Author Archives: Carol Edwards

Quick links to watch ‘The Holdovers’ at home

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STREAM STARTING DEC. 29

Stream ‘The Holdovers’ on Peacock

$5.99/month or $59.99/year

Watch here.

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WATCH AT HOME

Buy ‘The Holdovers’ on Prime Video

$29.99

Watch here.

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WATCH AT HOME

Buy ‘The Holdovers’ on Apple TV

$29.99

Watch here.

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WATCH AT HOME

Buy ‘The Holdovers’ on Vudu

$29.99

Watch here.

Christmas may be over, but if you want to watch future Christmas classic The Holdovers whenever you want, you’ve got several options.

Released nationwide Nov. 10, The Holdovers is still screening in theaters. But if you’d prefer to have a movie night in, the film is available to rent or purchase through video on demand (VOD). On Dec. 29, The Holdovers will also be streaming on Peacock.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch The Holdovers at home.

What’s The Holdovers about?

Dominic Sessa, Paul Giamatti, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in “The Holdovers.”
Credit: Seacia Pavao/Focus Features

The Holdovers reunites director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) with actor Paul Giamatti for what Mashable’s Kristy Puchko describes as “curmudgeon comedy.”

Giamatti stars as Professor Hunham, a teacher at a prestigious Boston boarding school who’s been tasked with watching the academy’s “holdovers.” These are the students staying on campus over Christmas break, like the sharp but troubled Angus (Dominic Sessa). They’re joined by cafeteria manager Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) who is grieving the still-fresh loss of her son in the Vietnam War. These three may put up prickly facades, but as the holiday break wears on, they may just let their guards down and learn more about one another.

After a strong premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, and an acclaimed showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Holdovers is shaping up to be a major player come awards season. (It’s already racked up three Golden Globe nominations.) As Puchko writes, “The Holdovers is a terrific Payne film, bursting with sharp laughs and searing sweetness. Though it teeters when seeking depth in teen angst, this crackling comedy with a dramatic edge is nonetheless a crowdpleaser.”

Is The Holdovers streaming?

Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in “The Holdovers.”
Credit: Seacia Pavao/Focus Features

The Holdovers is not streaming yet, but come Dec. 29, it will be available to stream on Peacock. Peacock Premium costs $5.99 a month, or $59.99 a year. The ad-free Premium Plus comes out to $11.99 a month, or $119.99 a year.

What are some other ways to watch The Holdovers at home?

Dominic Sessa and Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers.”
Credit: Seacia Pavao/Focus Features

If you’d rather rent The Holdovers, or own the film outright, there are other options for you as well. Here are the links to rent and purchase The Holdovers on demand.

• Watch on Amazon Prime Video — $19.99 to rent, $29.99 to buy

• Watch on Apple TV — $19.99 to rent, $29.99 to buy

• Watch on Vudu — $19.99 to rent, $29.99 to buy

CES 2024 is right around the corner, set to unveil some wild innovations — and mind-blowing TV tech is expected to steal the spotlight. So the question is, what can we expect from CES 2024 in terms of TV innovation?

Well, have you seen this wild foldable TV from TCL? It’s a bendable, flexible TV that was showcased at Display Week, an annual conference in Los Angeles, in late May.

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This 8K TV prototype is capable of bending backwards at 90-degree angle. Plus, it has a 120Hz refresh rate and a zippy 1ms response time. And interestingly, it’s an “inkjet-printed OLED.” Inkjet printing (IJP), according to TechRadar, is a cost-cutting production method that could lead to cheaper OLED pricing for consumers. 

Plus, IJP promises better power efficiency and improved luminance. In other words, it’s greener, cheaper, and brighter, as TechRadar puts it. That being said, here’s a list of TV trends we’re expecting for CES 2024.

1. Foldable TVs

TCL isn’t the only company that has a flexible TV up its sleeve. C-SEED, according to Maxim, is poised to debut a folding TV at CES 2024 for the first time.

Unfolded, the microLED TV reveals a 137-inch display. When you’re ready to fold it again, it shrinks from its height of 7.8 feet down to a rectangular, aerospace aluminum slab that C-SEED describes as “an object of singular refinement.”

2. Easily mounted wireless TVs

Wireless TVs aren’t new to CES. For example, Displace made a splash earlier this year when it debuted a battery-powered TV that one could stick to a surface – no wall mount required.

Credit: Displace

For CES 2024, however, Displace has announced that it will reveal two new TVs: Displace Flex and Displace Mini. According to WiFiHiFi, the former offers a portable, magnetic stand that lets the TV charge wirelessly. Displace Mini, on the other hand, is a smaller version of the aforementioned battery-powered TV that won attendees’ hearts at CES 2023.

Each year, companies are finding new ways to free us from the perils of wires, and it looks like Displace is dipping its toe further into the innovation pool at CES 2024.

