San Mateo County officials are hoping to add an unusual tactic to their multi-pronged approach to tackling the homelessness crisis: making it a crime to refuse to accept available, temporary housing.
In a unanimous vote this week, county supervisors moved forward with the proposal — despite significant opposition from civil rights groups and some homeless advocates — which would allow authorities to issue a misdemeanor violation to anyone living in a homeless encampment who refuses to move into available, temporary housing after a health evaluation and at least two warnings.
“One of the toughest challenges we face is addressing and assisting those in encampments who tend to decline services or refuse services,” Supervisor Dave Pine said at Tuesday’s board meeting. “The hope is it will be a tool to help move individuals into shelter.”
Opponents worry it will criminalize homelessness.
But Pine, along with board President Warren Slocum, co-sponsor of the ordinance, said the measure is the latest in a host of comprehensive solutions — including a street medicine team and the conversion of hotels to temporary housing — aimed at reducing homelessness in San Mateo County.
“Forty homeless people die in San Mateo county every year. … That’s just not acceptable,” Slocum said. This proposal “isn’t about criminalizing people, it’s about helping those who really may not be able to help themselves. … We really do have the capacity to house people and get people the help they need.”
Officials said the county has up to 30 unused shelter beds available every night, though that falls short of the estimated 44 people living in homeless encampments across unincorporated San Mateo County. Many more encampments are located in the county’s 20 cities, including Daly City and Redwood City, but this ordinance would apply only in unincorporated areas.
After San Mateo made investments to respond to the homelessness crisis in the last two years, the number of people on the streets significantly dipped, with more accessing shelter facilities, according to County Executive Officer Mike Callagy.
“We’re down now to the hard-to-reach population, the population that doesn’t want to come in,” Callagy said.
If the proposal reaches final approval next week, someone in an encampment who refuses an offer for an available bed will have 72 hours to change their mind, receiving two written warnings. After that, authorities could issue a misdemeanor citation, which Callagy said would be handled through diversion programs, like mental health court.
But no one would be cited if county officials don’t have a bed available, Callagy said. He stressed that the goal is not to issue tickets or route people into the criminal justice system but to get services and housing to those in need.
“We believe that once offered those options, most people will avail themselves to the services,” Callagy said. He hopes the citations are rarely issued but are used as a deterrent.
“At the end of the day, it’s about saving lives,” said David Canepa, another county supervisor. “I don’t buy into the narrative that we should do nothing.”
County officials touting the proposal said it was based on a Houston ordinance, adopted in 2017, that made homeless encampments on public property illegal and tried to funnel people into temporary housing. While the program has been highlighted for its success at removing encampments and helping people get off the streets, the Houston Chronicle found that tickets and arrests for violating the provision — given only after a warning and an offer of housing — continue to increase.
In Los Angeles, city officials have been making efforts to address growing encampments by encouraging people to accept temporary shelter and enforcing laws that forbid blocking sidewalks or other specific places.
In San Mateo County, the proposed ordinance has drawn critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, religious leaders and the San Mateo County Private Defender Program, which represents indigent defendants. Critics say they worry about the unintended consequences of such a law.
“Policing is no way to get people into treatment,” said William Freeman, senior council of ACLU of Northern California, decrying the “seriously flawed ordinance.”
While he praised the county for its recent work on homelessness, he said that “anti-camping ordinances invite over-policing and abuse.”
Lauren P. McCombs, an Episcopal deacon and a leader for Faith in Action Bay Area, called the criminalization of homelessness “inhumane treatment of our unhoused neighbors.”
“Our county needs to solve this crisis by ensuring safe and affordable housing options that are available to all residents, with strong incentives and not threats of incarceration,” McCombs said.
County officials on Tuesday took into account some concerns from the public, amending the ordinance to include a health evaluation before warnings are issued and a review process scheduled to launch after a few months.
Supervisor Noelia Corzo said her half-brother is homeless in San Mateo County, so she knows first-hand how complex the issue is. She said she is proud of the county for “doing something different.”
“I don’t take this lightly,” she said, “but not doing anything is not working either.”
Three weeks ago, retirees Joan and Gilbert Marin were traveling home to Riverside aboard a Boeing 737 Max 9 on Alaska Airlines. Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion and saw a gaping hole in the side of the plane two rows in front of them.
“The wind, the noise, the roar,” said Joan Marin, 71. “Everything was rushing out.”
Just ahead of the couple, a young man holding his cellphone had it sucked out of the plane, and the tremendous wind ripped the shirt off his back, she said. Joan’s husband looked down at their dog, Toby, who was in a carrier at his feet.
“His eyes were bulging out,” said Gilbert, 74. He lunged to hold onto their 13-year-old dog, fearing the force from the blowout “was going to suck him right under the seat and everything.”
This week, Federal Aviation Administration officials announced that Boeing 737 Max 9 planes would be allowed to fly again, following an inspection and maintenance process for the 171 aircraft grounded following the Jan. 5 flight. Most of those planes belong to Alaska Airlines and United Airlines.
Alaska’s first Max 9 flight since the blowout departed Friday, landing in San Diego in the early evening.
“The quality assurance issues we have seen are unacceptable,” he added. “That is why we will have more boots on the ground closely scrutinizing and monitoring production and manufacturing activities.”
As airlines prepare to return planes to service, the National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the Flight 1282 midair cabin panel blowout is ongoing.
“Our long-term focus is on improving our quality so that we can regain the confidence of our customers, our regulator and the flying public,” Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive, wrote in a message to employees Friday evening. “Frankly, we have disappointed and let them down.”
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 passengers Gilbert Marin, 74, and Joan Marin, 71, pictured with their dog.
(Courtesy of Joan and Gilbert Marin)
Boeing has promised to cooperate with the investigation. Following the incident, Chief Executive David Calhoun acknowledged that “a quality escape” had occurred, telling employees, “This event can never happen again.”
“This blowout — we’ve seen this pattern before. Something big happens, and Boeing makes all of these promises,” said Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at the company’s 737 factory. “Then what happens is that it fades in memory, and then Boeing asks for special exemptions and special treatment from the FAA. And the cycle continues.”
The safety problems on the Boeing Max planes go far beyond this one incident, said Pierson, the executive director of the Foundation for Aviation Safety, a watchdog group that has tried to bring public attention to issues related to Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. In September, the group published a study that found airlines filed more than 1,300 reports about serious safety problemson Max 8 and Max 9 planes to the FAA.
“These same issues that were there in 2018 and 2019 [at Boeing] that were the precursors to the accidents are still there,” Pierson said. “This is a culture where money is everything. They measure success by how many airplanes are delivered, instead of how many quality airplanes are delivered. … When you factor all of this together, it’s just a disaster waiting to happen.”
Boeing did not comment on Pierson’s remarks.
Alaska Airlines announced Friday that it had completed inspections on a first group of Max 9s that were returning to service, starting with Flight 1146 from Seattle to San Diego on Friday afternoon. The flight departed more than an hour late, according to FlightAware.
“Each of our 737-9 MAX [planes] will return to service only after the rigorous inspections are completed and each plane is deemed airworthy according to FAA requirements,” Alaska said in a statement.
On Wednesday, United Airlines told employees that the company planned to return their Max 9s to the skies on Sunday. Both it and Alaska had reported finding loose bolts on Max 9 planes during in-house inspections in the weeks following the Jan. 5 flight.
“In the days ahead, our teams will continue to proceed in a way that is thorough and puts safety and compliance first,” United Chief Operations Officer Toby Enqvist wrote in a message to employees.
Deal, the Boeing executive, said the company had taken “immediate actions to strengthen quality assurance and controls across our factories.”
“We are deeply sorry for the significant disruption and frustration for our customers, some of whom have been publicly and unfairly criticized,” he wrote to employees.
Meanwhile, the Marins said they’re still reliving the incident and want answers.
“What we want to see is the airline and Boeing step up and accept responsibility and say, ‘This is what went wrong, this is how we’re going to make sure it never happens again,” said Nick Rowley, an attorney representing the Riverside couple, who noted they had not taken any legal action as of yet.
Next week, Joan Marin plans to fly on Alaska again, this time from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
“I did look to see what kind of plane it was to make sure it wasn’t a Max 9,” she said.
A gunman sprayed a Metrolink train with bullets late Wednesday night at a Palmdale station, leaving two people hospitalized and a passenger car pocked with holes.
The shooting occurred near the platform where the northbound Antelope Valley Line train 229 was departing for Lancaster. Authorities said two people outside the train were hit as bullets also struck the passenger car.
The train’s passengers reported the gunfire, said Scott Johnson.
One of the shooting victims was wounded in a hip and the other in a calf, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Stowers. Their injuries were not life-threatening, he said. Emergency responders took them to a hospital for treatment.
Some media outlets said a woman injured her head while dodging gunfire, but Stowers was unable to confirm those reports.
Authorities had no information on what led to the incident or the identity of the shooter as detectives continued their investigation.
The train experienced a nearly one-hour delay as L.A. County sheriff’s deputies conducted the investigation. Metrolink has removed the bullet-damaged passenger car from service.
No other Metrolink services were affected.
When asked about safety concerns among passengers who take the Antelope Valley Line, Scott said, “Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and armed security officers regularly ride Antelope Valley Line trains to provide safety and security.”
Palworld is now available in Early Access on Steam and in Game Preview mode on Xbox. The “Pokémon-with-guns” game is also playable on Valve’s Steam Deck, where I’ve been playing since Palworld launched.
Yes, Palworld is officially “Playable” on Steam Deck, which in Valve’s definition means that the game is “functional on Steam Deck, but might require some extra effort to interact with or configure.” Valve also warns some in-game text may be small and hard to read on the Steam Deck screen, and that users will need to adjust some graphics settings themselves.
Palworld on Steam Deck plays just like its bigger PC sibling — it’s a fully functional, open-world survival game with dozens of off-brand Pokémon pals in the palms of your hands. There’s no gameplay element the Steam Deck version lacks compared to the other versions, but it can also be a bit clumsy, and frequently feels slightly broken. I’ve had some difficulty using the Steam Deck’s gamepad controls to move through the game’s menus; some button presses simply don’t register consistently, and I’ve been befuddled by how to navigate certain menus. And Valve’s warning’s about tiny in-game text should be heeded. Palworld’s interface is built for much larger screens, and some button icons are difficult to discern.
