What to stream this weekend: ‘Asteroid City’, Lukas Nelson, ‘Quarterback’ and ‘Secrets of Playboy’
Albums from Lukas Nelson and Kool & The Gang plus a Spanish-language spin-off of “Bird Box” are among the new television, movies, music and games coming to a device near you.
Among the offers worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are the dinosaur-hunting video game Exoprimal and the new Netflix series “Quarterback”, which takes an unprecedented look at the lives of popular QBs Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM
— Wes Anderson is stylish and star-studded “Asteroid City” arrived on premium video on demand (VOD) on Tuesday. This outing is a whimsically constructed play-within-a-play set in America’s mid-century Desert West at a junior stargazing convention, bringing together several young geniuses, their parents, including Scarlett Johansson’s Marilyn-esque movie star and Jason Schwartzman’s widowed war photographer. , scientists, military types, some singing cowboys and a very special cameo from Jeff Goldblum. I wrote that in my review it’s very, very Wes Anderson and also a return to form. It will also still be available in theaters across the country for anyone still hoping to see it on the big screen.
– Remember the Sandra Bullock-in-a-blindfold movie “Bird Box” that seemingly everyone with a Netflix account watched during the 2018 holiday season? Well, the streamer made a spin-off, in Spanish, debuted Friday. The blindfolds are again paramount “Bird Box Barcelona,” in which a father, played by Mario Casas, tries to protect his daughter from the monsters. Álex and David Pastor wrote and directed this episode, based on Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel. Is It Worth Your Time? Checking out AP’s review here.
— Several other major and minor movies also arrived on VOD this week, including “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”, is set in 1994 and stars Dominique Fishback and Anthony Ramos. There is also the independent gem “The Starling Girl,” a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl (Eliza Scanlen) trying to find her identity while abiding by the rules of her isolated religious community. Her life is complicated when she falls in love with the handsome youth pastor (Lewis Pullman).
NEW MUSIC TO STREAM
— Country star Lukas Nelson calls his latest album ‘the perfect setlist’. “Sticks and Stones”, the follow up to his 2021 album “A Few Stars Apart”, contains the lead single, “More than friends,” with Laine Wilson. one more, “Alcohallelujah,” touches on both the highs and lows of drinking, with Nelson singing, “Forgive me, father, for I am inspired / I have bars and bars of melodies and memories / May this spirit lift me higher and higher.” On the new 12-song album, due out Friday, Nelson is backed by his old band Promise of the Real.
— Kool & The Gang and summer go together like peanut butter and jelly. The icons of R&B, funk and soul — who will be celebrating their 60th birthday next year — have a new album, “People Just Wanna Have Fun.” The first single is infectious, cheerful, funky “Let’s party,” with vocals by Sha Sha Jones. The band is led by founding member Robert “Kool” Bell on bass and George “Funky” Brown, the keyboardist, drummer and producer, whose memoir “Too Hot: Kool & The Gang & Me” arrives Tuesday. In addition to Jones, the album also features vocals from Shawn McQuiller, Lavell Evans, Dominique Karan, Rick Marcel and Walt Anderson, plus rappers Ami Miller & Ole’.
— A 1998 video recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical theater classic ‘Oklahoma!’ – starring then-newcomer Hugh Jackman – goes to movie theaters for much less than a Broadway ticket. Jackman starred as Curly, along with Maureen Lipman, Josefina Gabrielle and Shuler Hensley, during the show’s acclaimed run in London. The film is being screened in more than 800 cinemas around the world just two days, on Sunday and Wednesday, July 19 – including the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Norway and Australia. It contains some very humble songs, including ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’ and the upbeat title track.
— AP Entertainment writer Mark Kennedy
NEW SERIES TO STREAM
– The title “Secrets of Playboy” alone stirs intrigue and the docuseries was a big hit for A&E for its in-depth look at a supposed underbelly of the brand and its founder Hugh Hefner. The series returned Monday for its second season with more interviews with former Playboy models, Playmates, and archive footage that explores Playboy’s impact on pop culture and those directly involved with the company.
— Football Fans: Want to know exactly what your favorite team’s quarterback thinks during a season, from practices to wins and losses, and what they say and do in a group? A new Netflix series called – you guessed it – “quartermaster” —an unprecedented look at the lives of popular QBs Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota throughout the 2022 season. The players were taped before every game and cameras followed them home. ‘Quarterback’ premiered on Wednesday.
– Season five of the silly, witty Emmy-nominated comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” arrived on FX on Thursday. The movie-style show follows the adventures of a group of vampire roommates living in a run-down mansion. These hundreds of years old vampires go out into the world and communicate with the population. If it sounds ridiculous, it is, and that’s what matters.
NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
– California indie developer Night School Studio captivated gamers in 2016 with Oxenfree, the story of a group of meddling teens who stumble upon a series of dimensional cracks while exploring a mysterious island. Night School, which has since been acquired by Netflix, finally returns to the story with the highly anticipated Oxenfree II: Lost Signals. The sequel centers on Riley, an environmental researcher assigned to her hometown on the Oregon Coast to investigate puzzling radio transmissions. Fans of the original – not to mention the supernatural hit “Stranger Things” – can now book a return visit on PlayStation 5/4, Nintendo Switch, PC and the Netflix mobile app.
— Most of us thinking about what 2040 will look like worry about things like war, climate change and our new AI overlords, but Capcom’s Exoprimal represents another existential threat: dinosaur outbreaks! Your mission is to team up with four other players online and send the ravenous beasts back to extinction. You’re armed with futuristic weapons and high-tech armor “exosuits” – but you also have to compete with other squads to collect the most trophies. Capcom has a lot of experience with terrifying creatures, thanks to the popular Monster Hunter series, but even veterans of that franchise can get overwhelmed when Exoprimal has dozens of raptors dropping on them at once. The dinos arrived Friday on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One and PC.
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