Julia Roberts and Lily Collins
Every Monday, for your planning purposes, we will lay out the week ahead in entertainment. (All times refer to EDT.)
Mirror, Mirror, the first of this year’s competing Snow White flicks, is in theaters this Friday. It’s a must-see if you intend to compare it to the darker take on the tale that’s due out in June—and if you want to see Julia Roberts in a rare villainess role (the Queen, natch), contorting her famous smile into a wicked grin.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CHXHEIGb7A]
2. NW ALBM
Apparently, a one-word name wasn’t short enough for Madonna. For her latest album she’s lost some more letters: MDNA is out in the U.S. on Monday. The record is her first in more than two years and features singles like “Give Me All Your Luvin,” as seen at this year’s Superbowl half-time show. Gladiator-costumed back-up dancers not included.
3. Throne For a Loop
Sunday night at 9 p.m. on HBO, return to Westeros for the second season of the succession-battle fantasy series Game of Thrones, based on the George R.R. Martin series. With a story full of war and dragons (and even bigger budgets!), the new season promises to take on its predecessor in a battle for the crown of epic awesomeness.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66PDW1Mjf8]
(MORE: Winter Is Returning: Game of Thrones Season 2 Hopes and Fears)
4. Someone Famous, Who I Know Personally, Told Me to Read This
Actor Frank Langella’s memoir, Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them, in bookstores Tuesday, is more than just a personal history: It promises to be full of, as the title suggests, lots of famous people. Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie O and the Queen Mother all make appearances.
(MORE: All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books)
5. Total Knock-Up
The 16-year-olds who star in the new season of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant, premiering with a double episode on Tuesday at 10:00 pm, would have been barely teenagers when the show first debuted in 2009. But here they are and, of course, they’re pregnant. The new crop of girls with babies will have their own stories to tell but, if the last three years are any indication, they are sure to be equal parts frustrating and heartbreaking.
6. You Won’t Like Them When They’re Wrathful
The movie Wrath of the Titans, in theaters Friday (with IMAX and 3D options available), is a sequel to 2010’s Clash of the Titans. That means more Greek gods—plus demi-gods and proto-gods and even some people—than you can shake a sword at.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnF6b0TCYmA]
7. Guilty Pleasure
James Patterson holds the Guinness World Records title for the most hardcover fiction best-sellers by any author, and he hopes to add to that list on Monday when his latest, Guilty Wives, is released. The book’s protagonists are a group of women on a getaway in Monte Carlo who are—naturally—accused of a terrible crime.
8. Mars Attacks
The members of Grammy-winning band The Mars Volta have said that their sixth studio album, Noctourniquet, out on Monday, is inspired by all sorts of things, like Greek myths and comic books. You can file it under progressive rock…or with other portmanteau album names (Bootylicious?).
9. Sit Near the TV and Turn Up the Volume
Last year’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, is on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday. The 9/11-centric tale of a little boy on an odd quest was nominated for an Oscar for best picture and best supporting actor (for Max von Sydow, who plays a mute old man).
10. Go Get ‘Em, Tiger
Make sure your virtual swing is all ready for Friday, in time for the release of the latest Tiger Woods PGA Tour title for Xbox and Playstation. Even better, make sure your real swing is ready: The Xbox 360 version of the game supports the Kinect system, which allows players to use body movement (and no controllers!) to get those on-screen holes in one.
(MORE: Diablo III Gets a Release Date: You Can Go to Hell on May 15)