Jason Momoa hosting a new travel docuseries for Max called 鈥淥n the Roam鈥� and the are some of the new television, movies, music and games near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press鈥� are Mandy Patinkin starring in a whodunit aboard an ocean liner in Hulu鈥檚 鈥淒eath and Other Details,鈥� the big and fun action movie 鈥淔ast X鈥� and a Paramount+ documentary on June Carter Cash.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM
鈥� The best romantic comedy of the year was an 81-minute Finnish film called 鈥淔allen Leaves,鈥� which begins streaming on MUBI on Friday. Director Aki Kaurism盲ki points his lens towards an alcoholic construction worker, Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) and a supermarket employee, Ansa (Alma P枚ysti) who has just been sacked. Their surroundings are bleak, but their awkward courtship is anything but. AP film writer Jake Coyle named 鈥淔allen Leaves鈥� that 鈥渟hort, sweet and utterly delightful, (鈥楩allen Leaves鈥�) is the kind of movie that鈥檚 so charming, you want to run it back the moment it鈥檚 over.鈥�
鈥� Fashion model Bethann Hardison, now 81, looks back at her five decades as a Black woman in the industry in a documentary she co-directed with Fr茅d茅ric Tcheng, which is now on on Hulu. Hardison famously participated in the 1973 鈥淏attle of Versailles鈥� fashion show and later founded coalitions to encourage more diversity in high fashion. 鈥淏ethann鈥檚 legacy is undeniable,鈥� Tcheng told the AP in an interview last year. 鈥淪he鈥檚 really changed the way fashion looks. She singlehandedly led the industry to really change the way they thought about racial diversity and integrated the modeling industry. And she went way beyond that. Now she鈥檚 working with designers and just creating community at every stage of her life.鈥�
鈥� Or if you just want some big, dumb, fun action 鈥淔ast X鈥� is racing to Prime Video on Tuesday. that 鈥淔ast X鈥� is monstrously silly and stupidly entertaining 鈥� just Wile E. Coyote stuff, ridiculous stunts employing insane G-forces and everything seemingly on fire. There are elements of 鈥楳ission: Impossible,鈥� 007 and 鈥楯ohn Wick,鈥� as if all the action franchises were somehow merging. But here鈥檚 a warning: It careens to an end without a payoff, a more dangerous stunt than any in the movies themselves.鈥� Kennedy singled out Jason Momoa鈥檚 bad guy as one of the main reasons to watch and called the film 鈥減ure popcorn lunacy.鈥�
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NEW MUSIC TO STREAM
鈥� In some ways, 2024 began with Green Day. The pop-punk trio performed 鈥淎merican Idiot,鈥� the title track from their 2004 rock opera, during 鈥� 鈥� special on ABC. It was innocuous enough, save for a slight change in lyrics that drew ire from certain political parties. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a part of the MAGA agenda,鈥� frontman Billie Joe Armstrong sang, a reference to President Donald Trump鈥檚 political campaign. It is necessary context for the band鈥檚 14th studio album, 鈥淪aviors,鈥� which maintains Green Day鈥檚 no-nonsense criticism of power players delivered atop ascendent power chords. For the part-time punks who have work in the morning, and the full-time ones, too.
鈥� In 2023, country music listenership 鈥� one of the biggest jumps across any genre. There are many reasons for the increased curiosity 鈥� among them, country music has diversified its approach to the music, weaving in new sounds into traditional instrumentation and narrative lyricism. It also means there鈥檚 a up-and-coming generation of performers changing the game, including Brittney Spencer. Her debut album, 鈥淢y Stupid Life,鈥� gives credence to her position one very 鈥渁rtist to watch鈥� list: from her soulful piano ballads (鈥淏igger Than the Song鈥�) to her anthemic crowd-stompers (鈥淣ight In鈥�), Spencer defies categorization, an artist raised on R&B and in equal measure.
