As the nation relaxes into another weekend of lockdown and the weather forecasts show rain and gloomy skies, many of us will be reaching for the remote.
But what new films are set to hit screens over the next few days?
If you’re looking for something to tune into, then leading streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and NowTV have got you covered and will each be releasing a collection of new flicks to their platforms, with everything from romance, drama and horror, to dark surrealist comedy, parody and even some brand new originals to take your pick from.
Here’s everything new you can check out this weekend.
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Netflix
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The Princess Switch: Switched Again
Starring – Vanessa Hudgens
Brand new to the streaming service this today, The Princess Switch: Switched Again is the much-anticipated sequel to the 2018 Christmas romantic comedy film The Princess Switch, which followed the well-known concept of two people running into one another who look identical and switching places.
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In this latest instalment though, when Margaret’s Christmas coronation complicates her love life, her double Stacy steps in to save the day, but will a third look-alike ruin their plan?
Holmes & Watson
Starring – Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly
This 2018 mystery comedy film is a parody of the famed detective duo – with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as the title characters – which sees them they set out to find the culprit behind a threat at Buckingham Palace, and features performances from Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, and Ralph Fiennes in supporting roles.
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A film branded “so bad, it’s good” by some critics, you may as well give it a watch just once.
Life of the Party
Starring – Melissa McCarthy
Another comedy film to first hit the big screen back in 2018 – starring Melissa McCarthy, and written and directed by her husband Ben Falcone – Life of the Party sees a middle-aged mother return to college in order to complete her degree and ends up bonding with her daughter’s friends after her husband abruptly asks for a divorce.
Another Netflix original, Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square is a Christmas musical film directed and choreographed by acclaimed choreographer Debbie Allen, which follows follows a wealthy and pretentious woman named Regina Fuller, who after the death of her father, returns to her hometown before Christmas to evict the residents and sell the land to a mall developer.
Catch it on Netflix this Sunday 22nd November.
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Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime Video
Seven Stages To Achieve Eternal Bliss
Starring – Kate Micucci, Sam Huntington & Taika Waititi
Often going by an abridged version of the full title Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh, this dark comedy film sees a small-town young couple learn their new apartment is being used for a deranged cult’s ritualistic suicides.
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With Academy Award-winning writer, director and actor Taika Waititi playing the cult leader, you know you’re in for a wild ride.
Body Cam
Starring – Mary J. Blige and Nat Wolff
In this 2020 police procedural horror film, Mary J. Blige stars as a cop with the Louisiana Police Department who, when a routine traffic stop results in the unexplained, grisly death of her colleague, realises footage of the incident will play for her eyes only.
Officers are haunted by a spirit after the death of a black youth and the subsequent cover-up.
Uncle Frank
Starring – Paul Bettany & Sophia Lillis.
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Set in 1973, Uncle Frank is a roadtrip movie about a gay man who confronts his past.
When Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch’s funeral, they’re unexpectedly joined by Frank’s lover Walid.
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NowTV
(with a Sky Cinema pass)
Sky Group / NOW TV
The Photograph
Starring – Issa Rae & LaKeith Stanfield
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This 2020 romantic drama film, famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies and leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton hurt and full of questions, but when a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother’s early life and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block.
One that’s worth the watch.
Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island
Starring – Maggie Q, Michael Pena, Lucy Hale & Michael Rooker
In this 2020 supernatural horror film, five people take a trip to the eponymous magical island – adapted from the popular 1970s TV show – only to discover that their dream fantasies brought to life begin to turn into horrific living nightmares that they must try to survive.
Reckon you can hack it?
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
20th November 2020 
