Weekend must-watch list on OTT platforms: Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and MLB The Show 24

Here are some of the new television, movies, music, and games coming to your device this weekend: Season 20 of “Grey’s Anatomy,” albums from Justin Timberlake and Kacey Musgraves, and more. The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists recommend checking out “The Girls on the Bus” starring Melissa Benoist, Taylor Swift’s concert film “The Eras Tour” on Disney, and the comedy “Girls5Eva” on Netflix for its third season. See the full weekend OTT watchlist below.

NEW MOVIES SUPPLIED

Taylor Swift’s concert film “The Eras Tour” is at Disney this week. The streaming cut features five new tracks, including “Cardigan.” “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” was a phenomenon at the theatrical box office, grossing more than $262 million worldwide in a groundbreaking deal with AMC Theaters, which released the film instead of a traditional Hollywood studio. AP Music Writer Maria Sherman wrote in her review that the film is “an almost exact replica of her blockbuster concert performance that encapsulates all 10 of her studio albums spanning 17 years of recording,” adding “it’s a chance to make every seat in the house turn into the best seat in the house.”

Film editor Carla Gutiérrez (“RBG”) makes her directorial debut with “Frida,” a narrative portrait of artist Frida Kahlo in her own words. Gutiérrez used Kahlo’s journal entries, letters, essays and paintings to guide a narrative that delves into her childhood, marriage, style, misfortune and, of course, her art. “In revealing his own words and his own voice, I think we’re introducing a new way to get into his world and into his mind and heart and really understand art in a more intimate and raw way,” Gutiérrez said. AP before the film’s Sundance premiere. It’s now on Prime Video.

Nicolas Cage embraces the gray in Kristoffer Borgli’s “Dream Scenario” as Paul Matthews, a perfectly average college professor, husband and father whose life is turned upside down when millions of strangers start seeing him in their dreams. In her AP review, Jocelyn Noveck wrote that “Borgli, the Norwegian writer-director who makes his English-language debut here (with Ari Aster as co-producer), aims for a larger statement about the nature of fame. And while the subject matter he’s tackled before may not be original, it is ripe for exploration in the right hands—especially with an actor as inventive and unpredictable as Cage. Fame can be intoxicating, this film says, but it can and probably will turn you on in no time.” It starts streaming on Max on Friday. And for the kids, “Trolls Band Together” comes to the Peacock.

AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

PERFORMING NEW MUSIC

With every album she releases, Kacey Musgraves proves to her loyal listeners that her creative process knows no bounds. The same fan base that discovered her on the celebratory country-as-heck LGBT anthem “Follow Your Arrow” from 2013’s “Same Trailer Different Park” followed her through new psychedelic-disco-pop pastures on 2018’s “Golden Hour” , which took home the top prize at the 2019 Grammys. Then he pivoted again: with 2021’s “star-crossed” meditation on divorce and autonomy, with an uncanny ability to break hearts in less than 15 words: “If this were a movie, love would be enough,” he sings. “But it’s not a movie.” Which brings us to “The Deep Well”. Musgraves is once again paving her own path: her country has become folk, her songs are beautiful and sensitive with lyrics that find depth in the mundane. It’s smooth and classic-sounding, in a hyper-specific language of the present. Maybe it dates these songs, maybe it plants them firmly in Musgraves’ reality. Be that as it may, they are impressive. (Read AP’s review here.)

With Justin Timberlake’s last solo album “Man of the Woods” released in 2018, JT looked for Americana sounds for his next musical development. It was widely seen as a critical mistake—a superficial attempt at innovation that created familiar images of rural life to reflect his new reality as a father. With “Everything I Thought It Was,” his first new album in six years, JT has done a 180. He’s returned to the 2000s R&B pop sounds that made him a superstar. It was evident from the first released singles: the atmospheric “Selfish” and the dreamy reverberation of “Drown”, enhanced by Timberlake’s distinctive falsetto. There are also a few surprises: his boy band (star)NSYNC has a feature, as does Tobe Nwigwe and Afrobeats star Fireboy DML.

AP music composer Maria Sherman

NEW SHOWS to stream

Over the years, the characters on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” have had medical breakthroughs, crisis situations, office romances, personnel changes and three hospital name changes. Here’s a look at what’s in store for season 20 as the popular medical drama returned Thursday after filming was delayed due to the Hollywood strikes. This season, Ellen Pompeo – who plays Dr. Meredith Gray – is not a series regular, but appears regularly. Shonda Rhimes’ other ABC show, the firefighter drama “Station 19,” also returned Thursday for its seventh and final season. Both shows continue the next day on Hulu.

Another Liane Moriarty novel has received a TV treatment. In Peacock’s “Apples Don’t Fall,” Annette Bening plays a wife and mother who disappears, leaving her grown children to suspect their father (played by Sam Neill). Jake Lacy and Alison Brie also star. All episodes of the limited series are now out.

Comedy “Girls5Eva” has jumped from the Peacock to Netflix for its third season. The musical comedy tells the story of a girl group from the 1990s who achieved a bit of fame and hopes to revive their celebrity status decades later. The show is executive produced by Tina Fey and stars Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Busy Philipps. All six episodes of the season are out now. The first and second seasons can also be viewed on Netflix.

The new Apple TV limited series “Manhunt” has turned John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln into a political thriller. Tobias Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, the former Secretary of War who led the search for Booth after Lincoln’s assassination. The show is based on the book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson. It premieres on Friday.

Just in time for this election year, a new drama follows female journalists involved in the presidential election campaign. “Girls on the Bus” stars Melissa Benoist (“Supergirl”) as Sadie McCarthy, a newspaper reporter who is enamored with old-school journalism and idolizes Hunter S. Thompson. He travels the country by bus with an experienced print editor (Carla Gugino), a conservative network broadcast editor (Christina Elmore) and a young editor (Natasha Behnam) who embraces new media and uses Substack, sponsors. and social media reach audiences. “The Girls on the Bus” debuts Thursday at Max.

The cozy PBS staple “Call the Midwife” returns for its 13th season Sunday on PBS. Narrated by Vanessa Redgrave, the period drama follows nurses, midwives and nuns working in London’s East End and is based on Jennifer Worth’s memoir, Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s. The new season is set in 1969. “Call the Midwife” can be streamed on PBS station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App.

Alicia Rancilio

NEW VIDEO GAMES ARE PLAYING

Most professional sports simulators offer incremental updates from season to season, but Sony’s MLB The Show 24 aims for something truly revolutionary: you can play as a woman. In the “Women Make Their Way” story, you can create a female baseball player from scratch and see if she can fulfill her dream of playing in the big leagues. Other new storylines include a tribute to New York Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and a second season of the recurring Negro Leagues documentary. Of course, there will be the usual improvements to the game and animations, and the developers promise to put a special emphasis on the “urgency of the fielder”. And Toronto Blue Jays Slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the new cover model. If you order the digital deluxe version, you can throw the first pitch on Friday for PlayStation 5/4, Xbox X/S/One, or Nintendo Switch.