Kesha, bachelors and The Good Place: A guide to pop culture in January – austin360

Here are some of the most exciting new releases in movies, TV, books, comics, music and more on the horizon in January. As always, release dates are subject to change without notice.

"Doctor Who" (BBC America). Its a special night for the premiere of this (extremely) long-running sci-fi franchise. Jodie Whittaker returns in her second series as the time-hopping adventurer. (Jan. 1)

"Deputy" (Fox). Fox has been advertising the heck out of this thing, which stars Stephen Dorff as a deputy in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department who becomes the boss after the former sheriff dies and some weird, old rule is invoked. (Jan. 2)

"The Grudge." It is random horror movie season, so heres a reboot of the American version of the Japanese horror classic. (Jan. 3)

"Ilana Glazer: The Planet Is Burning" (Amazon Prime). I am very much looking forward to this stand-up special from one of the co-creators and co-stars of "Broad City" (aka the one with the hair and the weed jokes). (Jan. 4)

"Dracula" (Netflix). Speaking of horror franchises, folks will be going back to the well on this guy until the sun cools or the earth burns. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat the folks behind a recent iteration of another public domain figure, "Sherlock" take a swing on ol Vlad. Danish actor Claes Bang stars as the big man; all three episodes of the series will arrive at once. (Jan. 4).

"The Bachelor" (ABC). I have met people who have this date circled (virtually, electronically, etc.) on their calendar. (Jan. 6)

"Schitt's Creek" (Pop). I am looking forward to this as much as the next Moira Rose stan, but that trailer reminds one that the show has done the full mean-comedy-to-corny-comedy swing. (Jan. 7)

"Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different" by Chuck Palahniuk (Grand Central). A writing memoir by the extremely successful author of the extremely successful "Fight Club." (Jan. 7)

"Party of Five" (Freeform). A reboot of this series, which was oddly iconic at the time and is somewhat forgotten now. In this version, five children must rely on each other after their parents are deported to Mexico. This is a twist on the original show's premise, where the parents where killed in a crash caused by a drunken driver. Still depressing, but in a distinctly 2020 way. (Jan. 8)

"Like a Boss." Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Coolidge, Billy Porter and Salma Hayek star in this comedy about a beauty startup. (Jan. 10)

"Giri/Haji" (Netflix). This British thriller was feted as one of the best shows of 2019 by British critics. Involving London, Tokyo and rival yakuza gangs, it sounds just awesome. (Jan. 10)

Selena Gomez, "Rare" (Interscope). Its Selenas first album since 2015, yall! (Jan. 10)

"The Outsider" (HBO). A 10-episode version of Stephen King's 2018 novel stars Ben "Someday Hugh Laurie and I Will Play Siblings" Mendelsohn, with Jason Bateman, Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, Mare Winningham and the almighty Paddy Considine. (Jan. 10)

"The New Pope" (HBO). As a fan of pope-based entertainment, I loved the bat-guano insanity of Paolo Sorrentino's 2017 miniseries, "The Young Pope," starring Jude Law. This time around, Law is in a coma and John Malkovich is the new pope. This is back-to-back brilliant casting; I cannot wait. (Jan. 13)

"Uncanny Valley: A Memoir" by Anna Wiener (MCD). How it took this long for a tech industry memoir to be called "Uncanny Valley" is beyond me. (Jan 14)

"Dolittle." I have not seen this movie. However, I have examined the evidence, and I cannot find anything indicates there has ever been a decent movie version of the "Doctor Dolittle" childrens book series. This one stars Robert Downey Jr., who should know better. (Jan. 17)

Algiers, "There Is No Year" (Matador). Third album by this absolutely stage-destroying live act. (Jan. 17)

And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, "X: The Godless Void and Other Stories" (Dine Alone). The noisy Austin rock bands first studio album since "IX" in 2014. This is their best since "Source Tags and Codes" thats my word, and they have been a band since 1995. (Jan. 17)