3. Ridiculously bright TVs

According to What Hi-Fi, flagship OLED TVs barely surpassed 2,000 nits of brightness this year, but two companies – TCL and Hisense – are breaking that mold.

Credit: AlexandrBognat

TCL recently teased its 98-inch X955 model, a TV that reportedly emanates 5,000 nits of brightness.

Hisense, however, said, “Hold my beer.” At CES 2024, it’s set to unveil a new 110-inch miniLED TV that can output – wait for it – 10,000 nits of brightness. As you can imagine, it’s billed as the world’s brightest TV. At this point, we’ll need sunglasses to watch our favorite movies and TV shows.

Final thoughts

On top of these three trends, CES 2024 is sure to feature TVs that attempt to push the envelope in regards to picture quality, contrast, pure black levels, vividness, and more.

Stay tuned for Mashable’s coverage of all the new trends that are set to make a splash at CES 2024.

Migration stars Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina and Keegan-Michael Key break down the film’s themes. Migration is now in theaters.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max was plagued with explosive reports about overheating issues and other foibles, but with a few software fixes, the Apple handset emerged from the rubble unscathed. After using Apple’s priciest smartphone for two months, I personally haven’t experienced any of the aforementioned flaws.

In fact, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is so good, I’d argue that it may lure the most devoted Android fans into the Apple ecosystem. And this is coming from someone who also owns a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — and loves it dearly.

Check out the five features that were game changers for me, particularly for work.

5 new iPhone 15 Pro Max features that are game-changing for work

1. NameDrop

No, you don’t need to have an iPhone 15 Pro Max to enjoy NameDrop. It’s a feature that supports iPhones running iOS 17, but using it with my Pro Max has eased my anxiety about first-time introductions.

Via Giphy

For the uninitiated, NameDrop lets you hover your iPhone over another iPhone to exchange contact information. You longer have to do that awkward dance of how to best swap phone numbers. You can simply use NameDrop, and in seconds, you have the other person’s contact details.

I’m constantly meeting new people in my field, so NameDrop has been the most useful iOS 17 feature thus far. Plus, I’ve noticed many iPhone users still aren’t aware of NameDrop, so putting my phone in close contact with theirs — and watching their eyes widen in wonder as a glowy animation appears — never fails to satisfy me.

2. Decent battery life

Setting the Apple handset to max brightness, I ran a TikTok rundown test on the iPhone 15 Pro Max (it played TikTok lives until it ran out of juice). It lasted about 11 hours on a charge. On the same test, my Galaxy S22 Ultra lasted a little over 9 hours.

Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

No, the iPhone 15 Pro Max doesn’t deliver mind-blowing, two-day battery life or anything (at least not in my experience), but it definitely outpaces my own Android handset in power efficiency.

3. Charge other devices via USB-C cable

I heard a choir of “Hallelujah” when Apple officially announced the end of Lightning in favor of USB-C.

Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

To top it all off, I can use the iPhone 15 Pro Max to juice up other devices, including my AirPods Pro and Ray-Ban Stories (the predecessor of the new Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses).

4. Action button

The Action Button is a lot more useful than you think. At first glance, when you scroll through the Action Button presets, you may think, “OK, I can customize the Action Button to launch apps like Flashlight, Camera, Magnifier, and Translate. So what?”

Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The truth is, the possibilities with the Action Button are endless. I personally use it as a quick launcher for Google Authenticator, which has been a godsend for the many logins that require two-factor authentication. I switch the Action Button to the Notes app for meeting-heavy work days.

Granted, my Galaxy S22 Ultra also has a “side key” that can be customized to launch any app, but the Action Button’s capabilities are vast and there are far more options to play around with, especially with access to Shortcuts.

5. Crisp video

I’ve used both the iPhone 15 Pro Max and my Galaxy S22 Ultra to shoot tech gadgets for work. Which is better? The iPhone 15 Pro Max hands down.

Its 48MP wide camera lens is better for true-to-life captures — when you want to snap photos that accurately render the scene “as is.” This is particularly important for my field of work because I want readers to get the most accurate, true-to-life perspective of the products I test, review and experience.

On the other hand, I prefer my Galaxy S22 Ultra for selfies. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 12MP front camera is almost too good, capturing my “I only slept for three hours last night” dark circles and “Life is stressing me out” crow’s feet.

Final thoughts

The Action Button may be my favorite iPhone feature in years. If Apple wants to make it even better, it’d allow users to customize actions by different gestures (e.g., triple presses, press and hold).

A close second is NameDrop, and by extension, iOS. Seamlessly swapping contact details has been a game changer for me in my field of work. Secondly, who can resist the fact that iOS actually lets you edit and delete texts within a 15-minute window? It’s incredibly useful for those embarrassing typos you make with your co-workers.

