{"id":195443,"date":"2025-12-20T21:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/195443\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T21:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:21:10","slug":"best-movies-and-tv-dec-19-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/195443\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Movies and TV (Dec. 19\u201321)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Clockwise from top: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Emily in Paris, The Housemaid, and Fallout.
\n Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: 20th Century Studios\/Everett Collection, Lorenzo Sisti\/Prime, Daniel McFadden\/Lionsgate, Caroline Dubois\/Netflix\n <\/p>\n

The Ghoul. Blue guys. Berets. Okay? That about sums up this week in entertainment. There are returning seasons of Fallout and Emily in Paris. (Or should that be Emily in Rome?) James Cameron is bringing us back into the world of the Na\u2019vi sooner than ever \u2014 don\u2019t worry, Payakan is returning<\/a>, too. Now, here\u2019s everything.<\/p>\n

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Getting an Avatar sequel so close (three years) to its predecessor is a strange sensation, but you know, you should never doubt James Cameron<\/a>. In Fire and Ash, the story picks up the pieces after The Way of Water\u2019s dramatic conclusion<\/a> as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Salda\u00f1a) struggle after the death of their son. Meanwhile, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) schemes with the fire tribe of aggro Na\u2019vi led by Varang (Oona Chaplin).<\/p>\n

Video-game adaptations have a poor success rate, but Fallout is one of the better entries<\/a> in the genre, and the game it\u2019s adapting this season (Fallout: New Vegas) is one of the most beloved installments of the franchise. If that\u2019s not enough, Walton Goggins makes nose holes look improbably alluring. \u2014 Kathryn VanArendonk<\/p>\n

\u27bd\u00a0No surprise \u2014 Walton Goggins makes everything good<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDirected by Paul Feig\u201d is all you need to hear to know that this movie will be slightly nuts. Adapted from the Freida McFadden novel of the same name, The Housemaid stars Sydney Sweeney as the titular maid hired by Amanda Seyfried\u2019s wealthy Nina Winchester. The two engage in what I can safely assume is a messed-up cat-and-mouse game.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think they\u2019d wait to ship Emily off to another European locale until she learns French first, but no, Emily is trading Paris for Rome this season<\/a>. She\u2019s got a new Italian beau and is put in charge of Agence Grateau\u2019s new Rome office. It\u2019s the perfect fodder for trying to shut your brain off during the holidays.<\/p>\n

If You\u2019re in New York or Los Angeles<\/p>\n

\u27bd A stunner at the Venice International Film Festival, The Voice of Hind Rajab<\/a> has a limited theatrical run.<\/p>\n

\u27bd The Will Arnett and Laura Dern\u2013led dramedy Is This Thing On? <\/a>is hitting theaters this weekend.<\/p>\n

If Mr. Scorsese<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough for you, this documentary will provide a longer look at the tumult of the 1970s and the New Hollywood figures who bent American cinema. Narrated by Jodie Foster, it features dozens of talking heads, including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and Albert Brooks. Putting aside the frustration of a streamer seemingly cavalier about destroying the theater system releasing a documentary about the importance of the theater system, this one should be good. \u2014 Roxana Hadadi\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest in the Music Box documentary series captures the pop-rockers navigating the success of their early-\u201990s alternative-radio hits \u2014 \u201dMr. Jones,\u201d \u201cRound Here,\u201d and \u201cEinstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)\u201d \u2014 and the darker and more difficult sophomore-album cycle. \u2014 Craig Jenkins<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

SpongeBob? Back in theaters? Pants? Okay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The network is calling it a \u201ccreative experiment,\u201d but otherwise, details are sparse on this three-act special. Each segment is helmed by a different creator or creative team \u2014 Patrick McHale, Ian Jones-Quartey and Rebecca Sugar, and Pendleton Ward \u2014 without knowledge of what the others are doing, which could result in a fascinating spectacle or a flat-out weird one. \u2014 R.H.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you don\u2019t know who Rob Reiner<\/a> was, you\u2019re living in a world he helped shape. He leveraged the TV fame he earned in the 1970s playing Mike \u2018Meathead\u2019 Stivic, the son-in-law and main adversary of motormouthed bigot Archie Bunker on All in the Family, and became a filmmaker responsible for some of the most beloved American movies of the \u201980s and \u201990s: Stand by Me (\u201986), The Princess Bride<\/a> (\u201987), When Harry Met Sally<\/a> (\u201989), Misery (\u201990), A Few Good Men (\u201992).\u201d \u2014 Read more of Matt Zoller Seitz\u2019s piece on Reiner here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the Reiner films listed above and more, here is a guide<\/a> to the beloved director\u2019s works. Also, CBS News will be airing a Rob Reiner special on December 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne Battle After Another is a full meal in ways so few films of this scale and budget (by most accounts, more than $130 million) these days are. It is expertly directed and lensed, brimming with aesthetic prowess. At the same time, it makes a spectacle out of its philosophical ideas. It\u2019s a quicksilver film, shifting and melding solemn character reflections with amusing internecine conflicts. At its worst, the humor, enlivening on the level of entertainment, undermines the horror we\u2019re otherwise witnessing. At its best, the discomfiture paves the way for charged performances \u2014 none more crucial than Teyana Taylor\u2019s Perfidia.\u201d \u2014 Read the rest of Angelica Jade Basti\u00e9n\u2019s piece on the talent of the Black actresses carrying PTA\u2019s drama here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u27bd You can now see Now You See Me: Now You Don\u2019t and Jafar Panahi\u2019s It Was Just an Accident on VOD.<\/p>\n

Want more? Read our recommendations from the\u00a0weekend of December 12<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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