Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, Barbie And Every New Movie You Can See This Weekend

You know it's the holiday season when there are a million things to see in the cinema and at home. Forget Christmas carols: the halls are resounding with Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. Who's under the tree and on your TV? That's right: Barbie. And for gamers, Santa Claus has a present: the Gran Turismo movie you didn't ask for. It's unclear whether you were on the “naughty” or “nice” list this year…

There are so many films to see before the year comes to a close, and this weekend there are plenty of films that you've definitely heard of or may have missed over the last few months. With Netflix, Max, Hulu, and video rentals, there's something for everyone. Let's dive in.

New on Netflix

Gran Turismo

Where to see: Available to stream on Netflix

Photo: Gordon Timpen/Sony Pictures

Genre: Sports drama
Duration: 2h 15m
Director: Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
Pour: Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet

Neill Blomkamp, usually a sci-fi guy, takes a hard plunge into real-life drama with “Gran Turismo,” which is actually based on the life of a kid who has built up enough skills on his PlayStation to become a race car driver. The film didn't do well at the box office last August, perhaps because it's the kind of intriguing twist on an adaptation that still feels like a corporate bonus. According to our review, there's a lot of drama here, but Sony was quite willing to pat itself on the back.

Gamers are no longer an oppressed minority – if they ever find themselves in a place outside of their own heads and the media that reflects their fantasies. This kind of aggrieved attitude doesn't look good in 2023. Geek culture won. Mardenborough's story is real and has a much more meaningful dimension than winning an imaginary gaming culture war. Games gave this kid from a low-income family a viable and affordable path into one of the world's most elite sports. Gran Turismo could have used this inspiring true story to show how video games open up opportunities and remove barriers in the real world. Instead, it just uses it to score points.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Where to see: Available to stream on Netflix

Genre: Animated adventure
Duration: 1h 41m
Director: Sam Fell (ParaNorman)
Pour: Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Imelda Staunton

If you love animation, you'll love Aardman. The company has been a stop-motion storytelling game for over 50 years and returns this year with a long-awaited sequel to its 2000 feature film “Chicken Run.” With an updated, recognizable cast but an old soul who appreciates jokes, Dawn of the Nugget finds original heroes Ginger and Rocky as the parents of a young girl whose life is once again turned upside down as a new threat to the chicken species the shadow appears. We saw it at the London Film Festival earlier this year and were suitably impressed. From our preview:

As is usual with Aardman projects, the film is wonderfully polished but also slow to find its rhythm, and as a sequel arriving 23 years after the original, it sometimes feels more like an obligation than a film the studio was making really needed or wanted. make. The first half goes smoothly, but once the action shifts fully into the surreal world of Fun-Land Farms, the energy increases and the ideas start flowing.

New on Hulu

Blue jeans

Where to see: Available to stream on Hulu

Genre: theatre
Duration: 1h 37m
Director: Georgia Oakley
Pour: Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday

Speaking of Brits, Blue Jean earned rave reviews across the pond when it played at the festival, but it took a full year to find its way onto US streaming services. Here's our friends at Vulture's rundown from their well-curated Best of 2023 list:

Georgia Oakley's feature debut is an anguished look at life in the closet in north-east England in 1988 – the year the Thatcher government introduced a series of laws banning the “promotion of homosexuality” in the name of child protection. Jean, played by the great Rosy McEwen in her first leading role, has carefully compartmentalized her existence. At night she hangs out at a lesbian bar with her friend Viv (Kerrie Hayes), a part of herself that she keeps secret from her colleagues and students at the school where she works as a physical education teacher during the day. Blue Jean is an atmospheric, finely crafted film about how Jean, damaged by past experiences and her own internalized homophobia, is unable to feel like she belongs in any of the worlds she has created for herself. The justification for impending legislation in the film's background may sound all too familiar, but the true power of Blue Jean lies in its confrontation with the human cost of living in fear.

The retirement plan

Where to see: Available to stream on Hulu

Genre: Comedy thriller
Duration: 1h 43m
Director: Tim Brown
Pour: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Ashley Greene, Jackie Earle Haley

If you've heard of a great Nic Cage movie in theaters right now, this isn't it. (That would be a dream scenario.) But good news: This unusual cage action comedy is said to be somewhere between Taken and The Big Lebowski and, judging by the reviews, is pretty solid. Disposable, but apparently good stupid according to The Guardian.

New at Max

Barbie

Where to see: Available to stream on Max

Photo: Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre: comedy
Duration: 1h 54m
Director: Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Pour: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell

If you haven't seen Barbie yet, you might be a stubborn a-hole. I know people are busy, but this year it was the right thing to do. Stop trying to impress others. Just look at Barbie.

If you've watched Barbie, there's good news: you can now watch Barbie again and again from home. Then you can read the excellent Barbie edition from the beginning of the year.

New on Apple TV Plus

The family plan

Where to see: Available to stream on Apple TV Plus

Genre: Family comedy
Duration: 1h 59m
Director: Simon Cellan Jones (The Trial of Tony Blair)
Pour: Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Maggie Q

With “The Family Plan,” Mark Wahlberg explores the “guy who could kill you who also wears a BabyBjörn,” which was a staple among professional wrestlers-turned-actors. Wahlberg plays a father with a family plan whose former life as an assassin catches up with him in the middle of his vacation. This road trip is going to be a trip! This film has not been reviewed at the time of publication, but I wish it all the best.

New to Paramount Plus

Jules

Where to see: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

Genre: Heartwarming science fiction
Duration: 1h 27m
Director: Marc Turtletaub (puzzle)
Pour: Ben Kingsley, Harriet Sansom Harris, Jade Quon, Jane Curtin

“Jules” looks like “ET” would be an uplifting Hallmark movie starring Ben Kingsley, but trusted people think this is one of the underrated gems of 2023. Katie Walsh of the Tribune Newspapers says it's a ” Simple story, simply told, but with “a lot of heart and humanity at the center”! NPR's Bob Mondello argues that it's “as much about being allowed to grow old gracefully as it is about an alien!” Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com claims it is “sensitive, intelligent, sweet and presented with considerable integrity, right down to the direction, which is conscientious about not showing anything you don't really need to see”! We all let this poor little white alien down by not seeing Jules this summer, and we owe it to everyone involved to embrace the film.

New to MGM Plus

Dark Harvest

Where to see: Available to stream on MGM Plus

Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 33m
Director: David Slade (30 Days of Night)
Pour: Casey Likes, E'myri Crutchfield, Elizabeth Reaser, Jeremy Davies

The reductive statement about “Dark Harvest,” a completely overlooked horror film that was canceled last October, is that it's Stan Winston's “Pumpkinhead” and “The Purge,” with a little “Twilight Zone” thrown in. But the creature feature finds David Slade back in horror mode and delivers, with the obvious social commentary of a 1960s rural community terrorized by a so-called harvest demon, punctuated by gruesome killings. There's never a good monster in any movie these days, but here's one just waiting for you to discover!