Pop forecast
Movies
Most anticipated movies of 2019 (Disney
edition): Dumbo (March 29), Aladdin (May 24), Toy Story 4 (June 21), The Lion King (July 19), Frozen 2 (Nov. 22)
Big picture: Disney practically owns everyone and everything — probably even a small piece of each of our souls (I’m guessing it was in the fine print of its US$52.4 billion purchase of Fox Entertainment). Yes, last week’s lookahead at 2019 superhero movies had the mark of the mouse all over it. But with no new openings, let’s look at the family films Disney is releasing this year. First up, it’s your classic coming-of-ageflying-elephant story. Dumbo gets the live-action treatment in the hands of ... hmmm ... Tim Burton. Expect a creepier circus vibe than you remember in the classic.
Will Smith has big wishes to fill as Genie in the live-action re-telling of Disney’s Aladdin from … hmmm ... director Guy Ritchie. (I guess Aladdin needed a reinvention from someone who has perfected the English hooligan crime thriller). The Lion King also gets a live-action re-telling with Donald Glover as Simba and Beyoncé as Nala, Simba’s childhood friend and future royalty (James Earl Jones returns to voice Mufasa). Meanwhile, Toy Story 4 adds a talking Spork and a road trip to the mix and Frozen 2 also finds Anna and Elsa far away from home.
Forecast: Disney missed the crossover potential. I’m not the only one who would have preferred Frozen 2: Aladdin (tag line: “Winter is Coming to a Whole New World) or The Lion King: Elephant Coup (a.k.a. Dumbo vs. Simba). I would have also accepted Frozen 2: Lion Queen vs. Snow Queen (a.k.a. Beyoncé vs. Elsa).
TV
Big events: Lindsay Lohan’s Beach House (Jan. 8, MTV); Project Blue Book (Jan. 8, History); Schooled (Jan. 9, ABC; Jan. 10, Global); The Last Laugh (Jan. 11, Netflix); True Detective (Jan. 13, HBO Canada)
Big picture: On the reality TV front, Lindsay Lohan’s Beach House is like Animal House meets Big Brother meets Mamma Mia 2. Tabloid fodder, social media maven and occasional actress Lindsay Lohan launches a new club in Mykonos, Greece. Pour a cocktail and tune in for the potential weekly train wreck.
For more honest laughs, CBC gifts us with East Coast comic timing in the form of Cavendish (Jan. 8) — from the team behind Picnicface. Meanwhile, Aidan Gillen goes from playing the Game of Thrones to the Game of Unknowns in Project Blue Book, a scripted drama series based on real-life, declassified “X-Files” — secret Air Force investigations into over 12,000 UFO sightings in the 1950s and ’60s (hundreds of which remain unsolved). Suffice it to say, Gillen’s Dr. Hynek quickly goes from being a Scully to a Mulder.
Schooled is a 1990-something spinoff of The Goldbergs (probably TV’s most underrated network sitcom), which follows new music teacher Lainey Lewis (AJ Michalka) as she joins the staff of the zany high school she graduated from. Tim Meadows (as Principal Glascott) and Bryan Callen (as Coach Mellor) anchor the crossover cast.
Netflix gives us the original movie The Last
Laugh, about an aged comic (Richard Dreyfuss) launching a comeback tour as guided by his equally venerable agent (Chevy Chase). And True Detective returns in an effort to cover up the gruesome murder of dialogue that was Season 2 (series creator Nic Pizzolatto was apparently rushed). Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) stars as a troubled investigator in a season that spans three time periods in the Ozarks.
Forecast: Those poor aliens will never know what hit them. Dumb luck. Imagine: You go out into the universe searching for other life and you end up meeting Littlefinger himself.
Music
Big 201 9releases: Avril Lavigne, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Vampire Weekend and more
Big picture: When the only notable release of the week is from YouTube sensations Jack & Jack, it’s time to look ahead to the rest of the year — though exact release dates are TBD, there is much to look forward to. There’s nothing “complicated” about it, Lavigne is attempting a Canadian comeback after seven years with her new album, Head Above Water.
On the Canuck superstar front, The Weeknd and Carly Rae Jepsen are both expected to deliver something new. Megastars Rihanna, Grande, Madonna and Taylor Swift will wrestle singles on the charts. On the indie front, New York’s talented Vampire Weekend will release the album Mitsubishi Macchiato, which sounds like something you want to drink and drive. And Beirut’s new effort, Gallipoli, finds eccentric frontman Zach Condon again playing matchmaker with various instruments (his voice and a trumpet always still tend to work best).
Forecast: Lavigne gets her happy ending; everybody’s working for The Weeknd.