Sabrina Carpenter hosting a holiday variety music special on Netflix and Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw playing a spy and an assassin in the TV series “Black Doves” 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: K-pop star Rosé has her first solo full-length album, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” enjoys another afterlife odyssey and BLACKPINK’s Rosé has her first solo full-length album.
— Thirty-six years after the original, the Deetz family returns to Winter River in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ” (streaming Saturday, Dec. 7 on Max). There, Lydia (Winona Ryder), still haunted by Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), is forced into another afterlife odyssey when her teenage daughter (Jenna Ortega) discovers a portal. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it “a joyously rendered sequel that sometimes makes sense, and sometimes doesn’t, but just keeps rollicking.”
— A lowkey reunion of “Love Actually” writer-director Richard Curtis and one of that film’s stars, Bill Nighy, is part of the new Netflix animated movie “That Christmas” (streaming Wednesday). The film was co-written by Curtis (it’s based on his series of Christmas books) and features Nighy as the voice of Lighthouse Bill, one of the Wellington-on-Sea townspeople grappling with a winter blizzard. The storm poses challenges even for Santa, voiced by Brian Cox.
— Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum star in the space race rom-com “Fly Me to the Moon,” about a NASA launch director (Tatum) and a Madison Avenue marketing executive tasked with selling the mission to the moon. The film, which debuted in theaters in July, hits Apple TV+ on Wednesday. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr praised it as “lighthearted and breezy with a pleasing screwball energy, giving Johansson the opportunity to use the full wattage of her movie star power.”
— Does espresso go with eggnog? Find out when Sabrina Carpenter hosts a holiday variety music special that streams on Netflix starting Friday, Dec. 6. “It’s an hour of literal nonsense,” Sabrina told Time magazine about the special. “If people are expecting boring, me singing by a tree, it’s not that. It’s so fun, so chaotic. There are so many guests that I’m excited about.” Those guests include Chappell Roan, Tyla, Shania Twain, Kali Uchis, Quinta Brunson, Cara Delevingne, Kyle Mooney, Nico Hiraga, Megan Stalter, Sean Astin, Owen Thiele and Jillian Bell.
— Lauren Mayberry, vocalist and percussionist from the Scottish pop band Chvrches, makes her solo debut with “Vicious Creature.” The 12 tracks veer from the coffee-house folk of “Anywhere But Dancing” to the punky “Punch Drunk,” the dance-pop of “Change Shapes” and stuttering glam of “Sorry, Etc.” “It’s a mission statement of all things that you like,” she tells us in an interview.
— Mayberry isn’t the only woman setting out alone — BLACKPINK’s Rosé has her first solo full-length album, titled “rosie,” scheduled for release on Friday, Dec. 6. She kicked it off with “APT.,” her collaborative with pop star Bruno Mars. The catchy pop-punk track, inspired by a popular Korean drinking game, known as the “apartment game.” It has spent weeks atop the Billboard Global 200 chart. On Instagram, she previewed the album by saying “I have poured my blood and tears into this album. I cannot wait for you to listen to this little journal of mine.”
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
— In their new Netflix series “Black Doves,” Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw play old friends who also happen to be a spy and an assassin, that team up to solve a murder (and get revenge) at Christmas. Knightley joked to The Associated Press that the show falls in the “Die Hard” category of holiday entertainment. “It’s like, I’ve spent too much time with my family. I hate them all. I need to watch something blow up!” “Black Doves” debuts Thursday on the streamer.
— Margo Martindale stars in the new Prime Video series “The Sticky,” as a down-on-her-luck woman on the brink of financial ruin who finds herself in a crime ring stealing, of all things, millions of dollars’ worth of maple syrup. It’s inspired by a true story. The dark comedy also stars a delightful Chris Diamantopoulos and Guillaume Cyr. Jamie Lee Curtis is an executive producer and also makes an appearance. It premieres Friday, Dec. 6.
— Multiplayer free-for-alls like Overwatch and Apex Legends remain popular online, but it’s been years since a new release has made an impact. Chinese-owned NetEase Games is hoping to shake up the genre by adding superheroes and villains to the formula with Marvel Rivals. The core competition is a battle between two teams of six heroes each. The initial lineup includes marquee names like Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain America as well as a few cult favorites like Luna Snow and Jeff the Land Shark. Some characters — say Thor, Loki and Hela — can join forces to unleash all sorts of havoc. It’s all free-to-play, and the mayhem begins Friday, Dec. 6, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.