn’t seem the same thing is happening to Yeoh after Everything Everywhere All at Once. She nabbed the role of Madame Morrible in the two-part Wicked film adaptation.

“In the past, this role would’ve been for a Caucasian lady,” Yeoh told People. “This is what we call diversity, inclusivity. This is how you make it work. It is a natural process — progress, evolution that we can have as storytellers.”

And then there’s the little case of her maybe winning an Oscar in a couple weeks. If so, hopefully the orchestra knows not to dare play her off.

(Via People and Insider)

Remember that time Mark Ruffalo not-even-vaguely spoiled the ending of Avengers: Infinity War months before it came out — and somehow no one noticed? Marvel got so mad, apparently, that they sent him a dummy script for Endgame. Then there’s Tom Holland, who has a reputation for dropping spoilers. No wonder MCU honchos now treat their precious scripts like Fort Knox gold. Indeed, Anthony Mackie recently laid out what it’s like to even access his screenplays.

On an episode this week of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Mackie discussed his lead role in the Harrison Ford-featuring Captain America: New World Order, his first film as the new Cap. As it happened, on the day of filming he had just been giving the film’s script. “I haven’t read it. Haven’t opened it. I haven’t gotten my passcode to the website that lets you into the website.”

In fact, it sounds like it’s a convoluted process, which he happily laid out. “We literally get a passcode to a website that gives us a location to meet the person to sign, to sit with a computer, and read our script. They don’t trust nobody,” Mackie explained. “And it’s always like some 21-year-old intern and he just hates you. He’s sitting there eating Cheetos and he’s like ‘Read faster.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m dyslexic.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care.’”

Mackie also discussed his dyslexia:

“That’s what got me into acting. Teachers are the most important foundation of American culture. And I had this teacher named Ms. Dorsey. I was making straight As and Bs. I couldn’t figure out English. ‘See spot run,’ I didn’t even know Spot was in a race. She was like, ‘We just need to find something to pique your interests, make reading interesting.’ And then she gave me this whole program and all of a sudden I’m reading Shakespeare, I’m reading Ibsen, I’m reading Chekhov. I’m reading all this different stuff and it’s making sense.”

Making cracking open their scripts difficult isn’t the only way they’ve played coy with Mackie. As of last fall, the actor wasn’t even sure if he’d be in one of the next big films, Thunderbolts.

You can watch Mackie’s chat with Kelly Clarkson in the video below.

(Via IndieWire)

No matter where you’re from, how much money you have or how famous you are, when you become a mother your whole world turns upside down. Motherhood can catapult you to the highest highs, drag you through the lowest lows and fling you around corners you never saw coming. It’s like the best and worst roller coaster ever.

Throw in dealing with your own childhood issues, and motherhood becomes an even more terrifying thrill ride. A friend recently remarked that raising kids can be simultaneously triggering and therapeutic for people with their own childhood traumas, and it’s so true. Just ask Drew Barrymore.

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Barrymore, who had a famously tragic childhood and poor parenting models, has talked about how she feels her experiences have given her a strong toolkit for raising her two daughters, and how healing motherhood has been for her. But the fear of messing up our kids is real for all moms, and Barrymore shared some of those worries with Pink on her talk show.

Sitting face to face on the sofa, Pink and Barrymore shared an intimate conversation about motherhood that was refreshingly real and relatable. Barrymore’s daughters are 8 and 10 years old and Pink’s kids are 11 and 6, so they are both right in the middle of their mothering journeys, the stage when parenting becomes more emotionally demanding than physically demanding.

The conversation opens with Barrymore asking Pink, “What can I tell myself when I’m afraid my kids will do some of the stuff I did?” which leads to laughter, some wise advice and Pink admitting she carries a tote bag that says “I literally have no idea what I’m doing” to preschool drop-off.

Definitely worth a watch:

“Omg- being the mom of two single digits kids- these two women moved me. I wish I had friends like this to have deep, real conversations with,” wrote one commenter.

