What to watch: 'Wakanda Forever' aims to recreate blockbuster magic; Weird Al biopic true to character, and more

More than once during his fabled career, Steven Spielberg has been dismissed as a technician masquerading as an artist; as the most popular of American filmmakers, the logic goes, he must also be the most impersonal. It's a judgment that doesn't quite explain the intensely personal connection a lot of us feel to his movies. Or does it? More than any other director, Spielberg confounds the notion that the personal and the popular, or the technician and the artist, are fundamentally at odds. The intensity of feeling you experienced on your first (or third) close encounter with a Spielberg classic — maybe you levitated out of your seat at "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or had your nerves shredded by "Jaws" — was likely so pure that it felt like yours and yours alone, never mind that millions of moviegoers around the world felt the same way.

And so it's worth considering exactly what it means to describe "The Fabelmans," Spielberg's piercing, rollicking and altogether marvelous ramble through his early years, as his most personal work. That assessment may be correct, if we assume "personal" to be synonymous with "autobiographical," and also if we overlook the snippets of family history that he's woven almost subliminally throughout his earlier films. Fire up "1941" and "Saving Private Ryan" and you'll catch stray glimpses of his father's World War II stories. "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" endure not only as wondrous alien-visitation fantasies but as portraits of families in disarray, something that emerged directly from the pain of his parents' divorce.

Donald Glover's "Atlanta" came to an end Thursday on FX, completing a four-season voyage of discovery into just what can be accomplished with a title, an adventurous crew and 41 episodes of television. Appropriately, it ends with an episode (unseen as of this writing) written by Glover and directed by Hiro Murai, who together made the first episode as well, and set the tone for one of television's greatest, which is not to say most watched, series.

On the possibly very good chance "Atlanta" is new to you (you can watch it all on Hulu, then watch it again), it's built around a quartet of characters. Glover, who created the show and grew up just outside to Atlanta, plays Earn, who comes back to town, having sometime earlier dropped out of Princeton. (Details are hazy until this season.) He noncommittally reconnects with former girlfriend Vanessa aka Van (Zazie Beetz), the mother of his baby daughter, Lottie (no longer a baby, and played this year by Austin Elle Fisher). He looks up his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), who raps under the name Paper Boi, and wangles a job as his manager. Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), who has a mystical bent and knows a lot about real things and about a lot of things that aren't real, is Al's sidekick and partner in low-level drug dealing, until pop success makes that business unnecessary. They are elemental — earth (Al), water (Earn), fire (Van) and air (Darius) — and yet highly particularized. Surrounding them are family, friends, associates, nemeses, competitors, officials, clerks and strange strangers, who range from amusingly quirky to actively threatening.

SAN DIEGO — If Elton John is really going to retire at the end of his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road: The Final Tour,” he’s going out with a major league bang, not a halfhearted bunt.

He resoundingly proved this with his triumphant Wednesday night concert at San Diego’s Petco Park, where the generations-transcending superstar and his ace six-man band performed for a sold-out audience of 40,000 very enthusiastic fans.

The holiday rom-com "Falling for Christmas" checks all the familiar, expected holiday movie boxes — Christmas is good, greed is bad, a character who looks a lot like Santa Claus turns out to be Santa Claus — with one notable difference from dozens of interchangeable Hallmark Channel clones it mimics: it stars Lindsay Lohan in the lead role.

Yes, Lindsay Lohan, teenage movie star turned 20-something tabloid fixture turned Hollywood disappearing act. "Falling for Christmas" is her first feature film lead role in nearly a decade, and she shows a slight glimmer of the pluck she once brought to the screen in films such as "Freaky Friday" and "Mean Girls." Don't call it a comeback, call it baby steps toward the possibility of one.

Streamers like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and more are getting into the holiday spirit early this season, with merry and bright new movies releasing now through the end of the year.

If you’re looking to settle in for some feel-good holiday films, here’s your ultimate guide to what’s streaming:

Leave it to Chris Rock to try something risky on a global stage.

“Chris Rock is about to make history as the first artist to perform LIVE on Netflix!” the service tweeted Thursday, adding that the special will be streamed globally early in 2023.

LOS ANGELES — Leslie Jordan made his final “Masked Singer” appearance Wednesday in an episode dedicated to the late comedic actor.

Jordan filled in after permanent panelist Ken Jeong couldn’t make it to the taping. The “Call Me Kat” star had already served as a panelist on the wacky competition program on multiple occasions. This week’s show was filmed in August, according to Variety.

The next chapter in Michelle Obama’s book tour includes a stop on “The Late Show.”

The former U.S. first lady is set to appear as a guest on Monday’s episode of the late-night program hosted by Stephen Colbert, which tapes in New York City, CBS announced Thursday.

"Mammals": James Corden's decision to step away from "The Late, Late Show" may seem like a weird move — until you catch him in this six-part dramedy. He plays a chef whose idyllic life comes crashing down after learning that his wife is sleeping around. "Mammals," created by Tony-winner Jez Butterworth, doesn't have anything very wise or witty to say about infidelity, but it ends up being a terrific showcase for the lame-duck host, giving him a chance to tackle everything from tender love scenes to temper tantrums. It's not a great series, but it helps explain why Corden is ready to give up chauffeuring celebrities for Carpool Karaoke and return to being a full-time actor. Friday, Prime Video

"The English": The latest addition to the How the West Was Horrid genre stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, who mope across 1890s Kansas and Wyoming, occasionally breaking out of their funks to kill bad guys. The violence is as brutal as the scenery is gorgeous, but the dialogue sounds like the cast is reading from a discarded Clint Eastwood script. Friday, Prime Video

(RATINGS: The movies listed below are rated according to the following key: 4 stars — excellent; 3 stars — good; 2 stars — fair; 1 star — poor.)

(This week’s package includes: capsule film reviews by Michael Phillips, chief movie critic for the Chicago Tribune, and other contributing writers; 2) longer reviews of “Aftersun,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “The Estate” and “The Fabelmans.”

Emily Blunt stars in Prime Video’s grim Western fable The English. James Corden gets serious (mostly) in Mammals, a British dramedy about infidelity and its roots. A day late, we salute The Good Fight upon its departure. Stars from Food Network and HGTV get in the holiday-movie act, appearing in a quartet of new Christmas movies.

The CBS hit comedy Ghosts welcomes an actor from the original U.K. version playing a fake version of scoutmaster Pete. Grey’s Anatomy is rocked by a departure and a thunderstorm in the fall finale. FX’s Emmy-winning Atlanta signs off forever. The prolific David E. Kelley introduces a New York detective who operates on faith. Schitt’s Creek’s Dan Levy builds a new cooking competition around brunch.

An HBO Sports documentary celebrates the career of baseball legend Willie Mays. Most major broadcast and cable news networks provide wall-to-wall coverage of the midterm elections. Jeopardy! pauses the Tournament of Champions for a special exhibition game featuring the season’s three top Super Champs. Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay returns with a holiday themed three-round format.

The fifth season of The Crown introduces a new cast taking Queen Elizabeth II into her turbulent twilight years. Alan Jackson receives a Lifetime Achievement Awards at the CMAs in Nashville. The Handmaid’s Tale wraps its next-to-last season with more trauma for ex-handmaid June. History’s long-running Pawn Stars spins off for an eight-episode road trip across America.