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I've pored over Netflix's release schedule to bring you the best movies and TV shows premiering on the service this month. The biggest gift TV fans will get this December is a new season of Korean sensation Squid Game, but that's not all Netflix is leaving under the tree. There's also No Good Deed, a black comedy series headed up by Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow; a sprawling adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude; and my outsider pick, The Kings of Tupelo, a batshit true-crime doc.
Squid Game, Season 2
Netflix's big Christmas present is coming a day late with the December 26 release of season two of Korean dystopian sci-fi drama Squid Game. Season two was written, directed, and produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk, the genius behind season one, and Lee Jung-jae will return as Player 456, who's re-entering the game to tear it apart from the inside. Season one cast members Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo are coming bac,k too, where they'll join a fresh crop of competitors, so everyone can play a new bunch of deadly games. Can't wait.
Starts streaming December 26.
No Good Deed
Ray Romano and Lisa Kudrow star in this black comedy about the cutthroat world of real estate in Los Angeles. No Good Deed follows three families competing to buy the same 1920s Spanish-style villa in Los Feliz, each convinced the house will make their dreams come true. But it's actually all a bigger nightmare than trying to buy a real house in Los Angeles. The all-star cast also includes Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Teyonah Parris, and Denis Leary.
Starts streaming December 12.
The Kings of Tupelo: A Southern Crime Saga
Wanna hear something weird? Last week I was reading about a ricin attack on President Obama that the FBI traced back to Tupelo, Mississippi and a feud between a karate instructor and an Elvis impersonator. I thought, "I need a documentary series about this right away, so I can learn more about the eccentrics involved and the place that gave birth to them." Then Netflix announced The Kings of Tupelo. Maybe I should have wished for world peace, but this show is a more-than-adequate consolation prize.
Starts streaming December 11.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Based on the masterpiece of magical realism by Nobel-Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the epic story of generations of the cursed Buendía family, condemned to solitude for 100 years. José Arcadio Buendía (Marco González) and Úrsula Iguarán (Susana Morales) are cousins and lovers who set out to build a perfect town called Macondo, but the result is not the Utopia they'd envisioned.
Starts streaming December 11.
Churchill at War
There's a time in every man's life when he become extremely interested in World War II. If you or anyone you know has reached this point, you should be aware of Churchill at War. This Netflix original docu-series looks at the role Britain's leader played during World War II and examines how his complex character affected the fate of his nation and Western Civilization at the time of its greatest peril. If your dad is visiting for the holidays, plop him in front of the TV for this one.
Starts streaming December 4.
Black Doves
In Black Doves, Keira Knightley plays a no-nonsense wife and mother who happens to be a a top-level spy. Ben Whishaw plays a suave assassin who never met a bottle of Champagne he wouldn't drink. This unlikely pair are thrown together by dire circumstances and must find a way to work together to prevent geopolitical catastrophe. If you like international intrigue, dry British humor, and knife fights, don't miss this series. It's currently sitting at 97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starts streaming December 5.
Compliance (2012)
Not enough people have seen 2012's Compliance, an unnerving thriller that becomes even more disturbing when you learn that it all happened, almost exactly as filmed, many times. Compliance tells the story of an online weirdo who gets his kicks by calling fast-food places and pretending to be a cop so he can talk wage slaves into doing horrible things to each other. It's an examination of both cruelty and subservience that's difficult to watch but totally fascinating for the points it makes about human nature under capitalism.
Starts streaming December 5.
Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld
Ali Wong, Bowen Yang, and Lori Tan Chinn lend their voices to this animated fantasy series about a seemingly ordinary teenager whose life is turned inside out when she discovers she has supernatural fire-abilities. The title character is thrown into a confrontation with demons and uncovers shocking secrets from her family's mysterious past, all while navigating high school. This is going to be a lot of young people's favorite show.
Starts streaming December 5.
A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter
In A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, pop star Sabrina Carpenter performs holiday standards and newer songs, acts in comedy sketches, and has many celebrity friends drop by to join her to make jokes, drink eggnog, and sing duets. It's like a throwback to the star-driven variety shows of the 1970s, but instead of Ruth Buzzi and Rip Taylor, you get Chappell Roan and Shania Twain, as well as a ton of other celebrity "friends."
Starts streaming December 6.
Biggest Heist Ever
I cannot get enough of freakshow crime documentaries, and Biggest Heist Ever might be the freakiest. It tells the story of aspiring rapper Razzle and her tech-mogul-wannabe boyfriend. Like the title says, these two doofs pulled off the biggest heist in human history, making off with billions in Bitcoin, despite being absolute idiots. I mean, look at this video; this lame stole more money than anyone else, ever. Every other thief in history should be ashamed.
