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What To Watch This Weekend: New Shows And Movies To Stream On Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Apple TV And More
What to watch this weekend.Credit: Disney / ABC / NetflixWell, were already racing through 2025. One third of January is behind us, and a lot of great shows and movies are on the horizon. Some of those are out this weekend for your viewing pleasure, and as always Ive scoured the internet to find the best (and sometimes the worst) for you to watch or avoid.Be sure to check out my Worst TV Shows and Best TV Shows of 2024 lists also, because theres a lot of stuff you may have missed in 2024.If you have any tips or I missed something, shoot me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can check out last weekends streaming guide right here.Whats New & Notable This Weekend (12/13/24)American Primeval (Netflix)MORE FOR YOUThe most exciting new release of the week is American Primeval on Netflix. This is not a show for the squeamish. Its a Western set on the American frontier in the year 1857 as Mormons, pioneers, bounty hunters and Native Americans clash in a bloody conflict and fight for survival. The limited 6-part series was written by the same screenwriter who penned The Revenant, and the show very much follows that films style and overall sense of brutality and bleakness. I really enjoyed it, though I found some aspects of the series a bit unsatisfying. Still, the attention to detail is superb and if you like violent, almost nihilistic Westerns, give this one a shot. You can read my review here.Goosebumps: The Vanishing - Season 2 (Disney+)I really enjoyed the Goosebumps movie starring Jack Black which came outchecks Googleway back in 2015! A decade ago! The new Vanishing series is out now on Disney+. Its funny, the next item on this list is a sitcom that tries to reinvigorate the lost art of broadcast sitcoms, and this show stars Friends alum, David Schwimmer aka Ross Gellar. Theres a line from the trailer that is very Ross: "What kind of plant should you always watch out for? An ambush." Schwimmer plays a divorced dad whose teenage children come to visit him in Brooklyn where they discover a spooky mystery about missing teens from 1994 and begin to suspect their fathers involvement. There arent a lot of reviews for this show out yet, but all eight 45-minute-ish episodes are available to stream now. It looks fun.Shifting Gears (ABC/Hulu)Tim Allens old sitcom Home Improvement was a huge hit and now the Toy Story actor is back with Shifting Gears, playing Matt Parker, a grouchy auto-shop owner whose estranged daughter, Riley (Kate Dennings) suddenly returns and upends his life. Its a classic sitcom replete with laugh tracksthough actual laughs are in short supply. Then again, Ive only watched the first episode and plenty of sitcoms had rough starts over the years. You can read my review here.The Pitt (Max)Fans of ER get their own dose of nostalgia this weekend. The Pitt is a new show from The West Wings John Wells and stars ER alum Noah Wyle. ER producer and writer R. Scott Gemmill is the creator of the new series. The show follows Wyles Dr. Michael Robinavitch and centers around the daily stresses of working in a busy Pittsburgh hospital with an emphasis on realism. It borrows the 24 format, chronicling 15 hours in an ER unit over 15 episodes. Thats a long season for modern television! Its currently at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its blend of grounded drama and relatable characters. The first two episodes are available now on Max, with new episodes releasing each Wednesday.On Call (Prime Video)I cant tell if this is one Ill like or not. On Call is a police procedural that focuses on the patrol side of policing rather than detective work. It also inserts a bunch of bodycam-perspective footage, so you get kind of awkward moments in the trailer that look like its a first-person shooter (Bad Boys: Ride Or Die did this at times, bizarrely, but it was pretty minimal). It seems to be faring better with audiences than critics at this point. I do like the idea of focusing more on cops rather than detectives, something that the Irish procedural Blue Lights did to great effect (definitely give that one a shot). All eight 30 minute episodes of On Call are out now on Prime Video.The Traitors - Season 3 (Peacock)Im not really into reality TV shows, but Alan Cummings The Traitors does sound like a fun show if thats your bag. The twist is that its all a kind of murder mystery theater game where traitors have to work together to eliminate other contestants, while the faithfuls have to discover and banish the traitors. I guess its a bit like Among Us in that regard, but with a Medieval castle and lots of costumes.Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action (Netflix)I know I just said that reality TV isnt my thing, but I admit that back in the day a guilty pleasure of mine was occasionally tuning into The Jerry Springer Show for a glimpse at all humanity had to offer. It was ahead of its time. It was awful and gripping and the worst kind of exploitation television. This documentary dips its toes into the story of the reality TV show, but it sounds like it doesnt dip far enough. With just two episodes, each less than an hour long, it sounds more like scratching the surface than genuinely digging into what made the show and its notorious host tick. Thats a shame, because there are undoubtedly many galling stories to unearth from the series 25-year-run.Flow (VOD)A dialogue-free animated film about a cat that looks absolutely gorgeous. This won the best animated feature at last weeks Golden Globes and now you can watch it from the comfort of your home, though youll need to rent or buy it until it comes to a streaming service.Get Away (VOD)The new film from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz creator Nick Frost is a comedy-thriller about a family on vacation on a remote island . . . with a serial killer. It looks equally creepy and funny, though its reviewing quite a lot worse than the aforementioned films.The Substance (MUBI)Another Golden Globe winner, The Substance is a critically acclaimed film starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. The premise reminds me a bit of Death Becomes Her. A miracle youth drugthe titular Substanceunlocks more than anyone bargained for. This is on my watchlist still, but Ill probably sign up for the free week at MUBI so I can watch it soon. Ive heard so many great things and it looks absolutely insane.New Movies On NetflixDune 2FuriosaFuriosa wasnt quite up to Fury Roads brilliance, I still thought it was a phenomenal action movie and boisterously good time, not to mention a prequel done right. I was less impressed by Dune 2, which I thought was a gorgeous piece of cinema with a rather hollow core.Whats Streaming WeeklyLockerbie: A Search For Truth Colin Firth stars in this harrowing true story about the December 21, 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Ive heard good things but havent had a chance to start watching just yet. (Peacock)Dexter: Original Sin has been surprisingly fun and feels very nostalgic for anyone who loved the early seasons of Dexter. Im honestly still surprised at how good this show has been, and I look forward to each Friday when a new episode drops. I even started rewatching the first season of Dexter when I ran out of episodes! Heres my review. (Paramount)Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has gotten consistently better with every new episode and Im completely invested in the story of pirates, the Old Republic planet of At-Atan (a Treasure Planet, as it happens) and the cast of kids and their mysterious antagonist, played by Jude Law. The finale drops this Tuesday. (Disne+)Im still way behind on Silo (Apple TV) Landman, Outlander and have only just begun watching the second season of Squid Game. One thing thats prevented me from catching up on these shows is the fact that I now have screeners for the second season of SeveranceIts Always Sunny In PhiladelphiaFurther Reading From Yours Truly:Dont forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel!What are you watching these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook.
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