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Fox News
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Mariska Hargitay shares the surprising way she discovered her biological father's identity
Print Close By Brie Stimson Published June 28, 2025 The Mariska Hargitay-directed documentary "My Mom Jayne" covers a lot of ground about actress Jayne Mansfield's life and about Hargitay's attempts to reconnect with the memory of her mother. The film had its share of bombshells, most notably that Hargitay found out as an adult that the man who raised her wasn't her biological father and that, in the chaos of the car crash that killed her mother, Hargitay was left behind at the scene as a 3-year-old. The documentary also reveals that Mansfield hungered to be a serious actress despite her "dumb blonde" image. Mariska found out that Mickey Hargitay wasn't her biological father Hargitay revealed for the first time in the documentary that Mickey Hargitay wasn't her biological father as she believed her entire childhood. MARISKA HARGITAY STUNS IN CANNES AFTER REVEALING SHOCKING FAMILY SECRET When she was 25, she said she was talking with the head of Jayne Mansfield's fan club, Sabin Gray, and he inadvertently told her about her biological father. "He's showing me all these photos," the "Law & Order: SVU" star told Alex Cooper this week on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "He's showing me whatever it is, dresses that she had that he'd collected, earrings that she wore, things from movies from the movie set, props or whatever, and then he says to me, 'Do you want to see a picture of Nelson?'" She added, "I just looked at him, and this jolt went through my body, and I said, 'Who's Nelson?' And then I knew in one second." She said in the documentary, "That's when like I think the blood just drained out of his face and he sort of went white as a ghost and he looked at me panicked and he said, 'Well, it's probably not true,'" adding that he then showed her pictures of a man who "looked like the male version of me." She told Cooper, "And I think that (Gray) couldn't believe that I didn't know. I was 25, how could I not know?" She said in the film, "It was like the floor fell out from underneath me. Just the bottom dropped out of everything. It was like my infrastructure dissolved and life as I knew it was irrevocably changed." She told Cooper that she felt like she was going to crash her car after she left Sabin's house "because I was so not present. I was totally dissociated and out of my body, and I got to my brother's house. I didn't even know how I got there, but I knew that I shouldn't be driving. It was crazy." After that, she said she then confronted her father, asking him, "Why didn't you tell me you're not my father? You lied to me." 'LAW & ORDER: SVU' STAR MARISKA HARGITAY'S REAL-LIFE HERO MOMENT ON LIVE TV But he told her that was "bulls---." "I was in so much pain," she said in the documentary, "but I could see his pain was almost worse, so I decided I would never talk about it again, and I would never bring it up to him again, and I never did," she said. "But the fact is I had bad years after that." She said she didn't tell anyone, and would just go to bed crying every night for a long time. Hargitay had an identity crisis over the revelation. "Who was I related to? Who did I belong to? And then, on top of it, I was born out of some affair like some illegitimate, sinful mistake? I was so angry at my mother for leaving me in this mess and for hurting my father and for leaving me feeling so alone and untethered," she admitted. She said for her own survival she "disowned the part of myself that was my mother's daughter." Meeting her biological father When she was 30, she decided to go see her biological father, Nelson Sardelli, who was performing in Atlantic City at the time. "And after the show he came out and I said, 'Hi, Nelson, my name is Mariska Hargitay. I understand you knew my mother,'" she said. He burst into tears and told her "'I've been waiting 30 years for this moment,'" she said, adding that they stayed up until 5 in the morning talking that night, and he told her what had happened. SOPHIA LOREN AND JAYNE MANSFIELD: THE STORY BEHIND THAT INFAMOUS SNAP "That was 30 years ago, and I've kept it a secret ever since," she added. Sardelli said he met Mansfield in Atlanta, and she asked him to see her show. When the show was over, she asked to go for a ride in his car. He said that at the time Mansfield and Hargitay weren't talking to each other, and she and Sardelli began publicly dating, and he was even introduced to her kids. They performed together, made a movie together and went all over Europe together. He found out Mansfield was pregnant with his child while they were in Europe. Hargitay read a letter in the documentary that Mansfield wrote to her mother talking about "going through perhaps the most trying time" of her life