The Best Thing I Watched This Summer

I broke my cardinal rule and went outside. My sunburn is my punishment.

I’m on vacation this week, but still wanted to give y’all some good recommendations of things to watch. Thankfully, my Daily Beast colleagues agreed to help out.

I gave them a prompt—what is the best thing you watched this summer?—and their responses are a perfect mix of great TV shows and movies, hilarious memes and viral moments, and hits from the past they’ve finally caught up on. Altogether, it’s a perfect summer playlist to keep you from making the same mistake as me: Stay inside, folks, and enjoy!

The Invite is one of those movies where there’s a certain, unidentifiable point when you start to feel yourself electrified by what you’re watching. You’re rapt. You’re surprised. And everything that is happening on screen has you what I so eloquently describe as “hootin’ and hollerin’,” both inside and out. Olivia Wilde’s film is an intimate relationship rodeo staged within the walls of one apartment, with herself, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton taking what appears to have been the prompt, “Do Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but more psychosexual,” and going buckwild. The number of times I have said, “Jamón?” this summer… - Me!

During a summer that seemed like it would be lighter than usual in quality TV, Hulu’s Furious seemingly came out of nowhere to become—in my opinion, at least—the show of the summer. I should have known, given that it’s created by the prolific Liz Meriwether, who broke through with New Girl and then showed her surprising versatility with the Elizabeth Holmes series The Dropout and the excellent cancer/sex comedy(?) Dying for Sex. But the true revelation of her new crime thriller is the three performances at its center: Emmy Rossum, Lola Petticrew (from my beloved Say Nothing), and a truly knockout performance from the relatively unknown Quincy Tyler Bernstine as FBI agent Nora Washington. If you’re as Obsessed as I am, check out Kevin’s fabulous interview with Liz Meriwether on (where else?) Obsessed: The Podcast! - Matt Wilstein, Editorial Director, Obsessed

There’s something about a hard-R romantic comedy with nudity and cursing that hits differently. There’s only so many times I can suspend disbelief that not a single person in the girls’ chat about getting laid is dropping an f-bomb. Office Romance was such a delightful change of pace. Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez were totally buyable as super successful people willing to throw their careers away to boink each other (see what happens when you can’t curse?). J. Lo is staggeringly hot, per usual. The supporting cast was stacked with faces from funny projects. And the comedy was actually comedy, not just a nod to a lighthearted tone. Five stars; would make out recklessly in an elevator again. - Emily Levin, VP Marketing