The It List: 'Game of Thrones' final season begins, BTS drops 4th studio album, Cher kicks off new leg of her tour and the best in pop culture the week of April 8, 2019
The It List is Yahoo’s weekly look at the best in pop culture, including movies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are our picks for April 8 to 14, including the best deals we could find for each.
WATCH IT: Game of Thrones (Season 8 premiere)
After all the trailers, posters and endless fan theories, the end has finally come for Game of Thrones. The six-episode final season premieres this Sunday with an hour-long installment that’s heavy on emotionally satisfying reunions and rumblings of ominous things to come. There’s also a climactic jump-scare worthy of Jordan Peele, and at least two moments that fans have been waiting to see for years. Of course, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss still have a high wire to walk as the show approaches its endgame, what with crafting rewarding conclusions for the show’s large cast of characters and staging an epic final battle between Westeros and the White Walkers that’s worthy of the eight season wait. Based on the crowd’s reaction at the show’s world premiere, they like where things are headed.
Game of Thrones premieres Sunday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
HEAR IT: BTS, Map of the Soul: Persona
Army, rejoice! The unstoppable K-pop septet and Time magazine coverboys continue their world domination with their fourth studio album, followed by their feverishly anticipated Saturday Night Live musical performance debut this weekend.
Buy on CD at Amazon.
BOOK IT: Cher’s Here We Go Again tour
After a couple months off the road, Cher is kicking off a new leg of her international tour. Her set list is jam-packed with favorites from her early career alongside Sonny Bono, such as “The Beat Goes On,” and she’s been known to sprinkle in favorites including “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss),” “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe.” Expect songs for every generation of Cher fans and, of course, costumes that are distinctly her.
Tickets to Cher's "Here We Go Again” tour can be purchased on Ticketmaster.
WATCH IT: Her Smell
Elisabeth Moss taps into her inner punk rocker for her latest collaboration with celebrated indie writer/director, Alex Ross Perry. Over the course of five chapters — or, more appropriately, tracks — Moss’s Becky Something implodes her life, and then tries to build something new out of the wreckage. Purposefully claustrophobic and disorienting, much of the movie unfolds in tight close-ups in small spaces, with the ever-present sound of audio feedback adding to the general atmosphere of barely-controlled chaos. It may sound punishing, but Her Smell confidently builds to a final act that upends the usual cliches about tortured artists and redemption narratives. And Moss’s larger-than-life performance absolutely rocks.
Her Smell is currently playing in limited release. Visit Fandango for showtimes and ticket information.
WATCH IT: The Bold Type (Season 3 premiere)
Freeform's hit series chronicles the adventures of three appealing twenty-something friends, living out their New York City dreams while working at the fictional women's magazine Scarlet. A surprisingly realistic depiction of the media world, The Bold Type offers up a perfect cocktail of fashion-forward fizziness and thoughtful reflections on Millennial life. The new season premiere brings major changes for the show's characters, as ambitious writer Jane (Katie Stevens) clashes with a new editor, fashion-department assistant Sutton (Meghann Fahy) gets serious about her older boyfriend, and social media director Kat (Aisha Dee) struggles to find an authentic online presence while nursing a broken heart.
The Bold Type airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Freeform. Previous seasons are available for streaming on Hulu.
READ IT: Life Will Be the Death of Me… and You Too!, by Chelsea Handler
The comedienne’s latest book focuses on her quest to spend a year being self-sufficient, doing the mundane tasks of everyday life that celebrities don’t need to do, going to therapy and becoming politically active following the election of Donald Trump as president. Her famous friends, including Ellen DeGeneres, Tiffany Haddish, Amy Schumer and Gloria Steinem all endorsed it before its April 9 release date. “I always wondered what it would be like to watch Chelsea Handler in session with her therapist. Now I know,” DeGeneres said in a blurb for the book.
Life Will Be the Death of Me… and You Too! is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
HEAR IT: Norah Jones, Begin Again
The nine-time Grammy-winning chanteuse’s latest work features loose, largely improvised sessions with musical comrades like Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, legendary jazz drummer Brian Blade and Thomas “Doveman” Bartlett.
Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.
WATCH IT: Schitt's Creek (Season 5 finale)
No use in sitting alone in your room: Come hear the music play as the town of Schitt’s Creek puts on a show — specifically Cabaret — in the Season 5 finale of the hit Canadian sitcom. Father/son co-creators Eugene and Dan Levy have stage-managed some wonderful storylines this year, including David and Patrick and Alexis and Ted taking the next steps in the respective relationships, Johnny’s successful attempts to put the Rosebud Motel on the map and Moira’s resurgent career in the arts, starting with her role in the immortal The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening. The Levys have recently announced that the show’s sixth season will also be its last, so be sure to savor every last moment you can in Schitt’s Creek.
Schitt’s Creek airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Pop. Previous seasons are streaming on Netflix.
READ IT: The Mister, by E. L. James
Fifty Shades of Grey author James is back! She’s pitching her latest novel, which comes out April 16, as a “passionate, erotic love story,” although it’s entirely separate from her bestselling trilogy. This one features aristocrat Maxim Trevelyan who meets London newcomer Alessia Demachi, a mysterious woman with a dangerous past. Sounds like the perfect thing to toss in your beach bag over spring break.
The Mister is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
HEAR IT: The Chemical Brothers, No Geography
After a four-year hiatus, the electronica pioneers “push the reset button” and return to their ‘90s roots with an album largely recorded with the vintage equipment used on their first two classic albums. Guests include Norwegian singer Aurora and Japanese rapper Nene.
Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.
DRINK IT: For the Throne by Ommegang
Any true Game of Thrones fan has surely wondered at some point what exactly the "ale" Jon Snow and company sip on tastes like (or all that vino House Lannister throws back, for that matter). While Ommegang's Game of Thrones collection is not brewed in Westeros (instead Cooperstown, NY), it's the closest thing we've got to Seven Kingdoms-sanctioned suds, and the new "For the Throne" concoction ("strong golden ale fermented with Pinot Grigio and Viognier grape juice") is delicious. And hey, with the high amount of anticipated bloodletting heading into the climactic Season 8, this should help take the edge off. (Please drink responsibly.)
Find Ommegang's Game of Thrones beer near you here.
SUBSCRIBE TO IT: Criterion Channel
FilmStruck may be gone, but its mission to collect and preserve classic cinema carries on with the launch of the Criterion Channel, the streaming arm of the company responsible for some of the best physical media releases around. Digging into Criterion’s own extensive archives of American and international cinema, the service boasts over 1,000 titles that are organized individually or as part of themed collections like Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, where the iconic filmmaker directs viewers to underseen overseas classics like Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day and Ousmane Sembene’s Black Girl. It's like going to film school without leaving your couch.
Visit The Criterion Channel for subscription information.
HEAR IT: Jackie Evancho, The Debut
The opera prodigy, who first came to fame in 2010 via America’s Got Talent when she was only 10 years old, reinvents herself with an album of Broadway standards, including songs from Rent, Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked, Waitress and Spring Awakening.
Download on iTunes; buy on CD at Amazon.
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