while she was pregnant with Hargitay and having "the love of two men – a very deep love from each of them. I hope God shows me the way soon because I have really been depressed as of late." Sardelli said in the documentary that he broke up with her in Europe, and they never spoke again, which he called the "biggest shame" of his life, acknowledging "a lot of people paid the price for this love affair that we had." "I can't imagine what your father felt, but I am grateful to him," he said. He told Hargitay after Mansfield died, her grandmother wanted him to "rock the boat and claim you or something but by that time Mickey was the father you knew, and your siblings they were your siblings. What would I be accomplishing that would be beneficial to you?" JAYNE MANSFIELD'S FATAL CAR CRASH CHANGED ELAINE STEVENS' LIFE FOREVER Years later, he said he talked to Mickey once and Hargitay told him, "'Nelson, nobody has to tell me who's the father of my child,' and I said to him, 'I will not embarrass you in any way. Never.'" Hargitay's stepmom told her that if Sardelli ever came up in conversation, he would only tell her, "I'm her father, period." "Mickey was a great father, and he was so full of love for you, but I think Mickey was quite capable of shutting out pain, which I think he did a lot with Jayne, so he said Mariska's my daughter, and he said that until the day he passed," she added. Hargitay said she spent 30 years trying to hide her story "to honor my dad, but something that I've also realized is that sometimes keeping a secret doesn't honor anyone." Reacting to the truth being revealed for the first time in her documentary, Sardelli said it felt like a "stronger, higher power is forgiving me. There is nothing I can change, but I regret having extricated myself from your mother's life because I think certain things would not have happened to her." He added that he'd like to be able to have one more conversation with Mickey and apologize to him, "because I'm sure I was part of his suffering." Hargitay added, "I've spent most of my life feeling ashamed of my mother, a person who I had no memory of, a person whose voice I didn't want to hear, a person's whose career made me want to do it differently, a person who made her share of problematic choices and left me with loss and secrets, but at 60 years old I feel different." Hargitay also met her half-siblings Giovanna and Pietra Sardelli, who kept the secret as well. Giovanna said she once confronted her father as a child after finding a secret letter he'd kept written from Mansfield's mother, telling him he had an "amazing child that's yours," but he told Giovanna that Hargitay is a "little girl, has a father who loves her like I love you. This little girl is safe." Pietra interjected, "'And if she is OK, she just lost her mother. You cannot take the only family she knows,' and that was their decision and that's why they stayed quiet." MARISKA HARGITAY OPENS UP ABOUT LOSING HER MOM JAYNE MANSFIELD AS A CHILD: 'THERE'S NO GUARANTEES' "And that made sense to me and I tucked that away." Giovanna said, adding that she remembered coming years later to Mariska's birthday party and telling Katie Couric when the journalist asked, that they weren't related, they were just family friends. "My need to honor Mickey was so huge, but the fact is I was wrong, because you guys had to live all these years with the secret, and you were so generous, so generous to me," Hargitay told her sisters. Hargitay was left behind after deadly crash While the documentary doesn't go into a lot of detail about the Mississippi crash that killed Mansfield and two others, Hargitay's brother Zolton Hargitay, who was 6 at the time, said he remembered his mother had been sitting in the back seat with the children before moving into the front seat. He said she had been arguing with her boyfriend, then she got out of the car and called their father before she moved into the front seat. Zoltan remembered her comforting him before the crash, "telling me I was going to be fine, 20 minutes later, half an hour, whatever, I heard her scream so loud, and that was it – just silence." The car had crashed into a tractor trailer that had slowed down around 2 in the morning on June 29, 1967, killing Mansfield, her boyfriend and the driver of the car. Mariska, Zoltan and Mickey Hargitay, Jr. were in the back seat at the time and survived. "I often think about why she didn't just stay in the back seat with us," Zolton said through tears. Zoltan said he remembered being in a car on the way to the hospital and looking around before saying, "Where's Maria?" referring to Mariska. "And they said 'Who's Maria,' so then we doubled back." Ellen Hargitay, Mariska's stepmom, said when they went back, she was found "lodged underneath the passenger seat with a head injury and – thank God, thank God Zolie woke up." Mansfield had no will when she died at 34 Mansfield didn't have a will at the time of her death at 34 years old in 1967, "So the state sold off her belongings to pay her debts and there were just a handful of items that my siblings and I were able to keep," Hargitay explained in the doc. She added, "For me, a lot of this is about reclaiming what was lost. Even physical things." Hargitay finally went through the family storage unit, which she said hadn't been opened since 1969, two years after her mother's death. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER A poignant moment near the end of the film showed Hargitay's husband, Peter Hermann, surprising her with Mansfield's piano. The actress was both a pianist and violinist. Mickey wasn't over Mansfield when he married Hargitay's stepmom Hargitay's stepmom, Ellen Hargitay, said she's sure Mansfield's widower was "not over her" when they met and started dating. "Because she passed away June 29, 1967, and Mickey and I got married in April of 1968. But you always have them with you," she said. "There's no way when you love somebody that they ever leave your heart. I don't care who, I don't care how angry you are, I don't care anything. If you really love somebody they remain in there." Mansfield's oldest child, Jayne Marie Mansfield, said: "It was love at first sight with Mickey [Hargitay]. It really was, and he was just such a nice man, you could just see that she was so happy." Hargitay and Mansfield divorced in 1963, four years before her death. Her daughter Jayne said she believes her mom became depressed shortly before her divorce from Hargitay. "Her career wasn't going well, so she went back to these parts for dumb blondes," Mansfield explained. "I don't think it was easy for her. But I don't think it was easy for Mickey either. She was completely absorbed in negativity because she wasn't doing the kind of work she dreamed of doing, and I believe she became a victim of depression. You know you're never yourself when you're depressed." LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Ellen said Mansfield started meeting other men and "the marriage fell apart. I think Mickey was hurt deeply by Jayne. I think she blew it when she divorced Mickey." "Mickey was the most positive influence in her life and even though he might have felt a lot of pain, he loved her. He always loved her even after they were divorced," she added. Mansfield came back to him many times after their divorce, and they were together again for a few months around the time she was pregnant with Mariska, Jayne said. Mansfield personified a 'dumb blonde' character Hargitay said her mother's baby whisper voice used to annoy her, and she would try not to listen to it when she heard her. "She didn't always talk like that," Hargitay said, adding that her mother had copied Marilyn Monroe in that way. Her former publicist Rusty Strait said she personified that character because it was what the studio wanted at the time. But at home, her daughter Jayne said she "didn't put on any of those airs," and wore her hair in a scarf and no makeup. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "But she was also very eloquent. She spoke French, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, and she wanted us to be exposed to more [in life]," she added. Her son, Zoltan, said he "kind of looked the other way" when his mom did her "public voice. Because I knew she was really, really smart." Jayne said her mother told her she wanted to be a serious actress but "the parts didn't come in so she did what she had to do." She said Mansfield had "great admiration" for Marilyn Monroe, but eventually realized "that blonde persona is a box," adding that her mom told her around the time of Monroe's death in 1962 that "she wanted to reverse that image." "My Mom Jayne" premiered on HBO on Friday and is streaming on Max. Print Close URL
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay's Friendship with Knicks Star Jalen Brunson Makes Ben Stiller Jealous
Mariska Hargitay has friends and fans everywhere you look. The Law & Order: SVU star has been on TV chasing down the worst of the worst as Captain Olivia Benson since 1999 ... when future Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was 3 years old. These days in 2025, Brunson's family fandom has earned Hargitay some special privileges at Knicks games, which she confirmed to Seth Meyers on Late Night. "Ben Stiller — who's a fan and also has very nice seats like you — said all the celebrities are jealous because Jalen Brunson only hugs you after games," Seth said. "And this was a choice Jalen Brunson made. You didn't storm the court and hug him! So how did your first postgame embrace with Jalen come to pass?" "I said Jalen, bring it in," the actress and filmmaker joked. But really, "how it started was they let me know that Jalen was a big fan, and I was so flattered and thrilled, because I was such a huge fan," Hargitay told Meyers. "I think Jalen sort of grew up on SVU...I think he felt this, as many people do, intimacy and safety that one does growing up on SVU." They're so close that Hargitay is even on friendly terms with Brunson's dad, Rick. "I call him Rick. We're close like that," she said with a laugh. "It feels like the biggest name drop."After Meyers called him out for being jealous, Stiller jokingly replied to the clip on X (formerly Twitter) with "That's cool, I guess? Whatever." A massive lifelong fan and constant presence at Knicks games, Stiller is so close to the team that he often appears on Brunson's podcast, The Roommates Show, and has griped about this issue before. "The love that Mariska Hargitay gets from you post-game is the envy of every other Knicks celebrity game," he said in a clip posted to the Roommates Show X (formerly Twitter) account on May 5. "She gets a hug after a loss." "I've seen you not hug your wife after some losses," added Brunson's colleague and co-host Josh Hart. "That's a lie! Damn, man," Brunson said. "I just remember my dad always watching the show. You always hear the iconic 'dun dun' all the time in the house. My dad also watches the TV incredibly loud. I started from Season 1, watched all the way through. It's like a pregame show for me. I've always loved that show, and I've never been super super starstruck [but] I saw her and I was like, 'Oh, s--t.' The first time we met, it was awesome, and we talked and everything." "Like, he's there all the time," Brunson continued, pointing to Stiller. "I know he's coming to the game. I expect to see him there all the time. This was her first or second game this year and I'm not going to see her for a long time, so I'm just going to say 'Hi,' and go." "I guess I gotta come to less games," Stiller Hargitay shows up to support Brunson on the court, Brunson showed up to support Hargitay on the red carpet at the premiere of her new documentary, My Mom Jayne. Meyers shared a photo of the pair on the red carpet while Hargitay clutched her hand to her heart. "You support him and he's courtside with your documentary," Meyers accurately said.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay Says It's A ‘Miracle' That Biological Father's Identity Was Kept A Secret
Mariska Hargitay continues to feel relief at being able to confront a long-held family secret on her own terms. Hargitay, 61, is making her feature directorial debut with 'My Mom Jayne,' a documentary about her late mother, screen legend Jayne Mansfield, that premieres Friday on HBO. In the film, she reveals musician Nelson Sardelli to be her biological father, though she was raised by bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, whom she viewed as her dad. The 'Law & Order: SVU' actor last month shared how she made the discovery, telling Vanity Fair she began coming to terms with 'knowing' she'd been 'living a lie my entire life' around the time she was 30. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a new interview this week, she said she feared the news would somehow become public fodder prior to the release of 'My Mom Jayne.' 'I was so fearful to have to confront it before I was ready to,' she told the outlet. 'Thank God it never went anywhere. It's been a real gift to me to be able to tell it in my time when I was ready.' Mansfield, whose popularity rivaled Marilyn Monroe during her lifetime, was married to Mickey Hargitay from 1958 to 1964. She and Sardelli had a brief affair in the early 1960s. In 'My Mom Jayne,' Hargitay says she began suspecting Mickey Hargitay wasn't her father in her 20s. Upon learning with certainty that Sardelli was her father, however, she decided to keep the truth a secret out of loyalty to Mickey Hargitay, who raised her as his own after Mansfield's death in 1967 and referred to her as his daughter until his own death in 2006. The truth about Hargitay's parentage was first publicly revealed in 'Here They Are, Jayne Mansfield,' a 1992 biography written by Mansfield's former press agent, Raymond Strait. Remarkably, the revelation stayed largely under wraps at the time of the book's publication. 'The fact is that the story was out there in a lot of places,' Hargitay told EW. 'And so, the fact that it never came out is nothing short of a miracle, truly.' Describing 'My Mom Jayne' as a 'healing experience' for her and her siblings, Hargitay said she's learned to embrace her unusual family structure. 'Nothing could change my love, respect, admiration and gratitude for [Mickey Hargitay],' she said. 'And as I got to know Nelson, as he explained to me what happened, it just became a much more three-dimensional story. I realized that everyone's doing the best they can. It wasn't so black and white anymore to me.' Liam Payne's Sister Shares Heartbreaking Reaction To Seeing His Final TV Appearance Charlie Sheen's Daughter Says She's Suffered Mystery Illness For Nearly 2 Years Due To Breast Implants Bruce Willis' Daughter Speaks Out After Criticism For Sharing 'Vulnerable' Photos Of Her Dad
