January 01, 2025
Provided Image/Disney+
A few galactic youngsters, plus Jude Law, go on a dangerous adventure in 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew,' available to stream on Disney+.
Love it or hate it, the purgatory of sorts between Christmas and New Year's Day has ended. And whether you're being unceremoniously thrust back into real life or have some winter break left to ease into 2025, there's something worth streaming for you.
You could do your own "Glicked" marathon since the movies that made up this year's "Barbenheimer" — "Gladiator II" and "Wicked" — are available to buy or rent on several streaming platforms. But if you'd rather not shell out the extra cash, there's plenty of other options.
MORE: How Philly took a starring role in the 1983 holiday comedy 'Trading Places'
Here are some of my current favorites on Max, Disney+ and Apple TV+, including the best New Year's film (in my opinion) and a great show that you can watch through a special streaming deal this weekend:
If "Harry Potter" is your comfort franchise, you can head to Hogwarts on a journey of awe-inspiring, sweet treats. "Wizards of Baking," a baking competition streaming on Max, begins with nine teams of pastry chefs and cake artists, and the numbers dwindle as they compete to create magical desserts inspired by the fantasy series.
The show was filmed on the sets where the "Harry Potter" movies were made and is hosted by James and Oliver Phelps, who played the Weasley twins, Fred and George. Along the way, other fan-favorite actors stop by to surprise competitors and fans and share behind-the-scenes anecdotes. For those who enjoy the low-stakes intensity of cooking competitions and are impatiently awaiting the upcoming "Harry Potter" remake, this series is good wintry viewing.
In case you haven't had your fill of New Year's Eve partying and are still in the spirit, might I suggest diving back into the "High School Musical" franchise? At least in my mind, it's tough to think of a Dec. 31 more extraordinary than the one when Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) meet-cute at a ski lodge during New Year's Eve karaoke – it really was the "Start of Something New."
The first "HSM" movie, which is nearly two decades old, follows Troy and Gabriella as they return from winter break (as many are now) to find themselves classmates at the same school, but they're in totally different cliques. Troy, the jock, and Gabriella, the mathlete, fall in love and face obstacles as they sing and dance their way into the school musical. Expect amazing choreography, sing-alongs and infamous characters like queen bee Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale).
The movie and its sequels — it may be an unpopular opinion, but "High School Musical 2" is my favorite — are available to stream on Disney+. Also available on Disney+ is the spinoff "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series," which ran from 2019 to 2023 and helped turn Olivia Rodrigo into a pop star.
The latest Disney+ "Star Wars" series — set five years after "Return of the Jedi" and around the same time as "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Ahsoka" — follows a ragtag group of lost kids who accidentally end up on a galactic adventure and must find their way back to their mysterious home planet. Their unlikely companions include Jod (Jude Law), a man who may or may not have the Force, and an aging droid named SM-33 (Nick Frost), who seems to have a bad case of amnesia.
I love the interactions between the young adventurers and Jod, who seems aloof at first but repeatedly proves that he cares about the youngsters. Each episode is like its own mini adventure as the protagonists travel to dangerous planets and encounter threatening characters. I've had lots of fun watching "Skeleton Crew" so far, and it's gotten positive reviews, sitting at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I haven't seen much chatter about it online. There are five episodes out, and three more to come, so now's a good time to binge and catch up — so I have some people to talk about it with!
Ever wish you could have some real separation between your life at work and at home? This Apple TV+ series takes that desire for work-life balance to the extreme. In "Severance," Mark (Adam Scott) leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically split between their work lives and personal lives. That means their work selves have no idea what happens when they leave the office, and vice versa. The lines start blurring, though, as the severed workers' split lives begin to overlap with each other and harsh truths about what's really happening at the Lumon company come to light.
The Emmy-nominated first season premiered in 2022, and it's been a long wait for Season 2, which comes out Jan. 17. Don't have Apple TV+ but want to dive back in or catch up before the second season? No problem! This weekend, from Jan. 3-5, the streamer is offering free viewing of all its shows and movies to anyone with an Apple ID. While you're taking advantage of free Apple TV+ streaming, you also can check out "Shrinking" and "Presumed Innocent," which I've previously recommended in streaming guides.
Follow Franki & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @wordsbyfranki
| @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Have a news tip? Let us know.
