This week we almost, finally, but not completely break up with Stranger Things and throw our popcorn in the air and shout “chicken jockey” as A Minecraft Movie arrives on TV. Kate Winslet makes her directorial debut in Goodbye June, we head back to 18th-century Vienna to follow the fortunes of a young Mozart in Amadeus and we take a look at a new K-drama thriller, Made in Korea.
Here’s your weekend watchlist …
Stranger Things (Netflix)
It is perhaps the longest goodbye in television history, but we are nearly at the finale of Stranger Things now. After four breathless episodes in which Hawkins was in lockdown and a plan to find and take out Vecna in the Upside Down was not going entirely to plan, the scene is set for three more thrilling instalments from 1am on Boxing Day (UK time). While even speculating on what might happen to Will, Eleven and the gang feels like a spoiler, there are sure to be plenty of twists and turns left before our love affair with the streaming sci-fi horror must end, for ever.
A Minecraft Movie (Sky/Now)
Available on HBO Max in the US
Anyone with kids of a certain age will be more than aware of the hugely popular blocky world of the video game Minecraft. Well, like all good things, it was eventually turned into a movie — complete with tie-in McDonald’s Happy Meals — and now you have the chance to watch the riotous silliness in your home. A superb family fun-fest starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, either you already know what the phrase “chicken jockey” means or, once you press play, it won’t be long before you find out.
Amadeus (Sky Atlantic/Now, 9pm)
Based on the 1979 play by Petter Shaffer giving a fictionalised account of the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, this new drama stars Will Sharpe as Mozart with Gabrielle Creevy as his wife, Constanze, and Paul Bettany as the court composer Salieri. The mini-series follows the fortunes of a 25-year-old Mozart after he arrives in Vienna hoping to make his way in the world of music.
Goodbye June (Netflix)
Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall and Helen Mirren star alongside Kate Winslet in her directorial debut, a Christmas drama written by her son Joe Anders. The premise of the film is inspired by Winslet’s experience of her mother’s death from ovarian cancer in 2017, but it is not autobiographical and tells the story of four siblings whose lives change when the health of their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.
Made in Korea (Disney+)
Available on Hulu in the US
South Korean television is in something of a purple patch right now and although Squid Game’s huge success has consumed a lot of the publicity, there is plenty more K-drama to look out for. The latest addition to your watchlist is this big-budget historical political thriller set against the backdrop of 1970s Seoul. The drama centres on the lives of Baek Gi-tae, an ambitious Korean CIA agent who is mixed up in organised crime, and Jang Geon-yeong, a young prosecutor looking to root out corruption in the government.
