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.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM NOV. 18-24
— 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.
