New this week: ‘Black Bird,’ Lizzo and ‘The Rehearsal’
By The Associated Press
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— Jane Austen’s last completed novel “Persuasion” gets a fresh spin from British theater director Carrie Cracknell. Starring Dakota Johnson as the “past her prime” heroine Anne Elliot, “Persuasion,” debuting on Netflix on Friday, is still set in Regency-era England but with some distinctly modern flourishes and a subversively comedic voice. The film also introduces audiences to Cosmo Jarvis in a star making turn as Anne’s first love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. Henry Golding and Richard E. Grant also star.
— A single father, Max (John Cho), and his teenage daughter, Wally, (charming newcomer Mia Isaac) take a road trip across the country in “Don’t Make Me Go,” coming to Amazon Prime Video on Friday. Yes, there is a cancer element, and some tears are guaranteed, but this film, written by “This is Us” writer Vera Herbert and directed by Hannah Marks, has more heart and comedic moments than the logline might give it credit for. A late movie karaoke scene also might have you wondering why John Cho hasn’t starred in a movie musical yet.
— Take it from someone who has seen exactly one episode of “Bob’s Burgers” ever: You don’t need to have watched the long-running show to enjoy the movie, which comes to Hulu and HBO Max on Tuesday. “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” finds the Belcher crew (all original voices) at the end of the schoolyear. The kids are dreaming of summer plans and the parents are trying to save the burger joint from financial ruin when a skeleton turns up in a pit outside the restaurant and suddenly there is a mystery to be solved. It’s also a musical.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
MUSIC
— Lizzo returns with her fourth album, “Special,” on Friday. She performed the first single, “About Damn Time,” on ”Saturday Night Live.” Another single, “Grrrls” had a bumpier debut after she offended disability advocates with the use of a word considered a slur derived from spastic diplegia. Lizzo apologized and edited the song to remove the word. Both singles use samples: “About Damn Time” samples the song “Hey DJ” by The World’s Famous Supreme Team and “Grrrls” samples the song “Girls” performed by Beastie Boys,
— Bea Laus, who performs as Beabadoobee, will release her sophomore album “Beatopia” on Friday. The fuzzed-out single “10:36” has her trademark ’90s indie rock vibe and ”Talk” has an Avril Levine-like strut in its kiss-off to a lover: “We go together like the gum on my shoes,” she sings. “You don’t exist/You’re just a bad decision.” The album builds on her 2020 debut album “Fake It Flowers” and the fantastic “Our Extended Play” EP that was co-written and produced by Matty Healy and George Daniels of The 1975. An exciting talent, Beabadoobee has notes of Alanis Morissette, The Cranberries and The Smashing Pumpkins.
— Interpol are back with their seventh album, the 11-track “The Other Side of Make-Believe.” The lead single, “Toni,” is a melancholy masterpiece of jangling guitar and layers of interesting things that reveal themselves with every listen. “Still in shape, my methods refined,” Paul Banks sings in a line that could very well apply to Interpol itself. The band began writing the album remotely in 2020 before meeting in upstate New York and finishing the project in London. It marks the first time the band worked with producer Flood, and they also reteamed with co-producer Alan Moulder.
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
TELEVISION
— “Black Bird,” inspired by real events, is a crime drama with an enviable pedigree: Its creator is novelist Dennis Lehane (“Mystic River,” “Gone Baby Gone”), whose TV credits include “The Wire.” The cast is a match, topped by Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”) as a onetime golden boy turned convicted drug dealer. His shot at a get-out-of-prison card depends on drawing a confession from a suspected serial killer (Paul Walter Hauser). The Apple TV+ series, with episodes out Friday through Aug. 5, also features Greg Kinnear and, in one of his last performances, Ray Liotta.
— What will our favorite madcap vampires and their human sidekick, Guillermo, get up to next? The answer arrives with season four of “What We Do in the Shadows,” the FX mockumentary series about very long-lived roomies Nadja, Laszlo, Nandor, and Colin (now baby Colin). Back from their scattered adventures, they find their Staten Island digs in shambles and with a surprising new guest. As the season begins Tuesday, Nandor’s search for love looks promising, Nadja is focused on business and Laszlo is in charge of parenting.
— For admirers of Nathan Fielder and “Nathan for You,” the good news is he’s back with another showcase for his idiosyncratic comedy. Those unfamiliar with his work and open to something oddly revelatory and at times unsettling can check out “The Rehearsal,” debuting Friday on HBO and HBO Max. Fielder’s professed mission this time is to help folks prepare to face critical events or choices by walking them through what to expect — as elaborately staged by the maestro himself
— AP Television Writer Lynn Elber
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