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Showmax Countdown to Christmas
From award winners to box office hits, critical favourites to South African flavour
Showmax is counting down to Christmas with new festive season movies coming every day until 25 December 2021.
Here’s a taste of the highlights from this advent calendar for film fans, including some rather untraditional options that may make you rethink everything you thought you knew about the genre:
CHRISTMAS, SOUTH AFRICAN-STYLE
BOXING DAY | Stream from 23 December 2021
Unable to afford to bury their gogo, Vele and her hot-headed younger brother become amateur kidnappers on Christmas Day, taking a government minister hostage in exchange for ransom money that they want to use to be able to celebrate her life and give her a fitting farewell.
Directed by Black Brain Films co-founder Mandla N (2021 SAFTA winners Loving Thokoza and Lockdown), this multilingual comedy stars SAFTA winners Zola Nombona (Lockdown) and Hamilton Dlamini (Five Fingers For Marseilles), as well as S’thandiwe Kgoroge (Shuga) and newcomer Phumlani Magadla.
ASSEBLIEF & DANKIE | Stream from 25 December 2021
A homeless woman saves the life of a wealthy CEO, and in an unusual moment of Christmas spirit, he invites her to recover in his luxury penthouse. He laughs off her claims to be from another world – until his own starts tipping over.
Directed by SAFTA winner Tertius Kapp (Gaia, Dis Ek, Anna), this Afrikaans comedy stars Laudo Liebenberg (Black Sails, DAM), SAFTA winners Crystal-Donna Roberts (Krotoa, Arendsvlei) and Jill Levenberg (Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies), SAFTA nominee Cintaine Schutte (Fynskrif) and Silwerskerm winner Carel Nel (Gaia, Raised by Wolves).
Asseblief & Dankie is produced by Marche Media (Kanarie).
A SAFE BET | Stream from 16 December
Pearl is the most sought after attorney in the country – at the cost of her love life. When her boyfriend dumps her just as the Christmas family gathering is around the corner, Pearl’s increasingly impatient mother drags her to church for some divine intervention. She receives a life-changing prophecy about who she’ll find her happily ever after with: a man with the surname Dlamini. But will Pearl follow her heart or the prophecy?
A Safe Bet’s stellar cast is led by actress, fashion icon and presenter Enhle Mbali Mlotshwa (Queen Sono, Rockville), with Jerry Mofokeng’s son, actor and musician Lerato Makhetha (Isidingo), Cedric Fourie (Skeem Saam, Durban Gen), and SAFTA winner Charmaine Mtinta (Scandal!, Yizo Yizo) co-starring.
A Safe Bet is directed by Weldun Media executive producer Kgosana Monchusi, who won awards at the Silicon Valley African FIlm Festival and Jozi Film Festival for his short film Opus, and was nominated for a 2020 SAFTA for The Big Secret Season 2.
SEASON’S FEELINGS | Stream from 16 December 2021
In Season’s Feelings, on their way to a not-so-conventional Christmas party, a band of outsiders collide with themselves and each other as they try to figure out quarter-life, half-loves and family.
Co-directed by 2021 SAFTA winner Jozua Malherbe (Griekwastad) and Nagvlug Films co-owner Zandré Coetzer, the young adult comedy co-stars Natalie Robbie and Zandile Lujabe (Ayeye, Isidingo).
Season’s Feelings is produced by Nagvlug Films (Skemerdans, Barakat).
NATIVITY | Stream from 24 December 2021
In Nativity, a group of well-intentioned community members tries to produce an amateur Christmas show to save their community hall.
The feature film directorial debut of Fleur du Cap-nominated actress Bianca Flanders (Troukoors [Wedding Fever],Address Unknown), Nativity co-stars the likes of SAFTA nominee David Isaacs (Hotel, Dwaalster) and 2021 SAFTA winner June van Merch (Sara Se Geheim).
The Christmas comedy is produced by Nagvlug Films (Skemerdans, Barakat).
EVE’S CHRISTMAS | Stream from 24 December 2021
In Eve’s Christmas, two feuding siblings, Carl and Eve, are forced to face their differences when Carl’s son asks (in a prayer) that Eve come to visit for Christmas. This sets in motion some seriously comical (and bittersweet) events involving a toy, Father Christmas, and maybe even honouring their father’s dying wish.
