The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
New this week: Megan Thee Stallion, ‘Big Sky’ & Dolly Parton
— “12 Years a Slave” and “Widows” filmmaker Steve McQueen’s latest project, “Small Axe,” begins rolling out on Amazon Prime Video this week in the U.S. Comprised of five unique stories, the anthology film series about London’s West Indian community in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s kicks off Friday with “Mangrove,” about a group of Black activists who were arrested and put on trial on charges of trying to incite a riot.
— Once you’re finished with “Mangrove,” perhaps you’d like to indulge in a little holiday fantasy, like, say, “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square,” a glossy musical coming to Netflix Sunday. Christine Baranski plays a Scrooge in stilettos who is trying to evict an entire town by Christmas eve. Dolly, naturally, plays an angel who visits to convince her otherwise.
— Or maybe you’re looking for escapism of the silly sci-fi action-horror variety. If so, “Underwater,” starring Kristen Stewart as a mechanical engineer working on a deep sea drilling facility, debuts on HBO Saturday. Part “The Abyss,” part “Aliens,” this creature-feature got pretty mixed reviews when it played in theaters in January. MUSIC
— With several platinum-selling Top 40 hits, including two No. 1 smashes, as well as an EP and mixtape reaching the Top 10 on the pop charts, it might sound weird but Megan Thee Stallion is finally releasing her debut album on Friday. “Good News” is one of the year’s highly anticipated albums, though details around the project have been tight.
— A musical family plus quarantining together equals a new album. That’s what happened to the Fogerty family after the pandemic hit in March. John Fogerty, his daughter Kelsy and his sons Shane and Tyler recorded “Fogerty’s Factory” in their home studio. The 12-track album will be released Friday — just in time for the holidays.
TELEVISION
— ABC’s “Big Sky,” from veteran writerproducer David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies”), is a Montana-set thriller driven by the kidnappings of two sisters on a road trip. Kylie Bunbury, Katheryn Winnick and Ryan Phillippe top a cast that includes sterling character actors John Carroll Lynch (“The Founder,” “Fargo”) and Valerie Mahaffey (“Dead to Me,” “Young Sheldon”). The series, debuting 10 p.m. Tuesday, is based on novels by C.J. Box featuring investigator Cassie Dewell, played by Bunbury.
— Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, whose subjects have ranged from the collapse of Enron to the inner workings of Scientology, turns his attention to murder in HBO’s “Crazy, Not Insane” (9 p.m. Wednesday). The two-hour film details psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis’ research into why people kill, including a focus on experiences and brain dysfunction.
— Rumer Godden’s 1939 novel “Black Narcissus” was the basis of a 1947 movie starring Deborah Kerr and Jean Simmons. It’s back on screen, adapted for a threepart FX series debuting in full 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23. The series is set during British rule in India, with Anglican nuns led by ambitious Sister Clodagh (Gemma Atherton) seeking to turn a clifftop palace into a mission and stirring dark waters along the way. Kulvinder Ghir and Jim Broadbent are in the cast, along with Diana Rigg — another chance to savor the work of the actor who died last September.