The It List: 'Avengers: Endgame,' P!nk, 'Game of Thrones,' Alien Day and the best in pop culture the week of April 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 April 22 to 28, including the best deals we could find for each.

WATCH IT: Avengers: Endgame

Marvel updates Avengers: Endgame poster to include Danai Gurira's name
Marvel updates Avengers: Endgame poster to include Danai Gurira's name

It’s the Endgame of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it — and what an extremely satisfying culmination it is. The MCU’s “definitive end” to its 22-film superhero squadron arc has been one of the most top-secret films to hit in years — and what a refreshing joy it is to find that of all the footage released in trailers and clips, almost every second comes from the film’s first 20 minutes or so. That means you’re in for a cool three hours of surprises — from cameos to Easter Eggs to throwbacks to maybe even a shocking death or two (we ain’t saying). All we will say — because the less said, the better — is Marvel fans are going to eat this one up. And cry. You’ll definitely cry.

Get tickets for Avengers: Endgame (or at least what’s left of them) on Fandango.

HEAR IT: Various Artists, For the Throne: Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones

SZA, the Weeknd, Travis Scott, Maren Morris, the Lumineers, Ellie Goulding, the National, ChloexHalle, Mumford & Sons and Muse’s Matt Bellamy provide the perfect soundtrack for GoT’s final season. Good music is coming!

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

LIVE IT: Alien Day

This April 26 may be Avengers: Endgame day, but that date belonged to Alien Day first. The classic sci-fi franchise celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with a host of special events, starting with the release of an all-new 4K Ultra HD edition of Ridley Scott’s 1979 favorite on April 23. Meanwhile, IGN is hosting six fan-made, 20th Century Fox-approved Alien short films, which will be available on the franchise’s official website, Alien Universe, starting May 3. And if you happen to find yourself in North Bergen, N.J., the North Bergen High School drama club is putting on a special encore performance of their Sigourney Weaver-praised stage version of Scott’s film. You’ll look extra cool if you show up rocking Reebok’s new Alien Stomper kicks with matching T-shirt. There are also a plethora of new books, new comics and new toys on the horizon. It’s the Xenomorph’s universe and we just live in it.

Alien Day is celebrated on April 26. Visit Alien Universe for more information on all special events and merchandise.

HEAR IT: P!nk, Hurts 2B Human

Khalid, Chris Stapleton and superstar producer Ryan Tedder are among the special guests on the aerial-stunting diva’s eighth studio album.

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

WATCH IT: Teen Witch 30th Anniversary

Robyn Lively, the older sister of actress Blake Lively, is probably best known as an actress for playing the love interest in The Karate Kid Part III, but it’s her role in this cult classic as Louise, a nerdy teenager who discovers she has the power to cast spells, where she’s the most entertaining. The ridiculous (but oh-so fun) plot of the movie, which arrived in theaters 30 years ago this week, features many tropes from teen movies of the ‘80s and beyond: The supposed ugly duckling who transforms into a hottie with the change of clothes and hairstyle, the nerdy sidekick who’s left behind when their friend becomes popular and a climactic scene at the school dance. Top that!

Teen Witch is available to watch free on Amazon Prime Video with a membership or with a 30-day free trial subscription. The movie is also for sale on DVD.

WATCH IT: Cobra Kai (Season 2)

Speaking of the Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka are on this week’s entertainment radar, too. All episodes from the second season of the continuing adventures of Daniel and Johnny, which are just as thrilling and fun to watch as their original match, debut on YouTube on April 24.

Season 2 of Cobra Kai is available to watch on YouTube Premium on April 24.

READ IT: Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery

It's been 20 years since The Matrix, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Office Space and The Sixth Sense opened in theaters — and when it comes to the films of 1999, that's just the tip of the Phantom Menaceberg. In Best Movie Year Ever, former Yahoo Entertainment editor Brian Raftery goes deep on the most beloved and influential movies of that year, revealing crazy trivia and behind-the-scenes secrets culled from 130 new interviews with everyone from Reese Witherspoon to David Fincher to Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best. Not only is this essential reading for film geeks, it's one of the most insightful books yet written about '90s culture, and how that disruptive decade helped create the world we live in today.