Co-directed by Ephraim Gordon (co-director of Skemerdans and producer of Barakat) and Marvin-Lee Beukes (Die Bylactor; One Night Kwa Mxolisi writer), this comedy-with-heart co-stars Juliette Pauling (Tali’s Baby Diary) and Mark Elderkin (Reyka, Black Sails).
Eve’s Christmas is produced by Nagvlug Films (Skemerdans, Barakat).
THE AWARD-WINNERS
CAROL | Stream now
Carol is at #9 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the best Christmas films of all time. As Indiewire says, “There are few better Christmas film images than the sight of Rooney Mara in a Santa Claus hat. Todd Haynes’ Carol weaves such an intense romantic spell that it’s really the only film you need to watch during the holiday season.”
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively at the 2016 Oscars for their roles in Carol, a powerful drama about a married woman in 1950s New York, who risks everything when she embarks on a romance with a younger department store worker. Carol, which was also nominated for Oscars for Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Score, won 79 awards worldwide and was recently named the fourth best LGBTQIA+ movie of all time by Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a 94% critics’ rating.
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt and directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, Mildred Pierce), Carol also stars Emmy winners Sarah Paulson (Ratched, American Crime Story, American Horror Story) and Kyle Chandler (Bloodline, Friday Night Lights, Super 8), as well as Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Jake Lacy (The White Lotus, The Office).
Little White Lies calls Carol “one of the most beautiful love stories ever told”, while The Telegraph praises the “career-best performance from Cate Blanchett” and The Evening Standard calls the film a “masterpiece.”
ONCE UPON A SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS | Stream now
There’s no place more magical than Sesame Street – especially during the holidays! Join Elmo, Grover, Big Bird and their friends for the magical, musical 50-minute special Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas, in which Elmo’s father tells him a bedtime story about the time, way back, when joy, kindness and caring first came to Sesame Street.
The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Programme and has 4/5 stars on Common Sense Media, where they recommend it for ages 4+, calling it “a sweet story about holiday spirit and… an excellent reminder of the value of even the smallest acts of kindness. Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas is lively, spirited holiday entertainment that’s great for families to enjoy together…. While Christmas gets the biggest billing in the story, many characters make references to other timely holidays like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and the traditions that go along with them.”
Special guests include Emmy, Tony and Grammy winner Audra McDonald (The Good Fight), Emmy-winning comedian Jim Gaffigan (Hotel Transylvania 3), and Zosia Mamet (The Flight Attendant).
Other Christmas specials to look out for on Showmax include Peppa Pig Christmas Party and Timmy Time Christmas Surprise.
STICK MAN | Stream now
“Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three,” until he’s taken further and further away from home on an epic adventure across the seasons. He runs from a playful dog, gets thrown in a river, escapes from a swan’s nest, and even ends up on top of a fire, as he tries to get back to his family in time for Christmas.
Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish and co-directed by South African Daniel Snaddon (Zog, The Snail and the Whale), this 27-minute BBC One Christmas special by Magic Light Pictures (The Gruffalo, Revolting Rhymes) won the top prizes at leading animation festivals like Annecy and Kidscreen, among others.
Based on the much-loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Stick Man is voiced by the likes of Martin Freeman (Black Panther, The Hobbit) and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), with Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) narrating.
Also look out for the Oscar-nominated animation The Polar Express, about a young boy’s magical Christmas Eve journey to the North Pole.
THE CRITICAL FAVOURITES
THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS | Stream now
Teen Choice winner Dan Stevens (Downtown Abbey) stars as Charles Dickens, while the late, great Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music) is Scrooge in The Man Who Invented Christmas, about the creation of A Christmas Carol, the timeless tale that redefined Christmas.
The Man Who Invented Christmas is at #25 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the best Christmas films of all time. As the critics’ consensus there says, “The Man Who Invented Christmas adds holiday magic to the writing of A Christmas Carol, putting a sweetly revisionist spin on the story behind a classic yuletide tale.”
A CHRISTMAS FEAST | Stream now
A warm slice of life story that follows a large Italian family on Christmas Eve, A Christmas Feast (aka Feast of the Seven Fishes) has an 88% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes – a Christmas miracle for a Christmas film.
