Out with the old, in with the new—but gently, we’re also still recovering from drinking in the New Year. Even more than that, the sheer shock of going from full-tilt holiday insanity to screeching brakes back into “real life” requires at least one buffer weekend, and the next three days are it. Enjoy them accordingly.
Even the NFL is ramping up slowly but surely with just a handful of games. Like the rest of us, this weekend is ideal for staying home, tuning in, and catching what’s captivating on the tube, be it other sporting contests, a batch of new releases on Netflix, or a hot helping of intriguing TV premieres. Check out the 12 coolest things to do this weekend….
Hornets at Magic
(January 2)
The Magic fell 102-94 last week to the Hornets in Charlotte, so perhaps tonight’s rematch in Orlando should power them with something to prove. Further motivation should come from both teams presently occupying the bottom two rankings in the NBA Eastern Conference. One or both squads needs to—and just might—turn things around tonight.
Katt Williams at Barclay’s Center
(January 2)
Dapper comic madman Katt Williams brings his simultaneously high-pitched and low-key stand-up mastery to Brooklyn on his “Born Again… Again” tour. Katt is one of the best and most inventive comedians of his generation, as well as one of the wildest and most reckless tabloid headline generators. So come to Brooklyn for the show, then watch the Internet to see what trouble he might stir up before and after.
The Woman in Black 2: Angels of Death
(In theaters now)
The 2012 British period spooker The Woman in Black at first seemed most noteworthy just for starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, but it generated enough of a cult following to warrant this sequel. Radcliffe’s out but the gothic ghost haunting the already creepily-named Eel Marsh House is back to bedevil a pack of World War II orphans.
New on Netflix
(All through the month…)
Netflix’s January lineup kicks off this weekend with a bevy of guy-flick classics. So be a man and cuddle up inside to watch new arrivals Bad Boys II, Cast Away, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, The French Connection, To Be Takei, and Wayne’s World 2.
NFL Wildcard Playoffs
(all weekend)
Well, we made it. The countdown to the Super Bowl is officially on, beginning with this weekend’s series of wildcard playoff games. For the NFC slot, the Cardinals take on Panthers in Charlotte at 3:30pm. After that, it’s the AFC Ravens in Pittsburgh to battle the Steelers at 7pm. All bets are most definitely on.
(January 3)
STS9 Live
(January 3)
Sound Tribe Sector 9, as this instrumental electronic dance-funk/hip-hop/psych-jazz cabal is more formally and less groovily known, kick out the (plugged-in) jams Saturday night at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver. Bring your boogie moon-boots.
Fruitcake Toss Day
(January 3)
Few foods are so universally despised that their disposal warrants an official day. The fruitcake very much qualifies. So on the internationally recognized Fruitcake Toss Day, join other humans with functioning taste buds in launching this year’s holiday fruitcakes into oblivion, preferably with violent creativity and in spectacular fashion. (If you like fruitcake, we recommend the Claxton brand.)
Nothing Lasts Forever on TCM Underground
(January 3)
Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd dominated summer 1984 cinema with Ghostbusters, while Zach Galligan was in an other top blockbuster, Gremlins. Freakily, all three also co-starred alongside one another in Nothing Lasts Forever, which opened and closed at the height of those films packing in audiences everywhere. It’s a crazy cult sci-fi romance semi-musical with Galligan discovering a secret hobo society under Manhattan and finding true love with a hula girl on the moon. TCM provides a rare showing this weekend, with Nothing Lasts Forever airing at 2am Saturday. (It briefly made it to Youtube this year, but that got yanked.) The network has cannily paired it with Escape From New York–which is really smart.
NFL Wildcard Playoffs
(January 4)
What’s wilder than a Saturday packed with NFL wildcard playoff games? A Sunday loaded the same way. AFC contenders the Bengals play the Colts at 12 noon. NFC hopefuls the Lions take on Cowboys in Dallas at 3:30
The Celebrity Apprentice
(premieres January 4)
The joyfully anarchic and even dangerous presence of Gilbert Gottfried is what really grabbed us about the cast of the new Celebrity Apprentice, but there’s no lack of other potential nutballs among the other contenders on the D-list (as in “The Donald”). We especially look forward to outbursts from Geraldo Rivera, Johnny Damon, Lorenzo Lamas, Terrell Owens, and ex-Cosby kid Keisha Knight Pulliam.
Mavericks at Cavaliers
(January 4)
If only because it’s so much fun to say, “Mavs at Cavs” is always a worthwhile event. For Saturday’s game, Dallas’s 23-10 Mavericks contend with King James and his 18-14 Cavaliers in Cleveland. Watch this space as the season progresses for the chance to read “Cavs at Mavs.” It’s even fun to write.
Galavant
(premieres January 4)
ABC’s jokey, self-aware musical-comedy limited series is set in a fairy tale world of knights, princesses, and “Weird” Al Yankovic as an all-singing, all-dancing, all-“Weird”-Al-like monk. This pretty bold undertaking also boasts Ricky Gervais as a wizard named Xanax and John Stamos as a handsome rival to the hero named Sir Jean Hamm. We’ll give it a look.
