The It List: Rebel Wilson goes back to high school in NSFW comedy 'Senior Year,' Kendrick Lamar drops long-awaited fifth studio album, 'The Time Traveler's Wife' gets TV adaptation and the best in pop culture the week of May 9, 2022
The It List is Yahoo's weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for May 9-15, including the best deals we could find for each. (Yahoo Entertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.)
STREAM IT: Rebel Wilson goes back to high school in R-rated cheerleading comedy Senior Year
Rebel Wilson's Senior Year — her first movie in three years — is looking to join the ranks of high school favorites like Clueless and Mean Girls. Wilson plays Stephanie Conway, who as a teenager (Angourie Rice) was cheerleading captain/most popular girl in school until a devastating fall landed her in a long coma. Waking up 20 years later, the now-37-year-old Stephanie is determined to return to high school and continue right where she left off. Fish-out-of-water hijinks inevitably ensue as Stephanie must catch up with the times ("Madonna's now called 'Lady Gaga?'" she asks her parents while looking at a Rolling Stone cover). Behind Wilson, Senior Year boasts an impressive supporting cast, including Sam Richardson, Zo? Chao, Justin Hartley (This Is Us), Mary Holland (Happiest Season), Chris Parnell (30 Rock) and Alicia Silverstone (speaking of Clueless). — Kevin Polowy
Senior Year premieres Friday, May 13 on Netflix.
STREAM IT: The Lincoln Lawyer rides again on Netflix
Michael Connelly's blockbuster book franchise previously beget a hit 2011 film starring Matthew McConaughey as town car-riding lawyer Mickey Haller. A decade later, the Lincoln is leaving the garage again with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the driver's seat. Netflix's 10-episode series, overseen by David E. Kelley, adapts the second book in Connelly's series, The Brass Verdict, and finds Mickey returning to the law game after an extended time out after kicking a serious painkiller habit that put him on the outs with his two exes, played by Neve Campbell and Becki Newton. And he's got a whopper of a case waiting for him: Having inherited the practice of a recently deceased colleague, he's got to defend a tech guru (Christopher Gorham) accused of murdering his wife. In this exclusive clip, Mickey shows that he's still got the right stuff to soar like a legal eagle. — Ethan Alter
The Lincoln Lawyer premieres Friday, May 13 on Netflix.
STREAM IT: Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum team-up Lost City hits digital
Few screen couples have garnered as much excitement as Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum when the first trailer arrived for their Romancing the Stone-esque adventure comedy, The Lost City. They liked working with one another, too. “We have really good timing. We’re different enough that we compliment each other,” Bullock says in a behind-the-scenes clip (watch exclusively above) from the film’s digital release. Tatum claims the two could make a 15-to-20-minute bit out of just a chair and pencil, and could fill whole memory cards with “stupidity.” Good stupidity, he means, we assure you. — K.P.
The Lost City premieres Tuesday, May 10 on all digital platforms. Watch it on Amazon.
STREAM IT: Addams Family star Christina Ricci visits another kooky house in Monstrous
Christina Ricci meets her own Babadook-like monster in Monstrous, her first horror movie since 2005's Cursed. The former Wednesday Addams plays '50s-era single mother Laura, who moves into an isolated farmhouse with her young son, Cody (Santino Barnard). It isn't long before she notices strange things about their new home, including things that go bump in the night and a monster who lives down by the pond. But is this a real haunting or is it all in Laura's increasingly unhinged mind? This exclusive clip from the film shows Cody introducing his mom to the pond monster, who he refers to as "the pretty lady." Nope, nothing creepy about that at all! — E.A.
Monstrous premieres Friday, May 13 in theaters and on most VOD services including iTunes.
WATCH IT: Montana Story spins a modern-day Western yarn
Following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, the contemporary Western Montana Story trots into theaters for general audiences. Written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel — the filmmaking team behind such acclaimed star-studded dramas as The Deep End and Uncertainty — the film stars Owen Teague and Haley Lu Richardson as estranged adult siblings who have to decide what to do with their ailing father's debt-ridden Big Sky property. While Richardson's city-dwelling Erin is eager to sell and leave the past behind, Teague's Cal still thinks he wants to live off the land like his forefathers. This exclusive clip from the film spotlights their divide, as well as the actors's deeply felt performances. — E.A.
Montana Story premieres Friday, May 13 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.
WATCH IT: Hello, Bookstore depicts the pandemic's impact on a local business
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic isn't just a health crisis — it's also an economic crisis that's been particularly felt by small businesses. A.B. Zax's engaging new documentary Hello, Bookstore profiles one of those businesses: an independent bookstore in Lennox, Mass., called, appropriately enough, Bookstore. Owned and operated by bibliophile Matthew Tannenbaum, Bookstore was a successful neighborhood fixture, until the pandemic closed the front door and cut readers off from their weekend browsing. As his profit margins shrink, Tannenbaum tries to find ways to keep his business alive, including curbside sales. This exclusive clip from the film features his personal appeal to customers past, present and future to keep their book buying local. — E.A.
Hello, Bookstore premieres Friday, May 13 in theaters; visit Fandango for showtime and ticket information.
