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What to stream this week, women shine edition: Louis-Dreyfus, Kidman, Teigen and Vergara

This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include Julia Louis-Dreyfus starring as a neurotic writer in the movie “You Hurt My Feelings,” Nicole Kidman in the new limited series “Expats” and Sofia Vergara playing a drug lord in the new series for Netflix called “Griselda.”

The Associated Press
Monday 22 January 2024 05:01 GMT

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus starring as a neurotic writer in the movie “You Hurt My Feelings" and Nicole Kidman leading the new limited series “Expats” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Sofia Vergara playing an infamous drug lord in a new series for Netflix called “Griselda” and Snoop Dogg playing a washed-up football player ordered to perform community service in “The Underdoggs."

NEW MOVIES TO STREAM

— Snoop Dogg stars as a washed-up professional football player ordered to perform community service after crashing his car in “The Underdoggs,” streaming Friday, Jan. 26, on Amazon Prime Video. In the R-rated comedy, Snoop Dogg’s character is sentenced to coach a youth football team. Though the set-up cribs from many sports movies before it, “Underdoggs” has some true-life connections for its star. In 2005, Snoop Dogg founded the nonprofit Snoop Youth Football League.

— Nicole Holofcener has long been a master of mining nagging neuroses for comedy, and “You Hurt My Feelings” (streaming Friday, Jan. 26 on Paramount+) finds the writer-director in top form. Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as a writer who overhears her otherwise loving husband (Tobias Menzies) criticizing her latest book. That’s just one of the threads Holofcener pulls at in her very funny, very melancholy examination of how white lies prop up our marriages, relationships and self-images. In my review last year, I praised Holofcener as “brilliant in finding the major heartache in minor slights.”

— “R.M.N.” is the latest powerhouse social drama by the masterful Romanian director Cristian Mungiu (“4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”). The film, which streams Sunday, Jan. 28, on Hulu, is set high in the Transylvanian mountains, in a village coursing with tension and suspicion over new migrant workers. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, captures in the community a microcosm of us-vs.-them battles playing out around the world. An unbroken 17-minute shot during a town hall and the movie’s flooring final image are just some of its unforgettable moments.

AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

NEW MUSIC TO STREAM

— On Friday, Jan. 26, The Smile — a Radiohead side project comprising Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner — will release their sophomore album, “Wall of Eyes." And let it come as a surprise to no one: It sounds like an ambitious Radiohead record. Single “Friend of a Friend" features strings from the London Contemporary Orchestra, saxophone by Robert Stillman, and a music video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (known for his films “Boogie Nights," “Punch-Drunk Love,” and more recently, "Licorice Pizza." )

— Goth Babe, the moniker of the nomadic artist Griffin Washburn, doesn't just sound like a band name ripped from the heyday of 2010s indiepop — his music sounds like it, too. The reverbed guitar tunes “Sometimes,” “Swami’s,” and “Car Camping” made Goth Babe a streaming/playlist phenomenon; on “Lola,” Washburn's debut album named after the sailboat he calls home, he compiles his chilled-out tunes into a single body of work.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

NEW SHOWS TO STREAM

— If you follow Chrissy Teigen, you know she’s a serious foodie who has published her own cookbooks. In her new show, “Chrissy & Dave Dine Out,” Teigen teams up with chef David Chang (behind the Momofuku line of restaurants), and writer-actor Joel Kim Booster, to visit different Los Angeles restaurants. They invite along surprise celebrity guests, not only having a great meal but also a great time. Cameras roll as no topic is off limits. “Chrissy & Dave Dine Out” debuts Wednesday on Freeform and will stream on Hulu.

— Sofia Vergara plays infamous drug lord Griselda Blanco in a new series for Netflix called “Griselda.” Blanco, a major player in the 1970s and 1980s U.S. cocaine trade, was called “La Madrina,” the “Black Widow” “Cocaine Godmother” and the “Queen of Narco-Trafficking.” To play her, Vergara changed her posture and even yellowed some of her teeth. The six-episode series premieres Thursday on Netflix.

— A new comedy coming to Peacock combines adult humor with stop-motion animation and live action. “In the Know” stars Zach Woods (“The Office,” “Silicon Valley”) and is set at a public radio station where his character hosts a show where he interviews the likes of Mike Tyson, model Kaia Gerber and documentarian Ken Burns. Each episode also follows the behind-the-scenes absurdity of the workplace. It debuts Thursday.

— British crime drama “Sexy Beast” is a prequel to the 2000 film of the same name that starred Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane. The TV version, dropping Thursday on Paramount+, follows three different actors portraying younger versions of their characters as they navigate the London underworld in the 1990s.

— “The Farewell” director Lulu Wang serves as showrunner and director of the new limited series “Expats,” premiering Friday, Jan. 26, on Amazon Prime Video. It stars Nicole Kidman as a character whose family is living in Hong Kong as expats, enjoying a life of upper-class privilege. When tragedy strikes, it has a ripple effect among the people in their orbit. The series is based on the book “The Expatriates” by Janice Y. K. Lee.

— Alicia Rancilio

NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY

— Think your family gatherings are hectic? You got nothing on the Mishima clan, who have been brawling in Bandai Namco’s Tekken games for decades. Last time around, Kazuya Mishima killed his dad — who, to be fair, had thrown him off a cliff once. In Tekken 8, Kazuya is bent on world domination, and the only one who can stop him is his son Jin. Punches will be thrown, and even if you don’t care about all the family drama, there are 30 other fighters ready to compete in the King of Iron Fist tournament. The developers say the new edition’s gameplay mechanics emphasize “aggression,” so you might want to put aside that plate of nachos before you enter the ring. The mayhem resumes Friday, Jan. 26, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Sega’s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth also promises plenty of fisticuffs, but its creators are throwing about half a dozen other genres into the mix. You can deliver food. You can build you own island resort. You can collect tiny monsters and train them to fight. You can download a matchmaking app and go on dates. All this comes on top of another installment of the flamboyant crime saga, as two former Yakuza gangsters flee Japan but find all sorts of fresh trouble in Hawaii. You could spend hours Googling the convoluted mythology behind this long-running franchise — but I advise just jumping right in, since none of it makes sense anyway. The new chapter debuts Friday, Jan. 26, on PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One and PC.

— Lou Kesten

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Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/entertainment.

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