Your March entertainment planner: A little bit of everything

FILM

"The Hole in the Ground" (March 1)

While Blumhouse is the studio behind high-concept/low-budget fare like "The Purge" and "Happy Death Day," A24 is becoming the new go-to studio for modern horror classics, as it has managed to single out challenging, atmospheric fare that is about as far from the slasher-flick norms as possible. (Think of the hits like "The Witch," "Hereditary" and "It Comes at Night.") With "The Hole in the Ground," which has already garnered stylistic comparisons to "The Babadook," A24 backs director Lee Cronin in a haunted child story that, if early reviews are any indication, will send shivers through your spine.

"Captain Marvel" (March 8)

From the directors of the 2006 Ryan Gosling indie drama "Half-Nelson" comes..."Captain Marvel"! For the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first standalone film in the franchise with a female protagonist, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) must dissect her past and question her own reality as she tries to determine how she became gifted with powers that seem, well, alien in nature. Set in the 1990s and featuring supporting turns by Samuel L. Jackson and the great Ben Mendelsohn, this new and energetic Marvel property is set to entertain, inspire and maybe even solve some unanswered questions about what'll happen next in the "Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame" saga.

"Us" (March 22)

From "Key & Peele" to winning an Oscar for his first-ever feature "Get Out," Jordan Peele has turned from sketch-comedy kingpin to generational horror auteur so quickly you can be forgiven for experiencing whiplash. Yet when not lining up projects like the CBS revival of "The Twilight Zone," he's returned for his second feature, "Us." Starring Lupita Nyong'o and her "Black Panther" co-star Winston Duke, this surreal flick centers around a vacationing family who encounters some unusual visitors who just so happen...to be them. Oh, and these duplicates? They seem to want to kill them. The reasons as to why (and why rabbits come up so much during the trailers) will be answered soon.

"Dumbo" (March 29)

In Disney's perpetual need to do live-action remakes of all of its classic animated films (which, if you've been following the box office at all, has been quite lucrative), it hasn't shied away from getting prestige helmers behind each feature. For 1941's "Dumbo," the remake reins are handed over to none other than Tim Burton, who will bring the film to life with the help of Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito and a heck of a lot of CGI. Given Burton's rocky track record as of late, it'll be interesting to see if this film gets embraced in the same way that Bill Condon's "Beauty and the Beast" has.

"The Beach Bum" (March 29)

Harmony Korine has pulled off one of the greatest acts of pop subversion in modern cinema history, going from challenging and occasionally depraved indie fare like "Gummo," "Julien Donkey-Boy" and especially "Trash Humpers" to a film about teenage excess in the form of the acid sex dream that was 2013's "Spring Breakers." That changed the game, and before long he was directing music videos for Rihanna. Now he casts Matthew McConaughey in the role of Moondog, a dope-smokin' beach bum who plays by his own rules. Snoop Dogg, Martin Lawrence, Zac Efron and Jonah Hill co-star in this film that, regardless of how it fares critically, will no doubt be a thrill for the senses.

TV

"Leaving Neverland" (March 3 - HBO)

Whether you want closure on the question as to whether Michael Jackson's lurid charges of child molestation were warranted or if you want to view this as a piece of character assassination — the choice is yours. The Michael Jackson estate has made moves to try and stop this cultural-changing miniseries from airing, but as it did with the premiere of documentaries powerfully contesting the Church of Scientology, HBO is showing no signs of backing down. Festival circuit reviews have indicated that this film is gutting, nuanced and believable. It may just forever change the way you look at one of the most popular entertainers of the modern era.

"American Idol" (March 3 - Fox)

Amazingly, the ABC revival of the O.G. singing competition show "American Idol" actually did worse in the ratings than the final season that aired on Fox, effectively making it the lowest-rated "Idol" season ever. Can you name the winner? More importantly: Who cares?! ABC sold out all of the ad space before it even aired and hopes to do the same with the Katy Perry-led reboot. Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and, of course, Ryan Seacrest round out the hosting and judging spots and will no doubt tide people over until another season of "The Masked Singer" or "The Voice" starts up again.

