LOS ANGELES (AP) — A six-episode, behind-the-scenes Disney+ docuseries about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Rian Johnson’s third “Knives Out” movie, “Wake Up Dead Man,” are some of the new television, films, music and games on a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Chip and Joanna Gaines take on a big job revamping a small home in the mountains of Colorado, video gamers can skateboard through hell in Sam Eng’s Skate Story and Rob Reiner gets the band back together for “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”
New movies to stream
— Rian Johnson’s third “Knives Out” movie, “Wake Up Dead Man” arrived on Netflix on Dec. 12. Religion is at the heart of this installment, which finds Daniel Craig’s dapper detective Benoit Blanc trying to solve the “locked room” murder of Josh Brolin’s Monsignor Jefferson Wicks, a charismatic and terrifying church leader with a devoted set of followers. The large ensemble cast includes Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner and Kerry Washington. Some were less than delighted by this outing, however. In his review for The Associated Press, Mark Kennedy called it, “a gloomy and clunky outing that may test fans’ faith in the filmmaker.”
— Brad Pitt plays a washed-up driver looking for glory on the racetrack in the Formula One movie “F1,” streaming on Apple TV. Filmmaker Joseph Kosinski wanted to make it feel as exciting and authentic as possible: In many scenes, it really is Pitt and Damson Idris driving those cars at 180 mph. Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote in his review that it’s, “a fine-tuned machine of a movie that, in its most riveting racing scenes, approaches a kind of high-speed splendor.”
— Rob Reiner got the band back together for “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” which is streaming on HBO Max. Was it a mistake to revisit the great 1984 mockumentary, though? Mark Kennedy wrote in his review that, “Despite some great starry cameos — Paul McCartney’s is easily the best — “Spinal Tap II” leans into the old favorite bits too needily and is suffocated by the constantly looming presence of death, a downer. The improv-based comedy is forced and the laughs barely register. This is a movie only for die-hard Tappers.”
New music to stream
— It is Taylor Swift’s world and we’re just living in it. Prepare yourself for two new projects at Disney+. That’s a six-episode, behind-the-scenes docuseries about her landmark “Eras Tour” titled “Taylor Swift ‘The Eras Tour’ The End of an Era” — the first two episodes premiered Dec. 12. And that is not to be confused with the second, titled “Taylor Swift ‘The Eras Tour’ The Final Show,” a concert film now with the inclusion of “The Tortured Poets Department” section. The 2024 album was incorporated into her three-and-a-half-hour performance following its release. It was filmed in Vancouver. (That differs from 2023’s “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” film, which was compiled from several Swift shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, a suburb of Los Angeles and arrived ahead of “The Tortured Poets Department.”) Swifties, rise!
— It has been a big year for collaborative rap records (looking at you, Clipse) and that continues into 2025’s 11th hour with “Light-Years,” a new release from rapper Nas and record producer DJ Premier. They’re greats for a reason.
— The Grammy-award winning producer, DJ and electronic musician Fred Again released the next iteration of his USB series, the 16-track “USB002,” on Dec. 12. Expect the unexpected: The first song released from the collection is “you’re a star,” which features Australian punky-pop band Amyl and The Sniffers. The club sounds a little different this time around.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
New series to stream
— Chip and Joanna Gaines have long said they would not do any fixer uppers outside of central Texas. Until now. The couple has taken on a big job revamping a small 1960s home in the mountains of Colorado. “Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House” premiered Dec. 9 on Magnolia Network and HGTV and streams same day on HBO Max and Discovery+.
— Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, returned to TV on Dec. 10 with Season 2 of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” The series, starring Walker Scobell in the title role, adapts “The Sea of Monsters,” the second novel in a book series by Rick Riordan. The two-hour season premiere streamed on Disney+ and Hulu.
— He helped to launch “American Idol” and created “America’s Got Talent” and the group One Direction. Now, cameras follow Simon Cowell as he seeks to form a new boy band in “Simon Cowell: The Next Act.” The docuseries, out Dec. 10, is about both his search and Cowell himself. He prides himself on discovering an “it” factor. “When you’re putting a band together, it’s like mining for diamonds,” he said in the trailer. “If this goes wrong, it will be ‘Simon Cowell has lost it.’”
— Diane Kruger stars in a new drama for Paramount+ called “Little Disasters” as Jess, a mother who takes her son to the hospital for a head injury. The doctor, who is also a friend, becomes suspicious of Jess’ description of what happened and calls the authorities. It’s based on a novel of the same name. All six-episodes dropped Thursday, Dec. 11.
New video games to play
— I’ve skateboarded all over the world in various video games, but one location remains untouched by my deck: hell. Solo designer Sam Eng aims to correct that omission with Skate Story. You are a skateboarder made of glass in an underworld filled with demons, who can only be defeated by unleashing your gnarliest tricks. The only way to escape is to swallow the moon. If you love classics like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater but wish they were more hallucinatory, this might be the ride for you. Kick off on PlayStation 5, Switch 2 or PC.
