New this week: ‘Cry Macho,’ McCreery and ‘The Morning Show’
Movies
⏩ Clint Eastwood has gone back to his Western roots with “Cry Macho,” which the 91-year-old directs and stars in as a former rodeo star who’s hired to bring a young man in Mexico back to his father in the U.S. People have been trying to adapt N. Richard Nash’s novel since it was published in 1975, with everyone from Roy Scheider to Arnold Schwarzenegger attached over the years. Even Eastwood himself reportedly circled the role over 30 years ago. Like all Warner Bros. films in 2021, “Cry Macho” will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday.
⏩ A 16-year-old dreams of becoming a drag queen in “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” a coming-of-age-musicalcomedy that hits Amazon Prime Video on Friday.
⏩ Also on Amazon Prime on Friday is a new film from actor-writer-director Mélanie Laurent who has adapted “The Mad Women’s Ball,” Victoria Mas’s prize-winning novel about women in the Salpêtrière asylum in 1885 Paris.
Music
Self-titled albums are important milestones and Lindsey Buckingham is releasing one on Friday at age 71. It’s the former Fleetwood Mac singer and guitarist’s first solo release since 2011’s “Seeds We Sow” and his seventh solo studio collection.
⏩ The talent that is Cynthia Erivo drops a defining album on Friday, the 12-track “Ch. 1 Vs. 1.” The Tony-, Grammy- and Emmywinner (not to mention Oscar-nominated actor) has released a few singles already, including the sublime soul/R&B anthem “Glowing Up,” with the lyrics “Diamonds don’t shine/Until they’ve been buried alive.” The album of all original material is executive produced by Will Wells.
⏩ Country music and trucks are like peanut butter and jelly, so its comforting to know that Scott McCreery’s fifth album is titled “Same Truck,” out Friday. Its singles include “Carolina to Me” and the real-life newlywed’s romantic ditty “You Time.” McCreery has said the album’s title emerged during a fraught 2020 — “less divide, more togetherness.”
Television
⏩ “Jeopardy!” began its new season Monday, and a reason to watch is returning champ Matt Amodio, of New Haven, who ended last season in style by winning 18 consecutive games and collecting $574,801 — a total that makes him third in all-time, regular-season winnings. Airs at 7 p.m. on WTNH Channel 8 and WABC Channel 7.
⏩ “OWN Spotlight: They Call Me Dad,” airing Tuesday, takes a step in the right direction with a celebration of Black fathers and the bond they have with their children. The OWN channel special offers intimate away-from-the-spotlight profiles of four celebrity dads and the joys and sorrows of parenthood.
⏩ Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell and Billy Crudup and we could go on, but “The Morning Show” audience knows the exceptional cast. They also are acutely aware they’ve waited since the season one finale aired in December 2019 to find out what happened after Alex (Aniston) and Bradley (Witherspoon) turn the show into a #MeToo megaphone. And there’s the tragic death of talent booker Hannah (Gugu MbathaRaw), which could have been purposeful or accidental. The first of season two’s 10 episodes is out Friday on Apple TV+, followed by weekly releases.