‘TIS THE SEASON FOR SHOPPING, SOIRÉES, SOCIAL FEASTING, AND… POTENTIALLY COMING DOWN WITH THE INEVITABLE WINTER FLU AS A RESULT. WHY NOT SKIP THE CROWDS AND COLD, AND STAY HOME WHERE IT’S TOASTY TO WATCH THESE SWELL NEW STREAMING SHOWS AND FILMS?

BY DAN SALAMONE

STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW

DECEMBER 3 (SERIES, DISNEY+)

Continuing our commitment to highlighting at least one new Marvel and/or Star Wars-related series, here’s the new Jude Law-starring show about four children who make a peculiar discovery that casts the safety of their home in a new light, tying them to the events of a strange, terrifying galaxy. And yes, it’s “far far away.”

DUNE: PROPHECY

NOVEMBER 17 (SERIES, HBO MAX)

Did you enjoy the Dune movies, but also kind of hoped they’d tell the story of their ancestors from 10,000 years before? Did you also hope that earlier story would be female-centric, with strong feminist themes that are applicable to today? Well, dear reader, then this series about sisters Valya and Tula Harkonnen and the founding of the fabled Bene Gesserit sect is perfect for you!

CRUEL INTENTIONS

NOVEMBER 21 (SERIES, AMAZON)

The original ‘90s movie starring Ryan Philippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Sarah Michelle Gellar is an icon of wickedly funny just-the-right-side-ofcamp. (Who will ever forget the cross with the secret drug stash?) This new series version moves the action to college, concerning the aftermath and cover-up of a brutal hazing incident gone wrong. It could turn out to be as unnecessary as the Gossip Girl reboot, but one of the creators produced the similarly themed, sneakily excellent film, Assassination Nation, so we’ll think positive on this.

THE HELICOPTER HEIST

NOVEMBER 22 (SERIES, NETFLIX)

This eight-part Netflix docu-drama series concerns one of the wildest robberies ever successfully perpetrated. In 2009, at 5 in the morning, a stolen Jet Ranger helicopter landed on the roof of a cash service building in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. The clever thieves broke in and successfully walked away with about $4 million in Swedish krona. This series claims to depict what happened behind the scenes of Sweden’s most infamous smash and grab.

OUR LITTLE SECRET

(FILM, NETFLIX)

Perhaps ‘tis also the season for a Lindsay Lohan comeback? Regardless of your views of the artistic qualities of Lohan’s choices post-Mean Girls, this holiday rom-com should be a painless trifle, as it tells the tale of “two resentful exes forced to spend Christmas under the same roof after discovering that their current partners are siblings.”

MARIA NOVEMBER 27

(FILM, NETFLIX)

(FILM, NETFLIX) Angelina Jolie has been sadly a less and less frequent visitor to our television and movie screens since the tumultuous implosion of her marriage to Brad Pitt. (The latter of whom has a lot to answer for.) This sumptuously shot semi-biopic (directed by Pablo Larrain) sees Ms. Jolie playing the famous opera singer, Maria Callas, in 1977 as she is living in seclusion and ill health when she receives a request to tour one last time.

SQUID GAME, SEASON 2

(SERIES, NETFLIX)

Rejoice, as the smash hit Korean series about poor people competing for money in a reality show with a bad habit of gruesomely murdering its participants is back for a second go! Did the first series leave you with a bunch of unanswered questions that demanded exploration and resolution? No, not really for you either? Well, it turns out that money is important to purchase goods and services, so you’re getting a second season anyway. There’s a trenchant point about art and commerce here somewhere… but either way, this at least should be entertaining.