Welcome to Watch This Weekend, where every Friday, Darian Lusk, comedian and writer living large in Brooklyn—will gently recommend a roundup of things to watch and stream. Follow him on Twitter @eatpraylusk to send suggestions for future installments.
It’s the first week of 2018, which means our New Year’s resolutions — and optimism that this year might be better!!! — are very much alive. But whether you’ve decided to spend more time with family, less time on Twitter (healthy!) or become a Man Of The Woods, these goals can be a little lofty. So here’s one we can all achieve: watching much more TV.
The new year has already brought us a fresh batch of trending shows and films, from a delightful Netflix docuseries about toys to the return of Black Mirror. Here’s what to watch this weekend, and may all your 2018 goals and woods-related aspirations come true.
Netflix: Dave Chappelle’s Equanimity & The Bird Revelation (Added Dec. 31)
Mythical comedian Dave Chappelle rounded out his 2017 Netflix residency with two new specials rolled into one. Equanimity and The Bird Revelation are undeniably worth watching because they showcase the master at work, but also showcase how out of touch the comic is. Chappelle takes on topics like Louis C.K.’s accusers and the transgender community (like, why?) and it almost seems like a challenge to himself to prove he can comedically dig himself out of any hole. This time he doesn’t always succeed. It’s still worth viewing for yourself and laughing when you can, which luckily, is most of the time. It’s just disappointing Chappelle can’t push himself to be a relevant voice like he was during the Bush years instead of just a guy who can sell out Beacon Theater.
Netflix: The Toys That Made Us (Added Dec. 22)
Turn the nostalgia up to 11 this weekend with The Toys That Made Us, a delightful new docu-series from Netflix all about, you guessed it, toys! With four episodes (so far), the show enlightens viewers on the genesis — and huge business — behind Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Barbie and He-Man merchandise. Though you may be aware that the toys often gross more than films do, and that companies like Kenner are hugely successful, you’ve never experienced history or behind-the-scenes footage like this. Collector or not, this show is a treat and like nothing else on television. You’ll be clutching your removable helmet Darth Vader at every turn.
Netflix: Black Mirror Season 4 (Added Dec. 29)
Time to cover that webcam and strap in: Black Mirror — the British future-horror show that always makes me think of this vine — has returned to Netflix. With season 4, Charlie Brooker has gifted us with six delicious, horrifying contained stories, the highlight being U.S.S. Callister. Starring not one but two Jesse Plemons’, (Breaking Bad, Fargo) the episode is darkly funny, feminist and a just plain wonderful Star Trek sendup. After that, things stay decent with a saccharine love story about dating apps and less decent/way too violent with an episode about scary robot dogs and another about a parental app that doesn’t let you see dogs at all! I generally thought this season was less consistent than the last one, but overall, still essential stuff.
Netflix: Gates of Heaven (Added Dec. 14)
Errol Morris is so hot right now — the filmmaker has a new Netflix series out and a New Yorker piece praising Nathan Fielder (yes!) — but let’s go back to basics. His first film, Gates of Heaven, is a beautiful and strange documentary about the funeral industry — err, pet funerals that is — and it’s now streaming. Centered on two pet cemeteries, the film consists of candid interviews with its owners and intensely grieving clients who dearly miss their furry family members. It’s a very meaningful, indefinable film that Roger Ebert listed it on his 10 Greatest Films of All Time. Wow! If it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for us.
Hulu: Punch Drunk Love (Added Jan. 1)
After making sweeping epics like Boogie Nights and Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson told interviewers that his next film would star Adam Sandler and be 90 minutes long. That’s exactly what he did. Punch Drunk Love is an offbeat rom-com of the highest order and one of the directors’ best films. Sandler stars as a tightly wound novelty plunger supplier with too many sisters who one day finds — and must protect at all costs — his person. But chaos, criminals (Philip Seymour Hoffman for the win) and a debacle over a large amount of pudding ensues. With a soundtrack by (the god) Jon Brion and a performance by Sandler that’s so good it recontextualizes his other films, this is a must.
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