Tomorrow marks the first day on everyone’s advent calendars so I wanted to take a look back at some of the highs and lows from November in the world of film and TV. Let’s dive in:

Favorite New Film: The Banshees of Inisherin – Hilariously written and incredibly performed, Martin McDonagh’s first feature film since 2017 lived up to the hype for all us who’ve grown to love his dark yet silly brand of humor. The entire cast brings their A-game and this was probably the hardest I’ve laughed in a theater in months. It’s still playing in theaters though the number of screens has likely decreased but supposedly it’s coming to HBO Max in a few weeks. Until then you can check out my full review here.

Favorite Old Film: Molly’s Game – “Old” is a loose term here but this time of year I don’t get to re-watch a ton as I’m trying to keep up with all the new film and TV releases while constantly bouncing from place to place for the holidays. I watched Molly’s Game for the first time in a few years the other night and I feel this film is very slept on. Aaron Sorkin’s directional debut is well cast, tells an interesting story, and avoids many of those Sorkinian quirks he gets himself in trouble for (though don’t you worry, the main character has plenty of daddy issues.) This film is probably my favorite Jessica Chastain performance and Idris Elba has a couple scenes where he really shines. This is currently available on Netflix.

Favorite New (to me) TV Show: What We Do In The Shadows – I’m a few seasons late to the party here but this has become my go-to before bed show. I’m an episode away from being completely caught up, and its sort of started to fall off in the fourth and most recent season, but the first few seasons are some of the funniest episodes of TV I’ve seen in a while. The show is four seasons in at the moment and is pretty easy to binge and can be seen on Hulu.

Surprise of the Month: A Christmas Story Christmas – You can check out my full review of the film here but I was shocked that I even sort of liked this movie. I remember loving the original as a kid and as I’ve gotten older I’d say I enjoy it more as background noise than something I actually sit down and watch intently. In an era of shitty reboots and spinoffs this film had all the fixings of a complete dogshit cash grab but I was actually pleasantly surprised. It’s funny, but not hilarious, and is loaded with Christmas feels. Overall I’d say that this film is worth watching if you enjoy the original.

Disappointment of the Month: Devotion – Maybe this is just recency bias but between the reviews this film was getting and the fact that the (few) audiences who saw it seemed to agree I might have gotten my hopes up a bit for this one. It’s certainly not a bad film (my review here) but given the subject matter of the film it’s way too boring. Jonathan Majors is great but there aren’t many other bright spots. Overall if this was the worst thing I saw all month I’d call that a pretty solid November.

December Look Ahead: There’s a lot going on as the year comes to a close. Obviously the big movie to see is going to be Avatar: The Way of Water but there’s also other contenders like The Fabelmans, Babylon, Women Talking, and The Whale just to name a few. I’m also excited for Violent Night which comes out this weekend and from what I’ve seen is getting great early reviews. Plus it is Christmas time so there are several classics I’m going to have to check off my list but it’d be really handy if Bad Santa could find its way onto a streaming service free of charge.