Has the iPhone 15 Pro Max won me over? So far. However, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is on its way, so let’s see whether it can lure me back to Samsung’s grasp.

After more than three months of whizzing through space, Japan’s lunar lander arrived at the moon on Christmas.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency — NASA’s Japanese counterpart known as JAXA for short — announced that its moon mission had achieved a major milestone on Dec. 25, successfully inserting into an oval-shaped orbit around the lunar north and south poles. For the next month, its orbit will gradually become more circular before it attempts the actual landing.

Whether the spacecraft will succeed in that regard is anyone’s guess: About half of all lunar landing attempts have failed, and only one out of three missions that tried to touch down on the moon in 2023 made it without a crash. In August, India became the fourth country to land on the moon, joining the former Soviet Union, United States, and China as the only spacefaring nations to have achieved this feat. Russia and a private Japanese startup company’s attempts, both robotic spacecraft, didn’t make it.

Getting to the moon, about a quarter-million miles from Earth, isn’t even half the battle. But so far, the SLIM mission, short for Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon, has not disappointed with its close-up photoshoot of the moon. As the spacecraft swooped about 370 miles above the surface, it snapped images with its navigation camera, revealing a lunar surface pocked and splattered by craters.

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Apollo moon-landing deniers have taught us that even pictures sometimes aren’t enough to convince folks inclined to believe conspiracy theories. So JAXA stitched together some of the lunar images into a flip book-like video (shown above in this X post) — further evidence of the landmark event.

“You can see that SLIM is indeed moving above the lunar surface,” the Japanese space agency said on X, formerly Twitter, according to a Google translation.

The SLIM mission launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on Sept. 7 and is expected to touch down near Shioli crater on the moon’s near side on Jan. 20. Its goal is to demonstrate a so-called “pinpoint landing” with an accuracy of less than 100 yards, a level of precision unprecedented for moon landings. Most landing targets are many square-miles in scope.

As the uncrewed SLIM spacecraft swooped about 370 miles above the ground, it snapped photos with its navigation camera, revealing a lunar surface pocked and splattered by craters.
Credit: JAXA / SLIM

If Japan succeeds, it will be the fifth nation to set a spacecraft down on the moon.

That will put it a few weeks ahead of U.S.-based Astrobotic Technologies’ moon landing effort, which will try to bring five NASA instruments to the surface, among other payloads. In April, a private Japanese company, ispace, also tried to land on the moon but ran out of fuel on descent and ultimately crashed.

About 60 years have passed since the first uncrewed moon landings, but touching down remains onerous. The moon’s exosphere — an extremely thin atmosphere of gasses barely held by the moon’s gravity — provides virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. Furthermore, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot.

If the SLIM mission succeeds, Japan will be the fifth nation to set a spacecraft down on the moon.
Credit: JAXA / SLIM

For decades, no one seemed interested in returning to the moon’s surface, but that has changed in recent years, with NASA’s Artemis campaign spurring them on. Several nations and private companies have set their sights on the lunar south pole because of its ice, thought to be buried there in permanently shadowed craters. The natural resource is coveted because it could supply drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel for future missions.

That means one day the moon could become more than just a heavenly destination, but a stop on the way to Mars — or possibly even other worlds.

Wondering how to watch college football this season? Here are your best options:

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Most affordable

Sling TV Orange Plan

$20 for the first month, then $40/month
(save $20 )

Get Deal

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BEST FOR SINGLE GAME

FuboTV Pro Plan

7-day free trial, then $54.99 for 1 month
(Save $20)

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The Tulane and Virginia Tech football teams are scheduled to meet in the 2023 Military Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. 

Tulane, ranked No. 23 in The Associated Press poll, comes into the matchup 11-2 overall. Most recently, SMU beat Tulane 26-14 in the AAC Championship Game. Virginia Tech enters the contest 6-6 overall. On Nov. 25, VT beat Virginia 55-17. Entering Wednesday, VT leads the all-time series 5-4 vs. Tulane.  

Slade Nagle is the Tulane football interim head coach. Brent Pry is the Virginia Tech football head coach. 

Military Bowl: VA Tech vs. Tulane football kickoff time and network

The Virginia Tech vs. Tulane football game in the 2023 Military Bowl is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Dec. 27. ESPN broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Jay Alter (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst), and Alex Chappell (sideline reporter). 

Embrace the new age of college football viewership with online streaming services like FuboTV and Sling. They present a solution to enjoy the games without cable or satellite TV.

Best streaming services for the Tulane vs. Virginia Tech football game

If you’re passionate about college football, especially games like Tulane vs. VT in the 2023 Military Bowl, finding the right streaming service is a game-changer if you’re without cable or satellite TV.

