Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

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Paul’s Movie Pick: Sinners – Sometimes I save movies for airplane flights because I figure they won’t need my full attention; or rather, I don’t expect them to command my full attention. And most of the time I’m right to do so. I could not have been more remiss to put Sinners in the airplane bucket. Michael B. Jordan is such a versatile actor that you can drop him into any period, any set, any costume, and it’s as if it were his everyday life. Not only that, he’s able to elevate his supporting cast without stealing the show — a quality even some of the greatest actors have in short supply. The movie itself sinks its teeth into your neck and does not let go until after the credits roll. I don’t know how else to illustrate this other than to mention I watched this movie hunched over my phone on the unfolded airplane tray on a 4 hour turbulent flight to Baltimore with at least 3 crying babies within 2 rows of me. Flight attendants came and went; soft drinks and snacks passed all around. I did not look up once.

You know, maybe Sinners is actually perfectly suited for a flight: with 30 minutes until the plane was due to land, all I could do was sit there. You don’t chase good whisky, and you don’t watch anything else immediately after watching Sinners.

Ben’s Short Film Pick: Warhammer 40k shorts (Astartes, The Enemy Without: A Deathwatch Vignette, & Raptors) – To further supplement the hours I’ve been putting into Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Darktide lately, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into the expansive lore of 40k, leading to a few short films (two fan-made) set in Games Workshop’s grimdark universe being suggested by YouTube. The best of these are Astartes, The Enemy Without: A Deathwatch Vignette (my personal favorite), and Raptors. Each sees a squad of Space Marines (nine foot tall superhuman soldiers clad in power armor) battling the encroaching threats to humanity in the grimdark 41st millennium, all featuring excellent action sequences. If you’re a fan of 40k, or if you just want to see some absolutely bonkers action in less than 15 minutes, then I highly recommend giving these a shot.

Ben’s TV Pick: The Studio – Few TV shows have hooked me as quickly as The Studio, and far fewer have kept that initial momentum throughout an entire season. This Apple TV show is an hysterical satire of Hollywood (and all of its behind-the-scenes drama) that bombards you with jokes that somehow all hit the mark thanks to an absurdly great cast. Seth Rogen, Ike Barinholtz, and Kathryn Hahn have never been funnier, Catherine O’Hara and Bryan Cranston steal each scene they’re in, and relative newcomer Chase Sui Wonders is at times the best of them all. It gets even crazier with the constant cameos and supporting performances from filmmaking legends who play themselves (but I won’t spoil who because that’s part of the fun). It’s a true delight to watch Rogen and co squirm, bicker, and work under pressure for movie deals and recognition as they walk the fine line between making art and making money.

Lauren’s Video Game Pick: Dredge – As someone who always enjoys fishing minigames, I’m shocked at how long it has taken me to play a game all about fishing. Though I suppose the idea of being haunted by thick fog and eldritch horrors lurking beneath the surface of the open ocean was a valid deterrent. At least in theory; turns out I was largely scared for nothing. Other than the one time I tried to make friends with a ghost ship in the deep dark night, it was largely smooth sailing. Just me, my cramped cargo space, crab cages in constant need of repair, and a hull that got damaged by a mere sneeze. Thank Cthulhu I didn’t have to keep an eye on fuel levels on top of everything else. Past the resource management and need to stay apprised of which rods you have installed on your ship, the fishing was the exact, simple fun as I was hoping for, with a list of creatively mutated aberration forms to each fish that are fortunately far easier to stumble upon than shiny Pokémon (my favorites being the Three-Headed Cod and Anchovy King for Greek mythology and The Last of Us Part II reasons). The story left a bit to be desired in its thin simplicity, but as I said, that was not why I took to the sea in the first place.

Lauren’s Video Game Pick: Little Nightmares – For all the Tim Burton fans out there, Little Nightmares is the perfect series to play for those Before Christmas vibes. Set in a world of monstrous people of grotesque design and unexpected supernatural threats, you play as a rodent-sized child at constant risk of being eaten by the relatively colossal inhabitants of these perfect for puzzle-filled, platforming worlds. Don’t let the adorable pitter pattering of our insatiably ravenous protagonist’s tiny feet distract you in game 1, the creepiness will get those shoulders filled with tension as you must outthink a blind, ET-proportioned warden, outrun the ravenous diners of a Spirited Away styled eatery, and fight off giggling shadows within the hull of the prison ship that supplies the restaurant. If that’s not bad enough, the expansion adds water levels, gnomes fueled with nitrous oxide (more infuriating than stressful), and additional tragedy to the base game’s story, while game 2’s prequel story lures you in with adorable handholding (yay NPC co-op) and rescue missions, before taking you to a hospital that ties The Last of Us Part II (one more TLOU2 shoutout and I summon the Cordyceps infection) for the absolute worst healthcare facilities to find yourself in. Good news is you’re not alone this time, bad news is you’re not alone this time. Worst news: depth perception continues to be the real adversary in these 3D sidescrollers. (I am not purposefully excluding the third game, I just haven’t played it yet.)

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So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

And while you’re here, be sure to check some of the site’s other recent content:

• Ben’s writeup “The End of an Era: Why I Stopped Playing Destiny”