PopaHALLics #114 "Avoid These Shows!"
You want some turkey? We take out the knives to carve up "Obliterated," "The Buccaneers," and "Monarch: A Legacy of Monsters." But we also make two recommendations for holiday viewing—including one not traditionally thought of as a "Christmas" movie.
Streaming:
- "Obliterated," Netflix. An elite special forces team drunk and stoned from partying must find a nuclear bomb before Las Vegas is, well, obliterated. Steve says this violent, sexual dramedy is a comedy dud.
- "The Buccaneers," Apple+. A group of American girls go to England in search of rich husbands in this period drama with modern touches—think a cross between "Bridgerton" and "The Gilded Age." Kate kept falling asleep.
- "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters," Apple+. This action drama comes alive when Godzilla and other monsters are onscreen. Unfortunately, most of it's about the humans. Kurt Russell and son Wyatt play the same character at different ages.
- "Falling for Christmas," Netflix. In this holiday rom-com, pampered heiress Lindsay Lohan gets amnesia and is taken in by handsome widower with super-cute young daughter. Stop us if you can see where this is going.
- "Moonstruck," streaming and rental. Cher won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of a widowed woman who falls in love with her fiance's estranged, hot-tempered younger brother (Nicolas Cage) in this 1987 romantic comedy drama.
- "For All Mankind," Apple +. This speculative sci-fi series depicts an escalating space race after the Russians put a man on the moon first.
Books:
- "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," by Barbara Robinson. This bestselliing holiday classic follows the shenanigans of "the worst kids in the history of the world" when they get involved with a church Christmas pageant.
- "In the Lives of Puppets," by T.J. Klune. Set in the future after robots have taken over, this novel is a charming PInocchio-inspired fable about what makes us human and the families we choose.
Music:
PopaHALLics #114 Playlist features our favorite songs from our PopaHALLics playlists this year, from Los Bitchos to Beyonce, from Leonard Cohen to Talking Heads. Rock on!