This week, Natalie Portman stars in her first TV series, “Lady in the Lake,” for Apple TV+, Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die” streams on Peacock, and rapper Childish Gambino drops his sixth record.
MOVIES TO STREAM
If you loved the adrenaline rush of Alex Honnold scaling El Capitan in “Free Solo,” Netflix has a treat for you. This time, the heights are manmade but no less harrowing. In “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist takes viewers into the dangerous world of rooftoppers — the daredevils who scale the tallest buildings. The subjects in “Skywalkers,” streaming on Netflix, are Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, who are not only talented rooftoppers but also in a relationship (hence the “love story” in the title) with their ups and downs.
Daisy Ridley stars as the trailblazing deep sea swimmer Trudy Ederle in “Young Woman and the Sea,” a very well-made and inspiring sports drama that harkens back to the live-action movies Disney used to make in the early ’90s like “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.” Accessible for the whole family, the film follows Ederle from childhood to the Olympics and finally on her quest to become the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926. It had a quiet theatrical release after producer Jerry Bruckheimer found it got the best test scores of his career. But it now available for all on Disney+.
Max is streaming the premiere of “Love Lies Bleeding” (one of the AP’s favorites of the year so far) and “The Commandant’s Shadow.” The former is the sophomore feature of filmmaker Rose Glass, who directs Kristen Stewart in a wildly compelling performance as a gym manager who has fallen for a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brien) drifter. Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote in his review that it “gives Stewart a vivid noir sandbox where all of her talents for obsession, desire and rage finds its gnarliest expression yet.” The latter is a documentary in which the son of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss (also the subject of the Oscar-winning “The Zone of Interest”) reckons with his family’s past.
Finally, Prime Video has the sequel “My Spy: The Eternal City,” Dave Bautista’s CIA agent JJ accompanies Sophie (Chloe Coleman) on a school trip to Italy, where they get caught up in a terrorist plot. Kristen Schaal, Ken Jeong, Anna Faris and Craig Robinson co-star in the Pete Segal pic, which is available starting Thursday.
NEW MUSIC TO STREAM
Next week, Childish Gambino will release his sixth album, “Bardo Stone & the New World,” touted as his final album under Donald Glover’s alter ego. It also serves as the soundtrack to his forthcoming film of the same name. The lead track, “Lithonia,” is anthemic synth-rock, like Glover’s take on Britpop-punk. It was co-produced by Glover, Ludwig Göransson, Max Martin and Michael Uzowuru. It was a surprising turn, to be sure.
Six of the members of BTS are serving South Korea’s mandatory national service. (Jin, the oldest at 31, finished his 18-month military service last month. He will be an Olympic torchbearer at the Paris games.) But that doesn’t mean they’re slowing down their musical output. Jimin is preparing to release his second solo album, “Muse.”
SERIES TO STREAM
Kerry Washington’s comedy “UnPrisoned” returns for a second season on Hulu. She plays Paige, a single mom raising a teenage son who is thrown a curveball when her dad (played by Delroy Lindo) moves in after he’s released from prison. Paige works as a therapist but has personal issues of her own to work through, including fears of abandonment.
There’s a catchphrase where people share random points in time or moments in pop culture that they often think about and describe as their Roman Empire. By those standards, director Roland Emmerich’s Roman Empire is the Roman Empire. Known for big-budget disaster flicks like “Independence Day” and “Godzilla,” Emmerich’s first foray into television is a topic he says has long intrigued him: the Roman Empire. “Those About to Die” is a gladiator series set in ancient Rome during the Flavian era. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Dimitri Leonidas, Jojo Macari and Tom Hughes — all 10 episodes streaming on Peacock.
Part 1 of the sixth and final “Cobra Kai” season launches on Netflix on Thursday. Taking place decades after the first “Karate Kid” movie, the series follows Ralph Macchio and William Zabka’s characters Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. It’s taken years, but they’re finally on the same side of the Cobra Kai dojo — as senseis who teach teens karate. They also have a common enemy in John Cleese’s Martin Kove. The show artfully weaves characters from the original movies into its storylines.
Natalie Portman stars in her first TV series, “Lady in the Lake,” for Apple TV+. The show is based on a book by Laura Lippman. Set in 1960s Baltimore, Portman plays a bored housewife and mother whose obsession with two local murders prompts her to leave her family to become an investigative journalist. Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit) also co-stars with Y’lan Noel of “Insecure.” “Lady in the Lake” debuted Friday.
VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
It’s been more than a decade since we’ve been able to enjoy college football on a video game console, and a lot has changed. For starters, the real-life amateurs can now make a few bucks. That’s good news for Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Colorado wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter and Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, the cover models for EA Sports College Football 25. The long-awaited reboot lets you play as a coach, building a team from scratch, or as a player, fighting your way to the Heisman Trophy. Or you can return to your old school — 134 are represented — and enjoy all the atmosphere, fight songs and mascots you expect on an autumn Saturday. The season kicked off Friday on PlayStation 5 and Xbox X/S.