Graphically, the game defaults to low settings, which delivers between 25-35 fps refresh rates. Tweaking those settings further will offer better performance without much sacrifice in visual quality. Palworld will look OK and run slightly better, generally at a 30 fps frame rate (which you can lock) with the following settings, with the Steam Deck’s native 1200 x 800 resolution:
VSync — off
Motion Blur — off
Max FPS — 30
Anti-aliasing — TSR (or TAA)
View Distance — low
Grass — medium
Shadows — medium
Effects Quality — medium
Texture Quality — medium
Manually setting all those graphics options to “low” will get you up to an inconsistent 40-50 fps, but the sheer ugliness of those visuals may not be worth the trade-off. A mostly solid 30 fps will likely serve your needs better.
Palworld obviously still needs a lot of work to be fully “Verified” on Steam Deck, particularly around various UI elements and improved game pad control support. But it’s more than playable for now, and worth trying out on your Steam Deck if you have one.
Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
This week, The Marvels, the latest movie installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is finally available to purchase on VOD. That’s not all, though, as Taika Waititi’s sports comedy Next Goal Wins is also available to purchase, along with several other new releases available to rent. The Kitchen, Daniel Kaluuya’s directorial debut set in a dystopian London, is streaming on Netflix along with Dumb Money, the comedy-drama based on the GameStop short squeeze of 2021. That’s not even mentioning all the other streaming releases on Hulu, Mubi, and AMC Plus this week!
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Dumb Money
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Claire Folger/Sony Pictures
Genre: Biographical comedy-drama Run time: 1h 45m Director: Craig Gillespie Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D’Onofrio
Remember the GameStop short squeeze of 2021? No? That’s OK — admittedly, it was a very hectic and wild time, what with the whole… everything going on. In case you’re looking for a refresher, this movie about a middle-class financial analyst who struck big during the squeeze might be just what you’re looking for.
Where The Big Short was patronizing but still hugely entertaining and legitimately informative, Dumb Money’s creators seem uninterested in explaining what the hell happened with the GameStop scenario, or how the hell it happened. The script assumes that the audience is either already familiar with the story, or doesn’t much care about the financial specifics and just wants to see the news reenacted by people they know. Most of the jargon goes unexplained, and the series of events that facilitated the saga is just shrugged off in favor of a simplistic “isn’t this crazy?!” tone.
The Kitchen
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Chris Harris/Netflix
Genre: Sci-fi drama Run time: 1h 47m Directors: Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares Cast: Kano, Jedaiah Bannerman, Hope Ikpoku Jr
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther) teams up with filmmaker Kibwe Tavares for his directorial debut: a sci-fi drama set in a dystopian London where social housing has been eliminated. The film follows the story of Izi and Benji, a father and son who fight to survive as an impoverished community is besieged by state-sponsored violence.
New on Hulu
Invisible Beauty
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Photo: Magnolia Pictures
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 55m Directors: Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng Cast: Tyson Beckford, Stephen Burrows, Naomi Campbell
This documentary chronicles the life and impact of Bethann Hardison, a pioneering model and activist who fought for racial diversity in the fashion industry.
New on AMC Plus
The Origin of Evil
Where to watch: Available to stream on AMC Plus
Photo: Laurent Champoussin/IFC Films
Genre: Drama Run time: 2h 3m Director: Sébastien Marnier Cast: Laure Calamy, Doria Tillier, Dominique Blanc
A twisty French thriller about a woman trying to reconnect with a rich family she claims she’s a part of, The Origin of Evil was a late addition to our list of the best movies of 2023.
As my colleague Tasha Robinson put it in her write-up there:
Unpacking every lie and scheme in this movie takes every minute of its run time, and it’s guaranteed that audience sympathies will shift half a dozen times in the process. As a crime story, it’s a gem; as a character story, it’s even better.
New on Mubi
Fallen Leaves
Where to watch: Available to stream on Mubi
Image: MUBI
Genre: Romantic comedy-drama Run time: 1h 21m Director: Aki Kaurismäki Cast: Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Janne Hyytiäinen
This romantic drama follows the story of Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen), two lonely single people who meet by chance in a karaoke bar in Helsinki. Overcoming multiple mishaps and their own insular idiosyncrasies, the two strike up an awkward yet endearing courtship.
New to rent or purchase
The Marvels
Where to watch: Available to purchase on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Laura Radford/Marvel Studios
Genre: Superhero action Run time: 1h 45m Director: Nia DaCosta Cast: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani
The 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees the return of Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), also known as Captain Marvel. This time around, she’s teaming up with the superpowered Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) to save the universe from the threat of a vengeful Kree leader bent on restoring her home world.
In its best moments, The Marvels just throws wonderful ideas at the screen. There’s a planet of people who only sing, a space station full of cats that blithely devour furniture and humans alike, an animated depiction of Kamala’s internal monologue — the movie can feel like a mood board assembled by an overcaffeinated Star Trek fan, with a sense of imagination suitable for reminding the audience that comic books can be cool in the moment that you’re reading them, as opposed to for what they promise in the future.
The Boys in the Boat
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Genre: Sports biopic Run time: 2h 3m Director: George Clooney Cast: Joel Edgerton, Callum Turner, Jack Mulhern
When I think of the 1936 Summer Olympics, I think of Jesse Owens and the incredible things he accomplished in the sprint and long jump events in front of a German crowd passionately rooting against him. But another group of Americans also made history while vying for Olympic glory — the University of Washington rowing team, a group of working-class athletes whose story is told in George Clooney’s latest directorial effort.
The Color Purple
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Warner Bros Pictures
Genre: Coming-of-age musical Run time: 2h 21m Director: Blitz Bazawule Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo
Based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, this musical adaptation follows the story of Celie (Fantasia Barrino), a woman in an abusive marriage torn from her sister and children, who finds strength through her friendship with Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), a singer with an indomitable spirit.
Next Goal Wins
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Searchlight Pictures
Genre: Sports comedy-drama Run time: 1h 44m Director: Taika Waititi Cast: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana
Michael Fassbender (The Killer) stars in Taika Waititi’s sports movie based on the real-life American Samoa national football team and their qualification attempt for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Fassbender portrays Thomas Rongen, the Dutch American coach who agrees to help shape the once notoriously bad team into a competitive qualifier.
Next Goal Wins fails to properly capture what made the story of the American Samoa national football team so compelling, by attempting to make a film so universal that it discards the sport itself as unimportant. Which it might be in terms of letting the audience relate to the team as individuals. But it’s such a cookie-cutter underdog story that it rarely moves past the most superficial “Care because this movie says you need to care” level.
Often we come to you with these TV dispatches with a focus on the biggest premieres of the week — which we are now doing again. But this week also sees a whole host of finales, all of big shows that started in the tail end of 2023. While none of these three shows made our top 50 of the year, they’re all pretty big in their own way.
Noah Hawley’s Fargo is ending its fifth season this week, concluding yet another chapter of exploring American greed and the violence it spawns. There’s also Reacher, TV’s biggest guy, with what’s sure to be an action-packed finale for the second season (and hopefully teeing up the already greenlit season 3). And then there’s Found, the new splashy procedural following a woman who locates missing people (and with a few dark secrets of her own).
There’s more new and premiering TV to watch, of course — in addition to whatever ongoing shows you might be following, like True Detective: Night Country — but it’s a good reminder that there’s plenty of television worth catching up on, even without the urgency of the new episode.
Here’s the best of those new finales and premieres to watch on TV this week.
New shows on Netflix
Love on the Spectrum season 2
Genre: Finding romance reality show Release date: Jan. 19 Relationship coach: Jodi Rodgers Cast: A group of people on the spectrum looking for love
Netflix is back with another reality dating show, this time a second season of Love on the Spectrum, a show about exactly what it sounds like: people on the autism spectrum navigating the dating world. Season 2 of the show features some new cast members, alongside some folks from season 1.
New shows on Hulu
Death and Other Details
Genre: Murder mystery Release date: Jan. 16, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Violett Beane, and more
A locked-room murder mystery on a cruise ship, filled with plenty of staggeringly rich people who all have a motive. Also on board, conveniently: Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin), a washed-up detective, who leaps into action — with the help of his also conveniently present former protege Imogene (Violett Beane). Very quickly, though, they learn there’s more to this murder — and its victim — than meets the eye.
Fargo season 5 finale
Photo: Michelle Faye/FX
Genre: Crime drama Release date: Jan. 16 Showrunner/creator: Noah Hawley Cast: Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, and more
It’s all coming to a close, as Dot (Juno Temple) hopes to reassert control over her life and rid herself of her megalomaniac ex-husband, Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm). The body count has been rising, and the penultimate episode saw government forces gear up to raid Tillman Ranch, setting up what should be an action-packed, violent finale.
New shows on Prime Video
Hazbin Hotel
Genre: Animated goth theater kid musical Release date: Jan. 19, with four episodes Showrunner/creator: Vivienne Medrano Cast: Stephanie Beatriz, Kimiko Glenn, Keith David, and more
Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen) is the princess of hell, and has her heart set on doing the impossible: rehabilitating sinners in her hotel so well that they’ll be accepted into heaven. It isn’t long before she finds this task is harder than she thinks — luckily, she has a cast of characters who are there to help her (if not fully believe in her mission). Also: It’s a musical!
Reacher season 2 finale
Photo: Brooke Palmer/Prime Video
Genre: Big guy spy action Release date: Jan. 19 Showrunner/creator: Nick Santora Cast: Alan Ritchson, Serinda Swan, Shaun Sipos, and more
The Big Man’s back for his final episode of the second season. The penultimate episode ended in quite the cliffhanger, with multiple team members held hostage by Robert Patrick’s Shane Langston. No big deal, though — Reacher is still Reacher, and last we saw him, he was sauntering through the front gate ready to dole out some punishment.
New shows on Paramount Plus
The Woman in the Wall
Genre: Broody detective story Release date: Jan. 19, with one episode Showrunner/creator: Joe Murtagh Cast: Ruth Wilson, Daryl McCormick, and more
When a woman wakes up to find a dead body in her house, she’s got two problems: The first — well, obviously, she has a dead body that is in her house. But the second is more important: She has no idea how it got there.
The Woman in the Wall picks up from there for what Showtime calls a “psychologically and emotionally compelling detective story shot through with dark humor,” using six episodes to reexamine one of Ireland’s biggest scandals, the Magdalene Laundries.