Best. Movie. Year. Ever. is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

WATCH IT: Field of Dreams 30th Anniversary

Humphrey Bogart never said, “Play it again, Sam” in the 1942 Oscar-winning classic “Casablanca.” In fact, no one says it in the movie. And the mysterious voice in the adored 1989 fantasy film “Field of Dreams” does not tell Kevin Costner: “If you build it, they will come.” Released 30 years ago on April 21, […]
Ray Liotta and Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

The baseball movie boom of the 1980s was filled with home runs like The Natural and Major League, but only Kevin Costner scored back-to-back grand slams courtesy of Bull Durham and Field of Dreams. Working from W.P. Kinsella’s acclaimed book, writer/director Phil Alden Robinson built a sports movie classic that keeps audiences coming back thirty years after its original release. You know the plot: At the urging of a mysterious voice, an Iowa corn farmer (Costner) builds a baseball diamond in his backyard and is visited by the ghosts of long-dead players. Revisiting the movie, what stands out most is its generosity of spirit, as well as the earnest love of a game that’s been somewhat battered and bruised in recent decades. Scene-for-scene, Bull Durham is probably the better movie, but only Field of Dreams elevates baseball into the realm of myth.

Field of Dreams is available to rent or purchase on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.

Spider-Man: Far From Home Spider Blaster (Photo: Hasbro)
Spider-Man: Far From Home Spider Blaster (Photo: Hasbro)

BUY IT: Spider-Man: Far From Home toys

Spidey toys, Spidey toys, get yourself some Spidey toys! Just as Avengers: Endgame invades theaters and toy stores, Hasbro is already looking ahead to the July 2 release of Spider-Man: Far From Home. For Tom Holland’s second solo outing as the wall-crawler, the toy giant has assembled a menagerie of merchandise including action figures, Nerf products and accessories like masks and web shooters, which will be hitting shelves between now and June. Unlike the Endgame toys, spoilers are hard to come in this particular toy line. One thing that is clear is that Peter Parker himself is going to have lots of new gadgets to play with on his European vacation, from tricked-out jets to a web cyclone blaster.

Spider-Man: Far From Home toys are available for purchase and pre-order at major retailers like Amazon, Entertainment Earth and Walmart.

HEAR IT: Marvel soundtracks on vinyl

For as celebrated as the films generally are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the music within them doesn’t get nearly enough recognition. The tastemakers at Mondo are setting out to change that. In collaboration with Marvel Music and Hollywood records, Mondo will issue a series of MCU soundtracks on wax — complete with expectedly awesome covers and artwork — beginning with this week’s release of Ant-Man and the Wasp on double vinyl. The Christopher Beck-composed score will also come with a far-from-microscopic 14 unreleased tracks. Cued up after Ant-Man and the Wasp? Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok. Marvel music heads, this is your dream.

Buy the Ant-Man and the Wasp soundtrack on vinyl on MondoTees.com.

WATCH IT: Destroyer

We can all agree that Nicole Kidman is at the top of her game right now. So how did one of her finest performances fly almost entirely under the radar? In Destroyer, directed with finely-honed noir instincts by Karyn Kusama, Kidman plays police detective Erin Bell, whose life and career were blown apart by an undercover assignment gone wrong. Years later, Detective Bell is an embittered alcoholic who is dragged back into that same case, seeking revenge for her younger self. Kusama's brutal, twisty crime thriller grabs you and doesn't let go, and Kidman, despite some distracting sun-damage makeup, creates an astonishing character who's wildly different than anyone she has ever played.

Destroyer is available on DVD and Blu-ray on Amazon.

HEAR IT: The Cranberries, In the End

The Irish alt-rocker’s Stephen Street-produced final album, completed a year after frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan’s tragic death and built around her vocals from original demos, will hopefully provide closure for the band’s still-grieving fans.

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

PLAY IT: Mortal Kombat 11

The Avengers aren’t the only ones involved in an epic time-hopping donnybrook this week. One of the greatest video-game franchises has returned, bringing together the most iconic fighters from across the Kombat-verse. Perhaps the coolest part (aside from beating the snot out of your buddies), is the game’s character customization system, allowing gamers to put a little of themselves in their blood-lusting avatars.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available on PS4, Xbox and Nintendo Switch on Amazon.

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