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
8 new movies out this weekend, on streaming and in theaters: See ‘F1,' watch Mariska Hargitay's ‘My Mom Jayne' and new ‘Looney Tunes' on HBO Max
Hello, Yahoo readers! Brett Arnold here, and I'm back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything, recommending new release movies out the weekend of June 26. What's the first thing you ought to know? Brad Pitt's F1: The Movie, hitting theaters nationwide, is a thrilling ride. Also in theaters is the killer AI robot flick M3GAN 2.0, which is a dumb fun time. For the couch potatoes, there's the documentary My Mom Jayne from actress Mariska Hargitay about the life of her mother, Jayne Mansfield. It's enlightening, well-crafted and deeply emotional, thanks to the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star's vulnerability. On streaming, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and A Working Man, the latest from Jason Statham, are on HBO Max and MGM+, respectively. But that's not all! Read on because there's something here for everyone. What to watch in theaters Movies newly available to rent or buy Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have My recommendation: Why you should watch it: The main selling point of F1: The Movie, besides Brad Pitt, of course, is that the director of Top Gun: Maverick is taking his talents to the increasingly popular sport of Formula One racing, outfitting rocket-powered race cars with cameras and filming them practically the same way he did to fighter jets. The spurning of CGI here is key, and it's what makes both Top Gun and F1 stand out in an era of "let's just do it in post" blockbuster filmmaking; a throwback to '90s blockbusters, down to the Jerry Bruckheimer producer credit. In F1, Pitt and his co-star Damon Idris were actually driving cars around Formula One tracks, and when the movie's in racing mode, it's inherently thrilling. They were also allowed to film with IMAX cameras during an actual F1 season, so there's plenty of awesome footage throughout. The problems arise when it's not delivering cars going fast, which is far too often, especially considering the movie runs a whopping two-and-a-half hours. It's simply too cliché-ridden, both storywise and characterwise, for that massive runtime to go down easy. It's nice to see Kerry Condon of The Banshees of Inisherin fame here, though her character is so archetypal you can predict her and Pitt's arc from frame one. The movie does a good enough job of laying out the basics of Formula One so that amateurs can keep up and delivers where it needs to, even if it never reaches the highs — literally — of the director's Top Gun: Maverick. 🍿 What critics are saying: Critics are largely into it, but there are detractors. Stephanie Zacharek at Time cleverly calls it a "perfect Brad Pitt vehicle," writing that, at 61, he's "finally aged into roles like these. And sometimes, as F1 proves, they're the best thing that can happen to a guy." The Wrap's William Bibbiani, on the other hand, goes so far as to call it "limp" and "sterile." 👀 How to watch: F1 is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets ➕ Bonus recommendation: Why you should watch it: M3GAN 2.0 follows in the footsteps of the most famous artificial intelligence robot movie of all time, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, turning the villain of the first movie into the hero here as she's forced to take on an even scarier threat than … well, herself. It doesn't just shift perspectives, this sequel is another genre entirely. Horror fans expecting another killer AI movie might be disappointed, but if you're willing to follow the movie down the campy path it's charting, you'll be rewarded with some mindless thrills. Frankly, it's also crazy how much the new villain Amelia, played by Ukrainian actress Ivanna Sakhno, looks exactly like Elizabeth Olson, but that's irrelevant even if it's hard to dismiss. Speaking of dismissing things, its hard to ignore the 'can't we all just get along with AI' messaging that they're clearly pushing. 🍿 What critics are saying: It's clearly a mixed bag! Mashable's Kristy Puchko declares that appealing to a broader audience killed the fun, calling it "a horrendous mishmash of ideas and influences" that's mostly "derivative, bewildering and bland." The Telegraph's Robbie Collins, however, had a great time with it, calling it "uproarious, if not especially scary" and that it leans into silliness "with infectious glee." 👀 How to watch: M3GAN 2.0 is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets My recommendation: Why you should watch it: This very meta quasi-documentary about the intentionally impenetrable indie band Pavement is a lot of fun for fans of the group, but even those unfamiliar may get something out of it. The movie is clever, some will argue too clever, as it mixes not just genres but entire forms; it purports to be a biopic about the band, complete with actors playing the band members (Joe Keery from Stranger Things is a delight as frontman Stephen Malkmus), while also existing as a documentary about the process of the band turning their discography into a jukebox musical, which was a real production that existed in New York City, and their 2022 reunion tour and also an art installation. Phew! But the real off-Broadway production and the art show were, ultimately, just fodder for this movie, which is mocking the entire idea of a biopic about a self-important band, while actually making one. It's got layers, man, and it's a beautiful and funny love letter to the band and their unique sardonic nature. 🍿 What critics are saying: It's a hit with critics, scoring an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Washington Post's Ann Hornaday calls it "a completist's dream," adding that "if its appeal lies mostly in servicing the most devoted core, that's of a piece with a history that's always felt like a super-intense secret handshake. Adam Solomons at IndieWire nails it with this: "It's a reminder that the fourth (and fifth and sixth) wall can be smashed, that the rock doc can be reinvented." 👀 How to watch: Pavements is now available to rent or buy. Rent or buy 'Pavements' My recommendation: Why you should watch it: This is a deeply personal and affecting documentary made with tender love and care by the only person who could have done so: Mariska Hargitay, the daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield, who died tragically in a car accident at age 35. Mariska was 3 at the time; she and her siblings were in the car when it happened, all surviving in the backseat. The film tells Hargitay's story of how she was told not to engage with the books that exist and all the other media surrounding her mother, as none of what's written is true, and how she suppressed everything about her mother until now. It's a well-crafted and enlightening look at Mansfield's life that gets into big ideas like public perception versus reality — she was perceived as a "dumb blonde," but that was a very calculated image — and dark family secrets are unearthed along the way. It becomes an intensely emotional experience, as Hargitay and her family get incredibly vulnerable. 🍿 What critics are saying: Deadline's Pete Hammond sums it up well: "This film is less standard showbiz bio and more Mariska's effort to use the documentary format to uncover the past, to find her own place in her mother's life and to move on in what is essentially a journey to healing — and that includes a very happy ending that just might have you in tears." 👀 How to watch: My Mom Jayneis now streaming on HBO Max. Stream on HBO Max Bonus recommendation: Why you should watch it: This movie is, somehow, the first-ever feature-length movie in the 96-year history of Looney Tunes that is 100% animated. Every other Looney Tunes movie has a live-action element (think: Space Jam or Brendan Fraser in Looney Tunes: Back in Action). The movie stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck and plays like a kiddie version of B-grade sci-fi movies that parents will recognize, full of references to the genre. As I wrote earlier this year, both kids and adults are likely to find it funny throughout, and the stunningly beautiful hand-drawn animation will make you wish more kids fare took the time to look this good. 🍿 What critics are saying: They love it! Indiewire's David Ehrlich writes that the movie "isn't arguing for the past at the expense of the future, it's simply trying to put a modern spin on a classic formula in a way that makes you wonder why we ever left it behind." Frank Scheck at the Hollywood Reporter agrees, calling it a "delight for kids and adults alike." 👀 How to watch: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is now streaming on HBO Max. Stream on HBO Max 🤔 If that's not for you... Sadly, the latest collaboration from Jason Statham and David Ayer is no Beekeeper. That movie was self-aware about its silly premise and still delivered exciting action, whereas this one takes itself way too seriously and features no memorable action whatsoever. It's entirely forgettable, but it'll have to do until The Beekeeper 2 comes out next year. Now streaming on MGM+. : If you're willing to meet the movie where it's at — that is, going in knowing that it's more a somber film about trauma and suicidal ideation masquerading as a crowd-pleasing jump-scare horror film — you just might come away impressed. Some may find it glib given the seriousness of the subject matter, but it's better than your average "elevated horror" film because it actually engages with its heavy themes, and because Jaume Collet-Serra directs the hell out of it. Now streaming on Peacock. That's all for this week — we'll see you next Friday at the movies!