Starts streaming December 6.
Mary
This biopic (I guess?) tells the story of Mary, no-last-name-needed, the mother of God. According to The Telegraph, this movie "angered Palestinians and Christians alike" before it even came out. (Agnostics, on the other hand, just shrugged.) This is enough of a reason to see it. Here's an unrelated fun fact about Mary: According to Catholic doctrine, Mary is the only person whose body is in heaven. She's not a soul or an angel; she's just a regular person walking around up there. This is not addressed in Mary.
Starts streaming December 6.
The Great British Baking Show: Holidays
While there are a lot of great shows streaming, most of them are disturbing, intense, or suspenseful. Sometimes, as my wife puts it, "You just want to watch a show about cupcakes." If that's you, watch the new holiday episodes of The Great British Baking Show, a "competition" reality show where everyone is fully committed to making elaborate baked goods, but no one is a jerk about anything and no one gets murdered. It's mindless, but not stupid, and all the food looks amazing. In short: This is the ultimate show about cupcakes.
Starts streaming December 9.
Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was
Jamie Foxx has some explaining to do. In this Netflix performance, Foxx comes clean about his "near-death experience," a medical crisis that caused the award-winning actor/comedian to fall into a coma for weeks. I didn't even know he was sick, but now I must know all the details. If you are too, give What Had Happened Was a watch.
Starts streaming December 10.
Polo
This Netflix sports documentary series was executive produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, so it's got a royal pedigree. Whether the involvement of the Duke and Duchess of York is enough to get anyone interested in a game that no one you know has ever played remains to be seen, but if you've ever wondered about the world's most exclusive sport, or if you like looking at rich-people shit for some reason, check out Polo. Also: If you have a few million dollars to spare, please establish a polo training center in a blue-collar community so real people can take over the sport in one generation. It would be really funny.
Starts streaming December 10.
Queer Eye, Season 9
It's time for more Queer Eye, the reality show where a pack of gay men change the lives of good-hearted, regular people who need new clothes, new furniture, and new lives. Even though this series has been running for approximately 83 years and each episode is pretty much the same, it's not boring at all. Every great story is about transformation, and watching caterpillars change into butterflies never gets old. I've cried when I've watched this show, not gonna lie.
Starts streaming December 11.
Carry-On
This Christmas-themed thriller is set in at Los Angeles International Airport on Christmas Eve, where a TSA agent who couldn't get the holiday off matches wits with a terrorist mastermind. Taron Egerton plays everyman TSA dude Ethan Kopek who receives a phone call from a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) threatening to kill his girlfriend if he doesn't allow a dangerous package onto a Christmas Eve flight. This is, I think you'll agree, a great set-up for a single-location thriller.
The Six Triple Eight
Tyler Perry gets historical in The Six Triple Eight, a movie detailing World War II's only Women’s Army Corps unit of color, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Their job during the war was sorting through a backlog of millions of pieces of mail addressed to American soldiers. Kerry Washington plays Captain Charity Adams who heads up a division of 855 women who help defeat Hitler by making sure letters get to their intended recipients. Because you can't win a war with low morale.
Starts streaming December 20.
Last month's picks
Emilia Pérez
Emilia Pérez is a genre-defying movie that blends comedy, drama, musical numbers, and action into a potion Netflix describes as "an opera that’s not an opera." It stars Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez, and tells the story of high-powered attorney Rita (Saldaña) assigned to help a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) fake their death and undergo gender reassignment. Look for this one on Oscar night.
Starts streaming November 13.
Rob Peace (2024)
Directed, adapted by, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 years a Slave), Rob Peace dramatizes the true story of Robert Deshaun Peace, a brilliant young man from a poor background in Newark, New Jersey whose attendance at Yale is cut tragically short. Jay Will plays the title character, Mary J. Blige plays his devoted mother, and Ejiofor plays Peace's imprisoned father.
Starts streaming November 9.
Hot Frosty
Lacey Chabert stars in a lighthearted holiday confection in which a snowman turns into a regular man—but he's totally hot. Chabert and the former snowman—an abomination if you think about too much—fall in love, despite the differences in their backgrounds. This is really all there is to say about Hot Frosty. You're either in or you're out with a movie like this.
Starts streaming November 13.
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson (Live)
Circus matches are nothing new to boxing—Muhammad Ali fought a Japanese professional wrestler at the height of his career—and Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson might be the greatest novelty boxing match ever staged. It will give us a chance to see Iron Mike step into the ring one more time, with the added bonus that h
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