Top Picks: Jade Bird's EP 'Something American,' 'Ladies First' on Netflix, and more
Bird songs
A diminutive London-based singer/songwriter with a powerhouse voice, 20-year-old Jade Bird (her birth name) offers up a compelling mix of youthful energy, precocious lyrics, and enough personality to fill a stadium (which we expect will be happening very soon). Her debut EP, , contains wonderful originals, but you need to watch her perform to truly appreciate what makes her such a phenomenon. Search 鈥淛ade Bird鈥� on YouTube and bear witness to a bright new star.
Portable universe
The not only identifies stars and constellations, it also tells you when the International Space Station is visible and details the phases of the moon. Plus, it can test you on stars. The app is $2.99 for iOS.听听
鈥楲adies鈥� bull鈥檚-eye
Deepika Kumari struggled with poverty during her early life in India but then became the top-ranked archer in the world, going on to compete during multiple Olympics, in London and in Rio de Janeiro. The Netflix documentary short follows Kumari and depicts how she succeeded. It鈥檚 available for streaming.
Female fighters
Women have been in the middle of combat throughout history, and the new Smithsonian Channel series 听focuses on the specific groups who have fought over the years, including female gladiators in Rome and the Amazons in West Africa. 鈥淓pic Warrior Women鈥� debuts March 19 at 8 p.m.
Mother-daughter duet
First-time director Greta Gerwig and her film, , were recognized by the Oscars and now the movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray. It stars Saoirse Ronan as the title character, who is fed up with her life attending high school in northern California. Monitor film critic Peter Rainer writes that the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother (Laurie Metcalf) is 鈥渙ne of the more believable mother-daughter duets I鈥檝e seen in a while at the movies.... The adolescent coming-of-age pangs experienced by Lady Bird, to which we can all relate in some measure, are, after all, timeless.鈥�
