‘Newark,’ ‘Problem,’ ‘La Brea’ stream this week
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Here’s a collection selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
■ Jake Gyllenhaal teams up with director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto (“True Detective”) for the tense thriller “The Guilty,” which is set entirely inside a 911 call center in Los Angeles. Hitting Netflix on Friday, Gyllenhaal plays a disgraced cop relegated to fielding emergency phone calls on the overnight shift. Although a perfect conceit for a pandemic production, the claustrophobic environs actually preceded covid-19 protocols — that came from the 2018 Danish film that they’re remaking.
■ Nearly a quarter century after “The Sopranos” wrapped its six season run on HBO, David Chase has brought his best known character back in “The Many Saints of Newark.” The film, which debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, follows a young Tony Soprano (played by the late James Gandolfini’s son, Michael Gandolfini) in 1960s Newark, N.J., amid the race riots and violent corruption in the city. Jon Bernthal plays his father and Alessandro Nivola plays a charismatic mobster who takes an interest in Tony. With Vera Farmiga, Leslie Odom Jr., Corey Stoll and Ray Liotta.
■ Filmmaker Erin Lee Carr couldn’t have known that Britney Spears would once again be in the daily news cycle when she started on her secretive Netflix documentary “Britney vs Spears,” which began streaming Tuesday, but the timing could not be better for another in-depth look at the life of the pop star. Carr’s film also investigates the conservatorship. — Lindsey Bahr,
AP film writer
MUSIC
■ Six-time Grammy-winner Brandi Carlile has been busy during the pandemic, releasing a memoir and now a highly anticipated new album, “In These Silent Days,” on Friday. Carlile said she was inspired by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and her two close musical friends, Elton John and Joni Mitchell, on the new record. It’s a follow-up to her acclaimed, breakout record “By The Way, I Forgive You” released in 2018. Recorded during quarantine in Nashville, Tenn., she teamed up again with producers Shooter Jennings and Dave Cobb, as well as her longtime band mates Tim and Phil Hanseroth.
■ The Doobie Brothers are celebrating their 50th anniversary in their 51st year with a postponed tour and a new album. “Liberte” is out Friday, featuring founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, along with guitarist John McFee. The tour kicked off in August with former member Michael McDonald after being delayed a year because of the pandemic.
■ One duets album wasn’t enough for pop diva Lady Gaga and icon Tony Bennett. The pair are releasing their second collaborative album “Love for Sale,” on Friday, which focuses on the two singers taking on Cole Porter classics, such as “I Get a Kick Out of You.” Their previous album together, “Cheek to Cheek” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Album charts in 2014 and earned them a Grammy for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal.”
— Kristin M. Hall, AP entertainment writer
TELEVISION
■ Jon Stewart is back, and Apple TV+ has him. “The Problem With Jon Stewart” debuts today, with episodes released on an every-other-week basis. Details are scant, but it has been described as an exploration of issues of national interest as well as Stewart’s advocacy work. He’s an outspoken supporter of military veterans and 9/11 first responders, and he and his wife, Tracey, are animal welfare proponents.
■ Here’s a contest with a difference: “The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet,” a five-part Discovery series, will highlight 15 finalists and their solutions to a quintet of the planet’s greatest environmental problems, including air and ocean quality. Debuting Sunday on the discovery+ streaming service, the series features David Attenborough and Britain’s Prince William, who in 2020 launched the competition whose name evokes President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” program. The full series will air on the Discovery Channel on Oct. 16 (3 p.m.), with the award ceremony carried Oct. 17 on Discovery’s Facebook page.
■ The place: Los Angeles. The disaster: A giant sinkhole opens midcity, plunging hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. That’s the start of NBC’s “La Brea,” in which “down under” refers not to Australia but a primeval world that tests its reluctant new inhabitants’ survival skills. Meanwhile, folks who are above-ground, still coping with traffic and smog, search for answers and a rescue plan. The series premiered Tuesday on the network, and is also available on the Peacock streaming service.