“As someone who has idolized Pink since I was about 14, I hang on to her every word, and that last part brought me to tears. I felt the exact same way when my daughter was born. A beautiful little girl, unscathed by the world. Wow,” wrote another.

“None of us knows what we’re doing and it’s tragic and beautiful all at the same time,” wrote another. Amen to that.

Every mom needs this kind of heartfelt honesty in her life. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what that can look like, Drew and Pink.

Like it or not, we’ve recently entered the age of artificial intelligence, and although that may be scary for some, one guy in Florida thinks it’s a great way to make people laugh. Cam Harless, the host of The Mad Ones podcast, used AI to create portraits of every U.S. president looking “cool” with a mullet hairstyle, and the results are hilarious.

The mullet is a notorious hairdo known as the “business in the front, party in the back” look. It’s believed that the term “mullet” was coined by the rap-punk-funk group Beastie Boys in 1994.

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While cool is in the eye of the beholder, Harless seems to believe it means looking like a cross between Dog the Bounty Hunter and Kenny Powers from “Eastbound and Down.”

Harless made the photos using Midjourney, an app that creates images from textual descriptions. “I love making AI art,” Harless told Newsweek. “Often I think of a prompt, create the image and choose the one that makes me laugh the most to present on Twitter and have people try and guess my prompt.”

every american president, but they’re all cool and they all sport a mullet

46. Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/qoE9AJSxj5

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

“The idea of Biden with a mullet made me laugh, so I tried to make one with him and Trump together and that led to the whole list of presidents,” he continued.

Harless made AI photos of all 46 presidents with mullets and shared them on Twitter, and the response has been tremendous. His first photo of Joe Biden with a mullet has nearly 75,000 likes and counting.

Here’s our list of the 14 best presidents with mullets. Check out Harless’ thread here if you want to see all 46.

Joe Biden with an incredible blonde mane and a tailored suit. This guy takes no malarkey.

every american president, but they’re all cool and they all sport a mullet

46. Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/qoE9AJSxj5

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Donald Trump looking like a guy who has 35 different pairs of stonewashed jeans in his closet at Mar-a-Lago.

45. Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/QeaGStPgXL

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Barack Obama looking like he played an informant on “Starsky and Hutch” in 1976.

44. Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/6evMo4EgFU

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

George H.W. Bush looking like he plays bass in Elvis’s backing band at the International Hotel in Vegas in ’73.

41. George H.W. Bush pic.twitter.com/vW6pNfCkDt

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Gerald Ford looking like the last guy on Earth that you want to owe money.

38. Gerald Ford pic.twitter.com/hjf3WhAxpY

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

“C’mon down and get a great deal at Dick Nixon’s Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, right off the I-95 in Daytona Beach.”

37. Richard Nixon pic.twitter.com/G66eqFbA3Z

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

“Who you calling Teddy? That’s Theodore Roosevelt to you.”

26. Theodore Roosevelt pic.twitter.com/uaf5ttVkXr

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Grover Cleveland is giving off some serious steampunk vibes here.

22. Grover Cleveland pic.twitter.com/WECEck8zlz

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Pray you never key Chester A. Arthur’s Trans Am. If you know what’s best for you.

21. Chester A Arthur pic.twitter.com/siJZGgVIGc

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Honest Abe? More like Honest Babe. Am I right?

16. Abraham Lincoln pic.twitter.com/djmXNi2BBa

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Franklin Pierce looking like your favorite New Romantic singer from 1982. Eat your heart out, Adam Ant.

14. Franklin Pierce pic.twitter.com/2AB4hpNWcX

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

“Daniel Day Lewis stole my look in ‘Last of the Mohicans.'” — John Tyler

10. John Tyler pic.twitter.com/MGvzJoHIU9

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Many have tried the tri-level mullet but few pulled it off as beautifully as James Madison.