HEAR IT: Kendrick Lamar steps back into the spotlight
It has been four years since Kendrick Lamar curated the Black Panther soundtrack, and five years since he released his last official studio album, the Grammy-winning DAMN. He has maintained a relatively low profile ever since, aside from a few guest appearances and an explosive yet way-too-brief appearance at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. But now the Pulitzer Prize recipient and hip-hop icon is finally back with his fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers — and he seems to be making up for lost time, because he’s hinted that this will be a double LP. All details about the project are shrouded in mystery, but even on a big New Music Friday that brings us records from the Black Keys, Florence + The Machine and Mandy Moore, all eyes are on Kendrick this week. — Lyndsey Parker
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar is available Friday, May 13.
STREAM IT: The Time Traveler’s Wife
HBO's The Time Traveler’s Wife brings Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 sci-fi romance novel to the small screen with a six-episode adaptation from Doctor Who's Steven Moffat starring Game of Throne alum Rose Leslie and Theo James (Divergent). James plays Henry, a man plagued by uncontrollable time jumps and Leslie plays his wife, Clare, who meets him at various ages as he jumps back and forth in time to see her. The Time Traveler’s Wife was also a 2009 movie starring Rachel McAdams as Clare and Eric Bana as Henry, but this new TV version promises to deliver a fresh take on the love story.
The Time Traveler’s Wife premieres Sunday, May 15 on HBO Max.
HEAR IT: Florence + The Machine are at a Fever pitch
Described as a “fairytale in 14 songs,” Florence Welch and company’s euphoric, Jack Antonoff-assisted fifth album was inspired by 1970s Iggy Pop, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, “Nick Cave at the club” and, according to the British band’s rapturous press release, “the tragic heroines of pre-Raphaelite art, the gothic fiction of Carmen Maria Machado and Julia Armfield, the visceral wave of folk horror film from The Wicker Man,” and “folkloric elements of a moral panic from the Middle Ages.” Get ready for a thinking woman’s dance party when this epic record drops. — L.P.
Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine is available Friday, May 13 to download/stream on Apple Music.
WATCH IT: Channing Tatum and Dog, that’s all you need to know
Dog-human buddy movies are back! It’s been decades since movies like Turner & Hooch and K-9 were commonplace at the cineplex (maybe it was just an '80s thing). But Channing Tatum is doing his part to revive the genre. (Also, it’s Channing Tatum Week on the It List). In Dog, which Tatum co-directed with Reid Carolin, the actor plays an Army ranger who bonds with Lulu, the Belgian Shepherd of his fallen commander, which he must escort to the funeral. Clearly there are some heavy themes at play (namely PTSD), so be careful with the children, but this is still good Family Movie Night material for older kiddos. — K.P.
Dog releases on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, May 10. Buy it on Amazon.
HEAR IT: Mandy Moore finds her Real voice
Following up 2020’s critically acclaimed Silver Landings, which was Moore’s first album in 11 years, the This Is Us actress and former teen-pop star returns with In Real Life. Produced by Mike Viola (Andrew Bird, Jenny Lewis, Panic! at the Disco, Lori McKenna) and featuring collaborations with Lucius’s Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig and Moore’s husband Taylor Goldsmith (of Dawes), the singer-songwriter’s seventh album continues her comeback momentum, as she fully steps into her artistry. — L.P.
In Real Life by Mandy Moore is available Friday, May 13 to download/stream on Apple Music.
PLAY IT: Evil Dead: The Game is pretty freakin' groovy
Hail to the king, baby. Sam Raimi's signature horror franchise returns to video game consoles for the first time since 2005's Evil Dead: Regeneration. And Evil Dead: The Game takes full advantage of the PS4/PS5/Xbox Series X processing power, delivering a bloody good time for solo or multiplayer game sessions. Bruce Campbell voices his chainsaw-wielding alter ego, Ash, who dispatches demons and monsters from multiple locations that will be instantly familiar to fans of the movies. You'll scream... with delight. — E.A.
Evil Dead: The Game is available Friday, May 13 at most major retailers, including Amazon.
HEAR IT: The Black Keys and friends drop into a Boogie wonderland
Dropout Boogie, the 11th studio album by the scrappy Akron garage duo-turned-unlikely stadium rockers, hearkens back to Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney’s pre-fame basement days, with several of the tracks being stripped-down first takes. However, the Keys are trying something new 21 years into their career, by inviting multiple contributors to Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. Dropout Boogie guests include ZZ Top legend Billy Gibbons, Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound and the Detroit Cobras, and Face to Face member/frequent Kings of Leon collaborator Angelo Petraglia. — L.P.
Dropout Boogie by the Black Keys is available Friday, May 13 to download/stream on Apple Music.
STREAM IT: The fate of a kingdom lies in the hands of its young contestants on The Quest
From the teams behind The Amazing Race and The Lord of the Rings, comes Disney+'s new eight-episode semi-scripted reality competition show, The Quest. The series features eight real-life teens competing in an immersive, hybrid, magic and fantasy-themed game where adult actors play scripted roles in the fictional world of Everealm that's complete with a castle, royals and all forms of mystical creatures. The players must save the kingdom by fulfilling an ancient prophecy all while a powerful Sorceress has her sights on stopping them.
The Quest premieres Wednesday, May 11 on Disney+.
READ IT: Time to put a new Death Note in your library
Those of us still scarred from Netflix’s botched Death Note movie can take heart: The real deal is back. The legendary comic’s creators, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, reteamed on this collection of six self-contained short stories — most never before published — spinning new twisted tales of the titular notebook and the fatal power it bestows on its owner. — Marcus Errico
Death Note: Short Stories is available Tuesday, May 10 at Amazon and other booksellers in both digital and paperback.
— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo
