What to Stream: 'The Smashing Machine,' Louis Tomlinson, 'The Beauty'
and Bruce Springsteen biopic
[January 19, 2026]
Dwayne Johnson transforming into MMA pioneer Mark Kerr for “The
Smashing Machine” and Louis Tomlinson releasing his third solo album are
some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device
near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as
selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Ryan
Murphy's new series “The Beauty” tackles beauty standards with some
horror mixed in, Jeremy Allen White plays The Boss in “Springsteen:
Deliver Me From Nowhere” and Megadeth going out with a bang with their
final, self-titled album.
New movies to stream from Jan. 19-25
— Dwayne Johnson transformed into MMA pioneer Mark Kerr for “The
Smashing Machine,” a surprisingly gentle drama about winning, addiction
and self-worth, which is set to debut on HBO Max on Friday, Jan. 23. In
his review, Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that the
potency of Johnson’s performance is “let down by a movie that fails to
really grapple with the violent world around Mark, resorting instead for
a blander appreciation of these MMA combatants. What does resonate,
though, is the portrait of a human colossus who learns to accept
defeat.” Filmmaker Benny Safdie won a directing prize for his efforts at
the Venice Film Festival, though the awards season spotlight has shifted
to his brother, Josh, who made “Marty Supreme.”
— HBO Max also has Judd Apatow’s “Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man!”
arriving on Thursday. The two-part documentary includes interviews with
Brooks himself as well as the likes of Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam
Sandler and Conan O’Brien.
— The Bruce Springsteen biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is
also making its streaming debut on Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, Jan. 23.
Written and directed by Scott Cooper, the film stars Jeremy Allen White
as The Boss during the making of the soulful “Nebraska” album. In his
review for the AP, Mark Kennedy called it “an endearing, humbling
portrait of an icon,” adding that it is almost a mirror of the album
itself, “unexpected, complicated and very American gothic.”
— A few other film festival gems are coming to more niche streamers too.
The documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” a 2025 Sundance selection
about a Russian teacher who secretly documents his classroom’s
transformation into a military recruitment center during the invasion of
Ukraine, is streaming on KINO Film on Thursday. And Mubi has Paolo
Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” starting on Friday, Jan. 23. Star Toni Servillo
won the best actor prize at Venice for his turn as a fictional Italian
president.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
New music to stream from Jan. 19-25
— You’d be right to call it a symphony for dissolution. Last summer,
American thrash metal giants Megadeth announced they were going out with
a bang. They’ll soon embark on a farewell tour, but before that, they
will release their final album, the self-titled “Megadeth.” Pressure’s
on, and they’re answering the call with their characteristically complex
guitar work.
— Perhaps best known as a candid and cool force in the gargantuan boy
band One Direction, the Englishman Louis Tomlinson will release his
third solo album on Friday, the existential “How Did I Get Here?” His
work usually pulls from his most direct influences, Britpop chiefly
among them on 2020’s “Walls” and 2022’s “Faith in the Future.” The “How
Did I Get Here?” singles “Lemonade” and “Palaces” seem to suggest those
influences are still present, but subtle now in favor of sunny, pop-rock
choruses.
— The great Lucinda Williams has returned with a new one titled “World’s
Gone Wrong.” It is, of course, uniquely Williams — at the intersection
of rock, Americana, country and folk — and stacked with inspirational
collaborations from Norah Jones, Brittney Spencer and more. Those,
partnered with a powerful rendition of Bob Marley’s “So Much Trouble In
The World” with Mavis Staples, makes for a must-listen.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
[to top of second column]
|
This combination of images show promotional art for the films
"Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," left, "Mel Brooks: The
99-Year-Old Man!," center, and "The Smashing Machine." (20th Century
Studios/HBO Max/A24 via AP)
New series to stream from Jan. 19-25
— FX's new series cocreated by Ryan Murphy tackles beauty standards with
some horror mixed in. “The Beauty” features an all-star cast including
Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Pope, Anthony Ramos
and Isabella Rossellini. Bella Hadid also guest stars. Kutcher plays a
tech billionaire who has created a drug that can lead to so-called
physical perfection but not without dangerous consequences. “The Beauty”
is based on a comic book of the same name and premieres Wednesday on
Hulu and Disney+ internationally.
— “Drops of God” also returns Wednesday to Apple TV for its second
season. It's about two estranged siblings (played by Fleur Geffrier and
Tomohisa Yamashita) competing to inherit their late father's estate that
comes with a massive wine collection. In Season 2, they must search for
the source of an unlabelled bottle of wine believed to be the best in
the world.
— On the heels of the “Heated Rivalry” phenomenon, Netflix has its own
love story to heat up the ice that premieres on Thursday. Where “Heated
Rivalry” is based on a steamy romance book series, “Finding Her Edge” is
adapted from a YA novel. It's about a figure skater training for the
world championships, who finds herself in a love triangle with her
current and former skating partners.
— Scott Foley and Erinn Hayes star in a new faith-based family drama
called “It's Not Like That,” coming to Prime Video on Sunday, January
25. Foley plays Malcolm, a pastor and father of three whose wife
recently died and Hayes is Lori, a divorced mother of teenagers. Their
families were always close but Malcolm and Lori find themselves relying
on each other more and more as they navigate being single parents.
— Alicia Rancilio
New video games to play from Jan. 19-25
— Flynt Buckler, the hero of Escape from Ever After, lives in a
storybook world. But that fantasy goes sour when a greedy corporation
invades those books, turning them into cyberpunk dystopias and
Lovecraftian nightmares. Can Flynt swashbuckle his way to the top, or
will he settle for a crummy office cubicle? Developer Sleepy Castle
Studio says it was inspired by Nintendo’s classic Paper Mario games, and
the cartoonish 2D settings show off that influence. Turn the page
Friday, Jan. 23, on Switch, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 or PC.
— MIO: Memories in Orbit is another 2D adventure rooted in a Nintendo
classic — in this case, Metroid, the mother of an entire subgenre. You
are a small robot in an enormous starship called the Vessel, but your AI
bosses have stopped working. It’s up to you to figure out what went
wrong while fighting off rogue machines, and the more you explore, the
more skills you gain. The ship’s sprawling innards have a hand-drawn,
pastel look that you might not expect in a sci-fi game. Blast off
Tuesday on Switch, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5 or PC.
— Lou Kesten
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
