STREAM IT: Michelle Yeoh enters the Witcher-verse with the prequel series, Blood Origin
There truly is a Michelle Yeoh in every universe. The multiverse-hopping star of Everything Everywhere All at Once touches down in Netflix's expanding Witcher-verse in the new prequel tale Blood Origin. Set centuries before the mothership series starring former Superman, Henry Cavill (soon to be replaced by Liam Hemsworth), the four-episode event series features Yeoh as the first-ever Witcher and how her actions shape the world her descendants will inhabit. If she wins a Best Actress Oscar as anticipated in early 2023, don't be surprised if Yeoh adds a few more major IP universes to her résumé. — Ethan Alter
The Witcher: Blood Origin premieres Sunday, Dec. 25 on Netflix.
WATCH IT: Christian Bale goes Pale with Poe Scott Cooper’s The Pale Blue Eye
Christian Bale can’t stop, won’t stop. In his third film of the year after Marvel’s underrated Thor: Love and Thunder and David O. Russell’s appropriately derided Amsterdam, he gets his sleuth on as a top hat-donning detective investigating a series of murders around a military academy in 1930s West Point, N.Y. The twist for literary lovers? He’s assisted by a young Edgar Allan Poe (The Queen’s Gambit’s Harry Melling), future horror legend. Check out an exclusive clip from the Netflix release above. — Kevin Polowy
The Pale Blue Eye opens in theaters on Friday, Dec. 23 (get tickets from Fandango) before premiering on Netflix Friday, Jan. 6.
STREAM IT: Mais oui! Emily in Paris returns for more guilty pleasure binging
When we last left everyone's favorite American in Paris, Emily Cooper, she was facing two impossible commitment choices: Sylvie or Madeline in work and Alfie or Gabriel in love. Season 3 of Darren Star's Netflix confection brings those simmering conflicts to a head and sets Emily on a new path to happiness. The fresh batch of episodes also bring a bigger storyline for Ashley Park's fan favorite roommate, Mindy, who has her own professional and personal obstacles to navigate this year. Come marvel at the Parisian ambience and stay for Lily Collins's increasingly Alexis Rose-like performance. — E.A.
Emily in Paris premieres Wednesday, Dec. 21 on Netflix.
STREAM IT: John Krasinski goes on the run in the third season of Jack Ryan
Has Jack Ryan been Bourne again? The third season of Prime Video's Tom Clancy-based espionage series finds John Krasinski's CIA analyst suddenly on the outs with his agency, and forced to go off the grid like a certain memory-challenged operative. His current adventures take him all over Europe and introduce him to new characters played by Tár's Nina Hoss and Get Out's Betty Gabriel. This exclusive clip from the series sets Jack's mission in motion, as he races to avoid capture. — E.A.
Jack Ryan premieres Wednesday, Dec. 21 on Prime Video.
WATCH IT: The fecking brilliant Banshees of Inisherin land on Blu-ray
There have been a handful of buzzy prestige dramas that we’re glad we watched but we never, ever want to see them again (we’re looking at you The Whale and Blonde). The Banshees of Inisherin is the opposite. We’d watch Banshees — Martin McDonagh’s razor-sharp, deliriously entertaining dark comedy/drama about two best friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) on a small Irish island falling out of friendship — over and over and over. Good thing it lands on Blu-ray this week, just in time to do that over holiday break, with bonus features including a featurette and deleted scenes, one of which you can watch exclusively above. — K.P.
The Banshees of Inisherin releases on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, Dec. 20 on Amazon.
WATCH IT: The Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, roars on Blu-ray
You can't keep a good dragon down. Or an evil dragon, for that matter. That's one of the many takeaways from the hit Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, which was a major success story for HBO and HBO Max earlier this year. Now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD, the addictive prequel series follows the machinations of House Targaryen centuries before Daenerys came along. This exclusive clip from a featurette included on the home entertainment release references all the scaly friends who cozy up to Mother of Dragons's ancestors. — E.A.
House of the Dragon releases on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, Dec. 20 on Amazon.
STREAM IT: The BAU is back with Criminal Minds: Evolution!
In the new Criminal Minds: Evolution exclusively on Paramount+, the FBI's elite team of criminal profilers come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. Now, as the world opens back up, the network goes operational and our team must hunt them down — one murder at a time. Starring Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster. Zach Gilford is a recurring guest star.
New Criminal Minds: Evolution episodes drop every Thursday on Paramount+. Try it free.
WATCH/READ IT: Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody celebrates the late superstar
The movie about the alternately incredible and heartbreaking life of the six-time Grammy winner is finally here, with a cast led by Naomi Ackie as Houston and Stanley Tucci as her longtime mentor, Clive Davis. Like writer Anthony McCarten's 2018 project on Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody, the Houston film promises to be packed with her many hits and career-making moments, like when she beautifully and powerfully sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1991, and sat in that chair to sing "I Will Always Love You." In the same week the film debuts, a new book, I Wanna Dance with Somebody: The Official Whitney Houston Film Companion, arrives in stores, and captures the cast and crew explaining just how it came together, from the casting, to the recreation of the "I'm Your Baby Tonight" singer's look and more. Ackie even wrote the forward for the book, which is packed with behind-the-scenes photos. — Raechal Shewfelt
I Wanna Dance With Somebody arrives in theaters Friday, Dec. 23 (get tickets on Fandango); I Wanna Dance With Somebody: The Official Whitney Houston Film Companion is available Tuesday, Dec. 20 on Amazon.
WATCH IT: Count down to the big day with Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All!
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If you didn't want a lot for Christmas, all you were asking for was the "All I Want for Christmas Is You" singer, then you're in luck! Because Carey's performance of holiday songs, filmed this month at New York City's Madison Square Garden, airs just ahead of the big day, to provide some festive viewing as you wrap those last few gifts and put the final dollops of icing on the sugar cookies. One of the unofficial queens of Christmas, Carey has explained that she does the holiday so big — seriously, Santa and his live reindeer visit her house every year — simply because it makes her happy, and because she can. She's Mariah Carey, darling! — R.S.
Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All! airs Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
WATCH IT: Vicky Krieps gets the royal treatment in the period star vehicle Corsage
https://youtube.com/watch?v=P7LpMtLRe2E%3Frel%3D0
Vicky Krieps goes from Phantom Thread to royal threads in Corsage, a freshly tailored take on the period costume drama written and directed by Austrian auteur, Marie Kreutzer. Krieps plays 19th century Austrian empress, Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, who occupied her elevated position for 44 years until her death in 1898. Taking a fractured fairy tale approach to the empress's life story, Kreutzer moves around in time as Elisabeth tries to stay ahead of the memories of lost loved ones while embracing the future promised by the looming 20th century. But the main attraction is Krieps's immersive performance, which deservedly won an acting prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. — E.A.
Corsage premieres Dec. 23 in theaters
PLAY IT: Funko's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation game will bring your tabletop tidings of comfort and joy
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6VODOe-sNjA%3Frel%3D0
You may not want to spend Christmas with the Griswold family, but they're good company for a holiday game night. Funko's new Vacation-based party game has you competing for Clark's Christmas bonus, while staying one step ahead of Cousin Eddie's destructive ways. Bonus points for the game's ugly sweater aesthetic and the signature Marty Moose tumbler. — E.A.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Party Game is available now at Target.
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