4. James Madison pic.twitter.com/UzVR54OSqC

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Washington’s mullet was like a white, fluffy cloud of freedom.

1. George Washington pic.twitter.com/gpQaVzXneC

— Cam Harless (@hamcarless) March 1, 2023

Find more cool, mulletted U.S. presidents here.

Teaching has never been an easy job. Add to that the surge of remote learning challenges, making up for curriculum lost during school closures, a growing concern for safety and—last but not least—having to help more anxious and depressed kids than ever

The responsibilities have increased for an already taxing job. And yet, teacher salaries remain abysmally low, forcing many to either quit altogether or find supplemental income.

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Alexis Longcrier falls into the second category. Longcrier still teaches full time during the day. At night, she delivers pizza for Domino’s just to get by. A video sharing her story is taking over TikTok for its candid portrayal of what teachers are having to endure just to make ends meet while holding onto their jobs.

“I’m doing this because I can’t survive on my teacher paycheck’” Longcrier says in the clip. “Everyone’s talking about all the reasons teachers want to leave. But what about all the teachers that want to stay, but literally can’t afford to?”

Longcrier is not alone. Her video received a slew of responses from fellow teachers who have found themselves in similar situations.

Here are just a few:

“Hi, fellow teacher. I had to start my own mobile welding business on the side for the same reason.”

“I love it, but I’m doing Lyft after work and spreading myself super thin.”

“I work at Target part time for the same reason.”

“Teacher w a masters and i have a 2nd job to pay the bills… it shouldn’t have to be this hard.”

“Teacher here. I also work as customer support for a travel company.”

“I’m a teacher with a masters and I sell my plasma to get by.”

“I have a masters and work extra duties. Work a part-time job, sell my plasma. We need a livable wage.”

“I’m a teacher who has fully accepted that I’ll never own a house, have kids, be able to support anyone but myself, live in a nicer area.”

@alexislongcrier Teachers don’t just deserve a living wage – they deserve a thriving wage! #teacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherlife #teachers #highschool #middleschool #elementaryschool #teach #teachertok #teaching #teachertiktok #teachersontiktok #teacherproblems #tiktok #tiktokviral #viral #fyp #foryourpage #foryou #student #students #pay #broke #money #school #class ♬ original sound – AlexisLongcrier

As Longcrier clarified in a follow-up video, her argument is that everyone deserves a living wage—not just teachers. This was in response to a comment saying that “everyone works two jobs now.”

“If you work a full-time job, you should only work one,” she said. “And you should be able to afford to eat out sometimes, go see a movie, enjoy your life. You were not made to just work, struggle, and die. None of us just deserve a life, we deserve a quality of life, too.”

@alexislongcrier Replying to @awesometheadam And it’s a shame. We all deserve better. #response #responsevideo #comment #teacher #highschool #students #teachersoftiktok #tiktok #tiktokviral #viral #fyp #foryou #foryourpage #money #happiness #health #enjoyment #deserve ♬ original sound – AlexisLongcrier

Longcrier has a point. Work should somehow add to our quality of life. It’s no secret that teachers usually do what they do out of a sense of purpose, not for financial gain. But now that passion is being squelched, leaving the profession without much reward. Those who are sticking it out are paying a hefty price

Yellowstone chaos may or may not exist, depending upon who one asks. Kevin Costner’s attorney, for example, has spoken out about the “ridiculous” rumor that dropped as part of a more overarching Deadline report about Costner potentially moving on from the Paramount+ granddaddy series of them all. The “ridiculous” claim in question was that Costner allegedly “only wanted to spend a week shooting” the current season’s back half. The idea that Costner would have thought it possible to film a half season of his lead role in one week does sound far fetched, but still, his potential departure was the takeaway.