Rising star Skyler Gisondo (The Righteous Gemstones, Booksmart), Madison Iseman (Jumanji: The Next Level), and Addison Timlin (Fallen) star alongside the likes of Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix, Memento) and Ray Abruzzo (The Sopranos, The Practice).
The Los Angeles Times calls A Christmas Feast “charming and heartfelt”, adding that the film has “the familial warmth of a holiday classic, the aching earnestness of a teen rom-com, and the well-observed specificity of a good regional film.”
THE BLOCKBUSTERS
Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Emma Thompson (Years and Years) star for director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) in the romantic comedy Last Christmas.
Kate (Clarke) harrumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop.
Tom (Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate’s barriers. As London transforms for the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may; you gotta listen to your heart.
Last Christmas features new music from Grammy winner George Michael, as well as his bittersweet holiday classic of the film’s title. The film was the 62nd biggest box office hit of 2019.
OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY | Stream now
When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day, but the party gets way out of hand…
Office Christmas Party stars Emmy winners Jennifer Aniston (Friends, The Morning Show), Jason Bateman (Ozark), Courtney B. Vance (Lovecraft Country), Rob Corddry (Ballers), and Kate McKinnon (Bombshell, Ghostbusters), as well as the likes of Critics’ Choice winner T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley), Kids’ Choice nominee Olivia Munn (The Newsroom) and Critics’ Choice Super nominee Abbey Lee (Lovecraft Country, Mad Max: Fury Road).
The New York Times calls it “naughty, inappropriate fun.”
A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS | Stream now
As if creating a perfect holiday for their families wasn’t hard enough, our three under-appreciated and over-burdened moms now have to do it all while entertaining their own mothers, who have dropped in unexpectedly.
A Bad Moms Christmas reunites People’s Choice winner Kristen Bell (The Good Place), People’s Choice nominee Mila Kunis (Black Swan), and Emmy nominee Kathryn Hahn (Mrs. Fletcher) as the bad moms, with Emmy winner Christine Baranski (The Good Fight), Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (Ray Donovan) and Emmy nominee Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as their mothers.
The Guardian calls it a “an entertaining film largely unconcerned about good taste and where, or if, an apostrophe should go in the title…a silly, sentimental and very funny follow-up.”
CHRISTMAS: THE ACTION MOVIE?
FATMAN | Stream now
Oscar winner Mel Gibson (Mad Max, Braveheart) stars as a rowdy, unorthodox Santa Claus who must contend with a hitman sent by a spoiled kid, who’s looking for revenge after receiving a lump of coal for Christmas.
Oscar nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Secrets & Lies, Without a Trace, Homecoming) and Emmy nominee Walton Goggins (Ant-Man and the Wasp, The Righteous Gemstones, Justified) co-star.
The Australian calls this Christmas action film “one of the weirdest movies you will ever see.”
Alternatively, you can catch Mel in Lethal Weapon, dubbed “the most relatable holiday action film in the blood-stained Christmas canon” by Den of Geek.
For even more magical Christmas movies, with new titles being added daily until Christmas, check outhttps://www.showmax.com/eng/boxset/8cuo7bbk-christmas-countdown-collection.
Animated Action-Comedy Seal Team to Launch on Netflix
Netflix has parted the waves to reveal the trailer for Triggerfish’s third animated feature, Seal Team. This feature will be available to stream from 31st December 2021.
Seal Team is the story of Quinn, a seal who spends his days relaxing in the sun, splashing in the beautiful waters off the coast of Cape Town, and swimming for his life from Great White Sharks. When he decides it’s time for the food chain to bite back, Quinn recruits a ragtag team of like-minded seals brave, stupid, and crazy enough to try and teach those sharks a lesson.
The all-star cast is far from wet behind the ears. Jessie T. Usher (A-Train in The Boys) stars as Quinn, opposite the likes of Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Invincible), Emmy winner Matthew Rhys (The Americans), Emmy nominee Kristen Schaal (Mabel in Gravity Falls), and four-time Annie Awards nominee Patrick Warburton (Joe Swanson in Family Guy), as well as South African stars Sharlto Copley (District 9) and John Kani (Rafiki in The Lion King).
