TV Talk

Must-watch holiday TV and movies: Shows to get you through the endless reruns & bad family reunions

When the weather outside is frightful, it’s time to power up the TV. Christmas break is upon us, and free time is about to increase exponentially. So what’s the key to getting through the abundance of family time?

A fully stocked queue of Hulu and Netflix (and a couple of well-timed trips to the multiplex, of course).

But in case you’re not quite sure what to dial up, we’ve got some suggestions to keep you entertained this holiday season.

Netflix

Drinking Buddies

Watch it with: Your beer-loving brother-in-law

Olivia Wilde stars with New Girl’s Jake Johnson in this tale of a pair of microbrewery employees who mix work and play more often than not. Consider the flick improved with a nice seasonal ale.

Frances Ha

Watch it with: Your high school BFF

The always spot-on Greta Gerwig is Frances, a sometimes out of work modern dancer, who’s both seriously un-dateable and entirely relatable. She’ll make you feel like your life isn’t such a mess after all.

The Iron Lady

Watch it with: Your grandmother

She’ll eat this biopic of Margaret Thatcher right up.

Blackfish

Watch it with: The non-squeamish

This documentary of Orca whale Tilikum examines the deaths of several trainers while he was in captivity, questioning the safety and humaneness of the Orca (also know as killer whale) community. Don’t expect Free Willy fare.

30 for 30

Watch it with: Your dad

Pops will surely appreciate this docu-series which highlights sports, sex, drug use and warfare. Choose an episode at random. Pretty much every story is sure to please his nonfiction-appreciating heart.

Firefly

Watch it with: Your tween nieces and nephews

Before Joss Whedon was the guy behind The Avengers, he was a sci-fi television master. This short-lived series (featuring Whedon fave Nathan Fillian) makes for easy watch that should take you and your pop culture-loving tweens no time at all to get though.

Lilyhammer

Watch it with: Your Sopranos-loving uncle

Sopranos favorite Steven Van Zandt stars as Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano, in this tale of a mafia boss who leaves the Big Apple for the Fjords of Norway after being put into witness protection. Season Two was just released, so you have more than enough of this Netflix Original to keep you busy.

HBO GO

Stoker

Watch it with: Your siblings

Mia Wasikowska is a young girl changed by the death of her father and prompt arrival of her mysterious new Uncle Charlie who moves in with the family. The trio soon go down a dark, twisted path in this 2013 psychological drama.

Girls

Watch it with: your cousins

Season 3 of this critically-acclaimed dramedy returns January 12, so catch up on last season’s action while you can.

Broken City

Watch it with: The whole family

Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe star in this revenge tale of ex-cop Billy Taggart, seeking redemption after being double-crossed and framed by New York City Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.

Hulu Plus

Misfits

Watch it with: Tweens, teens and sisters-in-law

Five unruly teenagers forced to do community service face a whole new slew of problems after an electrical storm hits their town and turns them into superheroes. Each possesses a new power they didn’t want, one that explores their deepest, darkest insecurities.

Moone Boy

Watch it with: Yourself

Set in 1980s Ireland, this truly hilarious comedy follows 12-year-old Martin Moone as he navigates the intricacies of his eccentric childhood with the help of his bearded — and very sarcastic — imaginary friend Sean (played by Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd).

In Theaters

Saving Mr. Banks

See it with: Your mom, aunt and grandmother

Tom Hanks stars in this tale inspired by the untold story of how Disney’s Mary Poppins made it to the screen. Emma Thompson stars as P.L. Travers, the curmudgeonly writer not eager to see her story bastardized.

American Hustle

Go see it with: The whole family

Director David O. Russell scores again with this fictional story of notorious con man Irving Rosenfeld (a barely recognizable Christian Bale) and his partner, portrayed by Amy Adams. The duo is forced to change things up after being discovered by the FBI, but the antics don’t die down a bit.

Her

Go see it with: Your significant other

Joaquin Phoenix stars as a withdrawn writer who falls in love with his computer’s highly advanced operating system in this comedy from director Spike Jonze.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Go see it with: Anyone looking for a laugh

Ron Burgundy and his band of bros are back, and they’re taking the 24-hour news world by storm. Expect tons of cameos, a fair amount of scotch and a lot of antics that make it difficult to stay classy.

There you have it, folks. With this arsenal of appropriate programming, you’ll have more than enough to do.

Tune in (and tune your family drama out) by watching Moone Boy.

Courtesy photo

Tune in (and tune your family drama out) by watching Moone Boy.

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super duper

Quirky Houston DJ drops genre-blending mix CD inspired by video games

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

If you’re the type of person who has dubstep, Southern hip-hop, and Koji Kondo’s iconic “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. in your streaming-music library, then Squincy Jones has created the perfect playlist for you..

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

Super Nintendub is the name of the mix where the Houston-born-and-bred DJ mashes up all those aforementioned music genres. A capella bars from Houston heavyweights (Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Wall) and other Dirty South MCs (Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG) gets laid over grooves from underground dubstep artists (Numa Crew, Blay Vision, Hamdi). But we also get music from various Nintendo (Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden) and Super Nintendo (Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI) games. Jones also throws in audio samples from commercials and gaming-heavy movies like WarGames, The Wizard, and the Adam Sandler-produced Grandma’s Boy.

Needless to say, Jones has always been a gamer. He’s had his run of game systems: NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, even the old-school Atari 2600. He recalls his days blowing the dust out of such cartridges as Contra, Double Dragon, and Duck Hunt. In the past, Jones has released a series of mashup mixes – titled Blend Pack – with cover art that resembles/salutes classic video games.

“I'm a huge fan of all the eight-bit and 16-bit stuff,” says Jones (government name: Shane Rector), 41. “I play a lot of the new games, or I have played a lot of the new games, but not as much anymore. You know, being a parent and having a full-time job – you don't really have time for video games anymore.”

Super Nintendub is a sequel to Nintendub, a dubstep mix he played during a party way back in 2008. “I added some a capellas, [like] a Bun B a capella,” he recalls. “I had some other Dirty South tunes from the time. I layered them because they're at the same tempo as dubstep. Another friend that does music gave me a folder of Nintendo songs. So, I just randomly layered it on top and kinda slowed down the Nintendo music, and it sounded cool as hell to me.”

The mix picked up fans overseas when he dropped it online. “I've always wanted to make a follow-up to it because I got so much good feedback,” he remembers. “People from all over were writing about it."

Jones decided to release Super on compact disc, sold in rectangular keep cases – packaging that’s very familiar to gamers – with double-sided artwork also by Jones. (A digital link is available upon request to those who buy the CD.) While the limited-edition disc is available for purchase on Jones’s Bandcamp page, the CD mix shouldn’t be confused with the Super mix that’s currently playing on the page.

“I wanted to have them in the mix as well,” he says. “But I'm not entirely, you know, confident with my production skills. So, I just kinda had it on the side to go along with the release of this mix.”

Since releasing Super in September, Jones says he’s gotten good feedback from those who’ve bought a copy. “Because it looks like a video game,” he says, “a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cool! Is it an actual game or an actual DVD or whatnot?’ But it's always hit or miss because some people are like, ‘Oh, man, I don't have a CD player’ or "Wow, you actually printed a CD,’ because everything's, you know, digital.”

He’s looking into playing a big-screen version of Super, where videos of the rap songs are spliced in with video-game footage and other retro clips, somewhere around here. “I was thinking like either a movie theater or somebody mentioned Aurora Picture Show, or maybe Wonky Power, to do like a viewing or showing or whatever – kind of have a party for it.”

Even though Jones enjoys merging gaming and music – his dual obsessions – he still prefers to be known as more than a video-game DJ. A veteran of the Houston DJ scene for a quarter of a century, he continues to do gigs like his upcoming monthly residency at Eight Row Flint.

“I do open-format DJing,” he says. “I've done raves and dubstep parties. I've played on the radio. I've played at Mid Main, where it’s a mainstream crowd. In this day and age, everybody has their branding or whatnot. I just love video games, so I just kind of take that as my branding, I guess.”

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