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Eating leftover turkey sandwiches and stuffing (pro tip: calories don’t count if you eat it straight from the fridge), we enter the weekend with a smorgasbord of new movies to watch from the best streaming services. But only a few of these new things are worth adding to your weekend watch list.
Leading the charge this week is the crowd-pleasing Christmas caper “Jingle Bell Heist” on Netflix, which I wouldn’t be surprised to see hold the No. 1 spot for weeks. It will premiere with one of my favorite movies of the year, Austin Butler’s epic sleeper hit “Caught Stealing.”
To keep the blood pumping, you can watch Mark Wahlberg’s rare role as a villain in “Flight Risk” on HBO Max. Meanwhile, Prime Video gets a sci-fi fever dream from the director of “Parasite” and Hulu has a compellingly terrifying spin on the classic Grimm fairy tale. Let’s take a look at the best movies to watch this weekend that just hit streaming.
‘Jingle Bell Heist’ (Netflix)
The Christmas-themed prank seems like such an obvious conceit for a crowd-pleaser, I’m surprised nothing more happened. This year, Netflix mixed up its usual holiday movie slate with “Jingle Bell Heist,” a romantic comedy with an “Ocean’s Eleven”-style swing.
Sophia (Olivia Holt) is a fast-talking retail worker who can barely make ends meet while caring for her ailing mother. Nick (Connor Swindells), a struggling repairman and former security consultant, is in a similar bind as he tries to provide for his daughter while finding them a new home.
The two plan to rob a luxury London department store on Christmas Eve, and as sparks fly the unlikely pair of criminals get more than they bargained for.
Watch “Jingle Bell Heist” on Netflix. Now
‘The Ugly Stepsister’ (Hulu)
It’s rare to see horror movies get full marks from critics, so when I saw “The Ugly Stepsister”‘s nearly 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it immediately jumped to the top of my watchlist.
This twisted Cinderella story focuses on her eldest “ugly” stepsister, Elvira (Lea Myren), in a gleefully wicked horror comedy that puts subtlety aside for a compelling and disturbing deconstruction of internalized misogyny. Convinced that marrying the eligible Prince Julian (Isaac Kalmroth) is their family’s only way out of debt, Elvira’s stepmother (Anne Dahl Torp) forces her through a punishing makeover in hopes of turning her into the “perfect” bride contender.
Watch “The Ugly Stepster” on Hulu. Now
‘Mickey 17’ (Prime Video)
“Mickey 17” is an unforgettable sci-fi fever dream, but if you’re expecting it to be something like director Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning “Parasite,” you’ll walk away confused rather than entertained.
It’s two hours of hilarious sci-fi weirdness where Robert Pattinson delivers one of his best (and most pathetic) performances of the year. The awkward energy works as the actors throw themselves completely into these over-the-top roles, but whether the humor also lands depends on your taste.
In a future where humanity is scrambling to escape a dying Earth, Mickey Barnes (Pattinson) signs up for a remote mission to rescue a lone shark from its tail. His job is to perform dangerous tasks with the knowledge that if he dies, he will be cloned and return to work in a fresh, grown body with his memories intact.
But when Mickey escapes a job and finds his latest clone already living his life, it begins an extremely hilarious odyssey that throws logic out of the nearest airlock.
Watch “Mickey 17” on Prime Video. Now
‘Flight Risk’ (HBO Max)
If you’re a fan of “so-bad-it’s-good” movies, “Flight Risk” should make you cringe. This action-thriller is pure silly entertainment, nothing more, and sees Mark Wahlberg breaking his 28-year villainous streak in an aggressive manner.
He plays a pilot who is assigned to fly an air marshal (Michelle Dockery of “Downton Abbey” fame) and a fugitive (Topher Grace) to trial. Once they get airborne, it immediately becomes clear that everyone is not who they say they are.
With the trio trapped in a cramped cabin at 30,000 feet in the Alaskan wilderness, it’s only a matter of time before tensions rise.
Watch “Flight Risk” on HBO Max. Now
‘Caught Stealing’ (Netflix)
Of all the entries on this list, “Caught Stealing” is the one you really shouldn’t sleep about. It’s like “The Hangover” re-imagined as a crime thriller, starring a schmuck with the worst luck in the world.
Bad Bunny plays a gangster who’s too squeamish to get his hands dirty, has someone’s surgical staples pulled out to the tune of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and Matt Smith is a weird little guy. In short, it’s amazing.
Hank Thompson (Austin Butler), a washed-up former baseball player from the Sticks, spends his days at a local dive bar, calling his mom like clockwork, and hanging out with his new girlfriend (Zoe Kravitz).
But when his British punk neighbor Russ (Smith) asks him to keep an eye on his cat while he’s out of town, the favor lands him in the crosshairs of dangerous criminals. As the danger draws closer, Hank reluctantly tries to channel his inner action hero by making it out of this ungodly mix alive.
Watch “Caught Stealing” on Netflix. Now
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