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
8 new movies out this weekend, on streaming and in theaters: See ‘F1,' watch Mariska Hargitay's ‘My Mom Jayne' and new ‘Looney Tunes' on HBO Max
We independently evaluate the products we review. When you buy via links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read more about how we vet products and deals. Hello, Yahoo readers! Brett Arnold here, and I'm back with another edition of Trust Me, I Watch Everything, recommending new release movies out the weekend of June 26. What's the first thing you ought to know? Brad Pitt's F1: The Movie, hitting theaters nationwide, is a thrilling ride. Also in theaters is the killer AI robot flick M3GAN 2.0, which is a dumb fun time. For the couch potatoes, there's the documentary My Mom Jayne from actress Mariska Hargitay about the life of her mother, Jayne Mansfield. It's enlightening, well-crafted and deeply emotional, thanks to the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star's vulnerability. On streaming, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and A Working Man, the latest from Jason Statham, are on HBO Max and MGM+, respectively. But that's not all! Read on because there's something here for everyone. What to watch in theaters Movies newly available to rent or buy Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have My recommendation: Why you should watch it: The main selling point of F1: The Movie, besides Brad Pitt, of course, is that the director of Top Gun: Maverick is taking his talents to the increasingly popular sport of Formula One racing, outfitting rocket-powered race cars with cameras and filming them practically the same way he did to fighter jets. The spurning of CGI here is key, and it's what makes both Top Gun and F1 stand out in an era of "let's just do it in post" blockbuster filmmaking; a throwback to '90s blockbusters, down to the Jerry Bruckheimer producer credit. In F1, Pitt and his co-star Damon Idris were actually driving cars around Formula One tracks, and when the movie's in racing mode, it's inherently thrilling. They were also allowed to film with IMAX cameras during an actual F1 season, so there's plenty of awesome footage throughout. The problems arise when it's not delivering cars going fast, which is far too often, especially considering the movie runs a whopping two-and-a-half hours. It's simply too cliché-ridden, both storywise and characterwise, for that massive runtime to go down easy. It's nice to see Kerry Condon of The Banshees of Inisherin fame here, though her character is so archetypal you can predict her and Pitt's arc from frame one. The movie does a good enough job of laying out the basics of Formula One so that amateurs can keep up and delivers where it needs to, even if it never reaches the highs — literally — of the director's Top Gun: Maverick. 🍿 What critics are saying: Critics are largely into it, but there are detractors. Stephanie Zacharek at Time cleverly calls it a "perfect Brad Pitt vehicle," writing that, at 61, he's "finally aged into roles like these. And sometimes, as F1 proves, they're the best thing that can happen to a guy." The Wrap's William Bibbiani, on the other hand, goes so far as to call it "limp" and "sterile." 👀 How to watch: F1 is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets ➕ Bonus recommendation: Why you should watch it: M3GAN 2.0 follows in the footsteps of the most famous artificial intelligence robot movie of all time, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, turning the villain of the first movie into the hero here as she's forced to take on an even scarier threat than … well, herself. It doesn't just shift perspectives, this sequel is another genre entirely. Horror fans expecting another killer AI movie might be disappointed, but if you're willing to follow the movie down the campy path it's charting, you'll be rewarded with some mindless thrills. Frankly, it's also crazy how much the new villain Amelia, played by Ukrainian actress Ivanna Sakhno, looks exactly like Elizabeth Olson, but that's irrelevant even if it's hard to dismiss. Speaking of dismissing things, its hard to ignore the 'can't we all just get along with AI' messaging that they're clearly pushing. 🍿 What critics are saying: It's clearly a mixed bag! Mashable's Kristy Puchko declares that appealing to a broader audience killed the fun, calling it "a horrendous mishmash of ideas and influences" that's mostly "derivative, bewildering and bland." The Telegraph's Robbie Collins, however, had a great time with it, calling it "uproarious, if not especially scary" and that it leans into silliness "with infectious glee." 