The last weekend of 2024 has arrived. New Year’s Eve is just a few days out and then 2025. The quarter-century mark. My how time flies! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. It’s still winter break and time to take advantage of that and the chillier weather by kicking back with a good TV show or movie.
Every week I look high and low for the best new streaming options and theatrical releases and compile them in this guide. I also discuss ongoing series that are currently airing each week, though most of the shows I’ve been following have come to an end. There are still a few dropping new episodes.
If you have any tips or I missed something, shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can check out last weekend’s streaming guide right here.
What’s New & Notable This Weekend (12/13/24)
Squid Game – Season 2 (Netflix)
The second season of Squid Game is here, three long years after the first became a global sensation at Netflix. It’s still the biggest season of TV on Netflix ever, beating out Stranger Things 4 and Wednesday by a pretty wide margin. Season 2 has gotten good reviews, but not as good as Season 1. I suspect some of the novelty has simply worn off for people. All 7 episodes are now streaming.
Nightbitch (Hulu)
A twist on the werewolf story, Amy Adams stars as an exhausted mother of a rambunctious toddler who discovers she can turn into a dog at night. “Motherhood changes you” takes on a whole new meaning here. Pretty weird concept, but I do love Adams and she looks like she’s having fun here.
Doctor Who Holiday Special (Disney+)
As I’ve noted in the past, I am not a Dr. Who fan (not because I don’t like it, just because I’ve never gotten into it) so I have nothing to say about the current Doctor, the current season or the holiday special. But there is a Christmas Dr. Who special out on Disney+ FYI.
A Complete Unknown (In Theaters)
Timothée Chalamet, who is perhaps being cast too often as too many famous characters from Willy Wonka to Paul Atreides, stars as Bob Dylan, one of the 20th century’s most important singer-songwriters. Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Russo, Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook is Johnny Cash, Edward Norton plays Pete Seeger. It really is a movie filled with famous people playing famous people! Interestingly, critics are giving the new James Mangold biopic a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences are much kinder, with a 96% Popcornmeter score.
Nosferatu (In Theaters)
Robert Eggers has made a bunch of really good, really weird movies. The last one I watched of his was The Northman, which I really enjoyed (other than some casting snafus). Nosferatu is a new take on a very old vampire film, bringing the 1922 movie back to life—fitting for a vampire story, I suppose. Bill Skarsgård and Lily-Rose Depp star. It looks quite good, though Eggers has a certain style that doesn’t always appeal to everyone. Critics give this an 7%, while audiences are a bit more skeptical with 76%. As one audience reviewer notes, “A bit too much ominous.”
What’s Airing Weekly
A lot of stuff has come to an end recently, including Dune: Prophecy which I never ended up care for, and actually found quite the slog to get through. In fact, it made my Worst And Most Disappointing TV Shows Of 2024 list, along with a number of other series.
Another show that just ended this week is Shrinking which I really need to write about because it’s one of the best shows on TV at the moment. Both the last two episodes made me cry like a baby. Apple has a lot of great shows but this is one of my favorites, hands down.
I hadn’t started Dexter: Original Sin yet when I wrote last week’s guide, and then I went and binged all three episodes that were out. I still need to watch the fourth which just dropped today, but so far I’m really enjoying this prequel series way more than I expected I would. It feels like old-school Dexter. Here’s my review. (Paramount)
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is exactly the kind of TV show Disney and Lucasfilm ought to be making when it comes to live-action Star Wars, though ratings suggest people are not showing up for the fun little adventure show. That may be Star Wars fatigue, poor marketing or something else. I wonder if this show should have been more squarely made and marketed for boys. Either way, I’m enjoying it. (Disney+)
I’m now several episodes behind on Silo (Apple TV) which I’ve been having a hard time getting into. It just feels a lot slower and less interesting than Season 1. Instead, I’ve finished up Rivals on Hulu/Disney which I found absolutely delightful. Quite steamy, too! I still need to catch up on Landman which I’m pretty mixed on, quite frankly. Taylor Sheridan often has pretty solid female characters in his shows, but Landman’s feel one-dimensional and weirdly sexualized, especially the 17-year-old daughter of Billy Bob Thornton’s character.
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