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Dwayne Johnson Mark Kerr transforms into an MMA pioneer in The Smashing Machine, Louis Tomlinson releases his third solo album, and new TV, movies, music and games are coming to a device near you.
Also selected by AP entertainment reporters as streaming shows worth your time this week: Ryan Murphy’s new series “The Beauty” challenges beauty standards and incorporates some horror; Jeremy Allen White plays a boss in “Springsteen: Rescue Me from Nowhere”; and Megadeth are riding high on the success of their last self-titled album.
The new film will be released January 19-25
— Dwayne Johnson transforms into MMA pioneer Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine,” a surprisingly gentle drama about victory, addiction and self-worth that will premiere in 2019 HBO Friday, January 23rd. AP film writer Jack Coyle wrote in his review that the strength of Johnson’s performance “is disappointing, as the film fails to truly address the violent world around Mark and instead offers a more prosaic appreciation of these MMA fighters. What really resonates, though, is the portrait of a human giant who learns to accept defeat.” Filmmaker Benny Safdie He won the directing award for his efforts at the Venice Film Festival, although the awards season focus has shifted to his brother, Joshwho made “Marty Supreme.”
— HBO Max also streams Judd Apatow’s Mel Brooks: At 99! 》Arrived on Thursday. The two-part documentary includes interviews with Brooks himself, as well as Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler and Conan O’Brien, among others.
– this bruce springsteen The biopic Springsteen: Rescue Me from Nowhere will also premiere on Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, January 23. Written and directed by Scott Cooper, the film stars Jeremy Allen White as a boss during the making of the soulful “Nebraska” album. Mark Kennedy, in his review for The Associated Press, called it “a lovely, humbling portrait of an icon,” adding that it was almost a mirror of the album itself, “unexpected, complex and very American Gothic.”
— Some other festival gems will also appear on more niche streamers. The 2025 Sundance-selected documentary “Nobody Against Mr. Putin,” about a Russian teacher who secretly documented her classroom being turned into a recruitment center during the invasion of Ukraine, airs Thursday on KINO Film. Mubi’s Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia will be released on Friday, January 23rd. Starring Toni Servillo won the Venice Best Actor Award for his role as the fictional Italian president.
—AP Film Writer Lindsay Barr
New music will be available January 19-25
– You could call it a symphony of dissolution, and that would be correct. Last summer, American thrash metal giants Megadeth announced they were going to make a splash. They will soon embark on a farewell tour, but not before releasing their final album, the self-titled “Megadeth.” The pressure was on and they answered the call with their characteristically complex guitar work.
— Briton Louis Tomlinson, perhaps best known as the candid yet cool force in the massive boy band One Direction, will release his third solo album, the existential How Did I Get Here?, on Friday. His work often draws on his most direct influences, chief among them 2020’s “Walls” and 2022’s “Faith in the Future.” “How Did I Get Here?” singles “Lemonade” and “Palaces” seemed to suggest that those influences were still there, but now subtle in favor of a sunny pop-rock ensemble.
—The great Lucinda Williams returns with her new album, “The World Is Wrong.” It’s certainly Williams’ unique style – the intersection of rock, Americana, country and folk – mixed with inspiring collaborations from Norah Jones, Britney Spencer and more. These songs, along with Bob Marley’s “So Much Trouble In The World” sung by Mavis Staples, have become must-hears.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
New episodes will air January 19-25
— FX’s new series, co-created by Ryan Murphy, challenges beauty standards while also incorporating some horror elements. “Beautiful” features an all-star cast, including Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Pope, Anthony Ramos and Isabella Rossellini. Bella Hadid also guest stars. Kutcher plays a tech billionaire who invents a drug that brings about so-called physical perfection, but not without dangerous consequences. “The Beauty,” adapted from the comic book of the same name, premieres worldwide on Hulu and Disney+ on Wednesday.
— “Drops of God” also returns for a second season on Apple TV on Wednesday. The series tells the story of two estranged siblings (played by Fleur Jefrire and Tomohisa Yamashita) who compete to inherit the legacy of their late father’s extensive wine collection. In season two, they must find the source of a bottle of what is believed to be the world’s finest unlabeled wine.
–Following the “Rat Race” phenomenon, Netflix is launching its own love story, premiering Thursday. “The Rivalry” is adapted from the steamy romance novel series, while “Finding Her Edge” is adapted from the YA novel. It’s the story of a figure skater training for the world championships who finds herself in a love triangle with her current and former skating partners.
— Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes star in a new faith-based family drama called It’s Not That Way, set to air on Prime Video on Sunday, January 25. Foley plays Malcolm, a pastor and father of three whose wife recently died; Hayes plays Lori, a divorced mother of teenagers. Their families have always been close, but Malcolm and Lori found that as single parents they became increasingly dependent on each other.
—Alicia Ransilio
New video games to play from January 19th to 25th
— Flynt Buckler, the hero of Escape, lives in a storybook world. But that fantasy turns sour when a greedy corporation hacks into these books, turning them into cyberpunk dystopias and Lovecraftian nightmares. Can Flint bluff his way to the top, or will he be content with a humble office cubicle? Developer Sleepy Castle Studio says it was inspired by Nintendo’s classic Paper Mario games, and the cartoony 2D setting shows that influence. Turn the page on Friday, January 23rd on Switch, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 or PC.
— MIO: Orbital Memories is another 2D adventure game rooted in a Nintendo classic, in this case Metroid, the originator of an entire sub-genre. You are a small robot in a giant starship called “The Vessel”, but your artificial intelligence boss has stopped working. In your battle against rogue machines, you need to figure out what’s going wrong, and the more you explore, the more skills you gain. The ship’s massive interior has a hand-drawn, pastel look you might not expect in a sci-fi game. Launching Tuesday on Switch, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 or PC.
— Lou Chestnut