Most affordable: Sling TV

Sling TV’s 44-channel Orange & Blue package, at $55 per month, caters to college sports enthusiasts, featuring ESPN’s coverage of games like Tulane vs. VA Tech football. Start your subscription with a half-price first month at $27.50.

Are you more focused on just the 2023 Military Bowl? The Orange Plan, featuring 32 channels that include ESPN, is your ticket. It starts at $20 for the first month and then shifts to the usual $40/month.

Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network and SEC Network.

Best for single game: FuboTV

Dive into FuboTV’s rich viewing experience with a complimentary seven-day free trial. The Pro tier, encompassing more than 250 channels including ESPN for the Virginia Tech vs. Tulane football clash, starts at $54.99 for the first month and moves to $74.99/month thereafter.

FuboTV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Golf Network, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. 

St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City now has a digital twin.

To monitor and preserve the landmark, which was completed in 1626 and features works by artists like Michelangelo and Bernini, Italian engineering company Italferr collected data using a variety of tech, including drones, georadar, and airships.

The company’s interdisciplinary approach, powered by powered by Bentley’s iTwin software, integrated topography and laser scanning to create a 3D model of the Basilica with high accuracy.

Both time and disasters, human-made and natural, can damage architectural heritage beyond repair. 3D mapping could help preserve important information to maintain and restore cherished landmarks across the world.

Happy Christmas, Whovians! To celebrate the holiday and the debut of “The Church on Ruby Road,” we’ve re-ranked every Doctor Who Christmas special to figure out which are the best to rewatch when you want to get into the spirit.

Since the series rebooted in 2005, a yuletide special has meant big things for the Doctor and his companions, ranging from alien invasion to regeneration, tearful goodbyes, and raucous reunions. But what makes some better than others? In our research, we considered the following: How Christmassy is this Christmas special? How satisfying is its story? What kind of emotional wallop does it pack?

Whether heartwarming or heart-wrenching, the best of the batch made us feel alive the way only a heroic Time Lord can! Here are our results: The Doctor Who Christmas specials, ranked worst to best:

14. “The Christmas Invasion” (2005) Season 1: Episode 14

The first Christmas special of the rebooted series centered on Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) coming home for the holidays. Aside from reconnecting with her mom (Camille Coduri) and abandoned boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke), she’s also brought an uninvited guest — the newly regenerated Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). Beginning the episode comatose, he has to get back in the swing of things quickly, as robo-Santas (aka pilot fish Santa) and an unhinged Christmas tree rush to make a mess of the celebrations. 

There’s a pleasure to be found in Ten figuring it all out, especially as he riffs in a bathrobe in front of a conquering alien invader. Irreverent, swaggering, and unapologetically excitable, Tennant presents a great introduction to his take on the Doctor. As the special that started the franchise’s tradition, this episode has earned a lot of love from fans. But Rose and the Doctor affinity aside, it’s an odd one. Not only does this Doctor end up quoting The Lion King at length, but also he pulls a sexist trick on the female prime minister to defeat her: “Don’t you think she looks tired?” That doesn’t age well. Not even the merry makeover after that can shake the bad taste from my mouth over that one. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Christmas Invasion” is now streaming on Max.

13. “The End of Time: Part 1” (2009) Season 4: Episode 17 

This Tenth Doctor special is the beginning of his end as the titular Time Lord. (Well, sort of.) As you might expect, a lot of lore is folded in, ranging from the return of Donna’s granddad Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) to a prophesizing Ood to the resurrection of the Master (John Simm), who swiftly went from eating people to turning the world’s population into his clones. Plus, the Doctor casually reveals that in his off time, he got married to “Good Queen Bess,” and then cheekily implies Queen Elizabeth I can no longer be correctly called “the virgin queen.” 

Anyhoo, as Christmas specials go — this one was pretty unsatisfying. In part because it’s just the first half of a story, ending with the confounding return of the Time Lords. (Part two aired on New Year’s Day, 2010.) Then, as Big Bads go, Simm’s cackling can’t compare to the wicked fun of Missy (Michelle Gomez). It’s also frustrating watching the Doctor come SO CLOSE to a Donna reunion only to run away. On top of all that, there’s little Christmassy about this one (though Wilf tries with his reindeer cap), so re-watch quality is low. It’s a lot of setup with too little fun — or heartbreak even! 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The End of Time: Part 1” is now streaming on Max.

12. “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” (2016) Season 9: Episode 14

Some of the best Doctor Who episodes have been set in New York City (see “The Angels Take Manhattan”) — but this isn’t one of them. Here, writer Steven Moffat imagines what would happen if the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) met an American kid, and the answer is knockoff Superman stuff: flying like a speeding bullet, wearing glasses to look super normal, growly hero voice, and general derring-do. 