"American Gods, Season 2" (March 10 - Starz)

Hoo-boy, this is gonna get weird, friends. The first season of the wild Neil Gaiman adaptation — dealing with modern-day gods as viewed through a specifically American lens — was certainly uneven but also spectacularly entertaining. Adapted by the great Bryan Fuller (of "Pushing Daisies" and "Hannibal" fame) and partially by David Slade, the show featured Ian McShane as Mr. Wednesday/con artist Odin who helped usher Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) into the realm of the gods. Gillian Anderson gave scintillating side characters, but then it all changed. Gaiman didn't like Fuller's strong new vision, which led to reshoots, changed showrunners and Orlando Jones getting a Writer's Guild credit due to the sheer amount of improv being done on set. In short: Season 2 might be a disaster, but we can't wait to see how it turns out.

"I Am Richard Pryor" (March 15 - Paramount Network)

Even more than A&E's acclaimed "Biography," Paramount Network (yes, that's a real network, we checked) has been doing an extraordinary job with its "I Am" series, providing cinema-level documentaries about a variety of subjects told through archival footage and modern-day interviews. It's more "30 for 30" than it is the A&E aesthetic, and its take on trailblazing comedian Richard Pryor — from his early TV appearances to his rise to superstardom to his various demons and political advocation — looks like it might be the most compelling episode yet.

"What We Do in the Shadows" (March 27 - FX)

The original 2014 Taika Waititi film of the same name (also starring and written by Jemaine Clement) was the kind of inventive cult comedy you rarely get to see anymore, as the humor was lived-in, the effects quite extraordinary and the characters all instantly memorable. Given how heavily Clement and Waititi are involved in this series-long adaptation of the same premise about a documentary crew filming the lives of vampire roommates, we're curious to see if the show is able to capture the daring, absurdist spirit of the original. (We will say, the "energy vampire" bit already looks promising.)

STREAMING

"Free Solo" (March 13 - Hulu)

Heading into the 2019 Oscars, "RBG," the film documenting the life of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was slated to be the obvious winner of Best Documentary following the unfathomable snub of the heralded Mister Rogers biography "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" But the more that people got to see "Free Solo" — the incredible IMAX-worthy film depicting free-climber Alex Honnold's attempt to scale the 3,000-foot-high El Capitan without the use of a rope — the more people were drawn into one of the most intense, action-packed experiences of the year. While there have been plenty of athletic documentaries before, few have managed to get people's adrenaline pumping quite like this.

"Shoplifters" (March 14 - Hulu)

One more thing about the Oscars that were held last month: What a year it was for foreign-language films. Outside of "Roma" engulfing the nomination process and the heralded "Cold War" snagging some surprise nominations in big categories, it was "Shoplifters," the latest work from Hirokazu Kore-eda, that captured the attention of critics everywhere. Telling the story of a dirt-poor family that eventually recruits an orphaned girl into their operation of stealing just to live, this quiet and compelling feature had many not only calling it the best foreign-language film of 2018, but also one of the best films of the year, period.

"Catastrophe," Season 4 (March 15 - Amazon Prime)

One of the most underappreciated comedies streaming today, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan's delightful show about a fling between two strangers that results in an unexpected pregnancy and the two gradually sharing their lives together heads into its final season with its eyes set on wrapping things up in a poignant way. Following the passing of Carrie Fisher (who was a series regular all the way up until last season), the show is poised to handle marriage, family, alcoholism and more in its signature wry and irreverent style. No better time to catch up on it right now. (Don't forget: Each season is only six episodes, so it's quite bingeable.)

"Queer Eye," Season 3 (March 15 - Netflix)

There are few shows as undeniably fun and feel-good as the reboot of "Queer Eye." From its absolutely pitch-perfect Fab Five to its heartwarming tales of life-changing transformations, Netflix's bold reinvention has paid off in spades, and now Bobby, Antoni, Karamo, Tan and, of course, Jonathan will tackle a new series of challenging makeovers by moving from Atlanta to Kansas City, Mo. Details are still scant, but the boys have promised an equal number of men and women getting the Fab Five treatment, as well as their first lesbian subject. Just have that box of tissues at the ready, OK?

