What to Stream: Blackpink and Bruno, Paul McCartney doc, ‘Survivor’ at 50 and Resident Evil Requiem
K-pop girl group Blackpink and funky pop star Bruno Mars return with new music and a documentary about Paul McCartney after the Beatles are some of the new TV shows, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth checking out this week, selected by Associated Press entertainment reporters: “Paradise” starring Sterling K. Brown returns for its second season, the freshly renamed Actors Awards will go live again and there will be bloodthirsty zombies to battle in Resident Evil Requiem.
— Andrew Stanton has directed some very memorable Pixar films (“WALL-E,” “Finding Nemo”), but his live-action track record is more checkered. After 2012’s poorly received “John Carter,” Stanton returned with “In the Blink of an Eye,” a film that brings together a handful of interconnected stories that explore world history. Kate McKinnon, Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs co-star. After a rocky reception at the Sundance Film Festival last month, “In the Blink of an Eye” debuts Friday, February 27 on Hulu.
— The Actor Awards, formerly SAG Awards, will be presented on March 1 during a ceremony broadcast live on Netflix. Presented by SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ guild, the awards are one of the most closely watched Oscar predictors. This year, “One Battle After Another” by Paul Thomas Anderson tops the nominees.
— AP writer Jake Coyle
— For the Paul McCartney superfan, a new documentary series from director Morgan Neville, who also directed “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “Piece by Piece.” Not about the Beatles, but about what happened after. “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run,” releasing on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, February 27, chronicles the music man’s life in the 1970s – Wings and more. It’s an intimate portrait worth lingering with.
— Also on Friday February 27: The return of Bruno Mars! “The Romantic” is Mars’ fourth full-length project and first solo album since 2016’s hit “24K Magic.” (This of course excludes his mega-popular collaborative project with Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic and their 2021 release “An Evening with Silk Sonic.”) Retro-pop is the name of the game and Mars remains one of the great spirited nostalgics. This much is clear from the jump: “I Just Might” is feel-good disco-pop-soul music; It’s clear that Mars is making a comeback just when the world wants it most.
— All four members of K-pop girl group Blackpink have enjoyed incredible success as soloists, with ubiquitous pop hits like “APT.” and starring roles in “The White Lotus” among them. But the time has now come to return. On Friday, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa will release “Deadline”, their latest EP. Details surrounding the five-track release are scant, but the bilingual “Jump” is bouncy Europop that flirts with hardstyle, the perfect soundtrack for a Las Vegas day club. Obviously, they just want their listeners to have fun.
— Maria Sherman, AP music editor
– Season 2 of “Paradise” starring Sterling K. Brown returns to Hulu on Monday. Brown plays Xavier, a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the President of the United States, played by James Marsden. In season 1, we learned that Marsden’s character and a select few had fled to an underground bunker just as an apocalypse was about to destroy everything. Xavier and his children also managed to get to safety, but his wife was left behind. In season 2, he goes looking for her. Shailene Woodley joins the cast and Julianne Nicholson and Marsden return.
– The 50th, yes 50th, season of “Survivor” airs live on Paramount+ Wednesday when it airs on CBS. Make sure you get your whole night free though because the first episode is three hours long. Season 50 features all of the returning contestants from “Survivor,” including “The White Lotus” creator Mike White.
— Sixteen years after the series finale aired, Zach Braff’s “Scrubs” has been resurrected. The Irreverent Hospital begins streaming on Hulu Thursday, with returning cast members Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke and Judy Reyes.
— Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman first worked together on the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” They have a new collaboration as executive producers of a new Civil War series for Prime Video called “The Gray House.” Mary Louise Parker stars alongside Ben Vereen, Robert Knepper (“Prison Break”) and Paul Anderson of “Peaky Blinders.” The 8 episodes are released on Thursday.
— A washed-up Broadway actor (played by Kevin Kline) returns to his hometown and ends up directing a local production of “Our Town” in the new series “American Classic.” He also clashes with his former girlfriend turned mayor played by Laura Linney. MGM+ is kicking off the series by releasing the first two episodes on Sunday, April 1.
— It’s been 30 years since Capcom introduced us to the world of Resident Evil, where a biological weapon transformed all kinds of creatures into bloodthirsty zombies. With the franchise’s ninth mainline installment, Resident Evil Requiem, the monsters show no signs of slowing down. The new protagonist is Grace Ashcroft, an FBI analyst who only owns a few guns and is just trying to make it out alive. Fortunately, Leon Kennedy – who has been around since RE2 – is also on board, and he has a much more versatile arsenal. The developers hope to appeal to fans of pure survival horror as well as players who like more explosive action. The Nightmare resumes Friday February 27 on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 and PC.