The story begins in 1992 on Christmas Eve, when an 8-year-old comic book lover mistakenly swallows a wishing gem that gives him superpowers. Cut to 2016, when journalist Lucy Fletcher (Charity Wakefield), the Doctor, his bumbling companion Nardole (Matt Lucas), and a superhero called The Ghost (Justin Chatwin) team up to fight evil. Frankly, the mash-up in styles doesn’t work. Perhaps because there’s a tinge of mockery throughout, as if Moffat is using the special as a platform to snark about America’s obsession with the superhero genre. To his credit, that’s a unique brand of bummer for a Doctor Who Christmas special. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” is now streaming on Max.

11. “Last Christmas” (2014) Season 8: Episode 13

Santa versus the Dream Crabs sounds like something out of MST3K, but it’s the daffy yet delightful concept of this holiday special. Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) and the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) team up with Father Christmas (a terrifically jolly Nick Frost) to save a North Pole research facility under siege by brainwashing parasites. 

If you like your Christmas episodes creepy with a side of goopy, you’ll relish this one. Plus Santa goes action hero, riding in on a bucking Rudolph, sending in toys and tangerines as his infantry. And there’s a lot of glee to be had from tough-talking Santa making believers of the under-siege scientists one by one. However, the final twist (upon twist upon twist) of this special gets a bit tedious. Still, we do love that “Merry Christmas Everybody” from Slade bit, where a scared scientist gets down to save her brain. So, all around, a fun — albeit funky — rewatch.

How to watch: Doctor Who: “Last Christmas” is now streaming on Max.

10. “The Time of the Doctor” (2013) Season 7: Episode 16

Matt Smith’s run as the Eleventh Doctor ended with this Christmas special, and he goes out in plenty of style. This outrageous ep combines classic Doctor Who villains like the Cybermen, Daleks, Weeping Angels, the Sontarans, and the Silence with a classic holiday comedy ploy. Clara is hosting a Christmas dinner, and she needs a Christmas date. So, she calls on her socially awkward alien bestie to play the part. Naturally, he turns up naked (but in a cheeky, appropriate-for-family-viewing way). 

However, this is not the real focus of the episode. That involves a crack in the universe, secrets of Gallifrey, and an ominous message for the Doctor. All this makes for a very exciting episode, but a rough revisit, as so much lore might have you head-scratching or googling over hooting and giggling. But even if you’ve grown foggy on some details, Smith’s enthusiasm and the overwhelming onslaught of memorable foes make this one a worthy rewatch. It’s also amusing to remember the time when the show feinted that this truly would be the last of the Doctor’s incarnations. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Time of the Doctor” is now streaming on Max.

9. “The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe” (2011) Season 6: Episode 14 

Old Hollywood charm infuses this special, centered as it is around a kindly wife and mother, who does her best with good humor even in the most trying circumstances. In 1938, when Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) discovers a discombobulated spaceman in need of assistance, she gamely obliges. Three years later, he’ll return the favor in a most spectacular way. 

With her husband KIA during World War II, Madge has her hands full with her children — and that’s before one of them wanders off into a time portal that transports him to a mysterious forest, where a terrible threat looms. Leave it to the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) — masquerading as a quirky caretaker — to help Madge save Christmas for one and all. A sweeping adventure with touches’ of sci-fi, C.S. Lewis-inspired fantasy, and plenty of mum power, this episode will leave you “happy crying — humany wumany.”

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” is now streaming on Max.

8. “A Christmas Carol” (2010) Season 5: Episode 14 

Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) begin their yuletide special with three familiar things to Whovians: 1) a resort spaceship on the brink of disaster 2) Amy in her mini-skirted police costume, and 3) Rory in his centurion outfit. What does it all mean? This couple is finally on a romantic holiday and are into role-playing their best adventures — in bed! (Good for them!) 

Saucy implications aside, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) arrives to save Christmas Day —  coming down the chimney like Santa himself! (Bonus fun: he presents a confounded child with a snapshot of him, Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein, and “Jeff” (aka Father Christmas).)

In this sci-fi spin on Charles Dickens’ most popular work, the great Michael Gambon plays Doctor Who‘s version of Ebenezer Scrooge. Kazran is a merciless money lender hellbent on being horrible on the holidays. Instead of employing seasonal ghosts, the Doctor goes back in time to make this curmudgeon more of a Claus. With festive flare, daddy issues, and flying sharks, this episode is a terrific gift. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol” is now streaming on Max.

7. “The Next Doctor” (2008) Season 4: Episode 14 

 This special came after “Journey’s End,” which closed the book on several beloved chapters for better (Rose and her Doctor parting gift) and worse (Donna and a series-rattling memory wipe). Fans needed something fun and festive to recover, and Russell T Davies delivered with a tale of child abduction and Cybermen that turns out surprisingly happy (for this show, anyway). 