Grammy Award winner Seal plays a singing seal called Seal Seal and action legend Dolph Lundgren (The Expendables) portrays a dolphin called Dolph – two castings which tell you everything you need to know about both the film’s humour and how swimmingly everything fell into place for the production.
Seal Team is the feature film debut of South African writer-director Greig Cameron, working from a story by Wayne Thornley (Adventures in Zambezia) and Brian and Jason Cleveland. Greig describes Seal Team as “a love letter to the silly, over-the-top 80s and 90s action movies that I really wanted to watch when I was a kid but had to sneak into.”
So, if you’re looking to end off a stressful year laughing out loud with your whole family, stream Seal Team on Netflix from 31 December 2021. As Greig says, “If electric eel cannons, flipper-to-flipper combat, leopard print speed boats, and literally ‘jumping the shark’ sounds like your idea of a party, you’re going to enjoy Seal Team as much as I do.”
Can we get an ‘arf, arf, arf?’
Watch the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT6k3HoS_F8
Join the conversation:
#sealteamnetflix
What’s Better Than Showmax This December?
First seasons of Gossip Girl, Dr. Death, Scenes From A Marriage; new Euphoria & What We Do In The Shadows
EUPHORIA S2 | 10 January 2022, express from the US every Monday
The trailer for Season 2 of Euphoria hit over 1 million views on YouTube within 12 hours when it dropped at the end of November. The ground-breaking, controversial hit series stars Zendaya as teenage addict Rue: a performance that made her the youngest ever actress to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, not to mention the People’s Choice Award for Favourite Drama TV Star and a Black Reel Award, among other accolades.
Once again helmed by series creator Sam Levinson, the eight-episode second season’s cast includes trans superstar and GALECA Dorian Award nominee Hunter Schafer as Jules, along with a who’s-who of rising young stars including Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Sydney Sweeney (The White Lotus, The Handmaid’s Tale), Black Reel nominee Algee Smith (The Hate U Give, Judas and the Black Messiah), and Teen Choice Award nominee Storm Reid (The Invisible Man, A Wrinkle in Time), as well as People’s Choice nominee Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy).
Euphoria has a 90% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and also won 2020 Emmys for Original Music & Lyrics and for Contemporary Makeup. The two-part special bridging the pandemic-enforced gap between seasons was nominated for a Peabody Award and three 2021 Emmys, for Cinematography, Make-up and Costume.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS S3 | Binge now, first on Showmax
Based on the 2014 cult movie from the batty brains of nine-time Emmy nominee Jemaine Clement (Flight Of The Conchords) and Oscar winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), the fiendishly funny vampire mock-doc What We Do in the Shadows is back, with a threat of retribution and a whole new job description for Staten Island’s oldest and most inept housemates!
Season 3 has a 100% critics’ rating and is #10 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV of 2021 So Far, where the critics’ consensus says, “Carried on the wings of its cast’s incredible chemistry and the strongest writing of the series so far, What We Do in the Shadows‘ third season is scary good.”
Already nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, WWDITS added to its accolades earlier this year with awards for Best Series at the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards and Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series (for Natasia Demetriou as Nadja) at the Critics’ Choice Super Awards. At the 2021 Critics’ Choice Awards, BAFTA winner Matt Berry (The IT Crowd, Toast of London) – who plays Laszlo – was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, while Mark Proksch (The Office, Better Call Saul) and Harvey Guillén (The Magicians) were both up for Best Supporting Actor as energy vampire Colin Robinson and the not-so-harmless Guillermo respectively.
What We Do in the Shadows has also already been renewed for Season 4. The New York Times calls the series “genuinely ha-ha funny,” adding, “If you are feeling a bit frayed right now and want something brilliant and silly, a true pleasure, watch this.”
GOSSIP GIRL | Binge the first 10 episodes from 3 December, first on Showmax, with episodes 11-12 due 10 December 2021, express from the U.S
Based on the bestselling novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, the original 2007 Gossip Girl won 18 Teen Choice Awards and launched the careers of the likes of Penn Badgley (You) and Blake Lively (The Town).
Now this extension of the pop culture classic takes us back to the Upper East Side, finding a new generation of New York private school teens being introduced to social surveillance nine years after the original blogger’s website went dark.
