Week of December 6 – 12

Somehow, Taylor Swift has returned. The reigning pop princess is back with two new projects on Disney+ - a documentary of the final stop on her record-breaking Eras tour (“The Eras Tour: The Final Show”) and a documentary series following the making of that same tour (“The End of an Era”). But if you’re not a Swiftie, don’t fret, there’s plenty of other great options – from the latest “Knives Out” mystery (“Wake Up Dead Man” on Netflix) to a morally complex drama (“Little Disasters” on Paramount+) to one of the year’s very best documentaries (“Predators” on Paramount+). And yes, there’s still a lot of holiday content, including a dog-fueled romantic comedy (“Merv” on Prime Video) and a Joe Bob Christmas double feature (on Shudder). Plus the return of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” on Disney+ and “Man vs. Bee” on Netflix (now “Man vs. Baby”). Everyone gets to unwrap something this week!

On with the television! 

Taylor Swift: The End of an Era / Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour: The Final Show

Friday, December 12, Disney+ 

Source: Disney+

Nothing can stop Taylor Swift. Not an impending wedding. Not a mixed-reviewed album. Not an about-face from some of her core fans. It does say something, perhaps, that she is returning to her celebrated Eras Tour, for a pair of documentaries premiering today on Disney+. “Taylor Swift: The End of an Era” follows Swift as she embarks on the most successful tour of all time. The six-episode documentary series (the first two episodes stream Friday) chronicles “the development, impact, and inner workings that created the phenomenon that was The Eras Tour.” As for “Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour: The Final Show,” it is a full concert film, shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, during the final show of the tour and it includes the section that features “The Tortured Poets Department” portion for the first time. Is this too much Taylor Swift? Not enough? The only thing for certain is that all of this content will be playing throughout the holidays, in countless homes across the country. It’s beginning to look a lot like a Taylor Swift Christmas. [TRAILER]

South Park

Wednesday, December 10 at 10 p.m., Comedy Central

Source: Comedy Central

Who would have thought that “South Park,” a series that started in 1997, would recapture the zeitgeist in the year of our Lord 2025. Thanks to a hard turn into political commentary, with a focus on Donald Trump’s relationship with Satan, the Trey Parker and Matt Stone animated series has returned to the forefront of the cultural conversation in the show’s 28th season. And that unpredictability makes the season finale have an even higher, live-wire charge. How far will they go with the finale? And who will they skewer next? Only one way to find out! [TRAILER]

Wake Up Dead Man

Friday, December 12, Netflix

Source: Netflix

The third installment in Rian Johnson’s series of whodunnits centered around Southern private eye Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) sees the detective travel to a small New England town. That’s where a beloved Monsignor (Josh Brolin) has dropped dead after a fiery sermon and where his young apprentice (Josh O’Connor) has been fingered for the crime. While there, Blanc interrogates a vast array of colorful characters (this time played by the likes of Jeremy Renner, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny and Thomas Hayden Church) and puts together the actual details of a seemingly impossible crime. “Wake Up Dead Man,” which follows 2022’s more colorful “Glass Onion,” is spookier than the two previous films, and more spiritual too, with the film consisting of thoughtful conversations about the nature of faith and the healing power of belief. (This makes it sound dour and gloomy; it is not.) It might be the best film in the bunch – scary and funny and stuffed with rewarding twists and turns. “Wake Up Dead Man” will also, undoubtedly, be rewarded by repeated viewings. Thank God it’s on Netflix and we are blessed to be able to start it up again once it’s done. Divine stuff, really. [TRAILER]

Predators

Monday, December 8, Paramount+

Source: MTV Films

No, this riveting documentary has nothing to do with the alien hunter with a taste for tracking down the planet’s deadliest warriors. Instead, it focuses on the popularity and enduring appeal of “To Catch a Predator,” a show on NBC that served as a spinoff to “Dateline,” and one that followed host Chris Hansen as he trapped would-be pedophiles. (This seems like a truly bizarre premise for a wildly popular television series, but the early-to-mid-2000s were an unexplainably weird time for culture.) While the show went off the air in 2007, the concept and appeal of “To Catch a Predator” has endured, mutating into amateurish YouTube videos and more slickly produced follow-ups. The documentary probes our own obsession with the original series and the lingering harm that it has inflicted in the decades since. Most tellingly, the documentary climaxes with an extended interaction with Hansen himself, who has continued his quest with a new cable channel. For years, the show was an uncomfortable punchline, but the truth behind the show and the trauma it has left behind was far more series and even grimmer. One of the year’s very best documentaries. [TRAILER]

Glass Onion

Netflix

Source: Netflix

Part of what makes you appreciate “Wake Up Dead Man” so much is that it is so different from the previous entry, “Glass Onion.” That movie, set in the depths of lockdown, saw Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), summoned to the island of an off-kilter tech-bro billionaire (Edward Norton). The assorted oddballs – all of them possible murderers or victims – are more broadly drawn, from the Connecticut governor with ambitions for the senate (Kathryn Hahn) to the narcissistic fashion designer (Kate Hudson) to the cutie-pie influencer (Madelyn Cline). But that isn’t to mean that “Glass Onion” is an inferior film; it’s just as clever and cutting and entertaining as “Knives Out” or, indeed, “Wake Up Dead Man.” The two make for a great Christmastime double-feature. Watch it with the mystery-lover in your life. [WATCH]

Source: Shudder

“Merv”