1. 'HI-HO TRASHICORN!'
From hometown hero Biagio Messina and wife Joke Fincioen, the team that brought you
Cleveland International Film Festival favorite "Dying to Do Letterman," comes "Commercial Kings," a docu-comedy chronicling the exploits of pals Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal as they crisscross the country "making epic local commercials for some of the nation's most deserving local businesses." One of those businesses is Heavy Hill the Garbage Man and his trusty steed, Trashicorn, a donkey with a faux horn. With a cry of "Hi-Ho Trashicorn!" he flies through the air, plunger in hand, making trash disappear. Get a taste of the divine madness at
ifc.com/rhett-link, then watch the series premiere 10 p.m. Friday, June 24, on IFC.
2. WHEN E.T.s ATTACK
In "Falling Skies,"
Noah "ER" Wyle stars as a history professor who lives through a devastating alien attack, then bands with other survivors to fight the extraterrestrial invaders. The series is a dramatic departure for executive producer Steven Spielberg, who has long been an advocate of positive alien programming with his portrayals of space creatures as benign and adorable. "I'm done with all that," Spielberg said following a prolonged disappearance during a family vacation in Wyoming. "I say, 'Blow 'em out of the sky.' " Premieres at 9 Sunday, June 19, on TNT.
3. HOT 'ER' ALUM ALERT
This emotionally charged indie features Oliver (Ewan McGregor) discovering that his widowed dad Hal (Christopher Plummer) has terminal cancer and a smokin' hot young boyfriend named Andy ("ER's" Goran Visnjic). Then Oliver meets free-spirited Anna ("Inglourious Basterds' " Melanie Laurent) and -- oh, who cares? You had me at Goran Visnjic. "Beginners" premieres in area theaters Friday, June 24.
4. GAGA GAG
"Apocalypse," the 13th studio album from musical satirist Weird Al Yankovic, hits stores Tuesday, June 21, with the single "Perform This Way," a parody of Lady Gaga's hit "Born This Way." Sample lyrics:
"I'm so completely original. My new look is all the rage. I'll wrap my small intestines 'round my neck. And set fire to myself on stage." Wait, hasn't she already done that?
5. EXIT STRATEGIES
From the makers of "Wipeout" comes "101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow," in which competitors answer multiple-choice questions in pursuit of a $50,000 prize. Losers are shed in a variety of ways, including "being flown away strapped to the wing of a biplane, pushed off the top of a moving semi, dragged underwater by a one-ton anchor or yanked off a dock by a speed boat." Why can't contestants on "Celebrity Apprentice" be eliminated these ways? Premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, ABC.
6. DEJA VU TV
From the makers of "Survivor" comes "Expedition Impossible," a game show in which 13 teams of three "race across vast deserts, over snow capped mountains and through raging rivers in the beautifully exotic, fabled Kingdom of Morocco." Not to be confused with "The Amazing Race," an Emmy-winning game show in which 11 teams of two race around the world. "Expedition" has the audacity to premiere at 9 p.m. Thursday, June 23, on ABC.
7. CALL THE ASPCA
Elijah Wood stars in "Wilfred," the American remake of the Aussie series about a guy who thinks his neighbor's dog is a tubby bloke in a fur suit. Promos feature said bloke licking Elijah's tiny elfin face as if it were a sirloin steak and pouncing on hot women. Nothing a little neutering won't fix. Premieres 10 p.m. Thursday, June 23, on FX.
8. PAGING MAURY POVICH
In the thriller "Unknown," Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to find that his wife (January "Mad Men" Jones) doesn't know him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Which reminds us of another unknown: the name of January's baby daddy. DVD drops Tuesday, June 21.
9. THE OTHER DENEUVE
Francois Truffaut's "The Soft Skin," a rare flop for the director when it was released in 1964, features Francoise Dorleac, Catherine Deneuve's sister, well on her way to stardom when she died in a car crash at age 25. Modern-day reviews have been kinder. The New Yorker calls the flick "one of Truffaut's best . . . a masterwork of erotic frenzy." Maybe in 47 years, critics will say the same about "Gigli." Screens 7:20 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday (June 24-25) at
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque.
10. SHEEN FATIGUE
What more debauchery and
pain are left to uncover following the live interviews, incessant tweets and the Torpedo of Truth tour? Nada. But filmmakers behind the documentary "Charlie Sheen: Born to Be Wild" hope you'll shell out $14.95 anyway. DVD drops Tuesday, June 21.
