Welcome to See/Hear, InsideHook’s deep dive into the month’s most important cultural happenings, pop and otherwise. Every month, we round up the biggest upcoming movie, TV and album releases, ask some cool people to tell us what they’ve been into lately, make you a playlist we guarantee you’ll have on heavy rotation and recommend a classic (or unduly overlooked) piece of pop culture that we think is worth revisiting.
MOVIES
Get Away
in theaters Dec. 6
Nick Frost is no stranger to horror comedy (see: Shaun of the Dead), and he returns to the genre with Get Away, his first solo screenwriting effort. It follows a family who shows up to a remote Swedish island for vacation only to discover that there’s a serial killer on the loose.
The Return
in theaters Dec. 6
Look, do we need yet another retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey? Probably not, but with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in the two lead roles, this one looks pretty compelling.
Y2K
in theaters Dec. 6
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney makes his directorial debut with this disaster comedy about what would happen if all the Y2K paranoia was actually warranted and the bug caused all forms of technology to become sentient and turn against humanity. Fellow Millennials, our nostalgia awaits.
The End
in theaters Dec. 6
Unique ideas have become increasingly rare in Hollywood these days, but The End looks like nothing we’ve seen before. It’s a post-apocalyptic musical, set in an underground bunker, where the family who constructed said bunker has been living for two decades. Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, Moses Ingram and George MacKay star.
Nightbitch
in theaters Dec. 6
Amy Adams is already earning Oscar buzz for her performance as a worn-out stay-at-home mom who occasionally transforms into a dog. Part body horror, part comedy, this one looks like it has bark and bite. (I’m sorry, I had to.)
The Brutalist
in theaters Dec. 20
Adrian Brody stars as the fictional László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and then settles in America, where he gets tied up with a wealthy client. Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn round out the cast.
The Room Next Door
in theaters Dec. 20
Between this and The End, Tilda Swinton is on a bit of a tear this month. She and Julianne Moore are at the center of The Room Next Door, which is acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language full-length debut. Based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, it follows two women who were close friends when they were younger and working at the same magazine who are brought together again by a looming tragedy. (No spoilers.)
Babygirl
in theaters Dec. 25
Nicole Kidman recently took home Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of a CEO who starts sleeping with a young intern (Harris Dickinson). Think Fifty Shades of Grey with a more interesting power dynamic at play.
A Complete Unknown
in theaters Dec. 25
Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan is the main draw here (especially because he does his own singing and playing and reportedly performs a whopping 40 songs in the movie), but A Complete Unknown also has a stacked supporting cast that includes Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo (a fictionalized version of Dylan’s former girlfriend Suze Rotolo) and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez. Based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties by Elijah Wald, it’s centered around the controversy over Dylan going electric, and per a request from the man himself, it contains one scene that’s wholly inaccurate. Will you be able to spot it?
Nosferatu
in theaters Dec. 25
Robert Eggers wrote and directed this new adaptation of the 1922 German vampire film, and it features Bill Skarsgård as the titular bloodsucker. Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also star. If Halloween’s more your scene and you want to spend your Christmas with something a little spookier, this one’s for you.
TV/STREAMING
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Dec. 2, Disney+
The official synopsis for Disney’s latest Star Wars series, which stars Jude Law, says it follows “the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home — and meeting unlikely allies and enemies — will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”
Pop Culture Jeopardy!
Dec. 4, Prime Video
It’s like regular Jeopardy! but with teams instead of individuals and pop culture-related questions that are more like the type of thing you’d encounter at bar trivia. Colin Jost hosts.
Black Doves
Dec. 5, Netflix
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old-fashioned spy thriller, but this British series starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw looks promising. Netflix seems confident in its success, too; it’s already been renewed for a second season.
The Sticky
Dec. 6, Prime Video
It’s being described as “a Canadian Fargo“: Margo Martindale stars as Ruth Landy, a down-on-her-luck maple syrup farmer who concocts a plan to rob Quebec’s Maple Syrup Reserve. It’s very loosely based on a real-life event, but as the text that opens each episode proudly declares, it is “absolutely not the true story of the great Canadian maple syrup heist.”
No Good Deed
Dec. 12, Netflix
No Good Deed is the latest comedy from Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman, and it centers around three families all vying to buy the same house. Its impressive cast includes Lisa Kudrow, Ray Romano, Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, Abbi Jacobson and Denis Leary.
Dexter: Original Sin
Dec. 13, Paramount+ with Showtime
This Dexter prequel series stars Patrick Gibson as a young Dexter Morgan, but Michael C. Hall also reprises his role — sort of. Hall serves as the narrator for the series, playing our favorite serial killer’s inner voice.
Laid
Dec. 19, Peacock
Stephanie Hsu plays Ruby, a woman who realizes that all the people she’s slept with are suddenly dying under mysterious circumstances. She has to retrace her entire sexual history to go back and warn the ones who are still alive and try to figure out what the hell is going on. Zosia Mamet plays her true crime-obsessed best friend.
Kennedy Center Honors
Dec. 23, CBS/Paramount+, 8:30 p.m. EST
This year’s honorees are Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt, The Grateful Dead, Arturo Sandoval and The Apollo, which will receive a special honor as an American institution. No word yet on which performers are slated to pay tribute to this year’s recipients, but given their impressive bodies of work, we’re expecting some equally big names.
Squid Game Season 2
Dec. 26, Netflix
It’s been more than three years since Squid Game became a global phenomenon, and the Korean series is finally back for an encore. You’d think that after surviving season one’s deadly game, Player 456 would want to stay as far away from it as possible, but season two sees our hero (played by Lee Jung-jae) returning to the sadistic game in an attempt to put an end to it for good, coaching his fellow players and saving lives in the process. Will he be successful? Based on the fact that the show has already been renewed for a third and final season, we have to assume no.
MUSIC
Angel Olsen, Cosmic Waves Volume 1
Dec. 6
Angel Olsen’s latest is half curated compilation, half covers album. Side A features songs by Poppy Jean Crawford, Coffin Prick, Sarah Grace White, Maxim Ludwig and Camp Saint Helene, hand-picked by Olsen, and Side B is where Olsen offers up her own versions of those artists’ songs. As she explains in a statement, “I feel there is something unique and special about covering another artist’s song. We all make it our own, or we try to, but I personally always learn something new about the process when Iʼm engaging someone elseʼs words and melodies in such a close way.”
Lauren Mayberry, Vicious Creature
Dec. 6
CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry is branching out with her debut solo LP. “So much of this process has been an exercise in empowering myself to listen to my own intuition — something I really trained myself out of,” she explains in a statement about the record. “That’s ultimately why you start making things — because you felt a feeling, and you wanted to articulate that somehow. I think it was important for me to relearn that kind of independence, and recognize what I bring to any table I choose to sit at.”
White Denim, 12
Dec. 6
What do you name your band’s 12th album? Well, if you’re White Denim, you call it…12. According to singer James Petralli, the band drew inspiration from the work of Nick Lowe, Jonathan Richman and Joe Jackson on this record, and it also sees him playing a heavier role on the production side of things. “This is the first White Denim record where I’ve engineered and been the main producer,” he said. “I’ve touched every sound that’s on there.”
Lucinda Williams, Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road
Dec. 6
This album is exactly what it sounds like: Lucinda Williams covering Beatles classics, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. It’s the seventh volume of her “Lu’s Jukebox” cover series, and it makes her the first major artist other than the Fab Four themselves to record Beatles songs at Abbey Road.
The National, Rome
Dec. 13
If you’ve never had a chance to see The National perform live before, you can now get the next-best thing with Rome, the band’s new 21-track, 2-LP live album. (You should still really go to a National show, though.) Recorded without overdubs on June 3, 2024 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome, the career-spanning set includes favorites like “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” “I Need My Girl,” “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” “England” and “Fake Empire” as well as rarities like “Lemonworld” and “The Geese of Beverly Road.”
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, Missionary
Dec. 13
Missionary represents a highly anticipated reunion for hip-hop fans: Dr. Dre produced the entirety of Snoop Dogg’s new album, which is being promoted as the sequel to his massive 1993 debut, Doggystyle. It’s the first full-length collaboration by the pair since that release. Will it live up to the hype?
YOUR MONTHLY PLAYLIST
December is dark and depressing, so we hang festive lights and decorations and get all dressed up in sparkly metallics or rich jewel tones to brighten things up a bit. We convince ourselves that the snow we nearly throw our backs out shoveling is cozy and beautiful. We make toasts and eat big, hearty meals and go out of our way to show our loved ones just how much they mean to us with perfect, thoughtful tokens of our affection. We save all that warmth for the part of the year when we most desperately need our days to be merry and bright; we polish the lump of coal life handed us until it shines like a diamond. But there’s also an inherent sadness to the holiday that comes from the expectations we’ve attached to it.
