By The Associated Press undefined
“Only Murders in the Building” returning for its fifth season and Ed Sheeran coming back with the new pop album “Play” 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: The Netflix two-part documentary “AKA Charlie Sheen” chronicles the 60-year-old star’s up-and-down career, Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke star in a psychological thriller for Prime Video called “The Girlfriend” and R&B giant Ty Dolla $ign offers his first full-length album in half a decade.
New movies to stream from Sept. 8-14
— The Netflix two-part documentary “AKA Charlie Sheen” chronicles the 60-year-old star’s up-and-down career, from “Wall Street” to “winning.” The film, debuting Wednesday on the streaming service, features candid interviews with Sheen, along with many friends and co-stars. Andrew Renzi (“Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?”) directs.
— Clouds of IED smoke and cries of agony fill Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s harrowing film, “Warfare” (HBO Max on Friday, Sept. 12) with little but the faces of its Navy SEALs to ground the nearly real-time, based-on-a-true-story dramatization. The movie effectively embeds viewers on a seemingly minor mission in Iraq in 2006. In my review, I wrote: “War-movie cliches have been rigorously rooted out of ‘Warfare,’ a terse and chillingly brutal immersion in a moment of the Iraq War.”
— Andrew Ahn’s “The Wedding Banquet” (Monday on Paramount+) joyfully remakes and updates Ang Lee’s 1993 queer landmark film. Ahn’s movie, starring Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Bowen Yang and Han Gi-chan, rebuilds Lee’s queer comedy of errors for a new generation. In her review, AP’s Lindsey Bahr praised the supporting performances by Youn Yuh-jung and Joan Chen, but wished the film expressed more fun: “There’s a through-line about found families, but I’m not totally convinced that these people are great for each other.”
— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
New music to stream from Sept. 8-14
— Ed Sheeran returns with a new album on Friday, Sept. 12, his eighth. titled “Play.” The release detours away from the acoustic introspection of his last release, 2023’s “Autumn Variations,” and instead offers a kind of reserved pop music. “Azizam,” a Farsi word which translates to something approximating “my dear one,” is a cultural crossover hit; “A Little More” has a much-needed groove. It’s clear Sheeran is in it for a good time – and his loyal listeners will follow suit.
— Little has been made apparent about the highly anticipated, fourth studio album from R&B giant Ty Dolla $ign. Here’s what we do know: It’s his first full-length in half a decade, it arrives Friday, Sept. 12, and the lead single, the infatuated “ALL IN,” includes an inspired sample of Wayne Wonder’s “No Letting Go.” It might be the end of summer, but that song is evidence that Ty is bringing the heat.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
New series to stream from Sept. 8-14
— “Only Murders in the Building” returns for its fifth season Tuesday on Hulu. The amateur sleuths Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez), and Oliver (Martin Short) begin the new episodes trying to figure out who murdered the doorman of their building.
— Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke star in a new psychological thriller for Prime Video called “The Girlfriend.” Wright plays Laura, a very, very protective mother of her grown man son, Danny. Her internal alarm goes off when she meets Danny’s new girlfriend Cherry, played by Cooke. Cherry is a street-wise realtor who does not meet Laura’s standards for her son. Make no mistake, both women are unhinged. Each episode shows Laura and Cherry’s perspective, which is fun. It premieres Wednesday.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play from Sept. 8-14
— Last year’s “Borderlands” movie bombed, but you can’t keep a popular franchise down. So Gearbox Software and 2K Games have returned with Borderlands 4, bringing its brash brand of comic violence back to where it belongs: your game console. It’s the apotheosis of the so-called “looter-shooter,” in which you shoot a lot of enemies and collect a lot of loot. In this chapter, you’ve landed on a prison planet ruled by a tyrant known as the Timekeeper. You must decide which rebel faction to join as well as which of the Timekeeper’s lieutenants you want to take down first. You can play solo or join forces with up to three other Vault Hunters. Fight the power beginning Friday, Sept. 12, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.
— Lou Kesten