New shows on Peacock
Found season 1 finale
Photo: Steve Swisher/NBC
Genre: Dramatic procedural Release date: Jan. 16 Showrunner/creator: Nkechi Okoro Carroll Cast: Shanola Hampton, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kelli Williams, and more
Gabi (Shanola Hampton) has been finding people — and hiding the secret of having her own kidnapper in her basement — all season. And it’s been a pretty wild ride, with plenty of flair for the dramatic. So I’m guessing the season finale of Found will deliver a helluva cliffhanger, particularly since it’s already been greenlit for season 2.
It’s no secret that the Polygon staff loves to read. We’re genre agnostic, with tastes spanning categories such as mystery, science fiction and fantasy, literary fiction, romance, and even nonfiction, and we love manga and comics, too. But we’re also sympathetic to how hard it is to find time to do it. By the time the workday is over, you might be too exhausted to consume words on the page — or maybe you’re a parent, working hard to take care of yourself and your family. It also can be difficult to focus, with endless emails, texts, and social media notifications taking up brain space or needing immediate attention.
But there are so many different ways to add reading into your life. There’s this perception of reading as an activity that you need to dedicate discrete time and space to — that it’s uninterrupted and relaxing. Maybe that’s an accessible option for you, which is wonderful, but maybe it’s simply become difficult to focus for long stretches. Maybe you try to read before bed but keep falling asleep. Or maybe you’re busy as hell and wonder, How could I even find time to start a book, much less finish it?
We’re here to help. Some of the regular readers on the Polygon staff have shared our stories of how we’ve found time to read in the past year. We all had wildly different answers, which is to say, there are many different ways to add it to your life. We hope these ideas can serve you in your reading journey.
Start your day with a good book
Working from home is the best thing that’s happened to my reading habits. When I stopped going into the office in 2020, I suddenly had an extra hour in the morning where my commute used to be. Instead of taking this as an opportunity to sleep in, I kept the time of my morning alarm the same, giving myself a bonus hour each morning to fill however I wanted. I tried a variety of things, including yoga and long walks with my dog, but nothing set a better tone for my day than using that time to read.
To this day, once I finish getting ready for work, I make myself a cup of coffee, curl up with my cats and a cozy blanket, and read for anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. Starting my mornings this way helps me relax and feel more grounded before signing on to work, and the joy I still get from this routine nearly four years later is more than worth losing that bonus hour of sleep. —Sadie Gennis
Try a dedicated reading device
Photo: Ana Diaz/Polygon
I’ve probably written about this enough already, but I got back into reading by reading manga on my tablet using the Shonen Jump app.
I think it’s really easy to get all high and mighty about what is and isn’t worth reading, but comics are great. Reading manga before bed has become a treasured part of my evening routine, and genuinely feels like me time. My tablet doesn’t have any messaging or social media apps, so I’m not interrupted while reading and I get a nice break from the internet. It’s like a little oasis of my own every night.
Other folks have already shared variations of the golden rule for finding pleasure in reading: “Stop assigning yourself homework.” Now let’s go a step further. Try stuff that you explicitly weren’t allowed to read in school. Books are sick, and I don’t mean cool; I mean depraved.
In high school, I, like so many millennial teenagers, had my Chuck Palahniuk period. Giggle all you want, but reading novels like Survivor and Choke felt like gaining access behind the beaded curtain. You can go highbrow with Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, the tale of a pier-loitering teenage sociopath. Or you can opt for a legend of the airport bookstore, like Anne Rice. You’ve heard of Interview with the Vampire, but if you haven’t read it, trust me, you’re in for some grade-A filth. —Chris Plante
‘Having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card’
In 2023, I read more books than I had in the previous three years combined. My favorite animated aardvark knew what he was about. Moving to a place with a library less than a 10-minute walk away has been a game changer. I’d previously used apps like Libby and Overdrive, but there’s just something about waltzing into a library without knowing exactly what you’re looking for and letting the stacks whisper to you. Last year, I discovered a bunch of new favorites and also became a certified romance reader, all because I took a chance on a library book.
But while the library definitely solved my “access to books without committing to buying something that you may not like and it will take up space on your bookshelf and haunt you for years to come” problem, there’s also another hurdle to address. Even with library access, you still have to find the time to read — which can be hard, with a million shows and movies on streaming, a ton of games in my backlog to play, and other hobbies that I could be spending time on.
Last year, though, I made it a point to get off social media. It actually wasn’t that hard, considering that Twitter kinda set itself on fire and TikTok was making me so enraged that I just deleted the app. I started to use that time to read instead. It especially works for in-between moments — waiting for my pasta water to boil, or grabbing a snack and not wanting to commit to watching a television show. As much as I love to just spend hours poring over a book, that’s not the only way to read. I can get the same fix in bite-sized chunks, the same quick hit I used to get from Twitter or TikTok. It’s just as entertaining (dare I say… even more so?), without the negative side effects of doomscrolling! —Petrana Radulovic
Mix it up with an old classic or a new co-reader
A lot of things have helped me pull out of periodic reading slumps — taking recommendations from friends, tracking down old favorite authors to see what they’ve been up to, getting into ebooks and instant downloads from libraries via Libby and Hoopla, reading a lot of Book Riot for sales and recommendations. But two comparatively offbeat things spiced up my reading more than usual last year, and I’d recommend giving both of them a try.
Go back to some old favorites — I mean really old favorites.Susana Polo’s 2023 piece on Disney’s animated movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians reminded me of a writer I haven’t thought about in decades: Bill Peet, the movie’s writer and storyboarder, and the author of a huge pile of weird, wild picture booksI read in childhood. Armed with nostalgia, I hit the library and reread a bunch of those picture books — none of them were challenging or enlightening reading, obviously, but the memories they called up were a lot of fun, and they reconnected me with a different era of my connection to books. And then I got to recommend them to, and buy some of them for, my friends with young kids.
Similarly, a stray memory late last year took me back to Island of the Blue Dolphins, a favorite classic from my early reading years. It only took an hour or so to reread, and it brought back a lot of memories — and sent me off looking for more contemporary books about Native islanders, ones up to today’s standards instead of the standards of when it was written. Touching base with things I read and loved in childhood let me think more about what I like to read today, and why — and helped me think about some of the messages I internalized from books as a kid, which has been worth thinking and talking about with friends.
Read to someone else, or have someone read to you. Revisiting childhood picture books reminded me of the times I’ve read books to kids, and made me want to spend more time doing that. But we don’t put enough value on adults reading to each other. Inspired by a friend of mine who says he and his wife take turns reading A Christmas Carol to each other every holiday season, I started asking my husband to read out loud to me on long car trips. It’s a surprisingly pleasant social activity, with all the enjoyment of a good audiobook combined with the connection factor of focusing us both on the same story and making it an active process instead of a passive one.
This is a good one to try for evenings at home with a significant other or family member. Most of us who don’t have kids in the immediate family have probably gotten out of the habit of reading out loud, but it can be a really satisfying way to enjoy and engage with a story — and with someone else who’s interested in reading more, too! —Tasha Robinson
Listening is also reading
Photo illustration: James Bareham/Polygon | Source image: Netflix
Reading has always been one of my favorite pastimes, to the extent that it’s a hobby I identify with on the level of who I am as a person. But as I’ve balanced more and more responsibilities in my life, I’ve had to get more creative with how I keep reading. For the past few years, I’ve found it harder to find uninterrupted reading time — which has atrophied the muscle of being able to focus, even, with a book. I kept assuming that I’d ease back into it, but I never did. I’d sit with a book and find myself hopelessly distracted just a few pages in.
Instead, I’ve gotten really into audiobooks, which I can listen to while going on a daily walk, doing the laundry, or washing the dishes. It motivates me to actually get the chores done — I want to know what’s happening next — but it helps settle my fidgety nature, too. I’ve also started reading essay collections while my partner plays single-player video games. We both love gaming and reading, so if either of us hits an exhaustion point, we’ll simply trade: I’ll play the section he’s stuck in, and he’ll make his way through an essay in the collection. It’s a fun way of sharing media together that’s typically consumed individually. And it’s made the whole thing way more social. —Nicole Clark
Don’t forget — there are other kinds of reading out there
You want to read more books? Sorry, can’t help you there; I start way more of them than I finish, and haven’t read them regularly since college.
Would it be nice if I read more books? Sure, and maybe I’ll check out some of the suggestions from my co-workers above. But my wife and I are about to have our first child, so I don’t know that I’ll have the time or the inclination to make it through book-length works anytime soon.
What I do read a ton of, though, is journalism. I was a news junkie long before I started working in the media, but I’d say that it comprises something like 90% of what I read these days — and that’s everything from bullet-point news bites to magazine-length features. I’m not just talking about reporting here; I also mean analysis, explainers, movie/TV/game criticism, personal essays, interviews, and data journalism. I’ve always been a fundamentally curious person, and reading journalism is the main way that I learn and stay informed about the world and what’s happening in it.
Twitter used to be my primary curation tool here — I currently have nearly 180 tabs open across three Chrome windows, and the vast majority of them function as bookmarks: They’re tweets of stories that I intended to read at some point. It’s not the best strategy for actually reading more journalism, as you can see, but I do make attempts to chip away at that backlog every so often.
Something that facilitates this is that I maintain subscriptions to the New York Times (including The Athletic), the Washington Post, and The New Yorker. If you want to read more journalism, and in particular, great journalism, it helps if you can afford to pay for it! —Samit Sarkar
Echo season 1 ends with a bang, with Echo (Alaqua Cox) going up against Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) again after confronting him in Hawkeye. Along the way, she reconnected with her roots, her family, and her sense of self, putting her on the track to becoming a hero.
It’s enough to make you wonder where Echo might show up next. So far, Echo has only appeared in Hawkeye and Echo, but with the MCU branching farther than ever, it seems like there are a lot of places a hothead superhero could pop up — including, potentially, a second season of her own show?
Here’s everything we know about Marvel’s future plans for Echo and Echo:
Is there going to be an Echo season 2?
As of this writing, Disney hasn’t confirmed if there will be a season 2 of Echo. For now, the show is being billed as a miniseries, just like Hawkeye before it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the show won’t be coming back.
When will Echo show up next in the MCU?
So far, neither Alaqua Cox nor Echo have been confirmed to show up anywhere else in the MCU. But there is a Daredevil show in the works (and in the reworks) that seems like an opportunity for her; after all, they had a pretty great fight in Echo.
And if Hawkeye is any indication, this doesn’t have to be the end for Cox’s Maya Lopez. Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop showed up in a teaser scene at the end of The Marvels as Hawkeye’s heir apparent, meaning Echo could find an analogous slot somewhere in the MCU. (Even if, for now, it’s still unclear what Kate will be doing as part of Kamala’s team.)
When might Echo season 2 debut on Disney Plus (or Hulu)?
If there is an Echo season 2, it might be a while before it actually comes out. Echo was first announced in November 2021, right after Cox showed up as Echo in Hawkeye. With the show only getting released some two years later, the earliest we’re likely to see Echo season 2 would be 2026.
What does this mean for the Marvel Spotlight?
Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Echo was a unique release for Marvel, not just because it was the first one to drop on Hulu (and in full) instead of Disney Plus. It was also the first entry in the new Marvel Spotlight umbrella, something Echo producer Richie Palmer says Echo was the right show at the right time to be.
“I think it was us saying, You know what? Echo wants to be its own thing. So let’s allow it to be,” Palmer tells Polygon. “We wanted to figure out, when we were bringing Maya Lopez to life, how do we honor that aspect of the comics? How do we keep it dark and gritty and separated from everything else that was going on?”
“And then Kevin [Feige] came in, as we were editing the show, and we were seeing how dark we were pushing it. And he was saying, Don’t hold back on the violence, don’t hold back on the grit and this grounded tone, it’s what’s making this show so unique and special. So Marvel Spotlight kind of came from Kevin.”
With Spotlight offerings being framed as an opportunity for more casual viewing, even sans any other MCU knowledge, it’s unclear if shows like Echo are being designed (or promised, or even considered for) a second season.
Brand-new year, brand-new TV! We’re not totally done with last year’s television, though: This Sunday will be the Golden Globe Awards, honoring a lot of the best films and TV shows of 2023 (along with some duds — award shows, what’re you gonna do?). That will be airing at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST, and will be streaming at the same time it’s on CBS.
But that’s not the only big offering in television this week — Michelle Yeoh is back on TV! This time, she’s the mom in Netflix’s The Brothers Sun, a charming action comedy about how little you know your family (sorta).
Here are all the best new TV premieres this week to start off 2024:
New shows on Netflix
The Brothers Sun
Genre: Action comedy family drama Release date: Jan. 4 with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien, Sam Li, Highdee Kuan, Alice Hewkin, Jon Xue Zhang, and more
After somebody takes out a hit on his dad, Charles (Justin Chien) flees to make sure that his mom (Michelle Yeoh) and brother Bruce (Sam Li) in America are safe. Only, Bruce didn’t know his family was rich… let alone the head of a Taipei gang.
Gyeongseong Creature
Photo: Lim Hyo Sun/Netflix
Genre: Horror Release date: Dec. 22 Writer: Kang Eun-kyung Cast: Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, Soo Hyun, Kim Hae-sook, Jo Han-chul, Wi Ha-joon, and more
Part 2 of this show arrives, and not a moment too soon — the final three episodes are here to conclude the mystery of the strange creature haunting Gyeongseong in 1945, as Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon) and Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) try to untangle the mystery around its existence.
New shows on Hulu
The Great North season 4
Image: Fox
Genre: Animated comedy Release date: Jan. 7 on Fox; on Hulu Jan. 8 Showrunner/creator: Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Wendy Molyneux, and Minty Lewis Cast: Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Will Forte, Dulcé Sloan, Paul Rust, Aparna Nancherla, and more
Beef Tobin (Nick Offerman) is just trying to look after his four kids in the remote, fictional town of Lone Moose, Alaska. He loves his family and tries his best — which is the perfect premise for a good ol’-fashioned family sitcom.
New shows on Paramount Plus
The 2024 Golden Globes
Photo: Michael Buckner/Penske Media via Getty Images
Genre: Awards show Release date: Jan. 7 at 8 p.m EST/5 p.m. PST Host: Jo Koy
The 2024 Golden Globes will be airing live on CBS. But they’ll also be streaming on Paramount Plus and in the CBS app. Comedian Jo Koy will be making his hosting debut for the program.
Season’s greetings, Polygon readers. We’re smack-dab in the sleepy, liminal interzone between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve. Be that as it may, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple new movies on streaming to watch this weekend as we barrell into 2024.
This week, The Holdovers, the new Christmas comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti, is finally available to stream on Peacock. That’s not all: The supernatural horror-thriller It Lives Inside arrives on Hulu this week alongside the new Ray Romano-directed comedy Somewhere in Queens. Finally, a controversial crime thriller starring Jim Caviezel is now streaming on Prime Video. And… that’s it for this week!
Genre: Supernatural horror Run time: 1h 39m Director: Bishal Dutta Cast: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan
This horror movie follows two young girls at an American high school who each relate to their Indian heritage in a different way: One embraces it, and one rejects it. When a Pishach, a vengeful spirit imprisoned in a strange glass jar, latches onto one of them, the other must reconnect with her past in order to stop it. It Lives Inside is the feature debut from Bishal Dutta, known previously for his work as a writer on the 2017 drama series Triads.
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 46m Director: Ray Romano Cast: Ray Romano, Laurie Metcalf, Jacob Ward
Ray Romano directs and stars in this new coming-of-age comedy about Leo, a father trying desperately to help his son apply for college and win a basketball scholarship. After going to extreme lengths, from alienating the rest of his family to cajoling his son’s ex (Sadie Stanley) to get back together with him, Leo must learn to allow his son to make his own decisions. From the trailer, it comes across as an earnest comedy about learning to embrace the peculiarities of one’s own family and accepting the uncertainty of what life has to offer.
New on Prime Video
Sound of Freedom
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Angel Studios/VidAngel Studios
Genre: Crime thriller Run time: 2h 11m Director: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde Cast: Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp
One of the most surprising box-office hits of the year, Sound of Freedom purports to be a true story about a mission to stopping child trafficking. The truth is much more complicated than that.
Genre: Comedy drama Run time: 2h 13m Director: Alexander Payne Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
A strong late awards-season contender, The Holdovers is a holiday-themed comedy about three people left at a New England boarding school for Christmas in 1970, all pushing through their own personal drama to survive the holiday. It’s also one half of this season’s best double feature.
The Holdovers is full of sudden twists, mostly backstory reveals suitable for a particularly startling stage play. But the real surprise is how personal and specific it becomes, and excellent writing and acting help it dodge the expected parameters for this kind of story. Eventually, it settles into a three-hander between Professor Hunham (Giamatti), his troubled adolescent student Angus (Dominic Sessa, in an intense star-making performance), and Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), the school’s head cook, an older Black woman mourning her son’s recent death in the military.
An hour and a half east of San Diego in late October, surrounded by haphazard makeshift tents, an asylum seeker lies in the desert with his leg propped up. Our team of volunteer physicians and medical students learned that he sustained a serious foot injury on his perilous journey to the United States. By the look of his swollen and seeping wound, the antibiotics he has been taking for the last 10 days are not warding off infection. He’s been taking half the prescribed dose of antibiotics because he’s not sure how long he’ll be traveling and doesn’t want to run out.
While we dress his wound, a doctor on our team steps away, motioning for the rest of us to follow. We find ourselves conflicted over the limited options, not knowing when this patient will next access medical care. Moreover, once he is transferred from this site to an official detention facility, his medications, including antibiotics, may be confiscated. After considering these factors, we all come to the same conclusion: If he does not receive proper care, this injury could cause permanent damage, or worse, a fatal blood infection. So what happens next?
For the last two months, we have mobilized local healthcare providers to help asylum seekers in rural San Diego County. A handful of uninhabitable places around the small town of Jacumba Hot Springs have become open-air detention sites for hundreds of asylum seekers. Migrants wait in the desert to be transferred to an official detention facility for processing. While some are transported within a few hours, many spend days without consistent access to food, water or medical care, with no shelter from increasingly harsh environmental conditions.
Migrants have been told by Border Patrol agents that if they leave the sites to seek medical care, their asylum process may be significantly delayed or endangered. Yet since Jacumba is not an official detention center, these asylum seekers are denied the basic resources and services required by Border Patrol policy for those in custody.
We see a medical crisis unfolding. People are suffering from deep tissue infections and ulcers, acute appendicitis, seizures, heart attack symptoms and pregnancies with complications. We provide services with whatever donated supplies we can get our hands on. We wash dust-filled eyes with saline, hand out Vaseline for cracked skin and provide face masks to limit the spread of upper respiratory infections that overwhelm the sites. Plastic spoons serve as splints for broken fingers, children are examined in makeshift tents and cough drops are handed out by the hundreds.
On any given day, volunteers in different fields are providing critical services for hundreds of migrants in Jacumba, supported by donations, mutual aid groups and nonprofit teams including Border Kindness and Al Otro Lado.
As temperatures approach freezing and winter rains fall, we are increasingly concerned about frostbite, hypothermia and exacerbations of chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes. At least one preventable death has been reported at an open air site along the border. We fear that the next one could occur in Jacumba.
International and U.S. laws recognize seeking asylum as a human right. We have a responsibility to provide safe conditions for migrants when they exercise that right.
To ensure that no further harm is done, local, state and federal authorities need to stop utilizing loopholes, or sidestepping legal responsibility, to detain migrants in “unofficial” camps where they are experiencing dehumanizing, preventable suffering. If hundreds of people are being kept by our country at a site, that location should be acknowledged as a detention center with the obligation to meet detainees’ basic needs.
As our day at the site comes to a close, we rejoin the migrant with the leg infection and our colleagues who have finished changing his dressing. We share our concerns and coach him through communicating with medical staff at his next destination, most likely an official detention center. A minute in, we pause — this is too much information to remember. Someone produces a marker, and one physician begins writing on the waterproof tape. She scrawls out a note to Border Patrol and instructions for the next medical team, signing her name at the bottom as she would a prescription. Right now, this is the best we can do out here.
Sadie Munter and Karyssa Domingo are second-year medical students in San Diego, where Weena Joshi is a practicing pediatrician.
