The It List: Taylor Sheridan's universe expands with 'Lawmen: Bass Reeves,' BTS's Jung Kook releases debut solo album, 'The War on Disco' doc looks back at 1979's 'Disco Demolition Night' in Chicago
STREAM IT: Paramount's Sheridan-verse continues to expand with Lawman: Bass Reeves
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan's latest Paramount+ western stars David Oyelowo as the real-life Old West lawman who made history by becoming the first Black man to be deputized as a U.S. Marshal. The eight-episode series — which was created by Chad Feehan and features Oyelowo as an executive producer — also launches an all-new Sheridan produced anthology franchise that chronicles the stories of other famous frontier enforcers and the criminals they pursue on horseback. Look for Dennis Quaid as one of Reeves's (fictional) fellow marshals and Garrett Hedlund, who stars alongside Sylvester Stallone in the Sheridan-made Tulsa King, as a horse whisperer. — Ethan Alter
Lawman: Bass Reeves premieres Sunday, Nov. 5 on Paramount+.
WATCH IT: Daisy Ridley confronts someone scarier than Snoke in The Marsh King's Daughter
Luke Skywalker isn't the only one with serious daddy issues. Star Wars sequel series vet Daisy Ridley stars in the latest thriller from Limitless director, Neil Burger. Ridley plays Helena, whose comfortable life is threatened by the sudden return of her father, the Marsh King (Rogue One's Ben Mendelsohn), who kept her and her mother prisoners in the wilderness for years. Now that he's escaped prison, he tries to make contact with his daughter... and her child as well. This exclusive clip shows Helena coming to the terrifying realization that the Marsh King has potentially already reached out to his granddaughter and life as she's known it is about to change. — E.A.
The Marsh King's Daughter premieres Friday, Nov. 3 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.
WATCH IT: American Experience explains The War on Disco
The latest installment of the PBS series documents what went down on July 12, 1979, when more than 50,000 people showed up at a Chicago White Sox game at Comiskey Park that had been billed as "Disco Demolition Night." The backlash against the music genre, which originated in underground Black and gay clubs, was intense. On that night, as seen in this exclusive clip, the unruly crowd broke into a riot, throwing records from the stands and rushing the field. And it was about more than people having heard "I Will Survive" one too many times: It was a culture war that escalated quickly. As the Village People's Felipe Rose says in the episode, "The evening at Comiskey Park was the moment that set the fuse. Suddenly, radio stations stopped playing disco music — not slowly, overnight." — Raechal Shewfelt
The War on Disco premieres Monday, Oct. 30 at 9 p.m. on PBS.
WATCH IT: Jason Momoa narrates the new eco-documentary Deep Rising
Even when he's not swimming around in his Aquaman outfit, Jason Momoa is still deeply concerned with what's going on in the world's oceans. The big-time action hero lends his voice to the Sundance-approved eco documentary, Deep Rising, which chronicles the efforts of big corporations to harvest the precious metals from the ocean floor for the batteries that power electric cars and other evolving technologies. This exclusive clip features Momoa meditating on the beauty and variety of life under the sea — life that's threatened by what's happening on the surface. — E.A.
Deep Rising premieres Friday, Nov. 3 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.
STREAM IT: Kenneth Branagh becomes Boris Johnson in This England
When Kenneth Branagh disappears into a role he really disappears into a role. The Belfast writer/director transforms into former British prime minister, Boris Johnson, in the new BritBox miniseries This England, which follows the tumultuous early days of Johnson's time in 10 Downing Street. 24 Hour Party People auteur Michael Winterbottom writes and directs the series, which puts recent history under the microscope. Check out this exclusive clip, where an unrecognizable Branagh trumpets Johnson's unlikely victory. — E.A.
This England premieres Wednesday, Nov. 1 on BritBox.
HEAR IT: Jung Kook enters his golden era
Jung Kook, the youngest member of BTS, is the latest talented member to release a solo album while the superstar K-pop septet is on hiatus. And he has enlisted quite a few superstar guests for his debut record, Golden, including Jack Harlow, Major Lazer, DJ Snake and Latto. Consequence recently described the Latto collab, the No. 1 single “Seven,” as “one of the sexiest songs in K-pop history.” — Lyndsey Parker
Golden by Jung Kook is available Friday, Nov. 3 to download/stream on Apple Music.
READ IT: Eddie Munson lives (sorta) in new Stranger Things novel
Eddie Munson went down in a blaze of glory in the finale of Stranger Things last season, shredding Metallica in a last stand against the demobat minions of the big bad Vecna. While Joseph Quinn’s breakout character was gone too soon from the small screen, Eddie gets the spotlight to himself in Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus, a new novel by show writer Caitlin Schneiderhan that fills in the backstory of the misunderstood Hellfire Clubster. A perfect Halloween treat for Eddie stans and Stranger Things completists alike. — Marcus Errico
Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus is available Tuesday, Oct. 31 in digital and physical formats from Amazon and other booksellers.