Gossip Girl, which explores just how much social media – and the landscape of New York itself — has changed in the intervening years, saw record viewership over its first weekend on HBO Max in July 2021, trending at #1 on Twitter and generating over 15 billion total social impressions at launch.
Amid all the gorgeous fresh faces, some of the key elements that made the original Gossip Girl such a hit will stay the same – People’s Choice Award winner Kristen Bell (The Good Place, Veronica Mars and the voice of Frozen’s Anna) returns to voice the anonymous blogger and “Gossip Girl”, and the show will be helmed by the original executive producer team of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (The O.C.) and Joshua Safran (Quantico), who developed the new series and serves as showrunner.
Also catch all 122 episodes of the original Gossip Girl series from 1 December, for a limited time only until 31 March 2022.
SUCCESSION S3 | Binge episodes 1-7 now, with new episodes every Monday until 13 December 2021
Succession, winner of Best Drama at both the Emmys and Golden Globes in 2020, follows four very rich siblings behaving very badly while trying to win their father’s approval – and control of his company, a global media and entertainment empire.
Jeremy Strong won the 2020 Best Actor Emmy as Kendall Roy, while Brian Cox won the 2020 Best Actor Golden Globe as his father, Logan. Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin, as Kendall’s siblings, and Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun and James Cromwell, as his extended family, also earned Emmy nominations.
In Season 3, that already impressive cast is adding Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Pianist) and Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies, True Blood), not to mention Black Reel winner Sanaa Lathan (The Affair, Love & Basketball), Emmy nominee Hope Davis (Your Honor, Captain America: Civil War) and singer Jihae (Mortal Engines).
Ambushed by Kendall at the end of Season 2, Logan begins Season 3 in a perilous position, scrambling to secure familial, political, and financial alliances. Tensions rise as a bitter corporate battle threatens to turn into a family civil war.
HBO has just renewed Succession for a fourth season, after the Season 3 premiere drew over 1.4 million viewers across all platforms, marking a series high and the best premiere night of any HBO Original series since the launch of HBO Max. Season 3 has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with IndieWire calling the series “television’s best show, a singular TV experience.”
SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE S1 | Binge now
A remake of the iconic 1973 Swedish miniseries by legendary Swedish auteur Ingmar Bergman, the HBO drama Scenes From a Marriage stars Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Help, Interstellar) and Golden Globe winner Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, Star Wars’ Poe Dameron) in an intimate examination of love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce, as seen through the eyes of a contemporary American couple.
Written and directed by Golden Globe-winning series creator Hagai Levi (In Treatment, The Affair), the five-episode miniseries holds an 81% critics’rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with TV Guide calling it, “an acting tour de force… impossible to look away from even when it’s almost too difficult to watch.”
With a cast that includes Black Reel nominee Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth), Golden Globe nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards), and Screen Actors Guild nominee Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot, GLOW), Scenes From a Marriage is already listed among the 2022 Limited Series award contenders by the Emmy predictors over at Variety.
INSECURE S5 | Binge from 29 December 2021
All good things come to an end, even Issa Rae’s landmark, Emmy-winning comedy, Insecure.
As you should know by now, Insecure centres on friends Issa and Molly (Nigeria’s Yvonne Orji) in what the Rotten Tomatoes critics’ consensus hails as “an insightful, raunchy, and hilarious journey through the life of a twentysomething black woman that cuts through stereotypes with sharp wit and an effusive spirit.”
As the Peabody Awards put it, “Rae delivers a groundbreaking series that captures the lives of everyday young black people in Los Angeles with a fresh and authentic take. Breaking away from tired and familiar representations of ‘diversity’ on television, this series offers a fun and intimate portrayal of work, relationships, and the ordinary experiences of the two young black women at its center.”
Season 5 currently has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the show’s 2021 accolades include Image Awards wins for Best Comedy and Best Actress (Rae), not to mention Critics’ Choice and MTV nominations for Best Actress and a Satellite Awards nomination for Best TV Series.
Showmax is also releasing Insecure: The Final Season documentary on 4 January 2022.
DR. DEATH S1 | Binge from 1 January 2022
Based on a terrifying true story, Dr. Death stars Teen Choice winner Joshua Jackson (Little Fires Everywhere, The Affair, Dawson’s Creek) as ostensibly brilliant young neurosurgeon Dr. Christopher Duntsch. After several of Duntsch’s procedures end with patients maimed or dead, two fellow physicians and a Dallas prosecutor set out to stop him… and discover a system rigged to fail the most vulnerable among us.
The phenomenal cast includes Oscar nominee Alec Baldwin (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, BlacKkKlansman, Glengarry Glen Ross); Golden Globe winner Christian Slater (Mr. Robot, True Romance, The Wife); Critics’ Choice nominee AnnaSophia Robb (Words on Bathroom Walls, The Act); Meryl Streep’s daughter, Grace Gummer (Mr. Robot, The Hot Zone, American Horror Story); and five-time Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).
Based on Wondery’s hit podcast of the same name, which has over 50 million listeners to date, the eight-episode limited series has a 91% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with AV Club saying, “This adaptation manages to improve on its source material, perhaps because the story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch is so monstrous, it must be seen to be believed.”
Also look out for the four-episode true crime docuseries, Dr. Death: The Undoctored Story, from 1 January 2022.
IN TREATMENT S4 | Binge from 1 January 2022
Season 4 of In Treatment stars Emmy winner Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America, Orange Is The New Black) as the observant, empathetic therapist Dr. Brooke Taylor, who takes over from Gabriel Byrne’s Doctor Paul Weston.
She was up for the 2021 Best Actress Emmy, while the Season 4 reboot has a 96% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it’s #32 on their Best TV Shows of 2021 list. As Variety says, Aduba is “proving to be one of the essential actors of the 21st century.”
The season’s cast includes Hamilton star and Emmy nominee Anthony Ramos; Emmy nominee John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C, The Good Wife); Charlayne Woodard (Pose, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit); and Saturn Award nominee Joel Kinnaman (House of Cards, The Killing), among others.
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY | Binge now, first on Showmax
From Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, The Inventor), The Crime of the Century is a searing indictment of big pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable over-production, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates.
With the help of whistleblowers, newly leaked documents, exclusive interviews, sobering testimony from victims of opioid addiction, and access to behind-the-scenes investigations, Gibney’s exposé posits that drug companies are in fact largely responsible for manufacturing the very crisis they profit from, to the tune of billions of dollars – and thousands of lives.
Produced in an association with The Washington Post, The Crime of the Century won Best Political Documentary at the 2021 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards, where it was also up for Best Documentary Feature and Best Narration for Gibney. The two-part HBO documentary has a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with FilmWeek saying, “Only Alex Gibney can get his arms around the behemoth that is the opioid crisis in America… It will open your eyes and make you angry.”
NEW AMSTERDAM S3 | Binge now
When Dr Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold from The Blacklist) took over New Amsterdam, he asked a simple, revolutionary question: “How can I help?”
In Season 3, Max and his team face the daunting task of sustaining that optimism while dealing with a pandemic that exposed the gaping inequities in healthcare.
New Amsterdam has an 8.1/10 rating on IMDb. As Bustle says, “Every Grey’s Anatomy fan needs to watch this.”
BILLIONS S5 | Binge episodes 1-7 now, with the last 5 episodes due 21 December 2021
Bobby Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades have been unscrupulous adversaries and underhanded allies, but nothing has prepared them for the ruthless machinations of billionaire Mike Prince, who’ll use everything – and everyone – at his disposal to come out on top. As alliances get ripped apart and new enemies rise, everyone gets roped into the conflict. Consequences be damned.
Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis (Homeland), Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (Sideways), and Golden Globe nominee Corey Stoll (House of Cards) co-star as Bobby, Chuck and Mike respectively.
Season 5 has a 90% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus says, “The machinations of the rich and infamous continue to enthrall in Billions’ fifth season, with Corey Stoll proving a worthy addition to this arena of financial chicanery.”
WHY WOMEN KILL S2 | Binge from 1 January 2022
The delicious (but deadly) new season of the drama anthology series Why Women Kill is here is at last. Created by Emmy nominee Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids), the series has an 8.3/10 score on IMDb, with an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 2.