It’s finally time: the last new TV of 2023. Whether you’re at work or not, this week tends to be a pretty sleepy one, ideally with plenty of time to catch up on new TV.
That’s not to say there’s a ton of new stuff during this period, but there’s certainly something to get excited about. There’s a new Doctor, with the Christmas day Doctor Who special introducing us to the Fifteenth Doctor. And the world of Money Heist is back — at least, partially, with the Berlin spinoff taking us back in time on Berlin himself.
Here’s the best TV premieres and finales this week:
Genre: Money Heist spinoff Release date: Dec. 29, with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Álex Pina Cast: Pedro Alonso, Michelle Jenner, Tristán Ulloa, Begoña Vargas, Julio Peña, Joel Sánchez, and more
Money Heist fan favorite Berlin (Pedro Alonso) is back, with a look at the big heist from before his Money Heist days: disappearing $44 million in jewels. Touched upon in flashbacks during the later seasons of the show, Berlin will give us a better glimpse at the Professor’s second-in-command (and his savvy cohort).
Letterkenny season 12
Genre: Dirtbag comedy Release date: Dec. 26, with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Jacob Tierney Cast: Jared Keeso, Michelle Mylett, Nathan Dales, Jacob Tierney, Tyler Johnston, Dylan Playfair, and more
The six-episode farewell run of Letterkenny is going out on a high note — possibly literally, with a country music hit being one of the many things teased by Hulu’s news release, which also notes that the small town “contends” with a comedy night at Modean’s, the Degens’ bad influence, a new nightclub, and an encore at the Ag Hall.
New shows on Disney Plus
Doctor Who Holiday Special: The Church on Ruby Road
Image: BBC/Disney Plus
Genre: Timey-wimey sci-fi Release date: Dec. 25 Showrunner/creator: Russell T. Davies Cast: Ncuti Gatwa, and more
After three specials that indulged some nostalgia and brought back an old (well, new) Doctor, we’re finally getting a new new Doctor, with Ncuti Gatwa, whose long-awaited arrival is finally here — it’s gonna feel like it’s Christmas Day! (I know it is on Christmas Day.)
New shows on Apple TV Plus
Slow Horses season 3 finale
Image: Apple TV Plus
Genre: Spy thriller comedy Release date: Dec. 27 Based on books by: Mick Herron Cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, and more
It’s all coming to a head in the fantastic third season of Slow Horses. The team has been trying to rescue Standish (Saskia Reeves) while also uncovering the large-scale conspiracy her captors are involved in. Who will make it out alive? Will anyone in the British government face actual consequences for their actions? Will we make it until season 4 without just playing Mick Jagger’s theme song on repeat? The answers to these questions, and more, in the finale.
The Fifteenth Doctor is finally here — at least, for a one-off Christmas special.
After making an appearance in the third anniversary special through a bit of “bigeneration,” Ncuti Gatwa is at last stepping up to the plate as The Doctor. He’ll be joined by new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), who lives a quiet life with her grandma and mom until The Doctor shows up. In “The Church on Ruby Road,” they’ll both come face to face with mysterious goblins, and have to riddle their way out of a Christmas adventure.
How to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special on Disney Plus
As with the anniversary specials (and all Doctor Who seasons moving forward), Doctor Who will be streaming its Christmas episode on Disney Plus. That means we can probably expect the same sort of release schedule: Disney will be releasing the special concurrently with its broadcast in the U.K., meaning if you’re watching it on Disney Plus, the new specials will drop on Christmas at 9:55 a.m. PST/12:55 p.m. EST.
Can I watch the Christmas Doctor Who special on BBC?
Yup! You’ll be able to watch Doctor Who’s 2023 Christmas special on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer in the U.K. starting at 5:55 p.m. on December 25 (that’s Christmas).
What do I need to have watched beforehand?
As with the Doctor Who anniversary specials: Technically nothing — the franchise has been going for 60 years and counting, so there’s a lot of Who you could catch up on, but how could you even pick where to start?
If you do want to revisit any older Doctor Who, you’ll want to check out the Russell T. Davies section, as he’s the new (returning) showrunner; so you’re looking for series 1 through series 5. Those won’t be viewable on Disney Plus, though, only Max.
Is there a trailer so I can watch Ncuti Gatwa already?
There is! Here’s an early Christmas present, ya rascal:
And here’s a special look at his new Sonic Screwdriver:
The people behind Fortnite, the popular build-and-battle-royale game, have released a new, kid-friendly take on the game: Lego Fortnite. The game uses Lego bricks and characters to give players a different kind of experience that focuses on long-term survival, crafting, building, and online cooperation with friends. It’s a lot like another survival/crafting game, Minecraft, but powered by Lego bricks and familiar characters.
Lego Fortnite was a hit from day one; Millions of players are building and battling monsters together in online worlds full of characters to meet, creatures to slay, and mysteries to discover. It’s also free (unlike Minecraft), and co-developers Epic Games and The Lego Group have gone to great lengths to make it safe for kids to enjoy.
Here’s a quick rundown of what Lego Fortnite is, where to download it, and everything else you should need to know about Fortnite’s popular new spinoff.
What is Lego Fortnite?
While the popular version of Fortnite is a battle royale game where players fight each other to be the last player standing, Lego Fortnite isn’t a shooter or a battle royale at all. It’s a game of exploration, building with Lego bricks, and crafting items (like pickaxes and torches).
In Survival mode, players take on the role of a little Lego hero character. They’ll gather resources, build structures, tools, and weapons, and explore a huge open world. They’ll also interact with other Lego characters who will join their group and help them out with missions. There’s some combat too, but it’s mainly against Lego versions of skeletons, wolves, spiders, and other beasts. This mode is called Survival because players have to gather and craft what they need: food to stave off hunger, wood to build structures and craft tools, and other elements to create more complex items.
There’s also a non-violent Sandbox mode, where players can simply build whatever they want with Lego bricks to get creative and explore the world freely.
How to download Lego Fortnite
Playing and downloading Lego Fortnite is free. You’ll need an Epic Games account to play, which is also free. All you have to do is download the main Fortnite game client, and you’ll find Lego Fortnite on the main screen of a menu that looks like a Netflix library screen.
On game consoles like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X, you can download Fortnite by searching each platform’s store, or by using the links below from a web browser:
Note that if you find and download Lego Fortnite from one of the above online stores, you’re actually downloading the full Fortnite game client, through which you can play Lego Fortnite. Confusing, yes, but at least everything’s centralized.
How to get and activate an Epic Games account
To play Lego Fortnite (or any Fortnite game), you’ll need an Epic Games account. You can sign up for one using an email address at the Epic Games website, use an existing login from Apple, Facebook, Lego.com, or Google, or log in with an existing account from Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, or Steam.
You can also create a version of that account called a Cabined Account, which is intended for children 13 years old or younger. Players with Cabined Accounts can play Lego Fortnite, but they won’t be able to access features like voice chat or make in-game purchases with money until their parent or guardian provides consent. You can read more about parental controls in Fortnite games at Epic’s website.
How V-Bucks work with Lego Fortnite (and how to redeem them)
Epic Games’ virtual currency for Fortnite, known as V-Bucks, works in the core version of Fortnite and new experiences like Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival. V-Bucks can be spent on in-game items, like outfits and other virtual items.
If you (or your child) have spent V-Bucks in Fortnite battle royale, most of the cosmetics in that game carry over to Lego Fortnite. There are some exceptions, like characters in Fortnite who have guns as part of their design, but many cosmetics tied to a core Fortnite account can be used across games.
Lego Fortnite multiplayer and playing with friends
You can play Lego Fortnite with friends online. Up to eight players can play together cooperatively in the same game world.
But you can’t play Lego Fortnite (yet) in split-screen mode on the same platform. If you have multiple kids playing Lego Fortnite, they’ll all need their own console, tablet, or PC to play. Lego Fortnite supports cross-play across all platforms, so players on Switch, for example, can play with their friends on PlayStation 5, Android, PC, and anywhere else Fortnite is available.
Do you need a separate online subscription to play Lego Fortnite?
Lego Fortnite, like other Fortnite games, does not require an online subscription like Nintendo Switch Online, PlayStation Plus, or Xbox Live Gold/Xbox Game Pass to play.
Guides for Lego Fortnite
Lego Fortnite is new, but already pretty big. Here’s how to get started, with some answers to a few tricky questions:
Happy December, Polygon readers! It’s the last weekend before the Christmas holiday, and we’ve got a whole sack full of exciting new releases on streaming and VOD for you!
This week, Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire, the first installment of Zack Snyder’s epic space opera starring Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) finally comes to Netflix along with Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro. Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi action thriller The Creator finally comes to Hulu, and the black comedy thriller Saltburn arrives on Prime Video. There’s plenty of new movies available to rent this week as well, including The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, and much more.
Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!
New on Netflix
Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Epic space opera Run time: 2h 15m Director: Zack Snyder Cast: Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman
Zack Snyder returns to Netflix with an all-new, Star Wars- and Seven Samurai-inspired space opera in the form of Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire. Set in a far-off galaxy besieged by a brutal interplanetary empire, the film follows the story of a soldier-turned-farmer who must recruit a band of warriors to fight alongside her against the regime she once served. Also, Anthony Hopkins shows up as a robot and Doona Bae (Cloud Atlas) has cool definitely-not-lightsaber butcher swords. Neat!
The best that can be said about Snyder is that he’s at least capable of a kind of manic brouhaha that’s not unbecoming in this kind of genre filmmaking. Despite the lack of character or emotion in his films, he certainly can be one of the best filmmakers at capturing the pure excess of a piece of lurid fantasy art, or the distinct flair of a Frank Miller drawing. But in Child of Fire, the results couldn’t even be called stylish. The CGI seems to degenerate as the running time goes on. The production and costume design had this Dune agnostic bumping that film up half a star on Letterboxd. And Tom Holkenborg’s score sounds like Space Enya.
Maestro
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Jason McDonald/Netflix
Genre: Biographical drama Run time: 2h 9m Director: Bradley Cooper Cast: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper directs and stars in this biographical drama about the life of the acclaimed American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and his complicated relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre.
