THE HOLIDAYS are to take a break, spend time with family, or enjoy time alone. If you are staying home instead of going on an out-of-town vacation over the last weekend of 2022, this is your chance to catch up with shows online. Here’s a list of new releases on Netflix and Disney+:
NETFLIX
Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
ACADEMY award-winning director Guillermo del Toro and stop-motion director Mark Gustafson present the classic story with a twist. Set in Italy during the Second World War, the story of Pinocchio is reimagined with serious themes of life, death, and purpose. The film features voices of Gregory Mann as Pinocchio and Geppetto’s son Carlo; Ewan McGregor as Cricket; David Bradley as Geppetto; Tilda Swinton as Death and Wood Sprite; and Finn Wolfhard as Candlewick.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
THE SEQUEL to the Rian Johnson’s Knives Out (2019) follows detective Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig) as he travels to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery involving a new cast of colorful suspects. Mr. Blanc meets a distinctly disparate group of friends gathering at the invitation of billionaire Miles Bron for their yearly reunion. Among those on the guest list are Miles’ former business partner, the current Connecticut governor, the cutting-edge scientist, a fashion designer-former model and her conscientious assistant, and an influencer and his sidekick girlfriend. As in all the best murder mysteries, each character harbors their own secrets, lies, and motivations. When someone turns up dead, everyone is a suspect. In the cast are Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista.
Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure
THE LAZY egg Gudetama and overbearing chick Shakipiyo go on a parent-reaching road-trip over 10 episodes of Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure. Along the way, they meet various eggs and learn how each one is cooked. Gudetama begins to think if he must carve his path or wait to get rotten. The cast include Akiyoshi Nakao, Serena Motola, and Sarutoki Minagawa
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
TWENTY-SIX years since its last film adaptation, the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical is given a remake, this time as a musical film. Directed by Matthew Warchus, it tells the story Matilda Wormwood (played by Alisha Weir) a little girl with big curiosity, a sharp mind and a vivid imagination — and the worst parents in the world. While her parents (played by Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough) content themselves with trashy TV and dodgy money-making schemes, she loves to lose herself in the pages of her beloved books. When she meets Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), Matilda is encouraged and begins conjuring her own fantastical tales. Excited to attend Crunchem Hall, Matilda is surprised to find the school is an ominous and oppressive place led by the huge and villainous Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson).
DISNEY+
Korean psycho-thriller series Connect
A MAN gains new physical abilities after he is abducted and has one eye removed in the Korean series Connect. The series follows Dongsoo (played by Jung Hae-In) who ends up in an operating room and is able to escape, but not before losing an eye. He later discovers that he can still see out of his missing eye, which is now being used by a serial killer who has been terrorizing the residents of Seoul. This is the first Korean series by director Miike Takashi (Audition, Ichi the Killer, Gozu). Joining the cast are Ko Kyungpyo as the serial killer Oh Jinseop, and Kim Hyejun as the mysterious Irang.
Japanese psycho-thriller series Gannibal
A POLICEMAN sets out to uncover the cause of mysterious events in this Japanese series. Based on the popular manga series of the same name by Masaaki Ninomiya, the story is set in Kuge, a fictional Japanese village. It follows newly hired police officer Daigo Agawa (played by Yuya Yagira) who arrives in town a broken man. While things start off promisingly, a series of alarming events including unexplainable deaths and disappearances begin to unfold. It leads Daigo to the horrifying realization that something is deeply wrong with the village and those who live there. Directed by Shinzo Katayama, the cast includes Show Kasamatsu and Riho Yoshioka.
Korean action crime series Big Bet
DIRECTED by Kang Yoon-sung, Big Bet tells the story of casino mogul Cha Mu-sik (played by Choi Min-sik) who rose to the top and became the legendary king of the casino in the Philippines. Then he gets tangled in a murder case which leaves his life on the verge of collapse. In the cast are Son Suk-ku as Oh Seung-hoon, a policeman who handles international cases and is dispatched to the Philippines, and Lee Dong-hwi as Mu-sik’s handler, Jeong-pal.
Concert special Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl
THOSE who have watched the animated film Encanto in 2021 probably have a favorite song from the movie. Relive the songs in 45 minutes with the Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl concert. The original voice cast is reunited — Stephanie Beatriz, Adassa, Carolina Gaitán, Jessica Darrow, Diane Guerrero, Mauro Castillo, Angie Cepeda and Olga Merediz — along with special guests Colombian superstar Carlos Vives and Lin Manuel Miranda, who wrote songs for the film. The live to film concert is directed by Chris Howe. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman