Streaming: Tom Hanks and a donkey star in separate movies
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
■ Adult dramas have generally been having a hard time in theaters in recent months, but one notable exception has been “A Man Called Otto.” The film stars Tom Hanks as a despondent and ornery widower whose suicide plans keep getting foiled by the needs of his neighbors. After having made nearly $100 million in ticket sales worldwide, “A Man Called Otto” arrived on video on demand Tuesday. Marc Forster’s adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestseller and a remake of the 2016 Swedish film “A Man Called Ove,” “A Man Called Otto” is well tailored to Hanks’ screen presence while subtly tweaking it. In my review, I wrote that how the film unfolds “won’t surprise anyone, but it does the trick for a little post-holidays heart-warming.”
■ Since its prize-winning debut at the Cannes Film Festival last May, Polish filmmaking legend Jerzy Skolimowski’s
“EO” has been moving audiences like few other recent films. Skolimowski made “EO,” nominated for best international film at the Academy Awards, from the perspective of a circus donkey on a spiritual journey as it experiences cruelty and kindness while traveling through Poland and Italy. “The idea was from the very beginning that we don’t want to tell the story about the donkey, but that we want the audience to feel like it is a donkey,” Ewa Piaskowska, Skolimowski’s wife and co-writer told AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr. “EO” began streaming Tuesday on the Criterion Channel and is also available for digital rental.
■ Director Miles Warren makes a compelling directorial debut in
“Bruiser,” a tender coming-ofage tale streaming starting today on Hulu. “Till” actor Jayln Hall stars as 14-year-old Darious. Set during his summer between 7th and 8th grade, the quiet Darious, back from boarding school, is adjusting to life with his working parents (Shinelle Azoroh, Shamier Anderson) and friends who he’s drifted apart from. With Trevante Rhodes, of “Moonlight.”
■ It’s been 13 years since we last saw the cater waiters of “Party Down” suffer through another event thrown by the rich and sometimes famous of Los Angeles. Original cast members including Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen and Megan Mullally reprise their characters in a third season debuting today on Starz. This new batch of episodes sees the characters older and (somewhat) at different places in their lives, but they’re still just as funny. Jennifer Garner, Tyrel Jackson Williams and Zoë Chao also join the cast. Original player Lizzie Caplan was unavailable for season three but the cast has said they’re game for another season, especially to work with her again.
■ Netflix’s “Outer Banks” returned for its third season on Thursday, and JJ, Sarah, and the gang have discovered a deserted island they’ve named Poguelandia. If we’ve learned anything from “Lord of the Flies” and “Yellowjackets,” teens on a deserted island equals trouble. And that’s just how the third season begins, promising more action, romance and, of course, hidden treasures.
■ After writing and recording two albums over the past four years that he later scrapped, Dierks Bentley is poised to release a third, one he says he “had to get right.” Out today, the 14-track “Gravel & Gold” has songs featuring Ashley Mcbryde and Billy Strings. The single “Gold” is all about freedom, with the lyrics: “I got some rust on my Chevy but it’s ready to roll/i got a rhinestone sky and a song in my soul.” Bentley promises a diverse album, “from the arena shaker to the barroom weeper to the bluegrass fireballer.”