HEAR IT: Jimmy Buffett says goodbye
Prolific tropical-rocker Jimmy Buffett completed his final studio album shortly before his Sept. 1 death from skin cancer at age 76, and now it serves as a departing gift to his faithful flock of Parrotheads still in mourning. Equal Strain on All Parts features a Paul McCartney collaboration, “My Gummie Just Kicked In,” that showcases the signature laid-back humor that Buffett had until the very end, but another track, “Bubbles Up,” is a bittersweet goodbye, as Buffett croons, “Just know that you are loved, there is light up above, and joy, there’s always enough.” In a social media tribute, McCartney praised “Bubbles Up” as being “probably the best I’ve heard him sing ever.” — L.P.
Equal Strain on All Partsby Jimmy Buffett is available Friday, Nov. 3 to download/stream on Apple Music.
WATCH IT: Witnesses of the Kennedy assassination tell their stories in JFK: One Day in America
The National Geographic franchise casts its lens on Nov. 22, 1963, the day that President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in an open motorcade in downtown Dallas, Tex. Here, the last surviving witnesses share their emotional memories of what occurred in the moments before and after the bullet hit the president. The three-part series also features footage from collaborator the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza’s archives, which has been exclusively colorized for the project. Like the One Day in America series on 9/11, all of the information is presented together as a moment-by-moment accounting of the infamous day. — R.S.
JFK: One Day in America premieres Sunday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. on National Geographic.
PLAY IT: My Little Pony celebrates a big anniversary with new retro-nostalgia toys
Believe it or not, the My Little Pony franchise has hit the big 4-0. And Basic Fun is celebrating that milestone birthday with new 40th anniversary toys that celebrate the original run of ponies. The line includes the returns of old favorites, collector's packs with multiple ponies, squishable plush versions and out of this world Celestial characters. Just like friendship, these O.G. ponies will forever be magic. — E.A.
Basic Fun's My Little Pony 40th anniversary toys are available now at Amazon and Target.
OWN IT: Blue Beetle is low-key one of the year’s best superhero movies
The Flashgot all the hype, perhaps as Warner Bros./DC executives scrambled to save their Justice Leaguer as audiences had mixed feelings about Ezra Miller’s recent brushes with the law. But really their best product this year was Blue Beetle, Ángel Manuel Soto’s lively, super-fun and super-funny actioner about a recent college grad (the excellent Xolo Maridueña) out to save his family from financial ruin and the world from a maniacal military industrialist that plays like DC’s Iron Man Junior or answer to Peter Parker. Like The Flash, the Beetle kinda bombed at the box office, but it deserves to find a much wider audience on home entertainment, where it lands this week. — Kevin Polowy
Blue Beetle releases on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, October 31 on Amazon.
HEAR IT: British rockers the Struts return to raise hell
British rockers the Struts, fronted by the fabulously Freddie-Mercurial Luke Spiller, were leading the glam-rock revival long before Måneskin (who actually covered the Struts while competing on The X Factor Italy in 2017) or Greta Van Fleet. And over the past decade and three swaggering albums, they’ve pushed the genre’s boundaries, collaborating with everyone from Kesha and Paris Jackson to Robbie Williams, the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr., and Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott. After the Struts toured with the Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl even said they were the best opening act the Foos ever had, which was why Spiller was invited to cover Queen songs at Taylor Hawkins’s 2022 all-star London memorial concert. Now the Struts are back with Pretty Vicious, co-produced by Julian Raymond (Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick). The record is being heralded as a return to the Struts’ anthemic rock roots, as evidenced by the bombastic, Jim Steinman-esque “Rockstar” and the Stonesy “Too Good at Raising Hell.” — L.P.
Pretty Vicious by the Strutsis available Friday, Nov. 3 to download/stream on Apple Music.
HEAR IT: Micky Dolenz monkeys around with R.E.M.’s classic catalog
Imagine the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz singing the songs of jangle-pop pioneers R.E.M. That would sound pretty awesome, wouldn’t it? Well, you’re in luck, because that’s actually happening — on the EP Dolenz Sings R.E.M., featuring shiny happy new arrangements of “Radio Free Europe,” “Man on the Moon,” “Leaving New York” and “Shiny Happy People.” Upon hearing the record, which was produced by late Monkee Michael Nesmith’s son, Christian Nesmith, an amazed R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe said in a statement: “These songs are absolutely incredible. Micky Dolenz covering R.E.M. Monkees-style, I have died and gone to heaven. This is really something.” —L.P.
Dolenz Sings R.E.M. by Micky Dolenz is available Friday, Nov. 3 to download/stream on Apple Music.