"Seven Worlds, One Planet" (BBC America). Heres yet another incredible-looking nature series narrated by legendary broadcaster, natural historian and doc producer David Attenborough. It was shot on seven continents. (Jan. 18)

"Avenue 5" (HBO). "Veep" creator Armando Iannucci moves to sci-fi, this show starring Hugh Laurie (Hey! There he is! Maybe Ben Mehdehlson will drop in ...) as the captain of a luxury tourist cruise ship in spaaaace. (Jan. 19)

"Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt" by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard (Dynamite). The character on which Ozymandias (aka Adrian Veidt in the comic and HBO show "Watchmen") was originally based; Peter Cannon/Thunderbolt is an old Charlton Comics character. This graphic novel is a riff/mediation/meta-commentary on the "Watchmen" comic, and an incredibly sharp one at that. It is comprehensible to folks who have not read "Watchmen," and it is a must-read for those who have. (Jan. 21)

"Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens" (Comedy Central). Comedian/actress Awkwafina, star of "The Farewell," is the creator and star of this 10-episode, semi-autobiographical series about an Asian American woman coming up in Queens. With B.D. Wong, Lori Tan Chinn and Bowen Yang. Look for a lot of think pieces about the extent to which Awkwafinas performance persona is or is not appropriation of black culture. (Jan. 22)

"Star Trek: Picard" (CBS All Access). Its the mooost wonderful tiiime of the yeeear! Patrick Stewart is back as now-retired Starfleet officer Jean-Luc Picard, former captain of the Federation flagship Enterprise and one of the great fictional characters in TV history. A few decades after the TV and movie versions of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Picard heads out on the proverbial "one last mission." With Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Alison Pill, Isa Briones and Harry Treadaway, but also Brent "Data" Spiner, Jonathan "Will Riker" Frakes, Marina "Troi" Sirtis and Jeri "Seven of Nine" Ryan. The first season is 10 episodes, and there isnt a Trekker on the planet who isnt absolutely here for it. (Jan. 23)

Pet Shop Boys, "Hotspot" (X2 Recordings Ltd.). When they speak, you listen, at least once, even if they are a synth-pop act in their 60s. This is their 14th album; the band released four albums between 1986 and 1990, then one every three years or so ever since. (Jan. 24)

"The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards" (CBS). Alicia Keys is back as host. People do love arguing about this thing. (Jan. 26)

"Justice League International Book One: Born Again," drawn by Kevin Maguire and written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (DC). Some of the smartest, funniest, most exquisitely illustrated comics of the 1980s, full stop. More than 550 pages here, with "Justice League"/"Justice League International" Nos. 1-17, two annuals and more. (Jan. 28)

"The Good Place" (NBC). Here is the 90-minute series finale. Expect a lot of weeping from viewers. (Jan. 30)

Drive-By Truckers, "The Unraveling" (ATO). They keep on keepin on. Guests include the Shins Patti King, violinist Kyleen King and Cody Dickinson. (Jan. 31)

Kesha, "High Road" (Kemosabe/RCA). I would love nothing more than for this to be fantastic. Collaborators include John Hill, Dan Reynolds, Brian Wilson (yes, that one), Sturgill Simpson, Big Freedia, Nate Ruess and more. (Jan. 31)

Squarepusher, "Be Up a Hero" (Warp). I cant lie. I thought Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher, was a spent bullet. But now, five years off of putting out Squarepusher albums, this symbol of 90s/00s IDM (intelligent dance music) is getting back to using analogue machines to craft his future sounds. (Jan. 31)

Neneh Cherry, "Raw Like Sushi (30th Anniversary Edition)" (Virgin/UMe). A great album that has become better with age, this version features two extra CDs of rare mixes by Massive Attack, Arthur Baker and more and a 48-page book. (Jan. 31)

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Kesha, bachelors and The Good Place: A guide to pop culture in January - austin360

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero