THEY GOT THE BEAT
New Showtime documentary The Go-Go's is a straightforward music doc with the predictable arc tracking the rise to fame of the first all-female band to write their own songs and play their own instruments to hit No. 1 on the charts, followed by their ego- and chemical-fueled downfall. But the great archived footage and photos from the band's pre-fame days in the Los Angeles punk scene, and strikingly honest new interviews with the band members, freshen up what could have been nothing more than a long Behind the Music episode. You'll definitely fire up "We Got the Beat" and "Our Lips Are Sealed" when you're done watching. (DAN NAILEN)
RUN ALONG
While Bloomsday organizers had hoped to run Sept. 20, that didn't pan out, and Bloomsday 2020 is now being held "virtually." Those already registered don't need to do anything. You'll get a commemorative race number in the mail, and after you log the time it took to run or walk any 7.46 mile/12 kilometer route, completed Sept. 18-20, you'll also get your finisher T-shirt. If you don't want to do the run in this format, log in by Aug. 8 to defer your registration to 2021 when, hopefully, we'll all gather at the starting line in downtown Spokane once again. (CHEY SCOTT)
ALL MY CHILDREN
Don and Mimi Galvin and their 12 kids settled in Colorado Springs nearly 50 years ago, and their quiet suburban home became the epicenter of chaos: Six of their sons were diagnosed with schizophrenia, a mystery to medical professionals and the Galvins themselves. New nonfiction book Hidden Valley Road is a fascinating, empathetic look at a family attempting to maintain a clean-cut, Catholic veneer amidst unbelievable anguish, and at an anomalous case that led to breakthroughs in research linking mental illness and genetics. Author Robert Kolker digs into this harrowing history with a style equal parts analytical and novelistic. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)
GET THEE TO A NUNNERY
Warrior Nun on Netflix is a coming-of-age story-meets-X-Men-meets-The Da Vinci Code. I was initially excited. Worst case, it's going to be hilarious. Best case, it's going to kick ass. Unfortunately, this show falls somewhere in the middle as a 19-year-old woman's brought back from the dead by a clandestine group of young warrior nuns to fight demons and safeguard spiritual relics. Surprisingly, the show is light on Jesus and Christian dogma, but heavy on teenage insecurities. The main character's narration makes it almost unbearable. It's not my cup of tea, but there's promise for fans of supernatural action flicks. (QUINN WELSCH)
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores Aug. 7. To wit:
WASHED OUT, Purple Noon. Singer-songwriter Ernest Greene has a serious summer vibe working, especially on new single "Time To Walk Away."
MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER, The Dirt and the Stars. Fifteen studio albums in, Carpenter's still making intensely personal-yet-universal music.
JASON MOLINA, Eight Gates. An allegedly final batch of solo recordings from the Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. frontman who died in 2013. (DAN NAILEN)
