It’s Friday and that means another weekend of new streaming TV shows and movies to get us through the wintery weekend.
This weekend’s offerings include a pair of fascinating documentaries, a new movie from the creator of Mr. Robot, and an animated Batman Christmas movie.
Let’s dive right in!
New This Weekend
Leave The World Behind (Netflix)
Sam Esmail’s new apocalyptic thriller starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la and Kevin Bacon just landed on Netflix and is faring better with critics than audiences. The general consensus seems to be that the acting is great but the movie itself is a bit on the slow side, and the ending appears to be divisive.
World War II: From the Frontlines (Netflix)
Enhanced archival footage from the second World War brings that conflict to life in this six-part docuseries. The quality of restoration here is absolutely extraordinary. I’m reminded of Peter Jackson’s WWI documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, which did something very similar with even older restored footage and sound recordings.
Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (Disney+)
Here’s one for kids and families. The perennial favorite Diary of a Wimpy Kid series takes a shot at Christmas and it looks charming. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an audience score of 83% which isn’t too shabby. I perused the reviews and stumbled on this three-star gem:
“Looks, The Christmas Of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Movie Is So Weird Right Now. I don’t know why if these movies are so getting animation like weird right now? Because, I don’t know.”
I don’t know, either. I really don’t know what you’re talking about at all!
All three (three!) critic reviews are glowing and agree that this is less crude than previous installments in the series and more appropriate for yuletide.
Doctor Who: The Giggle (Disney+)
David Tennant’s Doctor rounds out the third and final Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special, starring across from Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker. This is one of those shows that I’ve never really gotten into but keep telling myself I ought to watch, but then I get a little intimidated by the sheer amount of Doctor Who seasons and episodes and iterations and don’t even have a clue where to begin!
Merry Little Batman (Amazon Prime Video)
Batman and his son, Damian Wilson, team up on Christmas to take on Gotham’s supervillains and stumbles on a plot to steal Christmas. The Joker takes on a distinctly Grinch-like role. It looks very cute and fun for the whole family unlike some Caped Crusader outings (Batman 2 with Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito remains one of the best Christmas movies!) and has glowing reviews from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Mission (Documentary — Hulu / Disney)
In the opening scene of the 1986 film The Mission, we see a Jesuit monk tied to a cross go over a majestic waterfall in the South American jungle. Missionaries faced death and worse in the deep jungles, where indigenous people rightfully mistrusted all advances from European settlers. It’s a powerful film. The new documentary directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss tells a similar story: The true story of young American missionary John Chau, who was killed with arrows when he sailed to the remote North Sentinel Island to make contact with one of the most isolated indigenous tribes in the world. It looks fascinating.
Ongoing Shows
I’m currently watching two shows weekly, though I have not had time to review either one. I’m trying to gather my thoughts on both, and will have some form of review or analysis out soon.
Slow Horses Season 3 (Apple TV+) is off to a great start, with a mysterious kidnapping and some juicy twists and turns. New episodes are out each Tuesday, and the only problem with the Gary Oldman-led spy thriller/comedy is that each season is so short. With just three episodes left, I feel like we’ve barely even established a plot. Both Season 1 and 2 were also too short, and as good as it is, the show can feel a little rushed at times.
Fargo Season 5 (Hulu) is absolutely bonkers at this point. It’s very much a mix of everything we love about the Noah Hawley crime dramedy, but with a bizarre mix of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Home Alone tossed in for good measure. This is very much the most Christmas-themed season so far, though it has a demonic undercurrent that’s quite scary.
I just finished watching Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix and it’s absolutely wonderful, quickly becoming one of my favorite Netflix shows ever. It’s up there with Arcane as one of the best animated Netflix shows, though it’s even more adult and NSFW.
I took a crack at Murder At The End Of The World on Hulu and had a hard time getting into the first episode, which I thought felt a little cheesy and unbelievable. I’ve heard lots of good things so maybe I’ll try again. I started The Fall Of The House Of Usher last night and watched the first two episodes, and while it didn’t grab me at first, by the end of the second (gruesome) episode I was hooked. I don’t love it, but I’m intrigued.
In Theaters
I always toss in a couple of theatrical releases in my streaming guide because I think it’s fun to go to the movies and important to keep the movie business alive. At least movies made for theaters aren’t made directly for some soulless algorithm! Here are three:
Godzilla Minus One
I went to this one last weekend and absolutely loved it. The Japanese film is the first time in years I’ve been happy with a Godzilla movie, and I highly recommend you catch it in theaters before it’s gone. The WWII/post-war setting makes for a great period piece and the characters are all so terrific.
The Boy And The Heron
The latest film from Studio Ghibli looks wonderful, and I plan to see it with my kids this weekend. It’s already scoring near-perfect reviews with critics and audiences and if you love Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, or any of the other great Studio Ghibli films, you should definitely go see it on the big screen.
Silent Night
I love me a good Christmas action movie (Die Hard is also back in theaters!) and Silent Night from acclaimed director John Woo looks like a ton of fun. I’m a big fan of Joel Kinnaman ever since The Killing and Altered Carbon and while the movie isn’t doing quite as well as I’d hoped with critics or audiences, I’m very curious about a film that has literally zero lines of dialogue.
Finally, Killers of the Flower Moon and The Holdovers are both available on VOD so you can see those if you missed them in theaters. The Holdovers is a wonderful new Christmas movie with tons of heart. I didn’t catch Killers because it’s so long! Sometimes I just can’t justify sitting in a theater for that long.
What are you watching this weekend? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
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