New this week: 'Black Widow, Jakob Dylan and 'Gossip Girl'
This week’s new entertainment releases include new music from Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers and a reboot of “Gossip Girl” less than 10 years after the CW series ended
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Your support makes all the difference.Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.
MOVIES
— It’s not free, but Marvel’s long-awaited “Black Widow” standalone comes to Disney+ on Friday for a $29.99 rental (it’s debuting simultaneously in theaters nationwide). Not entirely an origin story, not entirely a farewell, this film directed by Cate Shortland picks up in the middle with Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. It takes place after the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and finds her reuniting with her superspy sister (a sharp and funny Florence Pugh) to take down the organization that robbed both of their childhoods. “Stranger Things’” David Harbour and Rachel Weisz also star.
— Or if you’re looking for something infinitely sillier and more tropical with a few genuinely catchy tunes, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” is finally streaming for free on Hulu starting Friday. Arguably the breakout comedy of the year, this absurdist and good-hearted lark follows two middle-aged, culotte loving women from Soft Rock, Nebraska, played by writers and “Bridesmaids” scribes Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who take a much-needed vacation to Florida. There they meet a lovelorn henchman played by a revelatory Jamie Dornan. “Barb and Star” is best enjoyed with a coconut-flavored beverage close by.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
MUSIC
— Dylan is back, the younger one at least. Jakob Dylan is bringing back his band the Wallflowers for their first new album since 2012’s “Glad All Over.” The new 10-track bright collection, called “Exit Wounds” and out July 9, includes the singles “Who’s That Man Walking ’Round My Garden” and “Roots and Wings.” Dylan has explained the album's title refers to personal baggage: “Wherever you’re headed, even if it’s to a better place, you leave people and things behind, and you think about those people and those things and you carry them with you. Those are your exit wounds.”
— If coolness is what you want this summer, look no further than an artist whose name sounds like snow. Snoh Aalegra (pronounced “snow allegra”) is set to release her third album “Temporary Highs in the Violet Skies” on July 7. Born to Iranian parents in Sweden and now based in Los Angeles, Aalegra is known for chill, slinky and spare compositions that have R&B, soul and EDM elements — think Sade mixed with Alicia Keys. Her fans include Drake who sampled her song, “Time,” for his “More Life” track “Do Not Disturb,” and the late Prince who mentored her in the years before he died. Tyler, The Creator also helped on the new album.
— Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
TELEVISION
— PBS’ “The Latino Experience” takes a creative approach to the varied experiences of an ethnic group that represents nearly a fifth of Americans. The three-part anthology series offers 13 short fiction and nonfiction films that each set their own subject, style and tone. The first hour-long episode (Tuesday, check local listings for time) includes “Death and Deathability: A Period Piece,” in which a girl (Blanca Ordaz) is confounded by her transition to adolescence, decides death is at hand and readies a bucket list, and “The Blue Cape,” set in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The other episodes air on consecutive Tuesdays, July 13 and 20.
— Is it ever too soon for a series reboot? “Gossip Girl” says no. Less than 10 years after the CW series ended, what’s described as “an extension” is coming to streaming and broadcast. The posh setting is familiar — New York’s Upper East Side — but a new generation of privileged teenagers is facing a more complicated social media world. The new iteration stars Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown and Thomas Doherty. The series debuts Thursday on HBO Max and will be available 8 p.m. EDT Friday on CW and its online platforms.
— Viewers with fond memories of the short-lived HBO series “Enlightened” will be eager to check out “The White Lotus,” the channel’s new entry from creator Mike White. The six-episode limited series, debuting 9 p.m. EDT Sunday, is a satiric look at life within an exclusive Hawaiian resort. For those unfamiliar with White’s work, the cast may be enough to draw you in: it includes Connie Britton and Steve Zahn as, respectively, a type-A executive and a spouse with low-esteem; Jennifer Coolidge playing a rich-but-unhappy woman, and Molly Shannon as a honeymoon gatecrasher.
— AP Television Writer Lynn Elber
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Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.