Movies

Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Tom Holland has spent longer in the Spidey suit than any other live-action Peter Parker, having outlasted Nicholas Hammond, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield since his 2016 debut in Captain America: Civil War. This is his fourth solo movie as the web-slinger.

Brand New Day picks up four years after No Way Home, in which Doctor Strange’s spell wiped Peter from everyone’s memory. Now living in isolation, Peter is still pining for his ex, MJ (Zendaya), who’s at MIT with his former best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon). Meanwhile, he is grappling with a physical transformation that’s messing with his powers, prompting a consult with Dr Bruce Banner/the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Throw in a gang war involving a ninja sect, plus a prickly new frenemy in Frank Castle/the Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and Peter’s got his hands full.

Holland pitched the film’s core idea himself. “My pitch when I came to the table with it was called ‘Spider-Puberty’,” he tells Empire. “What happens if Peter Parker is losing control and things are changing?”

Whatever the title, audiences are hooked: the first trailer became the first movie trailer to surpass one billion views. Even jaded MCU fans can’t seem to quit Spidey, and Brand New Day is expected to kick off a new trilogy.

We Are All Strangers
We Are All Strangers is Singaporean director Anthony Chen’s fifth feature film and the final instalment of his Growing Up trilogy.

The film follows aimless 21-year-old Junyang (Koh Jia Ler) and his working-class hawker father, Boon Kiat (Andi Lim). While Boon Kiat struggles to keep their modest Hokkien noodle stall afloat, he finds unexpected companionship in Bee Hwa (Yeo Yann Yann), a resilient Malaysian ‘beer auntie’ who works at the same coffee shop. 

Junyang is soon forced to confront adulthood when his relationship with his wealthy girlfriend takes a drastic turn, leading to a hasty marriage and a tense new living arrangement that reshapes the family dynamic. Together, they must now figure out what truly holds them together as they deal with tragedy and missteps.

A raw, unflinching portrait of a Singaporean household’s life, We Are All Strangers explores family and class — the twin pillars of Chen’s Growing Up trilogy — in a poignant (but never preachy) way.

The End of Oak Street
Dinosaurs should guarantee a good movie, but let’s be honest — most dino flicks don’t deliver. The End of Oak Street might just be the one audiences remember alongside the Jurassic Park movies.

When a mysterious cosmic event uproots their suburban neighbourhood, Greg and Denise Platt (Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway) and their kids find themselves stranded in a prehistoric realm crawling with dinosaurs, with only their wits to get them home.

Writer-director David Robert Mitchell cites Poltergeist, The Twilight Zone, and Signs as touchstones, and the film’s ’80s-suburbia-meets-sci-fi vibe recalls Amblin classics like E.T., Gremlins, and The Goonies — albeit slightly darker than its inspirations. J. J. Abrams, no stranger to Amblin homages (see: Super 8), produces the movie.

“I’ve never read anything that’s bold like this, that … is taking a swing like this,” Hathaway tells The Today Show.

Original, star-led sci-fi is a rare theatrical bet these days — here’s hoping this one has teeth.

TV

Lanterns
Say “Green Lantern” and most people still think of the ill-fated 2011 Ryan Reynolds movie — which Reynolds himself has publicly disowned. DC is ready for a fresh start: after Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) popped up in last year’s Superman, this new series properly introduces the Green Lantern Corps to the DC Universe.

Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler), a veteran Corps member, is training recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) when the pair get pulled into a murder mystery in rural Rushville, Nebraska — clashing with Sheriff Kerry (Kelly Macdonald) along the way. A small-town investigation soon spirals into a conspiracy involving alien forces, told across dual timelines set in 2016 and 2026. Fillion returns as Guy.

Early marketing made Lanterns look surprisingly earthbound, worrying fans who wanted a spacefaring epic. “They can conjure anything from the [power] ring. They do go off the planet,” showrunner Chris Mundy assures Entertainment Weekly — though the real focus, he says, is making the show feel like “an upscale mystery” with genuine emotional stakes, drawing on influences like True Detective and Slow Horses.

With multiple seasons planned, there’s room to get more cosmic. Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen) — Hal’s mentor-turned-villain — will appear, though how much we’ll see of him this season is still unclear. Can Lanterns balance gritty detective drama with cosmic DC spectacle? We’ll find out.

Lanterns streams on HBO Max from 16 August.

Ted Lasso S4
Just when we thought we’d had a fitting farewell to football’s favourite optimist, Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is back — this time coaching a second-division women’s team in Richmond. Fan favourites Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Juno Temple return alongside new faces, kicking off a fresh season which is, according to Sudeikis, planned as the first in a three-season arc (though S5 and S6 have not been officially confirmed yet). Expect more heart, more warmth, and exactly the kind of optimism we could all use right now. 

Ted Lasso S4 streams on Apple TV from 5 August.

Music

Madonna — Confessions II
The Queen of Pop returns with a sequel to one of her most beloved albums — more than 20 years after the original, no less. Confessions II follows up 2005’s groovy Confessions on a Dance Floor, which saw Madonna strut on the blurry lines between 1970s disco and 2000s house music.

To shape its infectious beats, Madonna enlisted her original Confessions collaborator Stuart Price alongside EDM stars Martin Garrix and Cirkut, among others. Confessions II is all about the supreme power of dance and how it brings people together, so the album is packed with familiar faces, like Sabrina Carpenter on lead single “Bring Your Love” and Belgian pop icon Stromae on the sensual “My Sins Are My Savior”.

Meanwhile, tracks like “Danceteria”, “Love Sensation”, and “Bizarre” bridge generations of dance music styles — from house to techno, electroclash to EDM. They’ll make you feel like you just stepped into a glittery time warp.