For every person traveling home to be with their family, there’s another spending the day alone. For all the beautifully wrapped gifts sitting under the tree waiting to be opened, there’s a less fortunate person wondering how they’re going to explain to their kids that Santa won’t be coming or just looking for a way to get out of the cold. It can be a day of tight, forced smiles at awkward family gatherings. And for some reason, it all hits harder than on any of the other 364 days of the year. There’s nothing sadder than being sad on Christmas, the day we’ve collectively willed to be the most joyful of all. Perhaps that’s why there’s an entire sub-genre of Christmas songs devoted to this phenomenon. Some, like the Darlene Love classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” hide their melancholy lyrics behind a deceptively upbeat wall of sound, while others go straight for the jugular, but they all scratch a certain emotional itch this time of year, no matter what your circumstances are. With that in mind, we’ve put together a playlist of some of the saddest Yuletide jams we know.
ARTIST RECOMMENDATIONS
Each month, we catch up with a few musicians, actors, comedians or otherwise cool people whose opinions we respect to hear about a piece of pop culture they’re particularly excited about. This month, it’s Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie and Sophie Jamieson.
Anora
“This is easily the best movie of the year. I have really dug all of Sean Baker’s films. The Florida Project is a real favorite of mine. He has absolutely outdone himself with Anora. It is terribly funny and incredibly sad. It is ridiculous and completely believable, in the way that the best cinema can be. It is a great New York film as well, reminding us that there really are eight million stories in the Naked City.”
A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin
“I’ve just finished reading A Spy in the House of Love by Anaïs Nin. It’s an intense and poetic meditation on deep sensitivity that is so rarely met with patience, gentleness and love. Especially during the time it was written in the ’50s. It follows a period in the life of Sabina, a self-proclaimed actress who flees from one love to another, seeking emotional safety but never finding it, because she can’t stay long enough to look herself in the eye, or see the affair all the way through. I found it an incredibly relatable and poignant account of the intense fear and anxiety that highly sensitive people can experience in the face of a harsh world, the damage it can do and how some choose to cope and survive it.”
WORTH REVISITING
Mad Men, “Christmas Waltz” (2012)
Streaming on Prime Video, AMC+ and Philo
You no doubt are ready to cozy up and put on It’s a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story or whatever your holiday movie of choice is at some point this month, and you should absolutely do that. But if you’re looking for something that’s more Christmas-adjacent than full-on festive, you can’t go wrong with this classic episode from season five of Mad Men.
“Christmas Waltz” has a lot of other compelling storylines — the brief return of Paul, who has become a Hare Krishna to impress a girl, the news that Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is back in the running for the Jaguar account and Lane’s growing financial woes — but ultimately it’s notable for one classic scene: Don and Joan flirting at the bar while Doris Day croons the holiday tune the episode takes its name from.
It all starts when Joan gets served divorce papers at the office and flips out at Meredith, the hapless receptionist. (When she explains that she thought the man serving Joan was there for some sort of surprise, Joan responds by chucking the model airplane on her desk and delivering one of the series’ most memorable lines: “Surprise! There’s an airplane here to see you!“) It’s the first time in the whole series that we really see the typically unflappable Joan lose her composure at work, and it’s so jarring that Don is forced to swoop in and physically escort her out of the office to calm her down. He takes her to a Jaguar showroom, where they pose as a married couple looking to test-drive one of the luxury vehicles. Of course, it’s also an opportunity for the two hottest people in the office to test-drive what it’d be like if they were to give in to temptation and hook up, and naturally, they wind up at a bar.
The chemistry between Don and Joan in this scene is electric, and there’s an Old Hollywood glamour to the whole thing that feels particularly warm and Christmasy. (After all, isn’t “Mad Men character” what we’re all going for when trying to figure out what to wear to a holiday party?) Their banter is almost made even better by their tacit understanding that they’ll never actually act on their mutual attraction. (As Joan scoffs, “You and me in Midtown? You with that look on your face?”) They respect each other too much and understand each other too well to ever cross that line — but it sure is fun to watch them toe it.
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