👀 How to watch: M3GAN 2.0 is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets My recommendation: Why you should watch it: This very meta quasi-documentary about the intentionally impenetrable indie band Pavement is a lot of fun for fans of the group, but even those unfamiliar may get something out of it. The movie is clever, some will argue too clever, as it mixes not just genres but entire forms; it purports to be a biopic about the band, complete with actors playing the band members (Joe Keery from Stranger Things is a delight as frontman Stephen Malkmus), while also existing as a documentary about the process of the band turning their discography into a jukebox musical, which was a real production that existed in New York City, and their 2022 reunion tour and also an art installation. Phew! But the real off-Broadway production and the art show were, ultimately, just fodder for this movie, which is mocking the entire idea of a biopic about a self-important band, while actually making one. It's got layers, man, and it's a beautiful and funny love letter to the band and their unique sardonic nature. 🍿 What critics are saying: It's a hit with critics, scoring an impressive 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Washington Post's Ann Hornaday calls it "a completist's dream," adding that "if its appeal lies mostly in servicing the most devoted core, that's of a piece with a history that's always felt like a super-intense secret handshake. Adam Solomons at IndieWire nails it with this: "It's a reminder that the fourth (and fifth and sixth) wall can be smashed, that the rock doc can be reinvented." 👀 How to watch: Pavements is now available to rent or buy. Rent or buy 'Pavements' My recommendation: Why you should watch it: This is a deeply personal and affecting documentary made with tender love and care by the only person who could have done so: Mariska Hargitay, the daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield, who died tragically in a car accident at age 35. Mariska was 3 at the time; she and her siblings were in the car when it happened, all surviving in the backseat. The film tells Hargitay's story of how she was told not to engage with the books that exist and all the other media surrounding her mother, as none of what's written is true, and how she suppressed everything about her mother until now. It's a well-crafted and enlightening look at Mansfield's life that gets into big ideas like public perception versus reality — she was perceived as a "dumb blonde," but that was a very calculated image — and dark family secrets are unearthed along the way. It becomes an intensely emotional experience, as Hargitay and her family get incredibly vulnerable. 🍿 What critics are saying: Deadline's Pete Hammond sums it up well: "This film is less standard showbiz bio and more Mariska's effort to use the documentary format to uncover the past, to find her own place in her mother's life and to move on in what is essentially a journey to healing — and that includes a very happy ending that just might have you in tears." 👀 How to watch: My Mom Jayneis now streaming on HBO Max. Stream on HBO Max Bonus recommendation: Why you should watch it: This movie is, somehow, the first-ever feature-length movie in the 96-year history of Looney Tunes that is 100% animated. Every other Looney Tunes movie has a live-action element (think: Space Jam or Brendan Fraser in Looney Tunes: Back in Action). The movie stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck and plays like a kiddie version of B-grade sci-fi movies that parents will recognize, full of references to the genre. As I wrote earlier this year, both kids and adults are likely to find it funny throughout, and the stunningly beautiful hand-drawn animation will make you wish more kids fare took the time to look this good. 🍿 What critics are saying: They love it! Indiewire's David Ehrlich writes that the movie "isn't arguing for the past at the expense of the future, it's simply trying to put a modern spin on a classic formula in a way that makes you wonder why we ever left it behind." Frank Scheck at the Hollywood Reporter agrees, calling it a "delight for kids and adults alike." 👀 How to watch: The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is now streaming on HBO Max. Stream on HBO Max 🤔 If that's not for you... Sadly, the latest collaboration from Jason Statham and David Ayer is no Beekeeper. That movie was self-aware about its silly premise and still delivered exciting action, whereas this one takes itself way too seriously and features no memorable action whatsoever. It's entirely forgettable, but it'll have to do until The Beekeeper 2 comes out next year. Now streaming on MGM+. : If you're willing to meet the movie where it's at — that is, going in knowing that it's more a somber film about trauma and suicidal ideation masquerading as a crowd-pleasing jump-scare horror film — you just might come away impressed. Some may find it glib given the seriousness of the subject matter, but it's better than your average "elevated horror" film because it actually engages with its heavy themes, and because Jaume Collet-Serra directs the hell out of it. Now streaming on Peacock. That's all for this week — we'll see you next Friday at the movies!