鈥� The reveal underexplored truths, shining light on those influential, larger-than-life figures. The best ones offer course-correcting history lessons that go down like water. That is the case of 鈥淛une,鈥� Paramount+鈥檚 new documentary on . Featuring interviews with everyone from Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kacey Musgraves and Reese Witherspoon (who won an Oscar for her role as Carter Cash in the 2005 film 鈥淲alk the Line鈥�), and stacked with previously unreleased archival material, 鈥淛une鈥� recontextualizes the country icon鈥檚 place in music canon. She鈥檚 so much more than Johnny Cash鈥檚 wife 鈥� lest we forget she wrote 鈥淩ing of Fire,鈥� after all.
鈥� 鈥淟ittle Rope,鈥� the latest album from indie rock heroes Sleater-Kinney, the duo of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, was written in a place of mourning and meditation 鈥� of personal loss and political unease. In the fall of 2022, Brownstein鈥檚 mom and stepfather were killed in a car accident while vacationing in Italy. In the months that followed, Brownstein found comfort playing guitar for hours on end. 鈥淚 just needed to feel my fingers on something that was solid,鈥� she . 鈥淲hen people leave this Earth, you are aware of what is still here, and what is tactile versus what you鈥檒l never touch again.鈥� The result is a ferocious and frustrated album 鈥� easily one of their most essential.
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NEW SHOWS TO STREAM
鈥� Mandy Patinkin and Violette Beane star in a whodunit aboard an ocean liner in the Mediterranean in The pitch for the series may have described it as 鈥淭he White Lotus鈥� meets 鈥淜nives Out鈥� meets 鈥淢urder on the Orient Express.鈥� Beane鈥檚 character, Imogene Scott, becomes the prime suspect of a murder aboard the cruise ship and she must rely on detective extraordinaire, Rufus Cotesworth, (Patinkin) to clear her name. The 10-episode series is now on Hulu.
鈥� It鈥檚 time to head back to the Windy City with the return of otherwise known as One Chicago, also known as 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥� 鈥淐hicago Fire鈥� and 鈥淐hicago P.D.,鈥� returning for new seasons on Wednesday on NBC. Then, sound the gong! premiered season 23 on Thursday. The 鈥淐hicago鈥� shows, and 鈥淟aw & Order鈥� were delayed eight months because of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes. They also can be found on Peacock.
鈥� Momoa gets a second entry this week as the host of a new travel docuseries for Max called Cameras follow the actor as he travels across the U.S. in search of creative artisans who inspire him including a Hollywood prop maker, a photographer, and motorbike builder. Momoa says he鈥檚 鈥渁 roamer鈥� by nature so the show is an accurate picture into his world. It鈥檚 now on Max.
鈥� Ruth Wilson stars in a new mystery series called for Paramount+ with Showtime. Wilson stars as Lorna, a woman who wakes up one morning to discover a dead body in her home and she doesn鈥檛 know what happened. Lorna is immediately under suspicion by a local investigator played by Daryl McCormack (鈥淕ood Luck to You, Leo Grande鈥�) because she鈥檚 got a reputation in town for her strange behavior. Lorna suffers from trauma after becoming pregnant as a teen and being sent to a religious home, where her newborn baby was taken from her. 鈥淭he Woman in the Wall鈥� premieres on Paramount+ on Jan. 19 before its broadcast debut on Paramount+ with Showtime (the cable channel formerly known as Showtime), on Sunday.
鈥� A new dating show on TLC finds out whether love really is a universal language. In premiering Sunday, three American men and 12 international women mingle on a remote island. The problem 鈥� besides the ratio of men to women 鈥� is that the women don鈥檛 speak English and the men don鈥檛 speak their languages. 鈥淟ove & Translation鈥� will also stream on Discovery+ and Max.
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NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
鈥� The Prince of Persia has been through a lot since he first scampered across Apple II screens in 1989. He started off in two dimensions, went 3D in a spectacular 2003 reboot, and even made it to the big screen in a 2010 movie. He鈥檚 back after too long an absence, returning to his 2D roots in Ubisoft鈥檚 . Alas, the Prince himself has been kidnapped, and it鈥檚 up to a young warrior named Sargon to rescue him. Not to worry, though: Sargon is just as slick a swordsman, with the ability to swing two blades at once, pull off superhuman acrobatics and even stop and rewind time. And he has a cool haircut. The swashbuckling begins on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
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