A docuseries about Matthew Perry and the latest "Minions" movie lead a busy week of new television, films, music and games arriving from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1. The selections come from The Associated Press' entertainment journalists.
On the film side, "Minions & Monsters" arrives Wednesday, Oct. 28, on Peacock. It is the third "Minions" movie and the seventh in the "Despicable Me" franchise, directed by Pierre Coffin, who also voices the Minions. Set in the 1920s, it follows the Minions to Hollywood, where they become silent movie stars and set out to make a monster movie. AP's Mark Kennedy wrote in his review that the movie has playful references to old screen gods, but "the kids in the audience won't get them and their parents are just too tired." Also on Wednesday, Paramount+ debuts "Hanging by a Wire," director Mohammed Ali Naqvi's account of a 2023 rescue in Pakistan, in which eight people, two adults and six teenage boys, were left suspended in a cable car over a chasm after a wire broke.
Music fans have three major releases on Friday, Oct. 30. Reggaeton icon Daddy Yankee, who announced his retirement in 2022 before returning, puts out "La Postal," a 15-track concept album in which each song is a love letter to a different kind of love, including romantic, familial and self-love. Its first single is "BOTZ (Kiss Me Again)." Canadian rock band Nickelback releases its 11th studio album, "Everything Under the Sun," with guest appearances from Sammy Hagar and actor Ryan Reynolds. Country star Dustin Lynch also issues his seventh studio album, "Clean Slate," a 12-track set. "There's a lot of life on this record," Lynch said in a press release.
The television slate is crowded. Netflix premieres the three-part docuseries "The One About Matthew Perry" on Tuesday, Oct. 27, shortly before the third anniversary of the "Friends" star's death. Emmy-winning director Mary Robertson draws on interviews with Perry's sister, Mia Perry Bowick, as well as friends and collaborators, along with photos and videos not seen before.
Hulu's "The Mob," hosted by Parker Posey, debuted Monday, Oct. 26, from the team behind "The Traitors." Twelve celebrities, among them Aida Turturro, Bruno Tonioli, Debi Mazar and Joe Gorga, live in an Italian villa and complete tasks drawn from mob movies for a chance at up to $250,000. The group chooses one member as the don, who decides who gets paid and who goes home. New episodes arrive weekly.
Two thrillers land on Friday, Oct. 30. Apple TV's "Nocturne" stars Liev Schreiber as a former soldier and homicide detective who moves from Philadelphia to a small Pennsylvania town, only to see a serial killer, played by Stephen Graham, target his community and family. Zazie Beetz co-stars as an FBI agent, and the 10-episode series, adapted from Lars Kepler's novels "Lazarus" and "The Sandman," opens with two episodes. The same day, Michael C. Hall returns as Dexter Morgan in the second season of "Dexter: Resurrection" on Paramount+. He faces two killers in New York, one with a long history and one new, while also coping with middle age. Dan Stevens and Brian Cox join the cast, and Uma Thurman returns.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, Julian Fellowes' period drama "The Gilded Age" begins its fourth season on HBO Max. Carrie Coon's Bertha Russell deals with the fallout of her social rise, while Christine Baranski's Agnes van Rhijn searches for a way back to the top. Jim Gaffigan appears as President Grover Cleveland.
Gamers get two new releases on Thursday, Oct. 29. "Phantom Blade Zero," from Beijing-based developer S-Game, is billed as a new genre the studio calls "Kungfupunk," blending martial arts, steampunk machinery and the occult. Players follow an elite assassin named Soul, who is framed for his master's murder and has just 66 days to live. It is available on PlayStation 5 and PC. The same day, North Carolina's WDR Studios releases its debut, "Dalton's Dinos," on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC. Set at a roadside attraction with "Terrible Lizards" underground, it gives players no weapons and relies instead on running, jumping and climbing to escape a sprawling subterranean environment.
