What to stream: 'The Piano Lesson,' 'Wicked' album, 'Spellbound' and 'Cruel Intentions' TV series
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo teaming up for the soundtrack to the upcoming movie “Wicked” and a TV series based on the 1999 film “Cruel Intentions” 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: Season three of Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” Denzel Washington’s son Malcolm directing August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” for Netflix and the animated tale in “Spellbound” with a heroine voiced by Rachel Zegler.
— Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” streaming Friday on Apple TV+, is a wartime odyssey about a 9-year-old biracial boy (Elliott Heffernan) who, after being sent to the countryside during the Nazi bombing of London, tries to get home to his mother (Saoirse Ronan). “Blitz,” McQueen’s first narrative feature since 2018’s “Widows,” sometimes feels stuck between a conventional war drama and something more adventurous. But it’s vividly drawn, and, as I wrote in my review, “more complicated and unsparing than the average WWII drama.”
— Denzel Washington’s quest to bring the works of August Wilson to the screen have already produced several exceptional films, and performances, in “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In “The Piano Lesson” (on Netflix Friday), he hands the reins to his son, Malcolm Washington, who makes his directorial debut in a production starring John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, Erykah Badu, Ray Fisher and Corey Hawkins. The film, set in 1930s Pittsburgh, is about a family wrestling with the legacy of a family heirloom, and of slavery. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr praised it as a “a literal ghost story, with creaks, spooks and shadows lurking.”
— Following its first foray into feature film animation, 2022’s “Luck,” Skydance returns with another original animated tale in “Spellbound” (on Netflix Friday). The film, set in the magical world of Lumbria, is about a young girl (voiced by Rachel Zegler) who must save the rulers of Lumbria, her parents (Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem), after they’re turned into monsters. “Spellbound,” produced by former Pixar boss John Lasseter, features original songs from Disney legend Alan Menken.
— Kim Deal, the center of bands like the Breeders and the Pixies, will release her debut solo album on Friday, “Nobody Loves You More,” via the influential indie label 4AD Records. The project has been in the works for many years — beginning with tracks like “Are You Mine?” and “Wish I Was,” dating back to 2011 — but no matter, it still sounds like some left-of-center future, from the Steve Albini-produced “Coast” to noisy, clangorous world-building of “Crystal Breathe.” “Beat by beat I expel your point of view,” Deal declares. “The heels of my imagination digging into you I start a new life/Beat’s gonna lead us/Live on.”
— For those hoping for something a bit more classic, look no further: PBS’ “Great Performances” anthology series, which features musicals, operas, plays, ballets and concerts, will spotlight the great Patsy Cline on Friday, broadcast on PBS and available to stream on the PBS app. “Patsy Cline: Walkin’ After Midnight” celebrates the country music giant on stage at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium with performances by Wynonna Judd, Ashley McBryde, Mickey Guyton, Kristin Chenoweth, Rita Wilson and more, with interviews from her husband, Charlie Dick, and famous friends like Loretta Lynn.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— We've already gotten an Ariana Grande album this year with “eternal sunshine” but there's more on the way. On Friday, her voice is all over the soundtrack for the movie “Wicked” as Glinda, opposite Emmy-, Grammy- and Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The album is part of a two-fer, with the first 11 songs from the first chapter of the two-part film adaptation. That means two of the musical's best tunes will be available — “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” Also listen for Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldblum.
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
— In “Interior Chinatown,” actor and comedian Jimmy O. Yang plays a Chinese American background actor in a police procedural who dreams of becoming a leading man. It’s adapted from a novel by Charles Yu, who also served as showrunner of the series. Taika Waititi is an executive producer. “Interior Chinatown” premieres Tuesday on Hulu.
— It’s the beginning of sophomore year for the ladies of Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” The show, created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, follows roommates at a fictional college in Vermont. Season three, premiering Thursday, brings back original leads Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur and Alyah Chanelle Scott but will wrap up Reneé Rapp’s storyline. She quit the show to focus on her music career. Mia Rodgers and Gracie Lawrence have been added to the mix as series regulars.
— Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina have more problems when season two of “Based on a True Story” begins streaming Thursday on Peacock. Season one saw their characters, Ava and Nathan, launch a true crime podcast with an actual serial killer (played by Tom Bateman). In the new episodes, the couple are new parents attempting to return to a normal life, until a string of murders draws them back into amateur sleuthing.
— The 1999 film “Cruel Intentions” starring Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar remains a cult classic but Prime Video has updated the story with a TV series. Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess play wealthy stepsiblings who hatch a plan to seduce and deceive one of their college classmates, who also happens to be the daughter of the vice president of the United States. The show, premiering Thursday, also has plenty of Easter eggs in the that call back to the movie.
— The Ukrainian developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl have overcome some serious obstacles — not the least of which being the need to move from Kyiv to Prague after the Russian invasion in 2022. The premise of the game is that the nuclear reactor at Chornobyl (that’s the Ukrainian transliteration) has been hit with a second explosion, unleashing monstrous mutations and other anomalies. Your job is to enter the “Exclusion Zone” and try to prevent the chaos from spreading. It’s a creepy blend of the first-person shooter, horror and survival genres, and it arrives Wednesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
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