The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • January 9 - 15, 2022 •19 By Raye Smith TV Media WHAT'S NEW ON HULU "Dollface" - Season 2 It's friends before everything else when "Dollface" returns to Hulu with its second season on Tuesday, Jan. 11. Season 1 of the series followed Jules, played by Kat Dennings ("Thor," 2011), a young woman on a mission to rekindle her neglected friendships after the end of her long-term relationship. As Jules attempted to rebuild her re - lationships with Madison (Brenda Song, "The Social Network," 2010), Stella (Shay Mitchell, "Pretty Little Liars") and Izzy (Esther Povitsky, "Alone Together"), the audience saw her overcome her own imagi - nation and re-enter the world of women. Now reunited with her friends, Season 2 sees the girls move forward in their lives and deepen their relationships as they try to balance love, work and friend - ship. Created by Jordan Weiss ("En- titled," 2014), the series is directed by Emma Westenberg ("Stranger's Arms," 2018) and Stephanie La- ing ("Physical") and co-written by Weiss, Hallie Cantor ("Arrested Development") and Grace Edwards ("*Loosely Exactly Nicole"). Beth Grant ("Donnie Darko," 2001) returns to the series, along with new additions Lilly Singh ("A Little Late With Lilly Singh"), Jayson Blair ("Good Trouble"), Corinne Foxx ("Beat Shazam"), Owen Thiele ("Eighty-Sixed"), Hayley Marie Normam ("Kenan"), Luke Cook ("Chilling Adventures of Sabrina") and Chelsea Frei ("The Moodys"). "Sex Appeal" (2022) Hop onto Hulu this Friday, Jan. 14, to catch the premiere of the new teen rom-com "Sex Appeal." Avery Hansen-White (Mika Abdalla, "Project Mc2") doesn't do any- thing halfway and refuses to do anything that she isn't excellent at. With her long-distance boyfriend coming home and hinting at want- ing to take their relationship to the next level, Avery sets out to master her sexuality before he arrives. With the help of her longest-tenured friend, Larson (Jake Short, "A.N.T. Farm"), Avery soon learns there's more to sex and love than simple theory and mechanics. From direc- tor Talia Osteen ("Blindsided," 2006), "Sex Appeal" features a screenplay by Tate Hanyok ("Love and Baseball," 2021). The cast is rounded out by Paris Jackson ("Gringo," 2018), Margaret Cho ("Good on Paper," 2021), Fortune Feimster ("The Mindy Project"), Skai Jackson ("Bunk'd"), Hayden Szeto ("The Edge of Seventeen," 2016), Rebecca Henderson ("Rus- sian Doll") and Mason Versaw ("tick, tick... BOOM!" 2021). WHAT'S NEW ON NETFLIX "The Journalist" - Season 1 Stay in the know with the brand- new Japanese drama series "The Journalist," premiering on Netflix on Thursday, Jan. 13. A series adap- tation of the 2019 Japanese film of the same name (which itself was loosely based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Isoko Mo- chizuki), "The Journalist" follows highly regarded and well-respected reporter Anna Matsuda (Ryôko Yonekura, "Doctor X") as she fear- lessly pursues the truth in a world full of corruption. Tackling a variety of issues in contemporary Japanese society, Anna, known as "the mav- erick of news media," will stop at nothing to expose a government cover-up bigger than she could have ever imagined. As she gets close to uncovering it all, audiences see just how far powerful people will go to make sure their version of "the truth" is the only one avail- able. Directed by Michihito Fujii ("Innocent Blood," 2017), the film is written by Kazuhisa Kotera ("The Naked Director") and Yoshitatsu Yamada ("1,000,000 yen no On- natachi"). Johanna Yukiko Haneda ("Monster Party," 2018), Gô Ayano ("Rage," 2016), Ryûsei Yokohama ("Your Turn to Kill," 2021), Shinobu Terajima ("Intolerance," 2021), To- morô Taguchi ("Non-Stop," 1996), Mitsuru Fukikoshi ("Special Inves- tigation Nine"), Masato Hagiwara ("Silent Rain," 2019), Hidetaka Yoshioka ("Always: Sunset on Third Street," 2005), Kôji Ohkura ("The Top Secret: Murder in Mind," 2016) and Tetsuji Tanaka ("The Quiz Show") also star in the series. "Archive 81" - Season 1 The popular horror podcast "Ar- chive 81" is making a move to the small screen when the brand-new streaming series of the same name premieres on Netflix on Friday, Jan. 14. Based on the eponymous podcast, the horror series follows archivist Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie, "The Circle," 2017) as his ordinary life takes a turn for the dark and terrifying and he is re- cruited by a billionaire named Virgil (Martin Donovan, "Tenet," 2020) to work on a mysterious project. Now working to reconstruct the work of filmmaker Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi, "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan"), Dan finds himself piecing together video footage from her 1994 investigation into a danger- ous cult. Drawn into her story, Dan becomes convinced he can save Pendras from her terrifying end. Written by showrunner and execu- tive producer Rebecca Sonnenshine ("The Vampire Diaries") with Evan Bleiweiss ("Rosewood"), Paul Har- ris Boardman ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose," 2005), Bobak Esfarjani ("Manifest"), Helen Leigh ("Out- cast") and Michael Narducci ("The Originals"), the series is directed by Rebecca Thomas ("Stranger Things"), Haifaa Al-Mansour ("Mary Shelley," 2017), Justin Benson ("Spring," 2014) and Aaron Moorhead ("The Endless," 2017). The cast is rounded out by Ariana Neal ("Fruitvale Station," 2013), Evan Jonigkeit ("X-Men: Days of Future Past," 2014), Matt McGorry ("Orange Is the New Black"), Julia Chan ("Saving Hope"), Daniel Johnson ("The Boonies," 2021) and Kate Eastman ("Limetown"). WHAT'S NEW ON HBO MAX "Peacemaker" - Season 1 Dive into a hero's origin story in the new HBO Max original series "Peacemaker," available to stream on the platform on Thursday, Jan. 13. Following the events of 2021's "The Suicide Squad," this new series follows DC Comics character Christopher Smith, aka Peacemaker (John Cena, "WWE Raw"), a part hero, part super-villain mercenary killer and all-around not-that-great guy. Stopping at nothing to achieve what he believes to be peace (including a fair bit of violence), this story unveils the character's origins, taking audiences through his humble beginnings and through his subsequent missions. Executive produced, directed and written by superhero movie maven James Gunn ("Guardians of the Galaxy," 2014), this DC Extended Universe series is co-executive produced by Cena. While "The Suicide Squad's" (2021) Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Steve Agee and Stephen Blackehart return to reprise their roles from the film, the series' cast is rounded out by Robert Patrick ("The X-Files"), Christopher Hey- erdahl ("Van Helsing"), Danielle Brooks ("Orange Is the New Black), Chukwudi Iwuji ("The Split") and Nhut Le ("Kroll Show"). WHAT'S NEW ON APPLE TV+ "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (2021) Prepare "toil and trouble" with the streaming premiere of "The Trag- edy of Macbeth," available Friday, Jan. 14, on AppleTV+, following the film's Christmas Day theatrical release. This bold new adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Mac- beth," which has already earned rave reviews from critics, stars Oscar winners Denzel Washington ("Training Day," 2001) and Frances McDormand ("Nomadland," 2020) in the iconic leading roles of Lord and Lady Macbeth. Set forth on a power-hunger quest to claim the Scottish throne after receiving a prophecy from three witches, Macbeth's rabid desire for power, encouraged greatly by his med- dling wife, quickly devolves into a tragedy rife with murder, regret and greed. But try as they might, Lord and Lady Macbeth find there is no washing their hands of their rash and bloody actions. Directed and written for the screen by Joel Coen ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?" 2000), this new film from A24 studios and IAC films also stars Alex Hassell ("Cowboy Bebop"), Bertie Carvel ("Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell"), Brendan Gleeson ("Cal- vary," 2014), Corey Hawkins ("In the Heights," 2021), Harry Melling ("Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," 2001), Miles Anderson ("La La Land," 2016), Matt Helm ("Greyhound," 2020), Moses In- gram ("The Queen's Gambit") and Kathryn Hunter ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," 2014). WHAT'S NEW ON PRIME "Hotel Transylvania: Transfor- mania" (2022) The monster pack is back, but this time around they're looking a lot less monstrous — "Hotel Tran- sylvania: Transformania" streams Friday, Jan. 14, on Prime. Dracula (Brian Hull, "Pup Star," 2016) and his merry band of monsters are reunited once more in another new terrifying adventure. When Van Helsing's (Jim Gaffigan, "Luca," 2021) mysterious "Monsterfica- tion Ray" gets completely out of control, Drac and the other mon- sters become the most terrifying creatures of all: humans. Stripped of all their powers and with Dracula's human son-in-law, Johnny (Andy Samberg, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"), now running around as a monster, the creepy crew must team up for a journey around the world to find a cure and get everyone back to normal before the transforma- tions become permanent. Directed by Derek Drymon ("SpongeBob SquarePants") and Jennifer Kluska ("Wild Kratts"), the film features a screenplay by Genndy Tartakovsky ("Samurai Jack") and Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo (both of "90s Sleepover"). "Tranformania's" all-star voice cast is rounded out by Selena Gomez ("Only Murders in the Building"), Kathryn Hahn ("WandaVision"), Steve Buscemi ("Miracle Workers"), David Spade ("Joe Dirt," 2001) and Keegan- Michael Key ("Schmigadoon!"). Kat Dennings and Jai Rodriguez as seen in "Dollface" Dina Shihabi stars in "Archive 81" A scene from "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania"