Jennifer Lopez’s new rom-com premieres this week. In 2019, she starred in the fabulous Hustlers, which was based on a New York Magazine story by journalist Jessica Pressler, who also wrote a New York Magazine feature about it-girl con artist Anna Sorokin, which has now been made into the Netflix series Inventing Anna, which also premieres this week! It’s all connected!
Inventing Anna
Based on Jessica Pressler’s 2018 New York Magazine story, this limited series created and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes explores how Anna Sorokin (Julia Garner) invented the persona of “Anna Delvey” and conned New York’s elite out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. A previous Pressler story was the basis for 2019’s Hustlers, so this should be fantastic. Streaming February 11 on Netflix.
Death on the Nile
Kenneth Branagh follows up his intimate Oscar fave Belfast with another sprawling, bombastic take on Agatha Christie. Branagh reprises his role as creatively mustachioed Detective Hercule Poirot who must investigate a murder on an Egyptian pleasure cruise. Annette Bening, Gal Gadot, Russell Brand, Letitia Wright, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French round out the star-studded cast of suspects. In theaters February 11.
Marry Me
Just in time for Valentine’s Day: a Jennifer Lopez rom-com! JLo stars as pop star Kat Valdez, whose relationship with fellow celebrity Bastian (Maluma) falls apart in front of a live audience of millions. Rocked by the experience, she impulsively picks a face out of the crowd—high school teacher Charlie (Owen Wilson)—and marries him on the spot, dragging him into the spotlight along with her. In theaters February 11, and streaming on Peacock February 14.
Bel-Air
You know the story all about how Will Smith’s life got flipped, turned upside down. Peacock’s Bel-Air reimagines the classic ’90s sitcom as an hour-long drama set in contemporary America. The basic premise remains the same: young Will (Jabari Banks) moves from West Philadelphia to L.A.’s exclusive Bel-Air neighborhood. But the new show promises to replace the breezy jokes with a deeper dive into “inherent conflicts, emotions and biases,” that the original couldn’t fully explore. Streaming February 13 on Peacock.
Bonus Listening: Shamir, Heterosexuality
At once ethereal and tense, singer-songwriter-rocker Shamir’s eighth studio album may be his most political to date. And of course, the political is always personal. On skittering, fuzzed-up tracks like “Cisgender” and “Gay Agenda,” Shamir aggressively and defiantly explores his queerness while reinterpreting the various sonic palettes of ’90s alt rock, pop and industrial music. “I think this album is me finally acknowledging my trauma,” he says of Heterosexuality. “Everyone knows I’ve been through so much shit and I kind of just rammed through, without really acknowledging the actual trauma that I do feel on almost a daily basis.” Available February 11.
