I’ve found myself reading more books recently — sometimes just because all the streaming content can be overwhelming. Somewhat like how the Cheesecake Factory menu with its many pages can feel like way too much.
Not that I’m complaining. Streaming content is also my peaceful place, and this week my two passions collide in one project.
I am a huge fan of the writer Walter Mosley and have read just about all of his novels.
Which is why I was super excited to learn that a limited series based on one of my favorites, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” was coming to Apple TV+.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the title character, a man with dementia who has his memory restored long enough to try and solve the mysterious death of a loved one. Dominique Fishback (who was tremendous in “Judas and the Black Messiah”) plays his caregiver.
It’s currently streaming.
‘The Adam Project’
I am such a huge admirer of his … acting. In “The Adam Project,” Reynolds teams up again with “Free Guy” director Shawn Levy for a story about a boy grappling with loss who meets his future self, a time-traveling pilot searching for his wife (played by Zoe Saldana).
The movie is now streaming on Netflix.
‘The Thing About Pam’
Renée Zellweger is getting a lot of attention for donning prosthetics to play Pam Hupp in this limited series, based on a “Dateline NBC” story about a woman accused of allegedly killing her best friend, Betsy Faria. But pay attention to the whole cast in this one.
For starters, there’s Glenn Fleshler as Betsy’s husband, Russ Faria, who is, of course, the initial prime suspect and Josh Duhamel as his attorney, Joel Schwartz.
And the whole thing feels a bit over the top.
Two things to listen to
Hey, fans of For King & Country, “What Are You Waiting For?”
That’s the title of the duo’s first new album in three years. Grammy-winning brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone fought hard to get here.
They kept the faith (literally, as they credit their success to it) and now the Christian pop artists are enjoying the fruits of their labor.
The album dropped Friday.
Lil Durk’s “7220” was originally scheduled to drop the same day as Ye’s “Donda 2” before Lil Durk pushed back the release.
He didn’t name anyone in particular, but Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy have been beefing recently, in case you didn’t know.
“7220” dropped Friday.
One thing to talk about
Wilson and his wife, singer and actor Ciara, also have a new children’s book out.
The parents of three young children have cowritten a picture book, titled “Why Not You?”
“We share that same passion and connection,” she told Kimmel.
Love that kind of love.
Something to sip on
For those of us who remember, it hardly seems possible that it’s been 25 years since Biggie Smalls, aka Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down in Los Angeles. The rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was killed when his vehicle came under fire as he and his entourage left an industry party.
Wallace’s murder has never been solved, but his musical influence remains.
As is often the case with those who die young, his mythology has grown over the years even as many wonder where both he and his career would be now had he lived.
Hip-hop has aged well — as was displayed at this year’s Super Bowl — but count me as one who wishes that both Wallace and Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down six months before Biggie, had lived to see it.