Maestro takes on new shades when compared with Cooper’s directorial debut, that Star Is Born remake. It’s the inverse of Maestro in a lot of ways. In A Star Is Born, singer Jackson Maine (Cooper) sees something magical in Ally (Lady Gaga), and struggles to cope as they fall in love and her career eclipses his. Conversely, Maestro is built around Leonard Bernstein’s marriage to Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), who Bernstein is captivated by and devoted to — at least, part of him is. Felicia, who first appears on camera in a black-and-white sequence, illuminates the screen with her talents and ambitions, then is ironically suffocated as Cooper widens Maestro’s aspect ratio and fills it with color. Leonard’s ambition, his dueling appetites, and his affairs with men like David Oppenheim (Matt Bomer) edge her out and dim her world.
Operation Napoleon
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Magnet Releasing/Magnolia
Genre: Historical thriller Run time: 1h 42m Director: Óskar Þór Axelsson Cast: Vivian Ólafsdóttir, Jack Fox, Iain Glen
An Icelandic lawyer (Vivian Ólafsdóttir) finds herself drawn into a deadly international conspiracy after her brother accidentally stumbles upon a German World War II plane buried beneath the snow. Hunted by ruthless criminals and a unrelenting CIA director (Iain Glen), she’ll have to get to the heart of the mystery if she has any hope of surviving.
New on Hulu
The Creator
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Image: 20th Century Studios
Genre: Sci-fi action Run time: 2h 15m Director: Gareth Edwards Cast: John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe
John David Washington (Tenet) stars in Rogue One director Gareth Edwards’ latest sci-fi adventure as an undercover operative in the far-future searching for the mysterious creator of a rogue-artificial intelligence. After being entrusted with the care of a human-like robot named “Alphie” (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), the pair embark on a journey in search of answers and salvation.
The Creator would be a wonderful video game. I mean that earnestly — video games are terrific for interacting with lore, with the bits and bobs of world-building that all storytellers spend years developing, but leave as subtext in the story proper. That can also be true of video games, but games of larger scope often flesh out their virtual worlds with said lore, which players are often free to roam and engage with. There are all sorts of ways that lore can become text — optional conversations with characters, diary and book excerpts to read, video or audio ephemera, all ambient and non-compulsory, a substrate where the player can find meaning whether the main narrative is fulfilling or not. The Creator is a fully realized future in the service of a rote story and flat characters that only gesture in compelling directions; I’d rather not bother with that story at all.
New on Prime Video
Saltburn
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Prime Video
Genre: Psychological thriller Run time: 2h 11m Director: Emerald Fennell Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Archie Madekwe
‘What if The Talented Mr. Ripley, but set in a palatial Oxford-family estate with young adults in the mid-2000s?”
That’s essentially the premise of this black comedy about class and privilege starring Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Jacob Elordi (Euphoria), from Promising Young Woman filmmaker Emerald Fennell.
Genre: Surrealist tragicomedy horror Run time: 2h 59m Director: Ari Aster Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan
A24 horror maestro Ari Aster returns with a different kind of project in this horror-comedy about a man confronting his fears after the death of his mother.
Genre: Biographical drama Run time: 1h 40m Director: Guy Nattiv Cast: Helen Mirren, Camille Cottin, Liev Schreiber
Helen Mirren stars in this biographical drama about Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel, and her role during the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
New to rent
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate
Genre: Dystopian action Run time: 2h 37m Director: Francis Lawrence Cast: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage
Francis Lawrence returns to the world of The Hunger Games to tell the story of the early years of Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who would go on to become the president of Panem and the nemesis of Katniss Everdeen.
Set 60 years before the events of the first film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes recalls the fateful meeting between Coriolanus and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from District 12 who would leave a profound impact on his life and worldview.
Collins’ book and Lawrence’s movie don’t redo the action of the Hunger Games events; they dissect them, then force us to sit on the Capitol side of the equation. They demand to know why we were even drawn to the love triangle, the pretty dresses, and the themed arenas in the first place. We’ve always been the spectators, after all, watching Katniss’ story from a safe distance. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes shows us what happens if we get too carried away by propaganda, luxury, and the promise of safety. In that way, it’s a fitting end to the franchise — and a fitting end to the way the genre evolved into a beast of its own.
Trolls: Band Together
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: DreamWorks/Universal
Genre: Adventure comedy Run time: 1h 31m Directors: Walt Dohrn, Tim Heitz Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Kenan Thompson
The Trolls have returned, and they’re getting the band back together! After Branch’s brother Floyd is kidnapped, he’ll have to team up with Poppy to reunite with his other brothers in order to find the culprit and save the day.
Thanksgiving
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Pief Weyman/Sony Pictures
Genre: Slasher horror Run time: 1h 46m Director: Eli Roth Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Gina Gershon
Just in time for Christmas, Eli Roth is back with a brand new holiday-themed slasher! After a tragic Black Friday riot, the quiet town of Plymouth, Massachusetts is terrorized by a Thanksgiving-inspired killer wearing a ghoulish John Carver mask.
Comedic slashers where both halves complement each other are rare, even among the genre’s most entertaining offerings. Movies like Totally Killer or Happy Death Day are too funny and lighthearted to ever really earn a genuine scare, while a movie like House of 1000 Corpses is so dark and gross that the humor isn’t likely to land on a first viewing. Few movies have ever struck that balance quite as well as Craven’s four Scream movies. Thanksgiving doesn’t quite reach that series’ meteoric heights, but it comes far closer than anything else in recent years — including the Scream franchise itself.
Silent Night
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Photo: Carlos Latapi/Lionsgate
Genre: Action thriller Run time: 1h 44m Director: John Woo Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Scott Mescudi, Harold Torres
After nearly 20 years, action movie legend John Woo has returned with a Christmas-themed revenge thriller starring Joel Kinnaman as a vigilante who embarks on a mission to exact vengeance on the gang who murdered his son in a Christmas Eve drive-by. Polygon spoke to Woo about the process that went into this film and why he was first attracted to the unique project.
Anatomy of a Fall
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
This Palme d’Or-winning French courtroom drama follows the story of a writer trying to prove her innocence following the mysterious death of her husband outside of their home. Was it murder or was it suicide? Beyond a simple interrogation of guilt, the film is a psychological thriller that delves deep into the complicated circumstances behind the couple’s relationship.
Dream Scenario
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: A24
Genre: Horror comedy Run time: 1h 42m Director: Kristoffer Borgli Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera
Nicolas Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) continues his streak of meta self-referential projects in this horror-comedy about a mild-mannered biology professor who inexplicably becomes famous overnight after appearing in the dreams of people around the world.
Dream Scenario’s vague, nebulous type of fame gives Borgli an avenue to comment on celebrity and its price without taking a specific stand. He’s just exploring the cost of being highly visible, being up for endless interpretation by total strangers, and being disconnected in the public eye from any actual real-world intentions or actions. Once Paul starts deliberately taking a more active role in people’s dreams, the script takes a Charlie Kaufman-esque approach, playing with the ideas around so-called cancel culture as part of the world of instant fame. He also keeps the visuals refreshing and interesting, fully veering into dream-sequence horror, with enjoyably weird results.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom flows into theaters this weekend with the dubious honor of being the final film in the DC Extended Universe. And that means its final scene — its credits scene — is the final shot of Warner Bros. great attempt to equal the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its own pet superhero setting.
But it also means that the typical use of a superhero movie credits scene doesn’t apply here. There aren’t any future franchise events for Lost Kingdom to point to. What’s a blockbuster to do?
If you’ve seen Lost Kingdom, you know, and if you haven’t, maybe you’re just here to rubberneck. But here’s what it did.
[Ed. Note: This piece contains spoilers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.]
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics
Lost Kingdom’s credits scene isn’t about anything weighty, it’s just a call back to a gross-out gag from earlier in the film. Orm (Patrick Wilson), the redeemed bad guy from the first Aquaman, is enjoying his first surface-world hamburger when he spies a cockroach scurrying across the dock-side picnic table.
Earlier in the movie, his brother Aquaman (Jason Momoa) tricked him into thinking that live cockroaches are an every day surface-world snack. So Orm grabs the roach, slaps it between the layers of his sandwich, and takes a big, happy bite. Good night, sweet DCEU, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
But here I must implore my fellow human beings: We absolutely musn’t make this a metaphor. No matter how resonant, absurd, or funny the credits scene on Lost Kingdom, we must resist.
Orm’s burger is, inevitably, a roachy Rorschach test. The insect can be whatever you didn’t like about the DCEU, and Orm happily eating it is the fans you don’t like lapping it up. Or, Orm is the executives whose meddling ruined the franchise happily choosing their comeuppance (the roach), which is the collapse of the whole thing (an honestly very appetizing burger). Or maybe, the burger is the Snyder Cut, somehow, and Orm is Joss Whedon? I’m sure somebody could flesh out that video essay.
But we have to draw a line in the sand, like Topo the octopus scurrying away from the blood-drinking Deserters and back to the safety of deep water. We have to restrain ourselves, like Orm touching the Black Trident. We have to escape, like the fish in the sea, able to say that in the end, at the end of an era, we didn’t take the bait.
Blue Eye Samurai is coming back for a second season at Netflix. The series debuted on Nov. 3, and got renewed a few weeks later. Netflix announced the second season on Monday with a short video.
The show’s renewal comes as no surprise considering it’s popularity. It spent several weeks in Netflix’s top 10, and made several best-of-the-year lists, including the number two spot on Polygon’s own list. On top of that, the show’s first season ends with clear intention for another season. But Netflix didn’t announce much more about what we can expect from season 2, other than that it’s on the way. So, here’s everything we know about the next season of Blue Eye Samurai:
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for Blue Eye Samurai season 1.]
Is Blue Eye Samurai getting more seasons?
We know for sure that a second season is on the way, but Netflix’s announcement didn’t come with the promise of more than that. While some animated series often get picked up for at least a season or two, it seems we’ll have to wait a while until we find out just how long Mizu’s journey may stretch on for.
When will Blue Eye Samurai season 2 release?
There’s no good way to tell, but the first season was greenlit back in 2020. With pandemic conditions making production harder, and the general difficulty of starting up an animated project, it’s likely we won’t have to wait a full three years before the next season, but turning around another batch of episodes next year would be pretty daunting too. With that in mind, it seems like 2025 is the most likely date for new episodes of the show to arrive.
What will season 2 of Blue Eye Samurai be about?
This one the show is very clear about: We know that Mizu is heading off of London, ready to make her way through a foreign land, which is likely to come with quite a bit of culture shock, in hopes of killing her last two targets. Meanwhile, Akemi is heading to the palace to find whatever influence she can over the future of Japan, while Ringo seems to have found a new master.