The Tenth Doctor touches down in 1851 London on Christmas Eve and encounters a jaunty gentleman (David Morrissey) calling himself “The Doctor.” He’s even got an ultra-competent, comely companion to boot! (Velile Tshabalala is a treat as Rosita Farisi.) 

Our Doctor is initially delighted to meet what he assumes to be one of his future regenerations. But soon he realizes something sinister is going on. A solid mystery boils at the core of this one, while the Victorian setting gives the whole thing a Dickensian/Christmas Carol vibe. And ultimately, there’s plenty of joy to be found in the Doctor finding someone who really gets him. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Next Doctor” is now streaming on Max.

6. “The Snowmen” (2012) Season 7: Episode 6

Sentient snowmen! Following the Eleventh Doctor’s loss of Amy and Rory (“The Angels Take Manhattan”), this Christmas special is jam-packed with friends new and old. In Victorian England (a recurring setting for Doctor Who Christmas), reptilian detective Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), her human wife/Watson Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart), their grumbly Santaran butler, Strax (Dan Starkey), and impossible girl Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) all join forces as the Doctor does battle with vicious people-eating snowmen and their icy human ally (Richard E. Grant in glower mode). 

Having some fun in the holiday horror subgenre, this mid-season trifle is full of treats: fiercely fanged snowmen, Sherlock-like sleuthing, and bouncy banter. What’s not to relish?

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Snowmen” is now streaming on Max.

5. “The Runaway Bride” (2006) Season 2: Episode 14 

The adventures of the DoctorDonna begin in this Christmas episode, in which the holiday wedding of Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is interrupted by an inexplicable TARDIS abduction. And no one is more outraged than the snatched bride on her big day.

Where Rose (and then Martha) crushed hard on their Doctors, Donna gagged at the idea of getting with the skinny “spaceman” (David Tennant). Her brassy attitude is part of what made this episode – which involved an alien arachnid queen who was bent on overtaking Earth — such a salty treat. Sadly, it would be a bit before she’d swing back into the Doctor’s timeline. But with an adventure that boasted as much action and annihilation as it did Tate’s bold brand of humor, their reunion was well worth the wait. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Runaway Bride” is now streaming on Max.

4. “Twice Upon a Time” (2017) Season 10: Episode 13

Christmas is a time for change — or in Doctor Who, a time for regeneration. The last Christmas special for five years saw Peter Capaldi face his last battle as The Doctor. (He’d then hand the TARDIS over to Jodie Whittaker, who did a string of New Year’s specials during her tenure.) Fittingly, his was a battle of letting go. 

In the South Pole, the Twelfth Doctor is forced to face himself literally when he runs into his first incarnation (David Bradley, filling in for the late William Hartnell). The two must work together as a curious glass entity and a soldier from World War I pop by. But more importantly, the current Doctor must face his past. In the First, he sees how much he has grown — especially when his companion Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie) is curiously resurrected and put off by the old Doctor’s sexist ways! Amid the mischief of colliding Doctors, this episode bids a fond farewell to Capaldi and his companions, including Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) and Nardole (Matt Lucas). Sure, the Christmassy element is relegated to some snow and a bit of battlefield carol-singing, and the mystery in this one rings a bit hollow. But when it comes to catharsis, few Doctor Who holiday specials can compare! 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time” is now streaming on Max.

3. “Voyage of the Damned” (2007) Season 3: Episode 14 

Remember the time the Doctor crashed into the Titanic? No — not that Earth one. In an incredibly ominous decision by dangerously wealthy industrialist Max Capricorn (George Costigan), a nuclear-powered interstellar cruiser setting forth on a holiday cruise among the stars was also named Titanic. If that — plus the episode’s title — weren’t enough to put you on edge, perhaps the garish displays of wealth and golden robot angels might prime you for disaster. 

Sure, from the start you can suppose this vessel is doomed. But writer Russell T Davies brought fresh agony by introducing a wonderful one-off companion in Astrid Peth (played by the radiant Kylie Minogue), only to snuff her out by ep end! A humble humanoid waitress who dreamed of seeing the stars, she is exactly the Doctor’s type. And he was quick to take notice of her! But as this boat and all its souls seem bound for disaster, this brave duo will do whatever it takes to keep history from repeating. While Whovians (and Minogue fans) were heartbroken over this ending, it offered a bittersweet and beautiful silver lining. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “Voyage of the Damned” is now streaming on Max.

2. “The Church on Ruby Road” (2023) Season 14, episode 0

The Christmas special returns after five years off — and what a wonder! “The Church on Ruby Road” marks the first full episode featuring the Fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. Properly set on the Christmas holiday, this rollicking romp introduces Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), a 19-year-old who is a foundling and a Christmas baby. On her birthday, it’s only fitting she helps the Doctor rescue another Christmas baby from being gobbled up by a pirate ship’s worth of singing goblins! 

