It’s the first episode of the new year so we look back to the top streamed shows and movies of 2022 and forward to the coming month’s most anticipated content. Long story short: January is a pretty dull month! Here’s to Avatar sailing past $2B well before February.

JustWatch: 'Top Gun: Maverick,' 'Stranger Things 4' Top Streamed Movie, Show in 2022 by Erik Gruenwedel

Whip Media: ‘The Last of Us’ Top New Show, ‘Ginny & Georgia’ Top Returning Show, 'Teen Wolf: The Movie' Top Movie Anticipated in January by Stephanie Prange

We’ve got DC news, we’ve got Witcher news, we’ve got Warhammer 40k news, and we’ve got a fresh review for Avatar 2 (the last Avatar content for awhile). It’ll probably cross $1 billion by the time you read this!

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Articles:

'Avatar: The Way of Water' Dominates Wintery Christmas Weekend Box Office - Media Play News by Erik Gruenwedel

Henry Cavill Will Not Return To ‘The Witcher,’ Will Do ‘Warhammer 40,000’ Instead - Forbes by Paul Tassi

Jazzy Abstract Beat

Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay

Avatar 2 has finally released, and we’ve got a gauntlet of James Cameron interviews from multiple points of his career to peek into the mind behind the movie. Following up is an exhaustive list of movies to check out during the long holiday weekend. Merry Christmas!

Articles:

'Avatar: The Way of Water' Leads Global Box Office With $435 Million Tidal Wave - Driven by 3D by Erik Gruenwedel

James Cameron interviews:

James Cameron & Robert Rodriguez Interview: Why Avatar 2 Is Dangerous - Variety by Brent Lang

Interview | James Cameron Says 'Avatar' Can Inspire Environmental Change - Mandatory by John Gaudiosi

Man of Extremes | The New Yorker by Dana Goodyear

The Return of James Cameron, Box Office King | GQ by Zach Baron

Charlie’s feel-good Christmas movie list:

Pusher 3: I’m the Angel of Death

Force Majeure

I Saw the Devil

The Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition)

Se7en

Gone Girl

The Foreigner

Prisoners

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Nightmare Before Christmas

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Modern Chillout

Music by penguinmusic from Pixabay

It’s a face-off between digital download movies to collect versus buying physical box sets of movie franchises and TV shows. New York Times releases an out of touch “Best of 2022” list of movies. James Cameron does his best to talk up Avatar 2 and the future of the franchise. With everything he’s saying you’d get a pass if you thought this movie is destined to single-handedly end all streaming services and lead to a golden age of in-theater-only cinema.

Defunctland

Blank Check with Griffin & David

James Cameron Says 'Avatar 4' "Goes Nuts" and Studio Executive Said “Holy F*ck” After Reading Script by Ross Bonaime

NYT Top Movies of 2022

‘Top Gun,’ ‘Yellowstone’ Among Most Notable Boxed Sets Available During Holidays by John Latchem

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Slackline

Music by The Amalgamated

This episode could have been 4 hours long. The show winds the clock forwards and backwards, looking ahead to December’s most anticipated movies and streaming shows, and looking backwards to some of the most popular shows of the year. Sandwiched between those segments are wrap-up thoughts on both The Peripheral and 1899.

Whip Media: ‘The Witcher: Blood Origin’ Top New Show, ‘Jack Ryan’ Top Returning Show Anticipated in December by Stephanie Prange

The best television series of 2022 | The Economist

Media Play News Interviews Whip Media

Watcher: Puppet History

Netflix's Content Budget Is Bigger Than It Seems (Netflix Misunderstandings, Pt. 1) by Matthew Ball

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Bandito ft. Reggie Costa 

Music by The Amalgamated

It’s a review roundtable week: Charles brings in his thoughts on the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Charlie updates the show on his progress through The Peripheral (pretty good) and 1899 (imagine if Lost happened on the Titanic). Glass Onion debuted in theaters for a limited Thanksgiving weekend run and Amazon Studios ordered a miniseries that will dramatize the implosion of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special by John Latchem

Netflix's 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' Throws Intrigue on Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office by Erik Gruenwedel

Amazon Orders FTX Limited Series From Russo Brothers' AGBO, 'Hunters' Creator David Weil (EXCLUSIVE) by Joe Otterson

Behind the Bastards: How Sam Bankman-Fried Conned the Crypto World

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Bandito ft. Reggie Costa 

Music by The Amalgamated

We have a new show format! Charles covers the original comic’s influences for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Charlie gives a teaser for the sci-fi show The Peripheral. Following that, Peacemaker gets a physical release next week and James Cameron wildly throws expletives around in an interview about Avatar 2 having to be a top-5 highest grossing movie of all time just to break even on its budget.

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'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Pushes Global Box Office Near $550 Million - Media Play News by Erik Gruenwedel

Nov. 22 Home Video Releases Include 'Peacemaker,' 'Bros' on Disc, 'Woman King,' 'Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile' on Digital - Media Play News by John Latchem

‘Avatar 2’ Will Have to Be One of the Highest-Grossing Movies Ever Just to Break Even by Ryan Lattanzio

'Top Gun: Maverick' to Begin Streaming on Paramount+ Dec. 22 - Media Play News by Erik Gruenwedel

Slackline 

Music by The Amalgamated

33 years after Weird Al Yankovic’s cult movie UHF comes his biopic-parody movie “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” We review this movie and then a 1960s romcom starring Elvis. Surprised? Turns out Elvis had a prolific acting career as Blue Hawaii was his 8th film (and most lucrative up to that point). Black Panther: Wakanda Forever released over the weekend and we cover box office numbers, and close with the sad news that the voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, has passed away.

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Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum: Kevin Conroy on Apple Podcasts

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story by John Latchem

Blue Hawaii by Scott Marks

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Sets November Box Office Debut Record with $181 Million in North American Ticket Sales by Erik Gruenwedel

Kevin Conroy, Voice of Batman for a Generation, Dies at 66 by John Latchem

Jazzy Abstract Beat

Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay

Black Adam still tops the box office for its third consecutive weekend, but is sure to surrender the crown next weekend when Wakanda Forever debuts. We cover the minimalist movie Fall and a trio of 40s film noir movies from the ongoing Dark Side of Cinema collection.

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Fall by John Latchem

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema IX by Scott Marks

Warner's 'Black Adam' Hits Sluggish Weekend Box Office With $18.5 Million Punch - Media Play News by Erik Gruenwedel

Study: Piracy Software Not Detrimental to SVOD Platforms, ISPs by Erik Gruenwedel

Modern Chillout

Music by penguinmusic from Pixabay

It’s the Top Gun Maverick episode! After hyping this movie up for multiple months’ worth of podcasts, it’s time for a deep dive into the movie and what made it such a surprise hit. We’ve also got a review for Nope which has been discussed briefly already but now we dig into the details.

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Top Gun: Maverick by John Latchem

Nope by John Latchem

Warner's 'Black Adam' Takes Second Weekend Box Office with $27.7 Million by Erik Gruenwedel

Jazzy Abstract Beat

Music by Coma-Media from Pixabay