By The Associated Press
From Lana Del Rey’s latest album to the new spy thriller series “The Night Agent,” here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music and video game platforms this week.
MOVIES TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND
— The Oscar-nominated “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” was one of the high points in documentary in the past year. In it, Laura Poitras chronicles the pioneering photographer Nan Goldin, juxtaposing an intimate survey of her groundbreaking work in 1970s and 1980s New York and her contemporary crusade against the Sackler family, owners of the Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma. Goldin, who has herself wrestled with addiction, led the campaign to eradicate the Sackler name from many of the world’s top museums. Though the film didn’t win at the Oscars — something Goldin told me she was surprised to find she wanted — it took the top prize of the Venice Film Festival. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called the film” a “holistic portrait of an artist’s battle cry.” After debuting Sunday, March 19, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is available to stream on HBO Max.
— “Top Gun: Maverick” did come away with an Academy Award, for best sound. But one of the biggest box office hits of the year otherwise struck out at the Oscars. After an uncommonly long run in theaters, a lucrative stop on video on demand and a streaming launch on Paramount+, “Top Gun Maverick” arrives on a larger streaming platform Friday, March 24th, when it touches down on Amazon’s Prime Video. In his review, AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy called “Maverick” “a textbook example of how to make a sequel.”
— This month, the Criterion Channel has been paying tribute to the greatest comic artist of the 20th century: Buster Keaton. With five features and more than a dozen shorts, the series is an unbeatable feast. You can’t go wrong but a few highlights: Keaton’s glorious Olympic finale in “College”; his deft ladder balancing act in “Cops”; and his escape, through a high window, from an angry police chief-slash-furious-father in “The Goat.” With apologies to Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, nobody did it better.
MUSIC TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND
— Fans of Lana Del Rey got two albums in 2021 — “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and Blue Banisters” but nothing full-length in 2022. Now she’s got “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd” set to drop Friday. One of the singles, ”A&W,” offers a glimpse at the sing-songwriter’s bleak poetry: “Puts the shower on while he calls me/Slips out the back door to talk to me/I’m invisible, look how you hold me/I’m a ghost now.” The album features Jack Antonoff, Father John Misty, Jon Batiste and more. ( Read AP’s review.)
— Back in 1984, Phil Collins and Philip Bailey had a hit with the song “Easy Lover.” These days, UK pop star Ellie Goulding and Big Sean have a song with the same title that’s just as infectiously fun, part of Goulding’s 11-track album “Higher Than Heaven.” The songs marry her ethereal voice to strong dance hooks, from the ’80s-inspired “By the End of the Night” and “Just 4 You” to the modern pop of “Cure for Love.”
— Do you have what it takes to be a country music’s next big star? Then tune into Apple TV+’s “My Kind of Country,” in which Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Orville Peck search for talented amateur artists and invite them to Nashville, Tennessee, for a showcase. Reese Witherspoon and Kacey Musgraves also are featured in the series, set to premiere globally on Friday.
— 6lack is 6ack! The Atlanta singer-songwriter and rapper known as 6lack — pronounced “black” — returns with “Since I Have a Lover,” his first album in nearly five years. The title track is a airy, sweet ode to love with the lyrics: “Feel like a million bucks or somethin’/ Feel like we need to be up to somethin’/ Not tryna press my luck or nothin’/Don’t wanna love you just for fun.” The artist, raised in Zone 6 of Atlanta, has been doing a lot of collaborations since his last album, including Lil Tjay’s “Calling My Phone” and more recently Jessie Reyez’s “Forever.”
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
TV TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND
— Fans of shows including “Jack Ryan” and “The Recruit,” about low-level government agency workers who get pulled into danger and secret missions, should check out “The Night Agent” on Netflix. It follows an FBI agent tasked with manning an overnight emergency phone that surprisingly rings during one of his shifts. A desperate civilian is on the other end of the call and together, they find themselves embroiled in a major government conspiracy. The series stars Gabriel Russo and Luciane Buchanan and is based on the novel by Matthew Quirk. “The Night Agent” debuts Thursday.
— Mae Whitman, best-known for her roles in “Parenthood” and “Good Girls,” demonstrates she can also sing in her new rom-com series “Up Here” for Hulu. Set in 1999 in New York, Whitman plays Lindsay who falls for Miguel — played by Carlos Valdes (“The Flash” and “Gaslit”) — and the will-they, won’t-they find a happily ever after ensues. The series boasts some major behind-the-scenes musical talent. EGOT winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, behind that little animated film that could “Frozen,” are co-executive producers and wrote the show’s original music. The show has a whimsical, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”-vibe, plus there are fun late-’90s references including Y2K. All eight-episodes drop Friday, the same day the soundtrack lands.
— Kiefer Sutherland is back with another high-stakes TV drama in “Rabbit Hole” for Paramount+. He plays John Weir, a corporate spy skilled in the art of deception – until he finds the rug pulled out from underneath him and he is framed for murder. Weir goes from having total control to none, and unsure of who can be trusted. “Rabbit Hole” premieres with two episodes on Sunday.
— Alicia Rancilio
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY THIS WEEKEND
— Annapurna Interactive has developed a nearly impeccable reputation among connoisseurs of indie video games, from 2017’s groundbreaking mystery What Remains of Edith Finch to 2022’s futuristic cat sim Stray. The publisher’s latest release is Storyteller, a long-brewing project from Argentine designer Daniel Benmergui. The premise is simple: You have a library of characters, objects, events and other plot devices, and your job is arrange them to tell a particular type of tale. It’s a puzzle game that pays homage to classic literature, and the graphics ooze charm. Start spinning your own yarns Thursday on Nintendo Switch and PC.
— Death, the CEO of Death Inc., is burned out. His top minions — the executives in charge of Natural Disasters, Modern Warfare, Toxic Food-Processing and other misery-producing departments — are going about their business way too enthusiastically, and Death needs them to settle down before he drowns in paperwork. In Have a Nice Death, from France’s Magic Design Studios, you wield Death’s scythe as he hacks and slashes his way through the red tape. The vibrant, angular 2D graphics are reminiscent of the classic Rayman, which some members of Magic Design’s team worked on. The not-so-grim reaping comes to Nintendo Switch and PC on Wednesday.
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Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.