"Hanna," Season 1 (March 29 - Amazon Prime)

While it seems that turning films into TV series is all the rage these days, we are profoundly curious as to how Amazon Prime's retelling of the cult flick "Hanna" will fare. Although the premise is the same (ex-government operative lives in the wilderness and raises his daughter to be a hunter, only to have her use those skills to evade spies and agents as her dad is brought back in) and the screenwriter of the original is developing this, we can't help but wonder how this is going to play out. Let's not forget: The original had Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett along with a slamming soundtrack by The Chemical Brothers. While "The Killing" alumni Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman fill in the Blanchett and Bana roles here, we're curiously eyeing this to see if it's the breakout hit Amazon clearly wants it to be.

MUSIC

2 Chainz - "Rap or Go to the League" (March 1)

Is 2 Chainz one of the most genius rappers of our time or just a guy who got lucky? Four albums into his career and we're still not sure, but lord help us he remains entertaining. For his fifth album (and first since 2017's "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music"), he continues to give us the trap flavor he's known for (as on lead single "Hot Wings") but appears to be branching out into more electro territory as on the Adam Scott-assisted music video for the single "Expensify This." Yet in 2019, has Migos usurped his title as trap-rap all-star? Only the album drop holds the answer...

Stephen Malkmus - "Groove Denied" (March 15)

For the legendary frontman of Pavement, Stephen Malkmus' solo career — aided by his band, the Jicks — has been filled with twists and turns, ranging from jam-band guitar solo workouts to golden country-affected greats. Yet for this first truly proper solo album in some time, Malkmus is going...electro-pop. Self-produced and defiantly weird, there appears to be a mix of styles present on this new release, and while his jangle-guitar band workouts and obtuse lyrical stance will be present, expect a lot more keyboards, beats and a heck of a new direction for him to go in.

Jenny Lewis - "On the Line" (March 22)

From child star to Rilo Kiley frontwoman to a renowned solo artist, Jenny Lewis' career has taken many paths, almost all of them resulting in great music in some form or another. While her 2016 side project Nice as F*** was largely ignored, Lewis' fans are no doubt ecstatic that "On the Line" will mark her first new solo album in five years, and as lead single "Red Bull & Hennessy" proved, her '70s-indebted songwriting style and trademark lyrical barbs are in full effect. It sounds like she's channeling a bit of solo Stevie Nicks on these preview singles, and we, quite frankly, are all about it.

Ibibio Sound Machine - "Doko Mien (Tell Me)" (March 22 - Merge)

On only their third album, the English-bred, electro-Afro-pop group known as Ibibio Sound Machine are going more electronic than ever, and it's a thrilling thing to behold. Using tight Linn drum machines and electro repeaters to give their fusion sound a new sense of energy and purpose, there is no doubt there will be those who feel like the group is moving further away from the more world- and funk-centric sounds of their debut. But true fans knew these elements were here from the get-go, and the group is evolving in a fascinating new direction, with the title track showing that the horn stabs, sharp bass work and beautiful vocals from Eno Williams are still there — just with a bit more juice behind it all. This writer has heard the record in full, and make no mistake: It's fresh, fun and still not what you were expecting.

White Denim - "Side Effects" (March 29)

Now with a decade's worth of records behind them, White Denim are feeling their oats and having a moment. Putting out a new record every one or two years at a consistent clip, these Austin-based garage-psych impresarios have been gradually building on the elements of the '70s bands they so idolize to create a sound for themselves that is both familiar and new at the same time. While 2018's "Performance" had the group playing around with texture more than ever before, "Side Effects" is effectively a continuation of that sound, bringing in horn sections, era-specific keyboards and the tight arrangements that they've become known for. Even in 2019, a lot of people still don't know about how damn good White Denim are, and with this new record, here's to hoping they break wide open. Wouldn't that be a heck of a side effect?