Sabrina Carpenter’s seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend,” and Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan 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: Some of the West’s biggest musicians are getting the K-pop treatment in the TV series “KPopped,” video game maker Sega tries to revive the Shinobi franchise and there’s Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan,” a lifestyle series from the Duchess of Sussex.
New movies to stream from Aug. 25-31
— Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” didn’t make quite the mark in theaters that many expected it to, but the Jake Schreier-directed film was still one of the most acclaimed MCU releases in years. After hitting theaters in early May, “Thunderbolts” begins streaming Wednesday on Disney+. With an ensemble including Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour, it follows a gang of ragtag superheroes who reluctantly come together as a team. In my review, I praised it as a return to form for Marvel and “an IMAX-sized platform for the increasingly obvious movie-star talents of Florence Pugh.”
— Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie play elderly amateur sleuths in Chris Columbus’ “The Thursday Murder Club” (Netflix, Thursday). In the film, based on Richard Osman’s 2020 novel, the group attempts to solve a crime from their seniors’ residence, Coopers Chase. Expect a cozy murder mystery, with mature star power.
— Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s “The Friend” (Monday on Paramount+) stars Naomi Watts as a New York writer who reluctantly inherits the dog of her deceased mentor (Bill Murray). The dog isn’t just any dog, either, but a mammoth Great Dane named Apollo. The adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel is very much a dog movie, but it’s also one about processing grief. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “one of those movies people complain they don’t make anymore, although its existence is a reminder that they do still make ‘them,’ meaning smart, emotionally authentic stories about people who seem real.”
New music to stream from Aug. 25-31
— Who’s a good girl? Sabrina Carpenter hopes to be when she releases her seventh studio album, “Man’s Best Friend.” It will drop almost exactly a year after she released breakthrough album “Short n’ Sweet,” which spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Carpenter has been enlisting a golden retriever puppy and fans to unveil her tracklist on social media. The lead single, “Manchild,” hit No. 1 on the charts in June.
— If you needed a sign of the growing clout of Blood Orange, look no further than the extensive collaborators on his upcoming fifth album, “Essex Honey.” There’s Lorde, Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caesar, Mustafa, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Tariq Al-Sabir, Wet’s Kelly Zutrau and the actors Naomi Scott and Amandla Stenberg. He even convinced author Zadie Smith to sing. Blood Orange (aka songwriter Dev Hynes, who combines R&B, pop, electronica, indie and funk) says he’s exploring his childhood in Essex, England, and calls it a “soundtrack created from a dreamscape of a journey working through grief.”
— Stans of stans, unite. “Stans,” the Marshall Mathers-produced documentary about a cast of superfans of Eminem, directed by Steven Leckart, will debut on Paramount+ on Tuesday. Eminem named the phenomenon 25 years ago with the release of his song “Stan” about an obsessive fan, which prompted the Oxford English Dictionary to eventually add the term. The film “offers a raw, loud and revealing journey across Eminem’s career — and the passionate audience that has grown with him.”
— Apple TV+ has a new music competition series featuring iconic songs by some of the world’s biggest Western pop stars as they get the K-pop treatment. “KPopped” features K-pop groups ITZY, JO1, Kiss of Life, Blackswan, STAYC, KEP1ER, Ateez and Billlie teamed up with Western artists like Meg, Kesha, Patti Labelle, Kylie Minogue, the Spice Girls’ Mel B and Emma Bunton, Vanilla Ice, Taylor Dayne, Eve, J Balvin, Ava Max, Boyz II Men, Boy George, TLC and Jess Glynne. Together, offer new spins on classic songs like “Ice Ice Baby,” “Lady Marmalade,” “Waterfalls,” “Motownphilly” and “Karma Chameleon.” All eight episodes stream Friday.
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
New series to stream from Aug. 25-31
— The sci-fi comedy “Upload” hits Prime Video on Monday for its fourth and final season. Starring Robbie Amell, the series takes place in the not-too-distant future where humans can pay to upload their mind to a virtual afterlife when they die. Amell’s Nathan uploads in the first episode and ends up falling for Nora, a human concierge assigned to help his transition go smoothly. Talk about a long-distance relationship! Created by Greg Daniels, who also created “The Office,” the show deals with themes of class and ethics in technology. Daniels has said he came up with the idea in the late 1980s. It’s fascinating to think that his “what if” is now, maybe, conceivable?
— “My Funeral” is a new Icelandic dark comedy about a man who on the same day as his retirement, a cantankerous man learns he has a incurable brain tumor, and decides to host his own funeral. “My Funeral” premieres Tuesday on MhZ Choice, a streaming service for international titles.
— More flower sprinkles! Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan,” a lifestyle series from the Duchess of Sussex arrives on Netflix on Tuesday. The new episodes feature celebs like Chrissy Teigen, Tan France and chef José Andrés, who visit the former actor living well in Montecito. In the trailer, we see Meghan make cocktails, bake thumbprint cookies with fresh preserves, and roast s’mores. Recently it was announced that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have extended their deal with Netflix.
— Prime Video’s “The Terminal List” rewinds with a new prequel series starring Taylor Kitsch’s Navy SEAL-turned CIA operative. “The Terminal List: Dark Wolf” debuts Wednesday. Chris Pratt (who is also working on a second season of the original) also reprises his character. The franchise is based on books by Jack Carr.
— Thanks to celebrities like Halle Berry and Naomi Watts, menopause has become a more mainstream topic in recent years and a new comedy pokes fun at a woman’s journey through what grandma used to call “the change” or “the change of life.” “Middlehood” stars Elena Wohl as a woman going through a bit of a midlife crisis as she deals aging. The eight-episode series premieres on YouTube beginning Wednesday.
— For those hooked on the love triangle between Belly and brothers Jeremiah and Conrad in Prime Video’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Netflix has a returning title to offer. Season two of “My Life with the Walter Boys” arrives on the streamer on Thursday. It follows a teen who moves in with family friends after her parents die and finds herself torn between two brothers. “Walter Boys” is based on a book by Ali Novak that was first published on Wattpad.
New video games to play from Aug. 25-31
— The Knightling is hardly your typical dragon slayer — for starters, he doesn’t even have a sword. He does, however, have a magic shield that he can ride, kind of like a flying saucer. That’s enough to get him around the exotic land of Clesseia as he searches for the legendary Sir Lionstone. His adventure, from Dutch studio Twirlbound, mixes exploration, puzzles and combat across a vast open world, and its colorful animation is reminiscent of the classic Sly Cooper series. The journey begins Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Joe Musashi, on the other hand, has a full assortment of ninja weaponry, including a katana, shuriken and martial arts skills. Joe is the star of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Sega’s attempt to revive a franchise that debuted in the arcades back in 1987. The original was a straightforward hack-and-slash, but the reboot offers more parkour challenges across a wide-ranging 2D maze that’s packed with secrets. Fans will also be thrilled to see the return of Yamato, a dog that can transform into a creature big enough to carry Joe out of trouble. Shinobi returns Friday on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One, Switch and PC.
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