Here’s a curated collection by The Associated Press entertainment journalists of what’s coming to television, streaming services and music platforms this week.
FILMS
— from Netflix “The Beast of the Sea” brings a “Moby Dick” type story to the size of a child. Directed by “Big Hero 6” filmmaker Chris Williams, the hilarious ocean adventure is about an orphaned British girl (voiced by Zaris-Angel Hator) who hides out on a boat hunting sea beasts. Veteran animator Williams, who co-directed “Moana,” returns to the high seas for a swashbuckling tale made with the kind of slick animation often found only on the big screen. It opens on Friday, July 8.
– The Criterion Channel has a new series of movies that are sure to blow your mind. “In the Ring: Boxing On-Screen” brings together 16 films that sway and weave, from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent film “The Ring” to Martin Scorsese’s 1980 masterpiece “Raging Bull.” The series, which will air in July, argues that boxing and film grew up together and remain uniquely suited to each other. Two highlights: “The Set-Up,” Robert Wise’s sweaty 1949 noir with Robert Ryan as a washed-up boxer whose manager grooms him to take the plunge; and Leon Gast’s classic 1996 documentary “When We Were Kings,” about the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight in 1974, the “Rumble in the Jungle.”
— AP film writer Jake Coyle
MUSIC
— Neil Young hasn’t finished opening his vaults. On Friday, July 8, he will release Crazy Horse’s shelved album “Toast,” a set they recorded in 2001 at Toast Studios in San Francisco. “‘Toast’ is an album that stands on its own in my collection.” Young wrote last year. “Unlike any other, ‘Toast’ was so sad I couldn’t turn it off. I just skipped it and went on to make another album instead. I couldn’t handle it at the time.” The seven songs on “Toast” explore a broken relationship. On the last song, “Boom Boom Boom,” Young sings, “All I got is a broken heart, and I don’t try to hide it when I play guitar.”
— Quick, what was the name of the first album that Elton John recorded? If he answered “Empty sky”, close, but wrong. He is actually “Regimental Sergeant”. Zippo,” a 12-track album that then-unknown teenager John—credited as Reg Dwight—recorded in 1968 at age 19 with lyricist Bernie Taupin that was shelved. It had a limited release on Record Store Day in 2021, but will now be available on LP, CD and streaming. Beatles harmonies, harpsichords and flute sounds pervade the album, which The Guardian says has a “naïve and endearing charm” and the title song has a trippy animated video.
– Trips “Let it Rain” is one of the singles ahead of the band’s upcoming studio album “Freedom,” due out Friday, July 8, “which brings back the grand scale of the group’s greatest moments, along with new directions and updated sounds and bold,” says the band. It is his first project of new material since 2011’s “Eclipse.” The new album also includes the tracks “You got the best of me” and “The way we used to be”.
— AP entertainment writer Mark Kennedy
TV
— Writer and commentator Baratunde Thurston goes big with a region-by-region tour of “Outdoor America” debuting Tuesday on PBS. In an effort to understand Americans’ “complicated relationship” with the natural world, the six-part series visits people, including wilderness pilots in Idaho; Appalachian coal miners who have taken up beekeeping; Black surfers in Los Angeles and an ultramarathon runner in California’s Death Valley. Getting in touch with nature and those who are in tune with it turned out to be one of the “best things I could do with my time,” says Thurston.
– In the Hulu comedy “Maggie” A professional psychic who sees her own future finds herself on a rocky romantic journey. Maggie, played by Rebecca Rittenhouse, gets a glimpse of a perhaps not-so-happy life after she gives client Ben (David Del Rio) a reading. Her prognosis has them married with parents, but then he moves into her apartment building with a current girlfriend. Will love and, more importantly, hilarity ensue? Nichole Sakura, Leonardo Nam and Chris Elliott co-star in the 13-episode series that debuts in its entirety on Wednesday.
— Do you think you are competitive? The 28 contestants of “The Challenge: America” They’ve already proven themselves, one way or another, on “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “Big Brother,” and “Love Island.” Players will face mental and physical challenges as the series arrives with a 90-minute episode Wednesday on CBS (broadcasting on Paramount+). TJ Lavin hosts the first network broadcast of MTV’s international reality franchise, with “Survivor” winners Tyson Apostol, Ben Driebergen and Sarah Lacina among those vying for the $500,000 grand prize.
— AP television writer Lynn Elber
Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.
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