📺 Eight Crazy Nights
3 upcoming shows and 1 movie, Godzilla on the small screen, and a Doctor Who reunion
Happy first night of Hanukkah to all who celebrate! Can we all agree that there’s a dearth of “festival of lights” content out there to enjoy during the holiday season? Eight Crazy Nights and that one episode of The Rugrats can only take you so far. Help us out and reply to this email with any Hanukkah movie/TV suggestions that are warm and cozy! While we don’t have any Hanukkah content to recommend, we did put together our lists of favorite Christmas movies. If you’re a premium Double Take subscriber, you’ll find our Christmas Re-Watchlists below. 🎄
The end of the year brings us the holiday season, and, more importantly, a ton of “best of 2023” lists. Here at Double Take we released our TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2023 lists this morning, and you can listen to them now on the podcast. (Spotify / Apple / wherever you listen).
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV+)
Doctor Who: The 60th Anniversary Specials (Disney+)
Christmas Movie Re-Watchlists
— Jess Spoll and Jenni Cullen
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We keep an eye on all of the new streaming content that is set to premiere. Here’s a list of new shows and movies to watch this week.
My Life With The Walter Boys (Season 1) — This YA drama follows a recently orphaned teen girl who moves to Colorado to live with her new guardians and their 10 sons.
Watch on Netflix: December 7 (all 10 episodes)Leave the World Behind (Movie) — Sam Esmail (creator of Mr. Robot) directs Julia Roberts in this new psychological thriller adapted from the 2020 novel of the same name.
Watch on Netflix: December 8Culprits (Season 1) — After a heist, the members of the crew find that they are being targeted by a killer and taken out one by one.
Watch on Hulu: December 8 (all 8 episodes)The Crown (Season 6, Part 2) — The final installment shifts focus to Prince William and his romance with Kate Middleton.
Watch on Netflix: December 14 (all 4 episodes)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Keywords: monsters, mystery, action, adventure
Watch if you like: Godzilla, Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla vs. Kong
Jess’s Rating: C+
The “MonsterVerse” is the name of the franchise that began with the 2014 Godzilla reboot and includes follow-up films Kong: Skull Island, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, and next year’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. In that original installment, the “Monarch” organization was introduced as the group responsible for tracking Godzilla and other similar monsters. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, the newest outing in the MonsterVerse, follows the events of the 2014 movie and gives a glimpse into the formation of the monster-studying club.
One year after Godzilla’s appearance in San Francisco, Cate and Kentaro Randa are investigating the disappearance of their father. As they try to trace his last steps, they come into contact with former Army officer Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell), who studied Titans with their grandfather during the early days of Monarch in the 1950s. Soon they’re unraveling a web of mysteries and lies involving their father that all seem to lead back to the shadowy organization.
As someone who has enjoyed the MonsterVerse movies, I am finding a reasonable amount of joy in watching this series. The appearances by this world’s Titans, although scarce in these early episodes, are mostly fulfilling my appetite for seeing giant monsters destroy things. But Monarch is more interested in telling a human tale this time around… albeit with mixed success. Kurt Russell and his real-life son Wyatt Russell, playing present day Lee Shaw and 1950s Shaw respectively, form the charismatic heart of the show, but the supporting cast is less effective. The dual-timeline device serves the generation-spanning mystery, but as is often the case, highlights the comparative weakness of one of the timelines. And ultimately, no matter how much they try, the humans just aren’t as fun to watch as Godzilla and company.
— Jess
Length: ~45-min runtime, 1 season / 4 of 10 episodes available, new on Fridays
Watch on: Apple TV+
Doctor Who: The 60th Anniversary Specials
Keywords: science fiction, comedy, British
Watch if you like: Good Omens, Loki, The X-Files
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