All of this should make for a much bigger, more expansive second season, but also one that broadens the show in exciting new ways.
Who will be in the cast for Blue Eye Samurai season 2
Along with the main cast of the first season, who all seem likely to return, Netflix hasn’t made any announcement of additions for season 2. Although, considering the talent that’s involved in the show already, it’s possible some pretty big names could get onboard as the show heads to London.
Is there anything similar to Blue Eye Samurai I can watch while I wait for season 2?
Weirdly enough there is, though we can’t promise it will be good just yet. FX’s new series Shogun is about an Australian who journeys to Japan and becomes a samurai, and its first trailer looks pretty good. The series is set to debut in February and will probably scratch a similar itch to Blue Eye.
If even waiting a few months feels like too much for you, there’s also Vinland Saga, an anime about a Viking seeking revenge for his slain father until he finds out that revenge is much more complicated than he thought.
Welcome to the busiest moviegoing season of the year, when films in theaters are actually worth trekking out to see and everything hitting VOD and streaming is… the movies that came out a few months ago that are also super worth checking out. Ack!
Work at your own pace. But yeah, this weekend at home has everything from Leave the World Behind, a new Netflix film from the creator of Mr. Robot, to an animated Batman Christmas special and Martin Scorsese’s latest three-hour epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is hitting digital rental before eventually landing on Apple at an unspecified date in 2024.
Or you and the family could just watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie again — it’s on Netflix now. But if you need alternatives, there are many, many more. Let’s dig in.
New on Netflix
Leave the World Behind
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Jojo Whilden/Netflix
Genre: Psychological thriller Run time: 2h 21m Director: Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) Cast: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke
Adapted from Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, Sam Esmail’s directorial feature debut is an Airbnb story from hell. Mid-vacation in Long Island, a Manhattan couple hears a knock at the door. It’s the owners of their rented home, who are escaping the apocalypse. What follows promises to be a cerebral, prickly thriller that may not entirely work, but gives its all-star cast plenty to chew on. From our review:
Racial, sexual, generational, and class fault-lines are drawn but then rapidly scuffed over, almost in embarrassment, as the characters sink reflexively into a shared worldview that they can’t seem to let go of […but the] movie is brilliantly cast, at least. Hawke embodies the blinkered insouciance of progressive intellectuals, Ali has the polish and confidence that money breeds, and Roberts, as a secretly insecure striver trapped between these two worlds, flashes with a brittle testiness.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Nintendo, Illumination/Universal Pictures
Genre: Animated adventure Run time: 1h 32m Director: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black
While the combined power of Barbie and Oppenheimer may have eclipsed Nintendo’s foray into animated film, let’s not forget that Mario made a mega impact earlier this year at the worldwide box office, gave its parent company the confidence to announce a live-action Zelda movie, and could very easily get nominated for an Oscar in the year 2024. The Mario movie is, if not good, important — and now it’s streaming on Netflix, ready for kids and their nostalgic parents to watch a zillion times.
New on Hulu
The Mission
Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 44m Directors: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Boys State)
Heralded as one of the great documentaries of 2023, The Mission chronicles the repeated attempts by John Allen Chau, an American missionary, to bring Christianity to the Indigenous peoples of the remote North Sentinel Island. Law forbade outsiders from setting foot on the island, but that didn’t stop Chau, who was ultimately killed by arrows during his final attempt to sail ashore. From documentarians Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (who previously directed the searing political doc Boys State), the National Geographic film promises to get the blood pumping and ask a few big questions as it unravels Chau’s life.
New on Prime Video
Merry Little Batman
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Prime Video
Genre: Animated comedy Run time: 1h 36m Director: Mike Roth (Regular Show) Cast: Luke Wilson, Yonas Kibreab, James Cromwell, David Hornsby
You think you know the story: Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin lays an egg, Batmobile lost a wheel, and Joker got away. But Batman’s first animated Christmas movie presents an entirely new perspective. When Bruce Wayne’s son Damian is left home alone onChristmas Eve, Gotham’s supervillains come out to play and a new hero of the holiday season must rise up. David Hornsby from It’s Always Sunny as the Joker? How could this be anything less than good?
Your Christmas or Mine 2
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Photo: Colin Hutton/Prime Video
Genre: Romantic comedy Run time: 1h 34m Director: Jim O’Hanlon (Your Christmas or Mine?) Cast: Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk, Alex Jennings, Jane Krakowski
Uh oh, new couple James (Asa Butterfield) and Hayley (Cora Kirk) hoped to meet each other’s families during a Christmas vacation in the Alps, but someone messed up the lodging arrangements! Now James’ rich family is staying in a “rustic” lodge and Hayley’s penny-pinching dad is holed up in a five-star hotel! Whoops!
New on Paramount Plus
Showing Up
Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus
Photo: Allyson Riggs/A24
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 48m Director: Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) Cast: Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, John Magaro
Drama or comedy, never-miss filmmaker Kelly Reichardt aims for the intimate. Which means she may never make a film that causes enough splash for the Oscars or big-time top 10 lists. But here’s no surprise to anyone familiar with her work: Showing Up, which reteams her with regular collaborator Michelle Williams, cuts deep to the heart of art and the artist’s life, affirming Reichardt to being in league of her own. From our recent list of the top 50 movies of 2023, where Showing Up ranks 10th:
Reichardt’s genius is getting the audience giggling at the artists but never the art. For example, it’s funny to think that an artist dedicated a year of her life to crocheting a jumpsuit. Except then, in Showing Up, you see the outfit and it’s beautiful — an intentional undermining of the punchline. A teacher smugly opines on ceramics, but each piece he holds up is so lovingly crafted that they confidently speak for themselves.
This decision (rib artists, celebrate art) sets the tone. We humans are artifice, a bunch of contradictory masks that we put on to match the situation and the crowd. But our creations — when we commit to a craft, whatever medium it may be — are an expression of our most vulnerable selves.
New on Shudder
The Sacrifice Game
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder and AMC Plus
Image: Shudder
Genre: Horror Run time: 1h 30m Director: Jenn Wexler (The Ranger) Cast: Mena Massoud, Olivia Scott Welch, Gus Kenworthy, Madison Baines
After premiering at the weirdo-approved Fantastic Fest earlier this year, Jenn Wexler’s latest horror joint lands on Shudder in time for the holidays. Our editor Tasha Robinson caught this one at the fest, so I am ceding the floor. Here’s her micro-take (watch out for more on this one soon):
Jenn Wexler’s Christmas-set horror movie The Sacrifice Game takes most of its runtime to reveal what it’s really about, and that reveal is a doozy. But the wait to get there is never dull: Along the way, there’s a “sad Christmas with the left-behinds at a boarding school” story that meshes perfectly with The Holdovers, and a “dangerous cultists on the road” story that meshes equally well with Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s no surprise that these two stories collide, it’s just a surprise exactly how and why they collide.
New to rent
Killers of the Flower Moon
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Apple
Genre: Drama Run time: 3h 26m Director: Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver) Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons
Some call it Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus. Others wonder if adapting David Grann’s acclaimed nonfiction book was an impossible task, even for a legend. But everyone seems to agree: You have to find a big chunk of time and watch Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the year’s most ambitious dramatic ventures. And Scorsese threw his entire self into it. From our review:
As Scorsese gets deeper into his old-master phase, it feels as though he’s running out of patience with the Catholic agonies and fire-and-brimstone filmmaking he’s known for. Killers of the Flower Moon is mostly plainspoken, sorrowful, and wise. At the very end, Scorsese makes a personal intervention on behalf of what really matters in this story. It’s a moving gesture from an artist who knows he only has time to say so much more, and who can see clearly what needs to be said.
Happy December, Polygon readers. Christmas movie season is here, and there are tons of new Christmas movies slated to come out over the next month.
This week, there are four in that category: the critically acclaimed The Holdovers, Eddie Murphy’s Candy Cane Lane, Netflix’s Family Switch, and the horror movie It’s a Wonderful Knife. But that’s not all that’s new this week: Carol director Todd Haynes has a buzzy new movie out on Netflix, there’s a second movie with musical numbers named Leo dropping on Netflix in as many weeks, and big franchise reboots Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and The Exorcist: Believer make their streaming platform debuts.
That’s only touching the surface — December is usually a busy time for new movies to watch at home, and this year is no different. Let’s dig into it.
New on Netflix
May December
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Francois Duhamel/Netflix
Genre: Drama Run time: 1h 57m Director: Todd Haynes Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton
One of our great modern filmmakers is back with another thorny story — this about an actor (Natalie Portman) studying a woman (Julianne Moore) she is going to play in a film. The woman (based loosely on convicted sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau) is known for her scandalous relationship with her husband (Charles Melton), who she first met when he was a minor. Melton has already won multiple awards for his portrayal of the husband, and as it’s a Todd Haynes movie, you can expect a sumptuous, at times uncomfortable watch led by fantastic performances.
No, you are not seeing double. Yes, last week, Netflix premiered its “Adam Sandler as a talking lizard” animated musical Leo. This week, the Tamil box-office hit Leo, a remake of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, lands on the platform.
Both Leos on Netflix prominently feature musical numbers, but they couldn’t be more different movies. In this one, a coffee shop owner and family man (Vijay) dispatches a group of killers at his business, making him an overnight sensation. This raises the interest of a gangster, who believes the man is his long-lost son.
Leo is the third movie in director Lokesh Kanagaraj’s LCU, after Kaithi and Vikram. There are a few repeat characters in this one, but neither of the previous movies are necessary to understand it (but they are both better, so I’d say they’re worth checking out).
Family Switch
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Photo: Elizabeth Morris/Netflix
Genre: Sci-fi family comedy Run time: 1h 41m Director: McG Cast: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers
It’s Freaky Friday, squared! From McG (Charlie’s Angels), this spin on the body-swap trope adds a dash of Christmas to the formula and has all four members of the principal family swap bodies.
American Symphony
Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix
Image: Netflix
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 44m Director: Matthew Heineman Cast: Jon Batiste, Suleika Jaouad
This documentary follows two artists in love facing a difficult situation: One, award-winning musician Jon Batiste, is writing a symphony, while his partner, bestselling author Suleika Jaouad, is being treated for cancer.
New on Disney Plus
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Where to watch: Available to stream on Disney Plus
Image: Lucasfilm
Genre: Action-adventure Run time: 2h 34m Director: James Mangold Cast: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen
Harrison Ford’s final outing as Indiana Jones sees the whip-wielding archaeologist adventurer embark on one last intrepid expedition with his estranged goddaughter Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) as they race across the world in search of an ancient artifact before a Nazi rocket scientist (Mads Mikkelsen) gets his nefarious hands on it.
Mangold is a very fine director capable of helming solid crowd-pleasers (Ford v Ferrari, Walk the Line) and even breathing new life into the dying X-Men franchise with Logan. But Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny looks anonymous. Its visual style is drab in a way that drains the film of any personality. When Indiana Jones makes his way through boobytrapped caves in torchlight in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the contrast between the outside world and this creepy tomb evokes a singular wonder. But virtually every scene in darkness here is scantily lit and hard to see. And like many a modern blockbuster, Dial of Destiny leans on rapid cuts that heighten the pace of Indiana’s brawls with the Nazis, but the choreography is barely discernible.
Genre: Documentary Run time: 1h 41m Director: Steve James Cast: Tom Goodwin, Mickey O’Sullivan
Legendary documentarian Steve James (Hoop Dreams) turns his camera toward the story of Theodore Hall, a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and gave information to the Soviets about the development of The Bomb. The documentary uses interview footage with Hall and his wife, as well as reenactments and archival footage.
New on Prime Video
Candy Cane Lane
Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video
Image: Prime Video
Genre: Christmas Run time: 1h 57m Director: Reginald Hudlin Cast: Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell
It’s a very Eddie Murphy Christmas on Prime Video. He’s a man determined to win a Christmas home decoration contest, and he makes a deal with an elf (Jillian Bell) that has unforeseen consequences on his town.
Genre: Thriller Run time: 1h 43m Director: Alice Troughton Cast: Daryl McCormack, Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy
A young writer (Daryl McCormack) agrees to tutor the son of his idol (Richard E. Grant). But all is not as it seems, as dark secrets threaten to tangle the writer in this family’s web.
Genre: Drama Run time: 1h 37m Director: Savanah Leaf Cast: Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander, Doechii
A pregnant single mother in the Bay Area hopes to reclaim her two children from foster care in this moving drama from first-time feature director Savanah Leaf. It’s one of the best movies of the year.
Genre: Horror Run time: 1h 51m Director: David Gordon Green Cast: Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Ann Dowd
After a short theatrical run, David Gordon Green’s new entry in the Exorcist franchise arrives at home. It’s a bizarre twist on the franchise, per our review:
Up until this most recent movie, the title The Exorcist carried some weight. While its role as a representation of quality was up for debate, its mark as a sign of ambition was not. Since the original Exorcist, the series has provided some of American cinema’s best and most interesting artists with space to ruminate on faith and evil. Believer lacks the ambition that’s meant to define an Exorcist movie. This is the most profound statement the movie has to offer, seemingly by accident: If the result of moving past God is that everything in the world will feel as empty and pointless as The Exorcist: Believer, we should cling to faith forever.
New on Shudder
It’s a Wonderful Knife
Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder
Image: RLJE Films
Genre: Horror Run time: 1h 27m Director: Tyler MacIntyre Cast: Jane Widdop, Justin Long, Joel McHale
It’s a Wonderful Life meets the slasher genre in this Christmas movie about a girl who wishes she’d never been born, only to discover how many lives that would truly cost.
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 35m Director: Adele Lim Cast: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu
What if someone took the 2017 comedy Girls Trip and combined it with the soul-searching drama of Return to Seoul? You might get something like Joy Ride, the new comedy about a four Chinese American friends who bond through their shared adventure to track down their birth mothers.
Genre: Comedy Run time: 1h 31m Director: Emma Seligman Cast: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Marshawn Lynch
Teen girl comedies are back in a big way, and Bottoms is a standout of this year’s crop. A trio of comedic powerhouses star in this movie about high school girls who start a fight club to try and impress the popular girls at school they have crushes on. Chaos ensues.
Bottoms is strongest when it fully indulges that satire. Part of the high school’s hype strategy for the big football game involves plastering the halls with heavily sexualized shirtless posters of the star quarterback. A classroom scene inexplicably involves one of the students standing in a cage. After a particularly climatic moment, a sad montage plays out, set to none other than Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated,” a needle drop so ridiculously 2000s that it transcends time and space.
Genre: Neo-noir crime thriller Run time: 1h 49m Director: Neil Jordan Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange
Liam Neeson (Taken) plays Raymond Chandler’s iconic down-on-his-luck detective in a feature length adaptation of the 2014 Philip Marlowe novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville. Hired by a glamorous heiress (Diane Kruger) to ascertain the whereabouts of her ex-lover and bring them back, Marlowe quickly finds himself entrenched in an investigation that goes far deeper (and potentially far deadlier) than a lover’s quarrel.
New to rent
The Holdovers
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Focus Features
Genre: Comedy drama Run time: 2h 13m Director: Alexander Payne Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
A strong late awards-season contender, The Holdovers has been beloved by every single person I’ve seen watch it. It’s about three people left at a New England boarding school for Christmas in 1970 — an uptight teacher (Paul Giamatti), the school’s head cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), and a sulking student (Dominic Sessa).
Freelance
Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu
Image: Relativity Media
Genre: Action comedy Run time: 1h 48m Director: Pierre Morel Cast: John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba
Taken director Pierre Morel moves to a more comedic mode here, in this movie about a former Special Forces officer (John Cena) and a journalist (Alison Brie) who travel to a fictional country together to interview the nation’s dictator.
Genre: Supernatural horror thriller Run time: 1h 50m Director: Emma Tammi Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Lail, Piper Rubio
The massive hit video game series finally gets a horror movie adaptation, and Universal is going with the 2021 release model of simultaneous home and theatrical releases. Will it work for them? Only time will tell, but what it means for you is that you can watch a movie about the infamous, creepy pizza restaurant and its cursed animatronic animals either at home or in theaters.
The movie’s funniest line is unintentional, when Mike earnestly explains, “I’m having a hard time just processing everything that’s happened,” as if he’s working through a tough breakup rather than a series of increasingly bizarre animatronic attacks. He’s right, though. For a movie with such a simple, appealing premise, Five Nights at Freddy’s is a lot to process.
While Rockstar hasn’t given the next GTA game a proper name yet, it’s almost assuredly going to be titled Grand Theft Auto 6 (or Grand Theft Auto VI). And we know some details about GTA 6, after an unprecedented leak of the game in 2022. But thanks to Rockstar’s secrecy and the enormous task of following up one of the biggest games of all time, much about GTA 6 is still shrouded in mystery.
Here’s everything we do know about Grand Theft Auto 6 so far.
When does GTA 6 come out?
Rockstar hasn’t announced a release date yet for GTA 6, but parent company Take-Two Interactive might have revealed a release window for the next Grand Theft Auto game. In August, Take-Two told investors the company plans to see a “significant inflection point” during its 2025 fiscal year, which has been interpreted by analysts to mean that GTA 6 will be released sometime between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025. Obviously, that’s a pretty big window, but it could point to a 2024 release for GTA 6.
While GTA 6 may be targeting a 2024 launch, Rockstar is famous for delaying its biggest games in the name of polish. Its last major release, Red Dead Redemption 2, was publicly delayedthree times. And back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 saw a significant delay, slipping from its original spring release date to its ultimate September 2013 launch.
In other words, even if Rockstar gives us a release date or window by the end of 2023, history tells us that nothing is set in stone.
When does the GTA 6 trailer come out?
Rockstar co-founder and president Sam Houser has only confirmed an “early December” release for the first GTA 6 trailer. It may or may not coincide with The Game Awards 2023, which streams live on Dec. 7. It’s more likely that Rockstar will release the trailer on its own schedule, without competing with a bunch of other game announcements.
Where does GTA 6 take place?
According to a massive leak of early gameplay videos and early reporting on the game, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be set in Vice City, the GTA version of Miami. That location was previously explored in 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and that game’s 2006 prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. Those entries were set during the mid-1980s, but GTA 6 will reportedly tell a modern-day, Bonnie and Clyde-inspired story featuring two leads named Jason and Lucia, based on early gameplay videos. Lucia would be the GTA series’ first female lead playable protagonist in a mainline game.
The videos show robberies, gunplay, open-world driving, a police chase, a crowded nightclub scene, and conversations with full voice acting. The game footage was clearly not intended to be shown publicly, with debug programming elements visible on-screen at the time.
One of the longer videos showed the female player character robbing a diner, as well as threatening staff and customers, who react in fear to having a gun pulled on them. Then she and her male accomplice get in a shootout with police before jumping in the police patrol car and driving off. The game’s graphical treatment is quite realistic, but still consistent with GTA games’ style.
TBD, but PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X are a safe bet. Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto games, which saw staggered releases on consoles versus PC, it seems more likely than ever that Rockstar would release all versions of the game on the same day. But given Rockstar’s track record, the PC version could lag behind PlayStation and Xbox releases.
There’s also another platform coming that could be home to Grand Theft Auto 6: Nintendo’s Switch successor. Rockstar has embraced the Switch with releases like L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition, so don’t rule out an eventual release of GTA 6 on Switch 2.
How much will GTA 6 cost?
Rockstar and publisher Take-Two haven’t announced a price point, but it seems likely that Grand Theft Auto 6 will carry a $69.99 price point, increasinglythe standardfor AAA video games with big budgets.
Don’t worry about those unfounded rumors that GTA 6 will cost $150, or will be priced per hour, based on misinterpreted comments from Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick. There may be higher-priced premium or collector’s edition versions of GTA 6 that cost more than the industry-standard $69.99, but hold your horses (and your pre-orders) until Rockstar makes it official.
What happens to Grand Theft Auto Online when GTA 6 comes out?
Rockstar hasn’t said, but given the massive popularity of GTA Online, which is also sold as a stand-alone experience, it will likely continue. Rockstar may have more grand ambitions for an online mode for GTA 6, and it may run two versions of the online experience for each game. The future of GTA Online is one of the biggest open questions — not to mention Rockstar’s trickiest needle to thread — when it comes to discussing GTA 6. Rockstar may very well keep those plans under wraps for the foreseeable future.
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