MARIA MELCHIORRE
Staff Writer
As dead week comes to a close, and we’ve Santa-stumbled our way into finals week, many will find themselves wistfully queuing up shows and movies in anticipation of those lazy days of holiday break. Many will likely find themselves with a bit more free time on their hands in January than over the past semester. And like any good millennial, they’re going to dedicate these slovenly hours to Netflix and Hulu.
Many probably have some shows lined up they’ve been meaning to watch. “Jessica Jones” is a good one, for example. Taking place in the Marvel universe, this Netflix original revolves around a private investigator with superhuman strength.
The first season centers on her struggle to take down her mind-controlling nemesis, Killgrave. But there are plenty more less-publicized hidden treasures to be viewed over the impending break.
Some might be in the mood for holiday specials — well, the reliable streaming services have got everyone covered. One might have noticed Netflix touting its new Bill Murray special, “A Very Murray Christmas,” in which stars like Miley Cyrus and George Clooney participate in festive musical numbers.
Another exciting Netflix holiday special is Blackmirror’s “White Christmas.” The vignette sci-fi series has audiences waiting on its third season, but will give us a little bit of fleeting satisfaction with this special, going online on Dec. 25.
On Hulu are scores of favorite childhood cartoon holiday movies under the heading, “Hulu for the Holidays.” In addition, Hulu recently signed a hefty contract to stream all of the Seinfeld seasons to Hulu subscribers.
“I’m really excited that Hulu just put up all the seasons of Seinfeld,” said Shannon Rochford, senior international studies major, “I can’t wait to watch the Festivus episode with my family.”
“Festivus” is celebrated in episode 10 of season 9 under the title, “The Strike.”
For more holiday movies to watch with family and loved ones over break, go to the Netflix Browse category “Holiday Favorites.” Here classics can be found such as “The Holiday,” and “Christmas with the Kranks,” as well as some new discoveries like “Happy Christmas,” featuring Anna Kendrick of “Pitch Perfect” fame, and “Icetastrophe,” about a snowy holiday gone horribly wrong.
Some great sources to help watchers choose what to watch, instead of scrolling and arguing, and scrolling some more, are Decider.com and New York Magazine (NYMag).
Decider breaks searches down into each specific viewing platform and also gives information such as which shows are currently nominated for writer’s guild awards and where to watch them.
NYMag is a great sources for movie and TV reviews, but they now have a new feature on their Vulture page titled, “What to Stream.” NYMag also breaks down the individual platforms and is one of the best sources for lists of what is being released online within each upcoming month.
NYMag, unlike Decider, gives artful recaps of many of these shows and what viewers can expect from directors and producers in upcoming seasons.
So whether people end up alone in their rooms while their families are putting together last-minute holiday details, or curled up on the couch with loved ones, there are scores of great options for streaming this year.
With multiple platforms for viewing, just share some passwords, kick back and enjoy. For a conversation-focused get together, each one of these platforms has hour-long videos of toasty, burning yule logs to create a little holiday ambiance.