‘The Gilded Age,’ ‘A Minecraft Movie,’ Haim’s ‘I Quit,’ and the best to stream this weekend: June 20, 2025
Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (June 20-June 22)
The main stream
It has been more than a year and a half since The Gilded Age did the impossible and made us all care about competing opera houses. Now, the Emmy-winning HBO drama from creator Julian Fellowes is back for what might be its best outing yet.
In Season 3 (premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and Max), having won the battle for the Met, Bertha (Emmy nominee Carrie Coon) is poised to take over as the head of New York society while George (Morgan Spector) heads out west with the hopes of expanding his railroads to the California coast, a gambit that could revolutionize the industry and change the map forever. But those are not the only new happenings this season. Across the street, Ada (Emmy winner Cynthia Nixon) is now the lady of the Brook house following her marriage to the secretly wealthy Rev. Forte, a development Agnes (fellow Emmy winner Christine Baranski) struggles to accept despite the fact it's her sister's new fortune that has allowed them to keep their home. And it's a good thing they did, because Marian (Louisa Jacobson) and Larry's (Harry Richardson) sweet budding romance definitely benefits from close proximity.
As ambitions skyrocket, new relationships blossom, and the future is seemingly on the doorstep, the third season of The Gilded Age is the awards contender to watch this weekend.
The best of the rest
And if opera isn't your jam, there are plenty of other options are available. Other prestige picks include:
The Waterfront: Kevin Williamson's latest series returns to Wilmington, North Carolina, the filming location for his groundbreaking show Dawson’s Creek, to tackle a new story. Inspired by true events, the family drama follows the Buckleys, a family who has ruled the town of Havenport for decades thanks to their fishing empire. But things aren't what they once were, and as matriarch Belle (Maria Bello) and adult son Cane (Jake Weary) attempt to keep the family business afloat while Harlan (Holt McCallany), the gruff family patriarch, recovers from two heart attacks, their shortsighted plans quickly spiral out of control. All eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
The Buccaneers: The long-awaited sophomore season of Apple TV+'s period drama is here at last. Based on an unfinished Edith Wharton novel, the show follows a group of young American women who have entered London high society in the 1870s and made it their own. Following her marriage to Theo (Guy Remmers), Nan (Kristine Frøseth) is now the Duchess of Tintagel and wields immense power, while Conchita (Alisha Boe) as Lady Brightlingsea has become a heroine to a new wave of American heiresses. But while the culture clash that dominated Season 1 is no longer the show's focus, there is still plenty of drama to be had, as the women continue to grow up and experience life's many changes. The Season 2 premiere is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Surviving Ohio State: And now for something much more grim. HBO's new documentary tells the horrific story of the victims of Dr. Richard Strauss, a physician at the Ohio State University who used his position and power to sexually abuse male student-athletes for two decades, and the ongoing fight to hold the school accountable. The nearly two-hour doc is based on Jon Wertheim's Sports Illustrated article "Why Aren't More People Talking About the Ohio State Sex Abuse Scandal," and expands upon the original 2018 reporting that exposed the scandal. It is now streaming on Max.
Ready, set... Chicken Jockey!
Our top pick this week, video game adaptation A Minecraft Movie, is unlikely to win any Academy Awards, but it’s probably going to dominate at the Kids’ Choice Awards on Saturday. Kids simply love this movie. They love Minecraft, they love Jack Black, and they love memes, especially participatory ones that annoy older people — and the movie’s “Chicken Jockey” is the defining one of the year. It may not be funny to you, but Warner Bros. is laughing all the way to the bank with nearly a billion dollars in box office gross.
Black stars alongside Jason Momoa, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, and Sebastian Hansen. The latter four play people who get sucked into the cube-based alternate dimension known as the Overworld, where Steve (Black) has been trapped for years. Together, they team up to stop the evil piglin Malgosha (that’s “pig goblin,” for the uninformed) from taking over the Overworld and try to escape back to the human world. If you haven’t seen any footage, be forewarned: there are way more cubes than you’re expecting. You’ve never seen a movie where everything on screen is the same shape before. It’s now streaming on Max.
More home movies
If you do not yearn for the mines, here are some other new movies to watch on subscription streaming platforms or VOD this weekend:
Frozen: The Hit Broadway Musical: Disney+’s latest filmed stage production is the theatrical adaptation of the hit animated movie from 2013. Frozen tells the story of princess sisters Elsa (Samantha Barks) and Anna (Laura Dawkes). Elsa, the older sister, is powerful but temperamental, while Anna is ordinary but reliable. When Elsa ascends to the throne, she runs away rather than face her responsibilities, plunging the kingdom into permanent winter. So Anna sets off on a journey to find her, saving the kingdom and discovering her own power along the way. The stage version has 12 new songs, plus the favorites from the movie, including the show-stopper “Let It Go.” A note for the pedants in the crowd: While Frozen did run on Broadway from 2018 to 2020, this film is actually the West End production, which ran from 2021 to 2024.
Ash: Eiza Gonzalez and Aaron Paul star in this sci-fi head-trip from director Flying Lotus, who also composed the score (he’s perhaps best known as an electronic musician, but he’s starting to enter Rob Zombie territory as a musician-turned-distinctive horror filmmaker). Gonzalez plays Riya, an astronaut who wakes up on a ship with no memory of how she got there. All the other crew members are dead. The only living person is Brion (Paul), who says he has come to rescue her after receiving a distress call. She doesn’t know if she can trust him, and as her memories start to come back, she isn’t even sure if she can trust herself. It’s a worthy entry to the space horror canon that’s now streaming on Shudder.
KPop Demon Hunters: There are some fun mash-ups happening in this Sony-produced Netflix Original animated musical action comedy. It follows a K-pop girl group called Huntrix who moonlight as slayers protecting their fans from evil, soul-stealing supernatural forces. When a boy band whose members are all demons in disguise becomes popular, the members of Huntrix — Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong), and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) — have to battle them. It’s an anime-influenced madcap adventure, with a lead single performed by Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung of the popular K-pop group Twice.
Friendship: These days, there aren’t a lot of theatrically released comedy movies whose primary goal is to make you laugh so hard you shoot Diet Coke out of your nose, but Friendship is a special movie. Tim Robinson stars as Craig, a socially maladjusted man who strikes up a friendship with his new neighbor, a charismatic weatherman named Austin (Paul Rudd). But Craig takes things too far, and his obsession with maintaining the friendship threatens to ruin both of their lives. It’s the psychological, A24 version of a 2000s bromance comedy. Robinson is a one-of-a-kind comedic talent, but if you’re unfamiliar with his voice, Friendship might not be the best introduction. It’s a little dark and cringey. Watch his Netflix sketch show I Think You Should Leave first, then watch Friendship — now available to buy on VOD platforms like Amazon — and marvel at how writer-director Andrew DeYoung created the perfect vehicle for Robinson’s unique abilities.
Get all over new Haim
Timed to the release of their fourth album, I Quit, the trio of sisters from the Valley have released the video for "All Over Me," which features Will Poulter, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Archie Madekwe.
Wednesday on a Friday
Rock band Wednesday has debuted "Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)," the second song off of their upcoming album, Bleeds, which is set for release on Sept. 19.