Is your new year's resolution to not spend so much time scrolling on your phone? Same! Spend less time looking at the bad screen and more time looking at the good screen — i.e. your TV as it plays all the latest content from across the constellation of streaming services.
In this month's edition of Tune In or Turn Off, we've got a comet smashing into Earth, the scariest comedy on TV, and an epic tale from a galaxy far, far away. See the good and bad of streaming below.
Turn Off: The Book of Boba Fett
(Disney+)
Jon Favreau's new Star Wars series certainly isn't a Rise of Skywalker-level stinker, but after the breath of fresh air that was The Mandalorian, this one doesn't have much to add. The Book of Boba Fett relies heavily on nostalgia, and the slightly grittier feel isn't quite enough to distinguish it from the rest of the Star Wars cinematic universe. It's worth the watch for true heads; not so much for casual fans.
Turn Off: Don't Look Up
(Netflix)
Spend five minutes on Twitter and you'll be inundated by people screaming into the void about how we're fucked, we're all gonna die, and everyone is too blindly ideological to change. Adam McKay's Don't Look Up turns a 280-character cold take into a two-hour movie, hitting its points way too directly on the nose to convince anyone. Some decent laughs from Jonah Hill and a few moments of poignant sadness nearly redeem what might have been a pretty funny SNL sketch.
Tune In: The Lost Daughter
(Netflix)
Olivia Colman is characteristically brilliant as a troubled woman on a solo vacation who is haunted by memories of her failings as a mother. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and with a strong supporting cast that includes Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris and Peter Sarsgaard, it's a moody and impeccably acted drama that puts the full complexities of motherhood on display.
Tune In: Queer Eye, Season 6
(Netflix)
The Fab 5 head to Texas for a new season that's pretty much the same as all of the other seasons — mostly in a good way. They try to mix things up a bit with a COVID-themed prom episode, but the best episodes are the ones where they stick to the formula, including a particularly heartwarming one with a widower who runs a crayfish restaurant.
Tune In: Search Party, Season 5
(Crave)
The Alia Shawkat-starring satire of narcissistic millennials has always been a little unsettling, but it's essentially become a full-blown horror in recent seasons. In the totally bonkers Season 5, that evolution continues with the entrance of a super creepy child character and central character Dory Sief's eerie transformation into a new age guru obsessed with being spiritually cleansed by death.
Tune In: Station Eleven
(Crave)
HBO's new post-apocalyptic drama is a little uneven, as the flashback episodes (about the onset of a global flu pandemic) are a lot more compelling than the jumps forward (which follow a travelling troupe of Shakespearean actors). But still, a strong performance from lead Mackenzie Davis (as well as Matilda Lawler, who plays her younger self) makes this dystopian story feel intimate and personal.
Turn Off: The Tender Bar
(Amazon Prime)
Slotting into your dad's movie collection alongside The Shawshank Redemption and Good Will Hunting is The Tender Bar, the George Clooney-directed/Ben Affleck-starring memoir adaptation about a sensitive youngster and his cool Uncle Charlie. It's the most uncool movie of all time and the perspective on manhood feels dated — geez, women are a drag, amirite fellas? — the sepia-tinged nostalgia is comforting in spite of its ample flaws.
In this month's edition of Tune In or Turn Off, we've got a comet smashing into Earth, the scariest comedy on TV, and an epic tale from a galaxy far, far away. See the good and bad of streaming below.
Turn Off: The Book of Boba Fett
(Disney+)
Jon Favreau's new Star Wars series certainly isn't a Rise of Skywalker-level stinker, but after the breath of fresh air that was The Mandalorian, this one doesn't have much to add. The Book of Boba Fett relies heavily on nostalgia, and the slightly grittier feel isn't quite enough to distinguish it from the rest of the Star Wars cinematic universe. It's worth the watch for true heads; not so much for casual fans.
Turn Off: Don't Look Up
(Netflix)
Spend five minutes on Twitter and you'll be inundated by people screaming into the void about how we're fucked, we're all gonna die, and everyone is too blindly ideological to change. Adam McKay's Don't Look Up turns a 280-character cold take into a two-hour movie, hitting its points way too directly on the nose to convince anyone. Some decent laughs from Jonah Hill and a few moments of poignant sadness nearly redeem what might have been a pretty funny SNL sketch.
Tune In: The Lost Daughter
(Netflix)
Olivia Colman is characteristically brilliant as a troubled woman on a solo vacation who is haunted by memories of her failings as a mother. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and with a strong supporting cast that includes Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris and Peter Sarsgaard, it's a moody and impeccably acted drama that puts the full complexities of motherhood on display.
Tune In: Queer Eye, Season 6
(Netflix)
The Fab 5 head to Texas for a new season that's pretty much the same as all of the other seasons — mostly in a good way. They try to mix things up a bit with a COVID-themed prom episode, but the best episodes are the ones where they stick to the formula, including a particularly heartwarming one with a widower who runs a crayfish restaurant.
Tune In: Search Party, Season 5
(Crave)
The Alia Shawkat-starring satire of narcissistic millennials has always been a little unsettling, but it's essentially become a full-blown horror in recent seasons. In the totally bonkers Season 5, that evolution continues with the entrance of a super creepy child character and central character Dory Sief's eerie transformation into a new age guru obsessed with being spiritually cleansed by death.
Tune In: Station Eleven
(Crave)
HBO's new post-apocalyptic drama is a little uneven, as the flashback episodes (about the onset of a global flu pandemic) are a lot more compelling than the jumps forward (which follow a travelling troupe of Shakespearean actors). But still, a strong performance from lead Mackenzie Davis (as well as Matilda Lawler, who plays her younger self) makes this dystopian story feel intimate and personal.
Turn Off: The Tender Bar
(Amazon Prime)
Slotting into your dad's movie collection alongside The Shawshank Redemption and Good Will Hunting is The Tender Bar, the George Clooney-directed/Ben Affleck-starring memoir adaptation about a sensitive youngster and his cool Uncle Charlie. It's the most uncool movie of all time and the perspective on manhood feels dated — geez, women are a drag, amirite fellas? — the sepia-tinged nostalgia is comforting in spite of its ample flaws.
