Harry Styles' fourth solo album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” and Guy Ritchie's detective series “Young Sherlock” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Steve Carell starring in the feel-good comedy “Rooster” on HBO, Nintendo’s Pokémon Pokopia offering a peaceful gaming
experience and Netflix has the sci-fi action pic “War Machine.”
— For anyone catching up with this year’s Oscar nominees, both Jafar Panahi’s darkly comedic revenge film “It Was Just an Accident” and Kleber Mendonça Filho 's “The Secret Agent” are streaming on Hulu starting in March. Panahi's Palme d’Or-winner, which Mark Kennedy called one of the most moving of the year in his AP review, is vying for best international feature and best original screenplay at the Oscars on March 15. “The Secret Agent” is up for best picture, best actor (Wagner Moura), best international feature and best casting. In my review I called it a “slow burn thriller,” adding that it is, “the best kind of personal film, imbued with so many things that Mendonça Filho loves, both resurrection and elegy.”
— Not to be confused with the David Michôd-directed Brad Pitt movie from 2017, Netflix has a new sci-fi action pic called “War Machine” streaming on Friday, March 6. This new film stars Alan Ritchson as an Army Ranger who while on a training mission comes across a deadly machine that relentlessly hunts him and his peers. Dennis Quaid also stars alongside Stephan James and Jai Courtney.
— A pickpocket (Ben Radcliffe) lands a job at a stately English manor and begins a romance with the lady-of-the-house ( Thomasin McKenzie ) in “Fackham Hall,” a slapstick spoof with a side of murder mystery that crosses “Downton Abbey” with “Monty Python.” Also starring Katherine Waterston, Damian Lewis and Tom Felton, “Fackham Hall” begins streaming on HBO Max on March 6. Or if you’d just rather go with actual “Downton Abbey,” the third movie, “The Grand Finale” is streaming on Netflix on Saturday, March 7.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
— He hath returned: Harry Styles is back with his fourth solo album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” out Friday via Columbia Records. Details are sparse: He described the album as “an audio representation of a long diary entry” in a Q&A with his stylist Harry Lambert in The Sunday Times Magazine; he’s teased the release as a direct reflection of his time spent out of the spotlight in Rome. The first taste arrived in the form of “Aperture,” a Styles’ opening track if we’ve ever heard one, a five-minute slow-burn built of accelerating synths. He told BBC Radio 1 the song was at least partially inspired by seeing LCD Soundsystem live and listening to the ’80s English post-punk band The Durutti Column. Freedom, he seems to be teasing, comes from anonymity, a dance floor, and braking as the music speeds.
— Denzel Curry and The Scythe (made up of rappers Bktherula, TiaCorine, Key Nyata and Ferg, formerly known as A$AP Ferg) are back at it with “Strictly 4 The Scythe.” Call them the exemplar Southern rap crew — this dream team sounds like they’re having more fun than anyone else in the game. That’s clear from the titular track “The Scythe,” with its bounce verses and chant-along chorus.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— Scott Speedman’s charisma is on full display in the new ABC series “R.J. Decker.” Speedman plays a former newspaper photographer and ex-con who has decided to forge a new path as a private investigator. The show takes place in South Florida where the cases can be bonkers, because Florida. The series is inspired by Carl Hiaasen’s novel “Double Whammy.” Hiaasen is from Florida, understands its oddities and sets his books there. “RJ Decker” will be available beginning Wednesday on Hulu.
— Before Sherlock Holmes became the world’s greatest detective, he studied at Oxford University. That’s the backdrop for Prime Video’s “Young Sherlock,” starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin as the titular character. The series is executive produced and directed by Guy Ritchie and has all the qualities you would expect from a Ritchie production: action sequences, fast-pacing and smart dialogue. In this series, we also see Sherlock meet and befriend of all people, James Moriarty, his biggest nemesis. All 8-episodes drop Wednesday.
— Another prequel premieres this week. “Ted” the TV series returns for a second season Thursday on Peacock. It’s about the early days of the foul-mouthed teddy bear (Seth MacFarlane) and his best friend John (Max Burkholder) who is in high school. MacFarlane is also an executive producer, writer, director and co-showrunner.
— Steve Carell stars in the new feel-good comedy “Rooster” for HBO. He plays a best-selling author who takes a job at a college where his daughter is also a professor and going through a tough time. The series is cocreated by Bill Lawrence (“Ted Lasso,” “Scrubs” and “Shrinking.”) Phil Dunster, Danielle Deadwyler and John C. McGinley have main roles. It premieres Sunday, March 8 on HBO Max.
— Alicia Rancilio
— The folks at Bungie set a high standard for sci-fi shooters with Halo and Destiny, but few players remember their first crack at the genre: 1994’s Marathon. The new Marathon jumps 99 years into the future and all the way out to a distant planet called Tau Ceti IV, where the original explorers tried to build a new colony. By the time you get there, though, most of the colonists have vanished, and it’s up to you to collect whatever loot they left behind. Bungie says you can play solo, but you’ll probably want to round up some online crewmates once the player-vs.-player mayhem starts. The expedition begins Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Nintendo’s Pokémon Pokopia isn’t the usual “gotta catch ‘em all” adventure. It’s more like “build ’em all a nice place to live and hope they show up.” Your character is a shape-shifting Ditto, and you’ve been dropped in a desolate landscape. Fortunately, the wise old Professor Tangrowth is there to help spruce it up. You’ll need to diversify if you want to attract visitors, since Pidgey’s probably going to want some trees and Psyduck may want a lake. If you’ve ever wanted to be surrounded by Pokémon without making them fight, this must be the place. Move in Thursday on Switch 2.
— Lou Kesten