Far from mournful or thick with plot, this special is a true delight, thanks in no small part to the awesome charisma of Gatwa, who dances, quips, and runs with gusto. Full of seasonal decor, general merriness, and the kind of adventure that’s family-friendly, this holiday episode should get your heart warming like chestnuts on an open fire. Plus, this Doctor has expanded the celeb name-dropping to include a “hot summer” with Harry Houdini. What a thrilling way to fill us with excitement for his upcoming season!

How to watch:Doctor Who, “The Church on Ruby Road” is now streaming on Disney+.

1. “The Husbands of River Song” (2015) Season 9: Episode 13

Spoilers! This episode is beautiful, bonkers, and deeply, deeply sad. 

Beginning on Christmas Day of 5343, “The Husbands of River Song” reunites the Doctor with his timey-wimey wifey (Alex Kingston). But there are a couple of snags to would-be romance. This incarnation of the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) hasn’t crossed paths with her before. She acts like she doesn’t know him, and then she introduces him to her — uh — ailing husband, King Hydroflax (Greg Davies). But it’s River Song. There’s more to this than meets her sparkling eyes.

For much of their escapades, River has been a force of nature, always fawning over the Doctor while refusing to let him get too full of himself. This dynamic hits a dramatic turn, however, when a heist goes awry. In a monologue that’s sure to make you tear up, she lays out what it means to be a Time Lord’s wife. And he will at long last show her all she means to him. Goodbye, sweetie. 

How to watch: Doctor Who: “The Husbands of River Song” is now streaming on Max.

It’s been a bad week for aquatic cinema, between the middling DC farewell Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and the George Clooney-directed period drama The Boys in the Boat. The two have little in common in terms of subject matter and style, but they’re plagued by the same sense of glum involvement.

Clooney’s Olympic drama follows the young men of the University of Washington’s rowing crew as they learn to oar their way to victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but it never takes a complete interest in its characters or their physicality. Few films outside of pop star biopics feel so distinctly lab-engineered, with obstacles treated as checklists around which to structure the bare bones of screenplay, rather than as human drama to be engaged with, and eventually overcome.

What is The Boys in the Boat about?

Credit: Laurie Sparham / MGM

Set in the throes of the Great Depression, The Boys in the Boat — adapted by screenwriter Mark L. Smith from Daniel James Brown’s book of the same name — follows real-life boy and Olympian rower Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) in his pre-boating days, as he attends university lectures while trying to find odd jobs to make ends meet. When he hears of the opportunity to row for pay, he signs up for a grueling tryout and ends up being selected for his college’s under-funded junior team, under the auspices of the stern and stoic coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton).

What starts out as a job ends up a deep desire for Rantz, or so he claims when the inevitability of being cut from the team eventually arises. However, this plays less like an emotional obstacle and more like a prestige picture diktat, given how little interest or engagement the movie manages to mine from Rantz, in this and all other matters. For example, in the requisite romantic subplot, a woman who knew him in grade school, Joyce (Hadley Robinson), practically throws herself at him. He doesn’t reciprocate, but what ought to read as him being either callous or oblivious comes off simply as lack of engagement, passion, or perspective, as though Joyce were in love with a mannequin.

Turner is clearly talented, as he’s displayed on numerous other projects, such as neo-Nazi horror-thriller Green Room and the 2020 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. But under Clooney’s direction, he ends up delivering a non-performance of empty glares. Rantz, therefore, ends up being the worst possible protagonist for this type of story, where the success of individuals helps mold a team of eight into a collective, and drives the plot towards the Olympic games in Germany.

What the team lacks in equipment, Ulbrickson makes up for in gruff belief and tough love, pushing his pupils to exhaustion in the name of success. When the question of money (or lack thereof) puts their Berlin trip in jeopardy, he even leads a fundraising campaign to get them past the finish line. However, this is also something the movie truncates and largely skips past, despite its numerous attempts to frame The Boys in the Boat as a story of dreams and hard work overcoming rampant poverty.

Edgerton, at least, ends up able to muster some amount of passion for the subject matter. This is more than can be said of Clooney’s filmmaking, which takes a movie about a grueling physical process and gives it all the flavor and nutritional value of processed meat.

George Clooney fumbles another World War II story.

Credit: Laurie Sparham / MGM

For a perfect companion piece to The Boys in the Boat, look no further than The Monuments Men, his 2014 period drama whose premise and central problems map perfectly onto his latest. In The Monuments Men, a high-caliber cast teams up to rescue kidnapped art and culture from Nazi clutches, but the film has little cultural outlook itself, beyond a passing fascination with the idea of a reverse art theft. This is despite the fact that the film’s central battalion was made up of art historians and curators.

