Paddington Bear is going on an Indiana Jones-style adventure in “Paddington in Peru”,\ and Alexander Skarsgard is playing a robot with free will in Apple TV+'s series “Murderbot”. These are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: The Dominican-American singer Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno,” the surprise Bravo hit “Mormon Wives” returns for Season 2 and there's a new gaming chapter in the groundbreaking Doom series, Doom: The Dark Ages.
New movies to stream from May 12-18
— Brady Corbet’s epic “The Brutalist” is finally making its way to Max on Friday, May 16. The three-and-a-half-hour postwar saga won Adrien Brody the best actor Oscar earlier this year for his portrayal of László Tóth, a fictional architect and Holocaust survivor who attempts to build a new life in America. It was also awarded the best score (Daniel Blumberg) and best cinematography prizes. Director of photography Lol Crawley shot in VistaVision, a 70-year-old format famously utilized in films like “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest.” In her review, AP's Jocelyn Noveck wrote, “It’s about the immigrant experience, and it’s about what happens when the American dream beckons, then fails. It also explores a different dream: the artist’s dream, and what happens when it meets opposing forces, be they geographic displacement or cold economic calculus.”
— Paddington bear and the Brown family go on an Indiana Jones-style adventure in “Paddington in Peru,” streaming on Netflix on Thursday. This third installment in the charming series has a few changes from its predecessors — in the filmmaker (Dougal Wilson taking over for Paul King) and Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer subbing in for Sally Hawkins). In his review, AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that Wilson “can’t quite summon the same comic spirit” as King, but added that “bright and buoyant, will do. If some of King’s Wes Anderson-inspired pop-up book designs and skill with fine character actors is missing, the bedrock earnestness and unflaggingly good manners of its ursine protagonist remain charmingly unaltered.”
— In March 1988, the students of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. staged a historic protest over the appointment of a hearing president instead of one who was deaf. “Deaf President Now!,” a documentary streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 16, chronicles that moment and examines its broader impact, like how it helped pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The film’s visuals and soundscape were also designed to bring audiences into the Deaf experience.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
New music to stream from May 12-18
— Somehow, some way it has been 25 years since Britney Spears first put on a red latex catsuit and sang “Opps!... I Did It Again” through her singular breathy tone, the title track of her sophomore album. Across the album – which includes other hits “Lucky” and “Stronger” – she ushered in new millennium as a zeitgeist-shaping pop superstar. Her influence in the decades that followed is unimpeachable, and on Friday, Sony will release a 25th anniversary edition of the record, complete with bonus tracks.
— Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta returns with an ambitious new album, “La Belleza.” It arrives five years after her breakout “Miss Colombia,” and features the inventive artist veering into new, classical influences while maintaining her interest in Afro-Indigenous polyrhythms; the record was co-orchestrated with skilled arranger Owen Pallett. It’s a step up for an artist whose embrace of the past has always placed her squarely in the future.
— The Dominican American singer Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno” – offering Spanglish, bachata-infused reimaginations of tracks like “Killing Me Softly” as made famous by Roberta Flack, the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” The Temptations’ “My Girl” and more.
— Music Writer Maria Sherman
New television to stream from May 12-18
— With shows like “The Kardashians,” “Vanderpump Villa” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," Hulu is building a roster of reality TV that’s quite Bravo-esq. “Mormon Wives” was a surprise hit when it debuted last year. It’s back for a second season on Thursday. The show follows the drama among a group of Mormon women living in the Salt Lake City area who have built a following on TikTok. They call their group of friends MomTok.
— After scoring big with “The Pitt,” Max is looking to keep the momentum going with “Duster." Co-created by JJ Abrams, the show stars Josh Holloway of “Lost” as a getaway driver in the '70s who gets flipped by a rookie FBI agent, played by Rachel Hilson. Holloway has described the show as a throwback to when TV was less dark and more fun. It also has a groovy soundtrack. “Duster” premieres Thursday.
— “The Chi,” a drama about a young Black community living in Chicago’s South Side returns Friday. Critics and fans have praised its portrayal of life as a Black person growing up in a rough neighborhood faced with systematic racism, violence, incarceration, and poverty. Kyla Pratt — known for playing the daughter of Eddie Murphy’s character in the “Dr. Dolittle” films and as the voice of Penny in “The Proud Family” — joins the cast for season seven. The Chi” streams on Paramount+ with Showtime.
— We’ve seen Alexander Skarsgård as a tech bro on “Succession” and an abusive husband on “Big Little Lies.” Next, we get to see his comedic chops as a robot who gains free will in “Murderbot” for Apple TV+. Premiering Friday, May 16, the show is based on a book series.
— Stanley Tucci is once again roaming through Italy. The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor eats and meets in National Geographic’s new food-travel series “Tucci in Italy,” which premieres Sunday, May 18 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day. Each episode of the first season of “Tucci in Italy” explores a different region in Italy — from Tuscany to Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Abruzzo and Lazio. CNN canceled his “Searching for Italy” in 2022.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play week of May 12-18
— If you like your games big, noisy and unabashedly gory, id Software’s groundbreaking Doom series is hard to beat. Doom: The Dark Ages, the new chapter from publisher Bethesda Softworks, takes the demon-hunting space marine — now known as the Doom Slayer — back in time, sort of. His bosses have hauled the big lug to a quasi-medieval planet that’s riddled with hell portals and under siege by the most bloodthirsty monsters yet. The Slayer has his usual arsenal of spectacular weapons, including a “saw shield” he can fling like a deadly Frisbee, and some levels let him saddle up on a cybernetic dragon. It’s like a heavy metal album cover come to life, and it arrives Thursday, May 15, on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
— Lou Kesten
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: The Dominican-American singer Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno,” the surprise Bravo hit “Mormon Wives” returns for Season 2 and there's a new gaming chapter in the groundbreaking Doom series, Doom: The Dark Ages.
New movies to stream from May 12-18
— Brady Corbet’s epic “The Brutalist” is finally making its way to Max on Friday, May 16. The three-and-a-half-hour postwar saga won Adrien Brody the best actor Oscar earlier this year for his portrayal of László Tóth, a fictional architect and Holocaust survivor who attempts to build a new life in America. It was also awarded the best score (Daniel Blumberg) and best cinematography prizes. Director of photography Lol Crawley shot in VistaVision, a 70-year-old format famously utilized in films like “Vertigo” and “North by Northwest.” In her review, AP's Jocelyn Noveck wrote, “It’s about the immigrant experience, and it’s about what happens when the American dream beckons, then fails. It also explores a different dream: the artist’s dream, and what happens when it meets opposing forces, be they geographic displacement or cold economic calculus.”
— Paddington bear and the Brown family go on an Indiana Jones-style adventure in “Paddington in Peru,” streaming on Netflix on Thursday. This third installment in the charming series has a few changes from its predecessors — in the filmmaker (Dougal Wilson taking over for Paul King) and Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer subbing in for Sally Hawkins). In his review, AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that Wilson “can’t quite summon the same comic spirit” as King, but added that “bright and buoyant, will do. If some of King’s Wes Anderson-inspired pop-up book designs and skill with fine character actors is missing, the bedrock earnestness and unflaggingly good manners of its ursine protagonist remain charmingly unaltered.”
— In March 1988, the students of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. staged a historic protest over the appointment of a hearing president instead of one who was deaf. “Deaf President Now!,” a documentary streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, May 16, chronicles that moment and examines its broader impact, like how it helped pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act. The film’s visuals and soundscape were also designed to bring audiences into the Deaf experience.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
New music to stream from May 12-18
— Somehow, some way it has been 25 years since Britney Spears first put on a red latex catsuit and sang “Opps!... I Did It Again” through her singular breathy tone, the title track of her sophomore album. Across the album – which includes other hits “Lucky” and “Stronger” – she ushered in new millennium as a zeitgeist-shaping pop superstar. Her influence in the decades that followed is unimpeachable, and on Friday, Sony will release a 25th anniversary edition of the record, complete with bonus tracks.
— Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta returns with an ambitious new album, “La Belleza.” It arrives five years after her breakout “Miss Colombia,” and features the inventive artist veering into new, classical influences while maintaining her interest in Afro-Indigenous polyrhythms; the record was co-orchestrated with skilled arranger Owen Pallett. It’s a step up for an artist whose embrace of the past has always placed her squarely in the future.
— The Dominican American singer Prince Royce covers hit songs on “Eterno” – offering Spanglish, bachata-infused reimaginations of tracks like “Killing Me Softly” as made famous by Roberta Flack, the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” The Temptations’ “My Girl” and more.
— Music Writer Maria Sherman
New television to stream from May 12-18
— With shows like “The Kardashians,” “Vanderpump Villa” and “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," Hulu is building a roster of reality TV that’s quite Bravo-esq. “Mormon Wives” was a surprise hit when it debuted last year. It’s back for a second season on Thursday. The show follows the drama among a group of Mormon women living in the Salt Lake City area who have built a following on TikTok. They call their group of friends MomTok.
— After scoring big with “The Pitt,” Max is looking to keep the momentum going with “Duster." Co-created by JJ Abrams, the show stars Josh Holloway of “Lost” as a getaway driver in the '70s who gets flipped by a rookie FBI agent, played by Rachel Hilson. Holloway has described the show as a throwback to when TV was less dark and more fun. It also has a groovy soundtrack. “Duster” premieres Thursday.
— “The Chi,” a drama about a young Black community living in Chicago’s South Side returns Friday. Critics and fans have praised its portrayal of life as a Black person growing up in a rough neighborhood faced with systematic racism, violence, incarceration, and poverty. Kyla Pratt — known for playing the daughter of Eddie Murphy’s character in the “Dr. Dolittle” films and as the voice of Penny in “The Proud Family” — joins the cast for season seven. The Chi” streams on Paramount+ with Showtime.
— We’ve seen Alexander Skarsgård as a tech bro on “Succession” and an abusive husband on “Big Little Lies.” Next, we get to see his comedic chops as a robot who gains free will in “Murderbot” for Apple TV+. Premiering Friday, May 16, the show is based on a book series.
— Stanley Tucci is once again roaming through Italy. The Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actor eats and meets in National Geographic’s new food-travel series “Tucci in Italy,” which premieres Sunday, May 18 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu the next day. Each episode of the first season of “Tucci in Italy” explores a different region in Italy — from Tuscany to Trentino-Alto Adige, Lombardy, Abruzzo and Lazio. CNN canceled his “Searching for Italy” in 2022.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play week of May 12-18
— If you like your games big, noisy and unabashedly gory, id Software’s groundbreaking Doom series is hard to beat. Doom: The Dark Ages, the new chapter from publisher Bethesda Softworks, takes the demon-hunting space marine — now known as the Doom Slayer — back in time, sort of. His bosses have hauled the big lug to a quasi-medieval planet that’s riddled with hell portals and under siege by the most bloodthirsty monsters yet. The Slayer has his usual arsenal of spectacular weapons, including a “saw shield” he can fling like a deadly Frisbee, and some levels let him saddle up on a cybernetic dragon. It’s like a heavy metal album cover come to life, and it arrives Thursday, May 15, on Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC.
— Lou Kesten
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