The overall worry that he’s leaving the show has caused speculation to swirl, and of course, Costner has other plates spinning, like directing and also writing music for his band, Kevin Costner & Modern West, so one can expect people to have some fun there. Or some misery, depending upon how one interprets some new lyrics that Costner revealed to the world on Twitter. He co-wrote this song, “One More Day,” and the lyrics are, well, something or nothing.

“We’re all trying to live our lives the best we can,” Costner’s next tweet began. “Sometimes we fall short, but the heart of life is that we keep on trying. When it comes to the end and we meet our maker, the question I would ask is ‘Could you just give my good friend one more day?’”

What. Does. It. Mean. Maybe nada! And possibly/probably nothing to do with Yellowstone and the idea that he might move on, thereby ending the flagship series amid a sea of prequels and offshoots from Taylor Sheridan. Speaking of which, the initial report about Costner’s departure also arrived with word that Matthew McConaughey could be ready to step into the franchise, if not literally as John Dutton but as a spiritual successor.

Again, these lyrics could mean zero. They could simply be, you know, a nice song, rather than Yellowstone being the “good friend” mentioned above. Oh, but mankind cannot resist some dishy, panic-inducing cowboy gossip.

There was a time when Paul George was the leading man on a team that was a legitimate contender, as the Indiana Pacers reached back-to-back Eastern conference Finals in 2013 and 2014, only to run into the Big Three era Heat.

Now, he happily calls himself the No. 2 in Los Angeles to Kawhi Leonard, a role he willingly embraced when the Clippers came calling about a potential trade that would bring both him home alongside Leonard in 2019. To go from a budding superstar who was the central figure on a team to embracing a secondary starring role isn’t something many players do willingly, particularly in their prime years, but George took a wide view and realized that, to try and win a championship, he just wasn’t going to be able to do it as “The Guy.”

On this week’s Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick, George explained the process he went through to come to that realization and the self-awareness and comfort in who he was as a person and player it required to willingly become the second fiddle.

Redick notes how rare it is for someone to have this mindset, because part of becoming an elite athlete is having such an insane self-confidence that it’s almost impossible not to believe you should be “the guy.” George, though, lived through that and I have little doubt running up against the Big Three era Heat shaped his view of what an elite team really looks like, and saw the sacrifices guys like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade made to make that possible. He also notes how his experience in OKC, where he had one of the best seasons of his career next to Russell Westbrook, showed him that playing off another star can bring out the best in him.

George also explains that, for all his success, he’s never won a title at any level and just wants to figure out how to do that by any means necessary. He’s made “a shit ton” of money, in his words, and just wants to find that way to a championship, which he thinks calls for him to take on that No. 2 role. It’s admirable of George, and the truth is, the list of true No. 1 guys who have led teams to titles is very short. Of current players, that list is LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, and (depending on who you ask about that era of Warriors basketball) Kevin Durant.

That’s five guys and it’s really hard to be in that group — and most of them had All-Star assistance. Being the secondary star isn’t a bad gig at all, and being “the guy” is only really a big deal when it comes time to talk about all-time legacies and stacking up greats against greats — as we’ve seen with the Durant “bus driver” debate in recent years. For George, he seems fine not being in those conversations and just wants his shot a jewelry. Whether this season will bring that opportunity in L.A. remains to be seen, but he hopes this is the year Kawhi is healthy enough for him to play that second role for the entirety of a postseason run.

Women have been putting in the work for a long time, moving the needle one movement at a time and risking their careers, reputations, and relationships to see the dream of equality come to fruition. And these documentaries, they prove that.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’ve rounded up some of the most fascinating and inspiring films that shine a light on the fight for Women’s Rights. Whether it’s on the field, on the screen, in the courtroom, the boardroom, or on the battlefield, these docs show the courage and determination women have had to wield to get sh*t done. Applaud them by streaming some.

