The It List: Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,' Bella Thorne's new poetry book, Janet Jackson's classics on vinyl and the best in pop culture the week of July 22, 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 July 22-28, including the best deals we could find for each.

WATCH IT: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood arrives in cinemas on July 26

Quentin Tarantino’s ninth feature is also his third Western in a row… albeit one that takes place in the 1960s instead of the 1860s. The expansive narrative concerns fading TV star, Rick Dalton (Leonardio DiCaprio), who finds himself pushed to the margins of a town he once patrolled with swagger. And because every sheriff needs a sidekick, Rick is never far from the company of his stuntman/personal assistant, Cliff (Brad Pitt), a granite-carved guy who knows a little bit about a lot. Meanwhile, one house over, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her husband Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha) are living it up as the shining stars of the ever-encroaching New Hollywood that’s threatening to run Rick and Cliff out of town.

More fun to watch than the director’s previous film, The Hateful Eight, Hollywood is also missing some of the dramatic urgency that propelled Django Unchained and the Kill Bill movies, not to mention the galvanizing flashes of gore (though that changes in the last act). But Tarantino remains peerless when it comes to rooting around in the pop culture minutiae of decades past; this film creates a mythic version of ‘60s-era Hollywood — one that’s decidedly less diverse in terms of race and class than the real thing — and allows it to marinate in the California sun. More than anything, the movie feels like a memory of what the filmmaker imagined his hometown to be, and builds to a fairy tale finale that preserves it in glorious 35-millimeter forever.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opens in theaters on July 26. Visit Fandango and Atom Tickets for showtime and ticket information.

WATCH IT: Orange Is the New Black final season kicks off July 26

Netflix’s most-watched original series Orange Is the New Black is on its way out — and so is inmate Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). In the seventh and final season of the beloved show, Piper struggles to navigate a free world she no longer recognizes outside of prison. Meanwhile, little has changed for the inmates still at Litchfield, where life continues to be as nefarious and corrupt as ever despite last season’s rousing prison riot. While the possibility of a life sentence looms for Taystee, Gloria and her kitchen staff grapple with Polycon’s newest profit stream. Don’t miss your chance to bid farewell to what is being lauded as the most important TV show of the decade, whose poor, black, trans, immigrant, curvy and mentally ill female characters pushed the boundaries of what a hit television show looks like. You can binge-watch the entire season — along with 105 million OITNB fans beginning July 26.

Orange Is the New Black Season 7 premieres Friday, July 26 on Netflix.

PLAY IT: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 re-assembles the Avengers

Turns out Avengers: Endgame wasn’t the end... now there's a new Avengers game to consume our lives. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, the latest installment in the classic franchise (exclusively for Nintendo Switch), allows players to assemble their own superteam from a roster of iconic heroes — including Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, and other assorted Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy — in a rematch with Thanos and his Black Order, along with other fearsome villains like Ultron, Red Skull and Green Goblin. Each hero has a signature movie that can be combined with fellow supers in a co-op mode for up to four players at home or online, with the option of running through the entire epic story or snackable individual missions.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is now available at Amazon.

BUY IT: It Chapter Two is getting a round of Funko figures, including a massive Pennywise Pop!

For obvious reasons, a Pennywise Pop would be on any It List. With It Chapter Two due in theaters on Sept. 6, Funko is providing the nightmare fuel well in advance courtesy of a whole line of scary clowns. Choose from a 10” Pop! with a boat (it floats, you know) or a series of Pennywise figures that carry a variety of accessories, from balloons to blades.

Pre-order your It Chapter Two Pennywise Pop on Entertainment Earth.

HEAR IT: Janet Jackson releases 4 of her past albums on vinyl

In May the It List told you about the vinyl re-release of Control, Janet Jackson's seminal, hit-filled 1986 LP. Apparently, the pop superstar was just getting started. In conjunction with her current Metamorphosis residency at the MGM in Las Vegas, the recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee is dropping four more beloved albums on wax: 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814 ("Alright," "Lonely"), 1993's janet. ("That's The Way Love Goes," "Any Time, Any Place"), 1997's The Velvet Rope ("Got Til It's Gone," "Go Deep") and 2001's All For You ("All For You," "Somone to Call My Lover"). Prepare your record player for its own Janet Jackson residency.

Buy Janet Jackson vinyl on Amazon.

READ IT: Bella Thorne debuts poetry book, The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray

Bella Thorne’s new book is a look into the star’s deepest and darkest thoughts, displayed in a way that they might be in her personal diary. Through poems and illustrations, the actress and singer opens up about childhood trauma, growing up in the spotlight and the many experiences that shaped who she is today. Thorne’s fans have already praised the star for being so vulnerable and real, allowing them to get to know the real her beyond the headlines.