Similarly, The Boys in the Boat is a film of athletes, and it’s filled with numerous rowing scenes, yet its conception of rowing itself is dull and disconnected. The motion of rowing can feel repetitive and mechanical, but to present it as such represents a failure of filmmaking imagination, since the scenes in which the act unfolds are usually about competition, intensity, and adversity. It’s a racing movie after all, but it lacks the visceral feel of one.

It’s also ostensibly a World War II movie, despite being set a year before the war in the Pacific and five years before Pearl Harbor. Its final act is set against a backdrop of Nazi flags, as the Olympics in Berlin were presided over by the Führer himself. And yet, the era’s looming antisemitism doesn’t feature in mood or tone. The Nazi swastika represents nothing for the movie’s white characters, and it means nothing to the camera either. It’s presented incidentally, rather than with a sense of omen or danger — let alone with any hint that Hitler was using these games as a propaganda tool, barring Jewish athletes.

In order to gesture towards the era’s white supremacy, the film invokes the name and image of Black runner Jesse Owens (Jyuddah Jaymes) and, in a few seconds, lays out his struggles at home and abroad, albeit in passing. This acknowledgement, however, ends up being the movie’s death knell, since it reveals just how little its eponymous boys are fighting for in comparison. Worse, the film’s narrative ends up so scattered and harebrained that Rantz, despite being the central character for most of it, only features in its climactic scenes as a background character. Meanwhile, the movie pivots instead to a different character entirely, as though The Boys in the Boat had been his story all along.

It’s a confounding narrative decision, made all the more perplexing by the popular (and far superior) influences from which Clooney seems to draw.

The Boys in the Boat aims high, but lands low.

Credit: Laurie Sparham / MGM

There’s a distinct sentimentality to the movie right from its opening scene — a flashforward bookend, in which an aged Rantz looks out at contemporary rowers before reflecting on his life — and composer Alexandre Desplat brings this nostalgia to life with his twinkling score. The film has all the hallmarks of a prestige drama from the ’80s or ’90s, whether the harrowing war movie Saving Private Ryan, the historical sports epic Chariots of Fire, or the coming-of-age drama Dead Poets Society.

And yet, it lacks the sense of drive and camaraderie that made those movies work. It never feels truly lived in, despite being intricately designed. Poverty is grumpily performed, but no one seems desperate or malnourished. Shoes with holes in them show up numerous times — most notably, during a moment when Ulbrickson stumbles upon his team’s footwear in their locker room and realizes how poor they are — but they’re treated, handled, and inspected as if they were squeaky-clean props rather than dirty, ragged articles of clothing. There’s no revulsion or discomfort or ignorance for Ulbrickson to overcome, and no sense of self-pity for his boys to embody.

It’s a movie that looks shiny on pause, but feels fake when played in full, resulting in a phoned-in, faux feel-good directorial effort in which little is learned or overcome. It has no outlook, or at least none the camera is able to mine from its stilted, medium close-up portraits, which last too long without having the characters react to anything in particular. It’s entirely empty and, given the significance of its subjects and setting — an underdog working-class team setting records in a bougie sport, and competing at a dangerous time and place in history —  it becomes insulting in the process.

How to watch: The Boys in the Boat opens in theaters Dec. 25.

TL;DR: As of Dec. 25, the beginner-friendly Ninja Dragon Blade K drone is on sale for just $86.99 instead of $169 — that’s a savings of 48%.

Looking to change things up in 2024? Get a fresh new perspective from a bird’s-eye view with a little help from a high-quality drone. Snap some aerial photography while getting some fresh air as you play with your new toy. Pick up a brand-new hobby for the new year with this Ninja Dragon Blade K 4K drone featuring 4-way anti-collision and optical flow, on sale for the low price of just $86.99 (reg. $169) for a limited time. 

This 4K drone comes packed with loads of technology that makes flying easy for beginners. If you’re a novice, the one-key take-off and landing means it’s easier than ever to have your drone both take flight and come back with just a button, while the four-way anti-collision system prevents crashes. A gesture recognition feature allows you to set up certain motions that are detectable within a two-meter range. And the headless mode feature allows the drone to be controlled by the direction of the remote control, making navigation easy to use for newbies, kids, and adults alike. 

Once you get the hang of taking flight, you can snap photos with the dual 4K HD camera. It captures high-quality still and moving images so you have permanent memories from your adventures. And the 1,8000mAh battery allows for 12 minutes of flight on a single charge so you have time to capture great shots. When you’re done, the foldable arms make it easy to pack up and put away so it’s easy to bring along anytime. 

Beginners and experienced drone flyers alike will appreciate this feature-packed Ninja Dragon Blade K 4K drone with 4-way anti-collision and optical flow, now only $86.99 (reg. $169) for a limited time. 

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