Jane Fonda In Five Acts

Year: 2018
Cast: Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Richard Nixon
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 133 minutes
Director: Susan Lacy
Trailer: Watch Here

Plenty of celebrities claim to be activists but few have the mugshots and the decades of boots-on-the-ground work that actress Jane Fonda does. Yes, she protested the Vietnam War, and yes, the moniker “Hanoi Jane” still sticks some 50 years later, but Fonda’s philanthropic and revolutionary efforts extend past just one war. She balanced her unparalleled resume on-screen — in films like 9 to 5 that pushed the women’s cause forward — with protest efforts behind the camera, giving us a model for what intersectional feminism looks like by proving it’s possible to fight for more than just one cause. This doc pieces together her history of activism, focusing on her work with women’s movements in the Middle East, South America, the States, Africa, and beyond, with some illuminating and colorful commentary by the A-list friends who know her best.

Watch it on HBO Max

LFG

Year: 2021
Cast: Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Rachel Maddow
Genre: Documentary, Sports
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 105 minutes
Director: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix
Trailer: Watch Here

This HBO doc understands the best argument for equal pay in the world of women’s sports won’t take place in a courtroom — it happens on the field. After years of asking for better pay and working conditions, the U.S. Women’s Soccer team started demanding equity in their sport instead, and they do so here by dominating in the 2019 World Cup, bringing yet another star home for their country as the U.S. Men’s team continues to fail on an international level. With an intimate look into the grueling training and preparation required for the global tournament balanced against the draining legal saga some of the team’s star players, including Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, had to contend with while fighting for each World Cup win, the doc makes a compelling case for why the onus of equal pay shouldn’t fall on the players’ shoulders.

Watch it on HBO Max

Hysterical

Year: 2021
Cast: Iliza Shlesinger, Sherri Shepherd, Margaret Cho
Genre: Documentary, Comedy
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 87 minutes
Director: Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
Trailer: Watch Here

Being funny is hard work, especially when you’re a female comedian contending with the toxic boys’ club of stand-up. Still, this condensed and refreshingly honest look at life on the stage never gets bogged down by the negative. Instead, as is their way, the women tapped to tell their stories manage to find the humor and reliability amongst all the muck they’ve waded through. Sitdown interviews with names like Iliza Shlesinger and Margaret Cho are coupled with archive footage of the legends who came before them — think Joan Rivers and Ali Wong — and more recent, headline-making acts from newcomers like Kelly Bachman who went viral for calling out Harvey Weinstein during her set. The punchline may be the ridiculous, cringe-worthy hoops these women were made to jump through to be considered funny but thankfully, they kept going and this doc goes a long way in highlighting the progress they’ve made.

Watch it on Hulu

Knock Down The House

Year: 2019
Cast: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG
Runtime: 87 minutes
Director: Rachel Lears
Trailer: Watch Here

The current political climate is so bogged down by partisan in-fighting and performative outrage it’s easy to forget that Capitol Hill used to be a place where people went to fight for change. We’re not saying this doc, which follows the grassroots campaign of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will make you believe in Democracy again, but it is inspiring, just in a different way. By showcasing her charisma and approachability while also diving into more intimate parts of her life, like her relationship with her late father, this feel-good look at the rise of Ocasio-Cortez remind us of the power women can wield when they set their mind to something.

Watch it on Netflix

Homecoming

Year: 2019
Cast: Beyonce, Jay-Z
Genre: Documentary, Music
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 137 minutes
Director: Beyonce, Ed Burke
Trailer: Watch Here

Beyoncé’s history-making Coachella performance was enough to temporarily rename the music festival Beychella a few years ago but for fans who couldn’t afford to see Queen Bee perform live, this backstage pass is more than just a concert in streaming form. Are there killer performances, musical mash-ups, and dance routines? Sure. But what really makes this music doc stand out besides the talent of its star is the intimate look fans are given into Beyoncé’s personal life, from her surprise pregnancy to her struggle to get in shape before the event and all the in-between madness and heartbreak.