The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray is available to purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

WATCH IT: Pennyworth debuts July 28 on Epix

Yes, a show about the early years of Batman’s butler might seem more suited to an SNL sketch (or an animated cartoon), but hear us out: What if young Alfred Pennyworth was closer in spirit to Young Sherlock Holmes? That’s the angle that executive producers Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon take for their Epix series, which unfolds in a version of ‘60s-era England that’s more sinister than swinging. Jack Bannon cuts a dashing figure as a pre-Wayne family Alfred, whose nascent security company tangles with common criminals and supernatural bad guys. Truth be told, Pennyworth is a bizarre genre-blender of a show, but it’s fun to watch Heller and Cannon throw Bat-shaped darts at the wall to see what sticks.

Pennyworth premieres July 28 at 9 p.m. on Epix or stream the series on Epix Now.

HEAR IT: Sugar Ray returns from 10-year hiatus with Little Yachty

Mark McGrath’s SoCal party crew is back after a 10-year hiatus, and with ‘90s nostalgia in full force, it seems like the timing is perfect. Explaining the comeback album’s title to Billboard, McGrath explained, “We were like the yacht rock of the '90s — us, Smash Mouth, never the cool guys in town, but we sold a lot of records and had our place in '90s history.”

Download on iTunes; buy on CD at Amazon.

WATCH IT: Alita: Battle Angel available on all home entertainment formats

Hollywood hasn’t exactly had the best track record when it comes to using Japanese anime and manga as fodder for live action blockbusters. (Ghost in the Shell anyone?) But James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez came the closest yet to cracking the code with their agreeably pulpy, and unapologetically earnest translation of Yukito Kishiro’s celebrated series. Give the lion’s share of the credit to Rosa Salazar, who fully embodies the titular battle angel in a motion capture-enhanced performance. Behind the camera, Rodriguez imagines a distant future that’s both tactile and fantastical, with plenty of places left to explore in future installments. With only $85 million at the domestic box office, the likelihood of more adventures might seem dicey, but the $300 million international gross suggests that the world at large would be happy to see Alita return.

Alita: Battle Angel is available to rent or purchase on Amazon and Vudu, and is also available in a 4K Ultra/Blu-ray combo pack.

HEAR IT: Of Monsters & Men’s 3rd studio album Fever Dream available now

Iceland’s finest non-Björk musical export trades its sunny acoustic sound for something more urgent and electric on its third studio album.

Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.

READ IT: J. Michael Straczynski’s personal history revealed in new memoir Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood

Long one of the pre-eminent writers of superheroes and sci-fi TV shows, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski turns the spotlight on his own troubled upbringing in a new autobiography. Digging into his childhood, which was marked by poverty and abuse, the author describes how comic books provided him with both an escape from his surrounding and the inspiration for telling his own stories. Even as he charts how his writing career takes off, he can’t avoid shining a light into the dark corners of his past where secrets — including a real-life murder mystery — remain hidden.

Becoming Superman is available to purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

HEAR IT: Andy Grammer’s Naïve album gets personal

The plucky pop-rock songwriter and Dancing With the Stars alum’s fourth album is perhaps his most personal yet — with one track about his late mother, "She'd Say," inspired by a conversation he had with medium/psychic Dannion Brinkley.

Download on iTunes; buy on CD at Amazon.

WATCH IT: Missing Link, LAIKA’s 5th film, available on Blu-ray, DVD and digital

Despite a voice cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana and Zach Galifianakis and generally very positive reviews from critics, the latest entry from LAIKA (Coraline, ParaNorman) went MIA at the box office earlier this year, where it managed a paltry $16 million domestic gross (that's $32 million less than its second least successful release, 2016's Kubo and the Two Strings). All the more reason to seek out Missing Link (about an English explorer who helps a Bigfoot named Susan track down his yeti kin) on home entertainment, where it lands this week.

Buy Missing Link on Blu-ray, DVD or digital on Amazon.

PLAY IT: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 re-assembles the Avengers

Forget Avengers: Endgame; now there's a new Avengers game to consume our lives. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, the latest installment in the classic franchise (exclusively for Nintendo Switch), allows players to assemble their own superteam from a roster of iconic heroes — including Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Panther and other assorted Avengers, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy — in a rematch with Thanos and his Black Order, along with other fearsome villains like Ultron, Red Skull and Green Goblin. Each hero has a signature movie that can be combined with fellow supers in a co-op mode for up to four players at home or online, with the option of running through the entire epic story or snackable individual missions.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is now available at Amazon.

HEAR IT: Violent Femmes drops 10th album Hotel Last Resort

The nervy college-rock icons’ 10th album is a characteristically eclectic affair, featuring a cover of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” and appearances by both television legend Tom Verlaine and pro skateboarder Stefan Janoski.

Download on iTunes; buy on CD/vinyl at Amazon.

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