What to watch this weekend.
It’s the first weekend of 2025 and I have to admit, things are off to something of a slow start in the new year. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it’s nice to not have too many new shows and movies out so that we can catch up on all the stuff we missed in the past year (or years, as is so often the case).
I’ve posted my Worst TV Shows and Best TV Shows of 2024 lists. The latter may give you some ideas on what to watch that may have fallen off your radar. And as always, I’ve scoured the internet for what’s new to stream this weekend, as well as some theatrical releases that might tickle your fancy.
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)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
The adorable duo of Wallace and Gromit return for this family-friendly Netflix flick. This is a rare offering from Netflix in that it has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score with critics and a 98% with audiences. That’s pretty wild! Most Netflix movies barely release Fresh. Of course, fans of the lovable claymation duo expect nothing less. This should be a nice movie to watch with your kids (or just with your inner child and a bucket of nostalgia).
Lockerbie: A Search For Truth (Peacock)
Colin Firth stars in this harrowing true story about the December 21, 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Firth is such a great actor and this looks absolutely incredible. He plays Dr. Jim Swire, nominated by the victims’ families as their spokesperson as they try to uncover the truth behind the terrorist attack, which claimed the lives of all 259 passengers. A total of five episodes will air weekly on Peacock every Thursday.
The 2025 Golden Globes (Paramount+)
The big Golden Globes award ceremony kicks off at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on Paramount+ and CBS this Sunday. Nikki Glaser hosts. I almost never watch award ceremonies these days, but they can have their entertaining (and frustrating) moments.
The Rig – Season 2 (Prime Video)
Prime Video’s horror series about an offshore oil rig returns for a second season. I didn’t watch the first and heard mostly mixed things. But if you’re a fan of the genre or the series, you can tune back in. The entire season is out on Prime Video now.
Cunk On Life (Netflix)
Philomena Cunk returns to explore the meaning of life. Or something. Who knows with Cunk? She’s funny and off-kilter and her documentaries are hilarious. Cunk—actually Diane Morgan—spoofs the documentary genre, carries out ridiculous interviews and is just a lot of fun in general.
The Fall Guy (Prime Video)
The Fall Guy has been available on Peacock, but now it’s available for many more viewers on Prime Video. I’ve been meaning to watch the Ryan Gosling / Emily Blunt action movie for ages now and I think I finally will this weekend. It got great reviews, has charismatic stars and a fun premise and still somehow bombed at the box office. Go figure . . .
Selling The City (Netflix)
A real estate themed soap opera from the makers of Selling the OC, Selling The City takes viewers to the East Coast with a new cast of beautiful characters and melodrama. I’m not above soap operas—I devoured Sons Of Anarchy—but I must admit this is not my cup of tea. Maybe it’s yours!
Horizon: An American Saga Part 1 (Netflix)
Kevin Costner’s sprawling, ambitious, old-school Western Horizon: An American Saga is just the first of four planned films, with a second part hitting theaters sometime in 2025. While the film was critically and financially a failure, it’s seen new life in streaming and now that it’s on Netflix is sure to gain an even bigger audience. I genuinely liked the film, though it certainly moves at an odd pace and eschews conventional narrative in favor of something a lot looser and less plot-driven. Hopefully Chapter 2 ties up some loose threads and gets the story rolling forward.
Wicked (VOD)
One of my very favorite movies of 2024 is now available to rent or purchase on Prime Video and elsewhere. I want to buy it, but I decided to order the 4K Blu-ray version instead, which won’t release until next month. For the sound, for the visuals, the 4K disc will be worth the wait. I genuinely loved this adaptation of the Broadway musical, which I saw for the second time this past year when I visited NYC and went to not one, not two, not three, but four Broadway shows in two days. That was fun!
Other movies out on Video-On-Demand include:
- The Order with Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult about an FBI agent tracking down bank robbers who are hitting banks to fund a white supremacist terrorist cabal. This is based on a true story and looks excellent. I’m tempted to buy it but I assume it will land on a streaming service soon.
- The Wild Robot which was my second-favorite animated film of 2024 after Inside Out 2. Such a beautifully animated, heartwarming film that’s sure to tug on parents’ heartstrings while delighting younger viewers.
- The Return stars Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus, washed up on the shores of Ithaca after the Trojan Wars. A retelling of Odysseus without all the mythology. It’s gotten fairly positive reviews from critics and audiences.
- Small Things Like These stars Cillian Murphy as a father who discovers disturbing revelations at a local convent in Ireland in 1985. This looks both disturbing and fantastic.
Nosferatu (In Theaters)
I included this last week as a theatrical release worth watching, and now that I’ve seen it I thought I should recommend it one more time. While I realize this will not be for everyone—my readers either loved or hated it, basically—I fall into the “loved it” camp. You can read my glowing review right here.
Other movies currently in theaters include Mufasa, Sonic 3, and The Brutalist. That last one is the one I’d like to go see, but it’s not at my movie theater! It stars Adrian Brody as architect László Toth who escapes postwar Europe and builds a new life in America. The movie, and its star Adrien Brody, are receiving a lot of buzz. It sounds terrific, though it’s a whopping 3 hours and 35 minutes long. Still, 94% of critics and 89% of audiences give this A24 film a thumbs up on Rotten Tomatoes. Not too shabby.
What’s Airing Weekly
We have certainly slowed down when it comes to shows airing each week, with many ending in the past few weeks and fewer new shows to watch, which is good because I have so much to catch up on! Since some pretty big new shows are headed our way, from Severance to Season 2 of The Night Agent, I’m happy we have a brief lull in content.
Dexter: Original Sin has become my most-anticipated show of the week. I’m always eager for a new episode to drop each Friday on Paramount. It’s amazing how good this show is—my expectations were so low—and how great the younger cast portrays their older counterparts from the original series. Here’s my review. (Paramount)
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew continues to be a ton of fun, a wonderfully lighthearted pirate adventure that mirrors The Goonies and pays tribute to many great classic adventure films of old. Jude Law is wonderful and the cast of kids that make up our heroes does a terrific job as well. This, along with the first two seasons of The Mandalorian and the first season of Andor, is the best Star Wars on Disney+. Only a couple more episodes to go.
I’m way behind on Silo (Apple TV) Landman, Outlander and still have to watch Squid Game. I haven’t started Creature Commandos yet, either, though it looks like a pretty fun animated DC show. I’ve been catching up on Say Nothing on Hulu, however, which is excellent, exciting, disturbing and based on true stories that took place during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. I also finally watched Bad Boys: Ride Or Die which I found incredibly fun and silly, and Killers Of The Flower Moon which I reviewed right here. It should have won Best Picture over Oppenheimer.
Further Reading From Yours Truly:
- Check out last week’s streaming guide here.
- The Worst TV Shows Of 2024.
- The 24 Best TV Shows Of 2024.
- Netflix Just Dropped Two Excellent Sci-Fi Movies From Christopher Nolan.
- Killers Of The Flower Moon should have won Best Picture, not Oppenheimer.
- Nosferatu is a vampire horror masterpiece.
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What are you watching these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.