Emmy nominee Allison Tolman (Fargo, Good Girls) headlines this season as Alma Fillcot, a frumpy 1940s housewife desperate to join an exclusive local garden club, presided over by Rita Castillo (Teen Choice Award winner Lana Parrilla from 24, Once Upon a Time). Veronica Falcón (Ozark, Perry Mason), MTV Movie Award nominee Nick Frost (Fighting with My Family, Shaun of the Dead) and Teen Choice Award winner Matthew Daddario (whose older sister Alexandra played Jade last season) co-star.
Even more star-studded is the line-up of directors this season: Desperate Housewives’ Emmy-nominated director-producer, Larry Shaw; Housewivesstar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Eva Longoria; Growing Pains star and Emmy-nominated director, Joanna Kerns; BAFTA nominee Jennifer Getzinger (Mad Men, Westworld, How to Get Away with Murder); and Emmy winner Melanie Mayron (Jane the Virgin, Pretty Little Liars, Thirtysomething).
ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST S2 | Binge now
Jane Levy (Suburgatory, Castle Rock) was nominated for the 2021 Best Actress Golden Globe as Zoey, a young woman who suddenly gains the ability to hear other people’s innermost thoughts … in song.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist won a 2020 Emmy for its Outstanding Choreography and was nominated for another five Emmys this year. The quirky musical comedy has an 8.1/10 score on IMDb, while Season 2 has an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Collider calling it “the TV series of the year”, ET Online the “antidote to your quarantine blues”, and US Weekly “pure joy”.
Season 2 sees Critics’ Choice nominee Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) join the already impressive cast, which includes Alex Newell (Glee), who was nominated for a 2021 Critics’ Choice Best Supporting Actor award as Zoey’s friend Mo.
LITTLE BIRDS S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
Inspired by the erotic tales of Anaïs Nin, Little Birds follows New York heiress Lucy Savage (2021 Emmy nominee Juno Temple from Ted Lasso), fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for love and marriage in exotic climes. But when her husband Hugo (Hugh Skinner, aka Harry in Fleabag) does not receive her in the way she expected, she spins off into the surprising, diverse and degenerate world of Tangier in 1955.
What Lucy discovers is a world in flux, a country quivering on the cusp of independence, populated by the likes of provocative dominatrix Cherifa Lamor (award-winning Lebanese actress Yumna Marwan), who particularly captures Lucy’s imagination.
Edward Rutherford’s cinematography on Little Birds was nominated for both BAFTA and Royal Television Society Awards, with Radio Times hailing the six-part series as “sultry and seductive, and a feast for the eyes.”
CALL ME KAT S1 | Binge now
Nominated for a 2021 Emmy for its cinematography, Call Me Kat stars Emmy nominee Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) as a woman who struggles every day against society and her mother (Emmy winner Swoosie Kurtz from Huff and Pushing Daisies) to prove that she can live a happy and fulfilling life despite still being single at 39… Which is why she recently spent her entire savings to open a cat café in Louisville, Kentucky.
Call Me Kat is based on the BAFTA-nominated hit British sitcom Miranda, by multiple BAFTA nominee and British Comedy Award winner Miranda Hart (Call the Midwife), who executive produces alongside Bialik and series creator Darlene Hunt (The Big C, Dickinson).
Bialik’s co-stars include Emmy winner Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace, The United States vs. Billie Holiday) and Emmy nominee Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock, Glee, American Horror Story).
CHUCKY S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
A vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, throwing an idyllic American town into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begins to expose the town’s hypocrisies and secrets in Chucky, which picks up after the events of the seventh film in the horror franchise, Cult of Chucky.
Created by Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominee Don Mancini (Bride of Chucky, Child’s Play), the series stars Oscar nominee Brad Dourif (The Lord of the Rings’ Wormtongue and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s Billy Bibbit) as the voice of serial-killer-possessed Good Guy doll Chucky, with child actor Zackary Arthur (Transparent) as Jake Wheeler.
Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly (Bullets over Broadway, Bound) returns as Tiffany Valentine, and Saturn Award nominee Alex Vincent (Child’s Play) reprises his role as Chucky’s archnemesis, Andy Barclay, with Christine Elise (BH90210) returning as Andy’s foster sister, Kyle. Also look out for Dourif’s daughter and genre marvel Fiona Dourif (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, The Stand, The Blacklist, The Purge) returning as Nica Pierce.
