From left, Tawny Cypress, Juliette Lewis, Rukiya Bernard, Christina Ricci and Melanie Lynskey arrive at the premiere of "Yellowjackets" on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021, at Hollywood Legion in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Another weekend, another chance to binge some content! Cheddar's Digital Team recommends DC's 'Peacemaker,' the quirky 'Letterkenny' Season 10, the hot Showtime drama 'Yellowjackets,' and the overlooked Soderbergh heist-flick 'No Sudden Move.'
Peacemaker - HBO Max
Picked by Digital Editor Mike Nam
One of the many highlights of James Gunn's Suicide Squad movie was the delightfully earnest, sociopathic minor character codenamed Peacemaker played by former pro wrestler John Cena. He loves peace so much, he's willing to cause an extreme amount of violence to get it. Yeah, he's not subtle, but Cena's weirdly awkward take on the bloody D-list vigilante from DC Comics proved so enjoyable, HBO Max gave him his own series. Cena is also joined by a misfit group of government handlers and a trained pet bald eagle to round out the bizarre project. The series kicked off today with the first three episodes.
Letterkenny: Season 10 - Hulu
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
I have no idea how Season 10 of Letterkenny slid into Hulu over the holidays without my noticing, but now that it's here, I can't wait to begin! The sitcom stars the series' co-creator Jared Keeso as Wayne, a folksy farmer in Ontario, Canada, who has strong morals, foul-mouthed friends, and lots of time to kill. The sitcom started as a YouTube series and was turned into a full-fledged TV program in 2016. Pro tip: Turn on closed captioning so you don't miss any of the hysterical one-liners in the fast-talking, slang-filled scenes.
Yellowjackets - Showtime
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
Can you imagine having to eat some of your best friends in order to survive in the remote wilderness? Showtime's Yellowjackets explores the story of a wildly successful New Jersey high school girls soccer team who survived a plane crash in a thick Ontario forest. In the beginning, hopes and spirits are high that the team would be rescued but after several days, that hope dwindles, despair sets in, and they go into survival mode. Days turned into 19 staggering months in the wilderness, during which time chaos and cannibalism became the norm. Over the course of the series, the survivors, over 25 years later, begin to reveal the truth behind their survival story. The season finale airs Sunday, January 16.
No Sudden Move - HBO Max
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
I'm still in 2021 catch-up mode over here, so this week I finally saw one of the year's most unheralded movies. No Sudden Move, which was quietly released on HBO Max back in June, is the latest from Steven Soderbergh, the prolific director-cinematographer behind Ocean's 11 and its sequels. This is also sort of a heist film, but it's set in postwar Detroit and is centered around a plot to steal GM's plans for the catalytic converter (the device that reduces emissions in automobiles). It's a funky period piece with a stellar cast, including Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, David Harbour, and Julia Fox. If you like a good caper, don't sleep on this one.
Looking for more to watch? Check out our recommendations from last week and the week before.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
