Neon continues to bring in a convoy of quality shows and films. See our handpicked highlights below followed by the full release schedule.
Top picks: TV
Bookie: Season 2 (December 13)
Sports betting has kind of ruined the world, or at least my screens: it’s nuts that it has only recently been legalised in the US, leading to a headache-inducing new culture of ads and addictions. The booming new industry is a nightmare for the lead character in this returning comedy, too, which stars Sebastian Maniscolo as a veteran bookie who’s still struggling to adapt to a bewildering new world. Since it’s created by TV juggernaut Chuck Lorre, the show does feature Charlie Sheen as a guest celeb cameo…as himself…but the show has also attracted a 90% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so you never can tell with these things, huh?
Murder is Easy: Limited Series (December 18)
British actor David Jonsson completely stunned me as a loveable android in Alien: Romulus, and so I’ll follow him into whatever project he blesses us with next. Which, as it happily turns out, is this charm-filled Agatha Christie adaptation! Jonsson is Nigerian attaché Fitzwilliam, perhaps a welcome change from the familiar Poirots and Marples we’ve seen onscreen. A Marple-esque character played by Penelope Wilton does kick off the whodunnit shenanigans, however, helping Jonsson along on a trail of killings in an English village in the 1950s. With its murder-mystery unfolding over two digestible episodes, it should be a delightful diversion in Christie’s absorbing style, but with twists and characters that we haven’t yet been overexposed to.
Top picks: Movies
Dune: Part Two (December 12)
We are tragically facing a summer without a new Denis Villeneuve Dune movie in cinemas—but this excellent, superior sequel can still storm your home screens, in the same month that expansive prequel series Dune: Prophecy reaches its season one finale (on December 23, FYI). It’s the stuff blockbuster dreams are made of, shedding the exposition and establishing moments of the first film and going for broke in its psychedelic action sequences and dramatic character turns.
If you thought Timmy Chalamet was just a pretty face, you either haven’t seen how his Paul Atreides spends the third act of this barnstorming sci-fi flick, or you’re blind m8. Austin Butler is a tremendous addition to the Harkonnen clan, bringing a little Elvis swagger to his villainous role. Zendaya’s Chani also gets more of a chance to shine here, emerging as the moral centre of the adaptation: are we driven by destiny and prophecy, or by our own nature, which can be hopelessly warped by power and revenge?
Rose Matafeo: On and On and On (December 21)
If you’ve ever wanted to steal comic Rose Matafeo’s phone and creep around inside her highly personal ruminations, here’s your chance: a special based on a 16,000-word Notes App screed, straight from the funny lady’s fingers to your ears (ew). Our TV critic Clarisse Loughrey is a big fan of Matafeo’s show Starstruck, often championing the creator and star’s particularly loveable qualities: “Matafeo is a sublime screen presence, funny and awkward and sincerely enthused by life.” Even as this very intimate and candid stand-up performance delves deep into romance, ageing, and big “what-ifs” of parenthood and destiny, that enthusiasm for life should carry us deliriously along.
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (December 26)
I was pretty harsh on this MonsterVerse sequel when it arrived in cinemas, comparing it negatively to the majesty and might of Toho’s Godzilla Minus One in my snarky review: “The New Empire proves that Hollywood is still cowering well below the skyscraper-sized intensity of these big characters, unable to harness their titanic power for good.” Might my Grinchy heart grow three sizes this Christmas, when I rewatch the monkey vs. lizard mayhem in a more breezy, holiday-viewing context? All signs point to why not. It also cannot be denied that the scenes of Kong using his annoying, wee-sized monkey companion as a living weapon, flailing the kiddo’s body around as a club, are absolutely hilarious. And I’ll always enjoy Dan Stevens in along-for-the-ride, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing character actor mode, here playing some kind of dentist for mega-cryptids.
Everything Coming to Neon this December
December 1
Arcadian
Daliland
The Holiday
The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland
Silent Witness: Seasons 23-25
December 2
Close
Scrapper
My Name is Alfred Hitchcock
Romantic Comedy
Wahl Street: Seasons 1-2
December 3
20 Days in Mariupol
It Lives Inside
Space Oddity
The Trouble with Jessica
December 4
The Big Brunch
December 5
Paddington
Paddington 2
December 6
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai: Season 1
Gremlins: The Wild Batch: Season 2
The Meg
Something in the Water
December 8
The Climb: Season 1
Creed III
December 9
The Accidental Tourist
The Capture: Seasons 1-2
December 10
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
December 11
Feasting with the Stars: Season 1
December 12
Dune: Part Two
December 13
Bookie: Season 2
Darkness of Man
Fred Claus
December 15
Se7en
Treadstone: Season 1
December 16
Bronco Billy
December 17
Bloods: Seasons 1-2
Ride Along
Ride Along 2
Wild Wild West
December 18
Murder is Easy: Season 1
December 19
Fracture
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
December 20
Nancy Drew
Ready Player One
December 21
The Last Samurai
Rose Matafeo: On and On and On
December 22
Black Widow: Season 1
Goodfellas
December 24
Jack the Giant Slayer
December 26
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
December 27
Bondi Vet: Season 12
Clash of the Titans
December 28
The Blind
December 29
Dating with my Mates: Season 1
Platoon
December 30
The Rewrite
December 31
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