Watch it on Netflix

Reversing Roe

Year: 2018
Cast: Donna Howard, Brigitte Amiri
Genre: Documentary, Historical
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 99 minutes
Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg
Trailer: Watch Here

Watching this doc in light of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade is, admittedly, difficult. It’s devastating to see the predictions made here — that eventually, the government and not women will decide what happens to women’s bodies — come true. But even if we know where the journey has stalled, it doesn’t make the incredible work done by the activists in this film, or the knowledge of the bloody history of this fight, any less important. From the women who marched to the lawmakers who tried to legislate protections for women’s healthcare to the clinic workers injured and killed when “pro-life” activists committed acts of domestic terrorism, there’s something to be learned here. At the very least, you’ll come away angry and motivated to continue the fight.

Watch it on Netflix

Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

Year: 2018
Cast: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Laurie Anderson
Genre: Documentary
Rating: NA
Runtime: 86 minutes
Director: Johanna Demetrakas
Trailer: Watch Here

If you’ve ever wondered what historians are talking about when they distinguish between first, second, and third-wave feminism, this doc will go a long way in educating you on the movement in a way that feels less pedantic and more inspiring. It recruits artists and feminists like Judy Chicago, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Sally Kirkland to examine feminism in the 1970s by way of a pivotal photo project by Cynthia MacAdams that captured the Equal Rights Movement as it was happening. In doing so, it delivers a broader definition of feminism, one that’s graduated from Suffragette iconography to a portrait that crosses lines of race, class, privilege, and profession. It’s both inspiring, to see how far the cause has come and galvanizing, to see how far it still needs to go.

Watch it on Netflix

Athlete A

Year: 2020
Cast: Maggie Nichols, Rachael Denhollander
Genre: Documentary, Sports
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 103 minutes
Director: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
Trailer: Watch Here

When women accomplish something as profoundly difficult as competing at the Olympics, they often have a more challenging road to get there than their male counterparts. That’s especially true for the female gymnasts featured in this powerful, award-winning documentary that exposes the abuse and cover-ups at the center of the women’s national team’s success. The Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal rocked the world of gymnastics just a few years ago and this film looks at the controversy from the point of view of reporters at the Indianapolis Star in charge of exposing it. A cover-up spanning two decades and involving higher-ups at both US Gymnastics and Michigan State where Nassar served as a physician and professor, this revealing investigation into a sinister culture that’s hidden behind the success of its top female athletes makes you rethink everything you thought about the Olympic dream, and what’s sacrificed in pursuit of it.

Watch it on Netflix

He Named Me Malala

Year: 2015
Cast: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzai
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 88 minutes
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Trailer: Watch Here

You likely already know the story of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl targeted by the Taliban for insisting that women have the same right to an education as men. But that assassination attempt on a school bus in 2012 wasn’t the end of her story. It wasn’t the beginning of it either, as this award-winning doc sets out to prove. Named for an Afghani folk hero, Malala was a rebel and a fighter from an early age, one of the few girls in her village who continued her education despite threats from grown men trying to suppress her potential. The film explores how her father inspired her quest — warning, you’ll get misty-eyed anytime the pair talk about their bond on-screen — and how that tragic day galvanized the Nobel Peace Prize-winning work that would follow.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

The Janes

Year: 2022
Cast: Abby, Judith Arcana, Heather Booth
Genre: Documentary, Historical
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: 101 minutes
Director: Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes
Trailer: Watch Here

So much of the work done when it comes to Women’s Rights is done in the shadows, by ordinary people taking extraordinary risks to do what’s right. This doc shines a much-needed light on those women by telling a little-known story that feels like the plot of an award-winning drama. The Jane Collective was an underground group of revolutionaries that used code names and safe houses to help women find safe, affordable access to abortion in the early 70s. Their story is fascinating, harrowing, and at times, nerve-wracking but to spoil it anymore would be to rob you of the chance to experience the broad range of emotions inspired by watching women sacrifice everything to help women.

Watch it on HBO Max