Weekend Watchlist: ‘The Legend of Korra,’ 'Marvel Anime: X-Men/Wolverine' & more
It’s the weekend before Christmas! Normally we would be facing the busiest time of the year with a flurry of annual clan gatherings, reunions with friends, office Christmas parties and raffles. Most of us would probably be heading home for the holidays or taking advantage of vacation leaves to go on year-end trips.
All those festive celebrations may not be in the cards for us this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy our Holiday break with movie night watch parties or some serious solo Holiday binge-watching.
For fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there’s no better Christmas gift than the arrival of all four seasons of the hit sequel series The Legend of Korra, which if you ration properly should last you ‘til the New Year.
Anime fans can also watch two Marvel anime series originally aired on Animax, namely X-Men and Wolverine, which re-imagines Marvel's iconic superheroes for Japanese audiences. The two series are part of a 2010-2011 partnership between Marvel Entertainment and Japanese animation studio Madhouse, with Japan serving as the setting for the original storylines.
This time of the year is most difficult for those who have lost loved ones and are dealing with loneliness and grief, which you get a glimpse of in the Netflix original animated short Canvas. Of course, we also get the usual assortment of Christmas-oriented films and crowd-pleasing local offerings that came out during previous Metro Manila Film Festivals, normally a time for Filipinos to watch movies together at the cinemas.
Here are some of the new series and films now streaming on Netflix that you can catch up on this weekend.
The Legend of Korra: Books One to Four
Synopsis: Taking place 70 years after the events of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," this story follows the adventures of Korra, the Avatar after Aang. The passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe has mastered three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), and seeks to master the final element, Air.
Marvel Anime: X-Men (Season 1)
Synopsis: A year after their dissolution, the X-Men are re-assembled by Professor Charles Xavier to investigate the kidnapping of young mutants in Japan.
Marvel Anime: Wolverine (Season 1)
Synopsis: Logan, aka mutant X-Man Wolverine, is on a quest to reclaim the love of his life—whose crime lord father is planning an arranged marriage for her.
The Uncanny Counter
Synopsis: Noodle shop employees by day and demon hunters by night, the Counters use special abilities to chase down malevolent spirits that prey on humans.
Canvas
Synopsis: After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again. The nine-minute long animated short directed by Frank E. Abney III and produced by Paige Johnstone dropped on Netflix on Dec.11.
Braven
Synopsis: A logger defends himself and his family from a group of murderous drug traffickers who have hidden a stash of heroin in his hunting cabin. The 2018 action adventure film stars Jason Momoa.
Home for Christmas (Season 2)
Synopsis: The Norwegian television series stars Ida Elise Broch as Johanne, a single woman who scrambles to get a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas Eve. The romantic-drama consists of six 30-minute segments. Netflix’s first original Norwegian series returns for a second season on Dec. 15.
A California Christmas
Synopsis: With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Synopsis: Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927. The 2020 American drama film directed based on the play of the same name by August Wilson, stars Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman (in his final film appearance).
Love You to the Stars and Back
Synopsis: In search of aliens, a young woman’s road trip becomes an emotional journey when she finds—and falls for—a charming companion with cancer.
Patay na si Hesus
Synopsis: When Iyay, a single mother, learns that her estranged husband has died, she drags the entire family on a road trip from Cebu to Dumaguete to attend the funeral.
The Panti Sisters
Synopsis: Three gay siblings are told by their terminally ill father that they must each produce a grandchild in order to inherit their share of his fortune.