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The Boss shines in the documentary “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” and Billy Crystal starring in a new series for Apple TV+ called “Before” are some of the new television, films, 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: Halsey’s fifth studio album, the return of “Special Ops: Lioness” and the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 takes us to the 1990s.
— One of the documentary standouts of the Sundance Film Festival, “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” packs an emotional wallop. The film, which won both the audience award and the directing award for documentary at Sundance, is Mats Steen, a quadriplegic Norwegian who died from a degenerative disorder at age 25. After his death, his parents discovered their son’s life was far richer than they had imagined. To a wide “World of Warcraft” community, Steen was Ibelin Redwood, a cherished virtual friend. Much of the film, directed by Benjamin Ree ( “The Painter and the Thief” ), is told through “War of Warcraft”-style animation. Streaming Friday, Oct. 25, on Netflix.
– There hasn’t been a shortage of Bruce Springsteen documentaries in recent years, but “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” (streaming Friday, Oct. 25, on Disney+ and Hulu), is still a notable addition to the ever-expanding cottage industry of all things Bruce. The film is directed by Thom Zimny, who was also behind the docs “Western Stars” and “Springsteen on Broadway.” This one candidly captures the band on their 2023-2024 tour, with archival footage mixed in.
— The M. Night Shyamalan -produced thriller “Caddo Lake” has been popular on Max lately, and the filmmaker’s own film, “Trap,” joins it Friday, Oct. 25. In “Trap,” Josh Hartnett stars as a serial killer taking his teenage daughter to an arena popstar concert. The event, though, has been fashioned as, well, a trap to catch him. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “a solidly entertaining film that’s mostly silly and sometimes unnerving.”
— In June, Halsey revealed she’d been privately battling both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, the most common form of lupus) and a rare T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder since 2022. On Friday, she’ll release her fifth studio album, “The Great Impersonator,” written and recorded in that time, what she’s publicly referred to as “the space between life and death.” Lyrically, the album touches on those themes — and musically, it is a great return to form for Halsey, an exploration of the music she deeply loves, done in her own fashion. There’s the interpolation of Britney Spears on “Lucky,” the shoegaze-meets-nu-metal “Lonely is the Muse,” the pop-punky “Ego” and the folky “The End.”
— Also on Friday, Oct. 25, Andrea Bocelli — arguably the world’s most recognizable tenor — will release a new album of duets, simply titled “Duets,” on the 30th anniversary of his debut album, 1994’s “Il Mare Calmo della Sera.” Bocelli tackles his best known hits, now with new singing partners: Sarah Brightman on “Time to Say Goodbye,” Jennifer Lopez on “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás,” Céline Dion on “The Prayer,” and so on. It’s all A-listers here: Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Chris Stapleton, Marc Anthony, Karol G and more make an appearance.
— Country-pop star Kelsea Ballerini is in love. But her fifth studio album, “Patterns,” is no “happy-go-lucky, mushy, gushy record,” as she told The Associated Press earlier this summer. Instead, her album examines a breadth of human experience, specifically what she’s identified as “learning how to go from fighting with something or with someone, to fighting for something or for someone.” It’s a lofty goal, one she manages with ease across songs like “Sorry Mom,” a swaying, guitar-pop confessional with intergenerational appeal. Banjos and beat drops appear here, too, in equal measure.
— ’N Sync’s J.C. Chasez first new album in 20 years, “Playing With Fire” alongside collaborator Jimmy Harry, is a musical theater concept album inspired by Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel, “Frankenstein.” It’s an unusual mad lib, but it appears to center on grief and ambition – following a conversation between a dying Frankenstein and his monster at his wife’s grave site. Musically, it marries Chasez’s familiar falsetto, pop music and classical compositions.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— Another popular video game is getting the live-action treatment. “Like a Dragon: Yakuza,” is based on a Sega game released in 2005. It follows a powerful gangster named Kazuma Kiryu, (Ryoma Takeuchi), who has a good heart and strong moral conviction — despite his ties to the mob. Kiryu’s story unfolds in two timelines, 1995 when he first gets drawn into the yakuza and in 2005 as a made man. The series debuts on Prime Video on Thursday with both subtitles and dubbed versions.
— Social media star Nadia Caterina Munno, a chef known as The Pasta Queen, now has her own travel food show with the same name. Munno takes viewers on a tour of Italy and then into the kitchen where she demonstrates how to make authentic Italian dishes with fresh ingredients. She knows her stuff. Munno comes from a family of pasta makers that goes back generations and the series also features members of her famiglia. “The Pasta Queen” drops Thursday on Prime Video.
— Billy Crystal stars in a new series for Apple TV+ called “Before,” about a man grieving the death of his wife. A child therapist, Crystal’s character Eli, finds himself drawn to a young boy (played by Jacobi Jupe) whom he realizes may carry past trauma that could help his own. The show also stars Judith Light and Rosie Perez. It premieres Oct. 25 on the streamer.
— The Peabody Award-winning “Somebody Somewhere” starring Bridget Everett returns for its third and final season Sunday, Oct. 27 on HBO and Max. Everett plays Sam, a single woman who has found her people in a group of misfits in the Midwestern town of Manhattan, Kansas.
— Taylor Sheridan’s CIA show called “Special Ops: Lioness” returns for its second season Sunday, Oct. 27 on Paramount+. Zoe Saldaña plays a CIA operative named Joe who recruits young females to infiltrate terrorist organizations in a secret program called Lioness. Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, Dave Annable and Laysla De Oliveira all are back for season two.
— Activision’s venerable Call of Duty franchise has, for the most part, offered a rah-rah attitude about U.S. military might. Things get weirder in the Black Ops spinoffs, which have presented a loopy, paranoid history of geopolitical shenanigans from the Cold War to 2065. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 takes us to the 1990s. The Gulf War is breaking out, but Marine vet Frank Woods and his team have a bigger problem: The CIA has been taken over by a shadowy cabal that wants them dead. There are 16 new maps for multiplayer skirmishes, and once again you can team up with friends to blast through hordes of zombies. Answer the call Friday, Oct. 25, on Xbox X/S/One, PlayStation 5/4 or PC.
