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The Billboard Family Hits of the Week compiles what’s new and worth your family’s time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget the mind-numbing scrolling and searching “what to watch for family movie night” … again. The best in family entertainment each week is all in one place, in this handy guide. Isn’t it satisfying to cross something off your list?
Dear readers, it’s October! Before your living room is lost in a Hocus Pocus–Halloweentown loop, catch up with what your family might have missed over the weekend — and get the scoop on some new releases sure to keep almost everyone entertained.
Whether you’ve got one fan in your family, or a full house of ’em (as some of us do), Taylor Swift lovers will be curious to flip through the soon-to-be released Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras, a new book full of fashion photos and details on the pop icon’s looks over the years. It’s been a long time coming from the creator of @taylorswiftstyled, a go-to source on the internet for identifying the pop icon’s clothing, shoes and accessories on the double.
Before getting your hands on that, have a family movie night. Movie theater-goers will find a solid pick in DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot. For those in the parenting era where you’d rather not pay for tickets to see a movie you can’t pause for popcorn refills and restroom breaks, stream new animated special The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist at home on Netflix this week.
Make it through your to-do list this week while listening to Lady Gaga‘s surprise Harlequin album. Here’s the family-friendly thing about Harlequin: You don’t really need to know anything about the Joker sequel it’s a companion to, or know the name of a single Gaga song, to vibe to the revived standards on this collection. But play it on repeat and you, or someone close to you, just might turn into a Little Monster.
Speaking of new tunes, there’s a single dropping later this week that’ll satisfy the K-pop fan of the fam and those of us who lived and breathed ’90s pop radio.
Find more about this week’s top picks in the Billboard Family Hits of the Week below:
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Catch ‘The Wild Robot’ in Theaters Now
Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara: I’d see that movie from the cast alone. They’re among the many voice performers of The Wild Robot, critically acclaimed for its stunning animation and poignant story. The DreamWorks/Universal animated feature, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, soared to No. 1 when it opened in U.S. theaters over the weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and holds an impressive 97% critics score and 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes — all pretty good indicators that it might be worth putting your kid-wrangling skills to use to see it with the whole family on the big screen.
The film is based on Peter Brown’s best-seller about a robot who’s shipwrecked on a remote island and learning to adapt. Consider checking out Brown’s Wild Robot trilogy to read with your kids before or after you see the movie together, to extend the quality family time. Core memories, right? Select your city from the dropdown menu to find movie times and tickets here.
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Listen to Lady Gaga’s ‘Harlequin’ Album
Did you know there’s a new Lady Gaga album called Harlequin? It arrived at the tail end of last week, and unexpected releases can sneak by the best of us. It’s meant to be a companion to Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Gaga as Harley Quinn and Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, opening in theaters this weekend.
Truthfully, you can enjoy Harlequin without associating it with the picture. It’s the kind of album that deserves a close listen — for an in-depth review, check out Billboard‘s ranking of its 13 tracks — but it can also simply be appreciated for its reinterpretation of songs including the jazzy “Good Morning,” the melancholy “Smile” and the classic “That’s Life.” If your children don’t really know these standards, let Miss Gaga give them a musical lesson.
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Stream ‘The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist’ on Netflix
The tagline: “The crafty Bad Guys crew embarks on a high-stakes Halloween heist to swipe a priceless amulet from a spooky mansion. What could go wrong?”
My kid: “It could be filled with ghosts, zombies, vampires. It could be one of those haunted houses where you go in and never come out — that’s how bad it could be. At most, 1% good. And it will probably be hard to even reach the amulet. It’ll be full of death traps, right?” (She also wondered if the kitchen would be in working order, and if the refrigerator would be stocked with brains.)
We’ll find out what happens when The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist starts streaming on Netflix on Oct. 3. The 2022 film Bad Guys was highly rated, and funny enough that it got my reluctant young reader to read the graphic novel series.
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Listen to LISA’s ‘Moonlit Floor’
Superstar K-pop group BLACKPINK‘s members have all recorded music as solo artists, and this week’s buzz is on LISA’s new single, “Moonlit Floor,” to be released Oct. 3. She previewed the cute song about her “green-eyed, French boy” live at Global Citizen Festival over the weekend, with a hook that should sound familiar if you were tuned in to pop radio in the late ’90s.
“Moonlit Floor” interpolates “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, which was the band’s biggest hit on the charts — it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1998. The mix of new and ’90s is fun. It’s also a reminder to share the music you listened to when you were younger with your kids. Feeling nostalgic now? Sixpence None the Richer’s actually headed out on a 25th anniversary tour this month.
Coming up next for BLACKPINK, bandmate JENNIE has a single called “Mantra” due out on Oct. 11, and ROSÉ’s first full-length solo album arrives on Dec. 6. If you’ve got a BLINK in the family, you’ll want to keep track of it all here.
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Pre-Order ‘Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras’
If you’ve ever tried to look up the details about something Taylor Swift has worn, chances are you’ve come across @taylorswiftstyled. The Instagram account with nearly 340,000 followers is run by Sarah Chapelle, a fan of Swift who for more than a decade has identified and provided commentary on every piece the Tortured Poets Department hitmaker is seen in, from red carpet to street style. She’s a fashion writer and now the author of new book Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras, out on Oct. 8.
The keepsake book features more than 200 photos documenting Swift’s style throughout her career. I know my younger daughter will be dazzled by Swift’s dress collection, while the older will be more interested in the context and insight Chapelle provides. Covering the fashion story behind each of Swift’s album eras, the unofficial merch should make a nice companion to Swift’s historic Eras Tour as it nears its end. (The Eras Tour is on break until Oct. 18 and wraps Dec. 8.) Pre-order Taylor Swift Style on Amazon to receive it on release day.