Chucky has a 90% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus calls it “a bloody good time.”
WHEN ART MEETS SAMSUNG
From the side view of the Frame TV which is hanging on a wall along with other picture frames, the bezel is becoming thinner like actual picture frames. Enjoy The Frame as a 4K QLED TV or as an innovative display of your favorite works of art. Its refined design makes it an even more elegantly crafted visual masterpiece. And it just got even better with additional styles, color, artwork and add-on options to completely personalize and enhance your spaces and everyday experiences.
Discover how The Frame gives you more ways to make the TV experience your very own.
- 100% COLOR VOLUME WITH QUANTUM DOT: Quantum dots produce over a billion shades of color that stay true-to-life even in bright scenes.
- ART MODE: The Frame transforms into a beautiful work of art when you’re not watching TV. Activate the built-in motion sensor so whenever you walk into the room, your TV displays one of your favorite selections.
- ART STORE: Buy individual pieces or subscribe to an ever-increasing library of established and emerging artists’ work.
- CUSTOMIZABLE FRAME: Elevate your space and make The Frame your own by enhancing it with a frame in black, white, beige or walnut.
- ALEXA BUILT-IN: Ask more from your TV. Just ask Alexa to open apps, change the channel, search for movies and shows, play music, control your smart home devices and more. To talk to Alexa, press and hold the mic button on your remote.
- INCLUDED ACCESSORIES: SAMSUNG OneRemote (TM-2050A), No Gap Wall Mount, One Connect Box, One Invisible Connection Cable 5m | For a gapless mount wall must be flat and with no sockets or outlets
SWATCH REACHES FOR THE STARS WITH NEW SPACE COLLECTION
INSPIRED BY NASA AND ITS ICONIC SPACESUITS
BIEL
Time is what you make of it, and at Swatch, the sky’s not the limit; dreams are. While the perceptions of NASA differ across generations, one thing remains the same – the space agency’s ability to capture the public’s imagination and desire to explore the stars and new horizons. The brand’s latest collection taps into this feeling, inspiring people to dream big, create their own universe and make the most of their time on earth.
Fueled by a passion for innovation, the Space Collection celebrates NASA and reveals the next chapter of the BIOCERAMIC Swatch story. Two-thirds ceramic and one-third bio-sourced plastic, BIOCERAMIC boasts a silk-like touch and is extremely resilient—the best of both worlds. Three of the five watches feature elements of bio-sourced material and are directly inspired by the spacesuits worn by NASA astronauts.
BIG BOLD CHRONO EXTRAVEHICULAR looks to the iconic white spacesuit for inspiration. First worn in 1983 by NASA astronauts Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson, the white suits shield astronauts from the sun’s radiation.
The white chrono features a 47mm BIOCERAMIC case and a bio-sourced plastic glass. The chrono timer is not set to the usual full hour marker but ten seconds prior and highlighted in red as a nod to the final countdown to liftoff. The crown is positioned at 3 o’clock alongside two pushers, while the red and blue strap loops, hands with Swatch glow and NASA logo complete the design.
The orange Advanced Crew Escape Suit, also known as the Pumpkin Suit, inspires the BIG BOLD CHRONO LAUNCH. The bright orange color of the watch mirrors the highly visible suits worn by astronauts for the ascent into space.
The orange chrono features a 47mm BIOCERAMIC case and a bio-sourced plastic glass. The chrono timer is not set to the usual full hour marker but ten seconds prior and highlighted in red as a nod to the final countdown to liftoff. The crown is positioned at 3 o’clock alongside two pushers, while the blue and white strap loops, silver-colored dial, hands with Swatch glow and NASA logo complete the design.
The BIG BOLD JUMPSUIT echoes the everyday go-to blue jumpsuits astronauts wear for press conferences or working in the NASA facility.
The blue watch features a 47mm BIOCERAMIC case and a bio-sourced plastic glass. The crown is positioned at 2 o’clock, while the white strap loops, hands with Swatch glow and NASA logo complete the design.
Rounding up the Swatch Space Collection is TAKE ME TO THE MOON ‘GENT’ with a transparent case, and SPACE RACE ‘NEW GENT’ with a mirror-effect silver-colored dial.