Holiday Time is TV Time

What to watch — on small screen and big — during the holiday break

When the weather outside is frightful, it’s time to power up the TV. Christmas break is upon us, and free time is about to increase exponentially. So what’s the key to getting through the abundance of family time on the horizon? A fully stocked queue of Hulu and Netflix (and a couple of well-timed trips to the multiplex, of course).

But in case you’re not quite sure what to dial up, we’ve got some suggestions to keep you entertained this holiday season.

NETFLIX

Drinking Buddies

Watch it with: your beer-loving brother-in-law

Olivia Wilde stars with New Girl’s Jake Johnson in this tale of a pair of microbrewery employees who mix work and play more often than not. Consider the flick improved with a nice seasonal ale.

Frances Ha

Watch it with: your high school BFF

The always spot-on Greta Gerwig is Frances, a sometimes out-of-work modern dancer, who’s both seriously un-dateable and entirely relatable. She’ll make you feel like your life isn’t such a mess after all.

The Iron Lady

Watch it with: your grandmother

She’ll eat this Margaret Thatcher biopic right up.

Blackfish

Watch it with: the non-squeamish

This documentary of orca whale Tilikum examines the deaths of several trainers while he was in captivity, questioning the safety and humaneness of the orca (also know as killer whale) community. Don’t expect Free Willy fare.

30 for 30

Watch it with: your dad

Pops will surely appreciate this docu-series which highlights sports, sex, drug use and warfare. Choose an episode at random; pretty much every story is sure to please his nonfiction-appreciating heart.

Firefly

Watch it with: your tween nieces and nephews

Before Joss Whedon was the guy behind The Avengers, he was a sci-fi television master. This short-lived series (featuring Whedon fave Nathan Fillian) makes for easy watch that should take you and your pop culture-loving tweens no time at all to get though.

Lilyhammer

Watch it with: your Sopranos-loving uncle

Sopranos favorite Steven Van Zandt stars as Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano in this tale of a mafia boss who leaves the Big Apple for the Fjords of Norway after being put into witness protection. Season 2 was just released, so you have more than enough of this Netflix Original to keep you busy.

HBO GO

Stoker

Watch it with: your siblings

Mia Wasikowska is a young girl changed by the death of her father and prompt arrival of her mysterious new Uncle Charlie who moves in with the family. The trio soon go down a dark, twisted path in this 2013 psychological drama.

Girls

Watch it with: your cousins

Season 3 of this critically acclaimed dramedy returns January 12, so catch up on last season’s action while you can.

Broken City

Watch it with: the whole family

Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe star in this revenge tale of ex-cop Billy Taggart, who is seeking redemption after being double-crossed and framed by New York City Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.

HULU PLUS

Misfits

Watch it with: tweens, teens and sisters-in-law

Five unruly teenagers forced to do community service face a whole new slew of problems after an electrical storm hits their town and turns them into superheroes. Each possesses a new power they didn’t want, one that explores their deepest, darkest insecurities.

Moone Boy

Watch it with: yourself

Set in 1980s Ireland, this truly hilarious comedy follows 12-year-old Martin Moone as he navigates the intricacies of his eccentric childhood with the help of his bearded — and very sarcastic — imaginary friend Sean (played by Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd).

IN THEATERS

Saving Mr. Banks

Go see it with: your mom, aunt and grandmother

Tom Hanks stars in this tale inspired by the untold story of how Disney’s Mary Poppins made it to the screen. Emma Thompson stars as P.L. Travers, the curmudgeonly writer not eager to see her story bastardized.

American Hustle

Go see it with: the whole family

Director David O. Russell directs this fictional story of notorious con man Irving Rosenfeld (a barely recognizable Christian Bale) and his partner, portrayed by Amy Adams. The duo is forced to change things up after being discovered by the FBI, but the antics don’t die down a bit.

Her

Go see it with: your significant other

Joaquin Phoenix stars as a withdrawn writer who falls in love with his computer’s highly advanced operating system in this comedy from director Spike Jonze.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Go see it with: anyone looking for a laugh

Ron Burgundy and his band of bros are back, and they’re taking the 24-hour news world by storm. Expect tons of cameos, a fair amount of scotch, and a lot of antics that make it difficult to stay classy.

Tune in (and tune your family drama out) by watching Moone Boy.

Courtesy photo

Tune in (and tune your family drama out) by watching Moone Boy.

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Movie Review

Film sequel Avatar: Fire and Ash is a technical and visual feast

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.

For a series whose first two films made over $5 billion combined worldwide, Avatar has a curious lack of widespread cultural impact. The films seem to exist in a sort of vacuum, popping up for their run in theaters and then almost as quickly disappearing from the larger movie landscape. The third of five planned movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is finally being released three years after its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The new film finds the main duo, human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his native Na’vi wife, Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), still living with the water-loving Metkayina clan led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). While Jake and Neytiri still play a big part, the focus shifts significantly to their two surviving children, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), as well as two they’ve essentially adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion).

Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who lives on in a fabricated Na’vi body, is still looking for revenge on Jake, and he finds help in the form of the Mangkwan Clan (aka the Ash People), led by Varang (Oona Chaplin). Quaritch’s access to human weapons and the Mangkwan’s desire for more power on the moon known as Pandora make them a nice match, and they team up to try to dominate the other tribes.

Aside from the story, the main point of making the films for writer/director James Cameron is showing off his considerable technical filmmaking prowess, and that is on full display right from the start. The characters zoom around both the air and sea on various creatures with which they’ve bonded, providing Cameron and his team with plenty of opportunities to put the audience right there with them. Cameron’s preferred viewing method of 3D makes the experience even more immersive, even if the high frame rate he uses makes some scenes look too realistic for their own good.

The story, as it has been in the first two films, is a mixed bag. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver start off well, having Jake, Neytiri, and their kids continue mourning the death of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) in the previous film. The struggle for power provides an interesting setup, but Cameron and his team seem to drag out the conflict for much too long. This is the longest Avatar film yet, and you really start to feel it in the back half as the filmmakers add on a bunch of unnecessary elements.

Worse than the elongated story, though, is the hackneyed dialogue that Cameron, Jaffa, and Silver have come up with. Almost every main character is forced to spout lines that diminish the importance of the events around them. The writers seemingly couldn’t resist trying to throw in jokes despite them clashing with the tone of the scenes in which they’re said. Combined with the somewhat goofy nature of the Na’vi themselves (not to mention talking whales), the eye-rolling words detract from any excitement or emotion the story builds up.

A pre-movie behind-the-scenes short film shows how the actors act out every scene in performance capture suits, lending an authenticity to their performances. Still, some performers are better than others, with Saldaña, Worthington, and Lang standing out. It’s more than a little weird having Weaver play a 14-year-old girl, but it works relatively well. Those who actually get to show their real faces are collectively fine, but none of them elevate the film overall.

There are undoubtedly some Avatar superfans for which Fire and Ash will move the larger story forward in significant ways. For anyone else, though, the film is a demonstration of both the good and bad sides of Cameron. As he’s proven for 40 years, his visuals are (almost) beyond reproach, but the lack of a story that sticks with you long after you’ve left the theater keeps the film from being truly memorable.

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Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19.

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