There may be only two real reasons to pay attention to the Netflix March 2016 schedule, but they’re two great reasons. Daredevil makes his triumphant return, though not before Frank Underwood enters the year’s presidential jamboree. As for the rest of the line-up, a couple of under-the-radar exclusives and originals aren’t going kickstart any bombastic new franchises for the service. The film offering isn’t even worth mentioning. As always, here are a couple highlights, then the full list below:

House of Cards: Season 4

President Frank Underwood meets his most vicious foe: Claire Underwood. There will be nondescript clothing, audience-asides and brutally high expectations.

Daredevil: Season 2

Marvel’s first go-around on Netflix is among the service’s absolute greatest hits, which makes this second season among the most anticipated (at least, on the internet) of anything it’s every produced. Happily, the writers aren’t shying away from Marvel’s trove of favorite B-list characters. Both the Punisher and Elektra make their small-screen debut. And because I lack conviction, here are both trailers representing each character. Either way, it seems, the Man Without Fear is fighting on a new level.

Groundhog Day?

Hey, it’s not a bad movie. And it even looks great matched up against the likes of American Pie spin-offs, the return of Pee-Wee Herman and seminal Tom Hanks phone-in, Larry Crown. Don’t ever doubt that Bill Murray can put a smile on your face, even when you’ve exhausted the newest season of both House of Cards and Daredevil.

March 1

Adult Beginners (2015)
Ahora o Nunca (2015)
Aldnoah.Zero: Season 2
American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006)
Before We Go (2015)
Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland (2016)
El Desconocido (2015)
Fresh Meat: Series 2
Frog Kingdom (2013)
Good Burger (1997) (Netflix Exclusive)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Heaven Knows What (2015)
Hot Sugar’s Cold World (2015)
Midsomer Murders: Series 17 (Netflix Exclusive)
Narcopolis (2015)
Road Trip: Beer Pong (2009)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Scarface (1983)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Young Kieslowski (2014)

March 2

For Grace (2015)

March 4

House of Cards: Season 4 (Netflix Original)

Lab Rats: Season 4
LEGO Friends: The Power of Friendship (2016) (Netflix Original)
LEGO: Bionicle: The Journey to One: Season 1 (2016) (Netflix Original)
Louie: Season 5

March 5

Hell & Back (2015)

March 7

Cuckoo: Seasons 1-2 (Netflix Original)
Halo: The Fall of Reach (2015)
Sin Filtro (2016

March 8

Digimon Fusion: Season 2 (Netflix Exclusive)

March 9

The Returned: Season 1 (Netflix Exclusive)

March 10

Comedy Bang! Bang!: Season 4, part 3
Hateship Loveship (2013)

March 11

Dinotrux: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Flaked: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Netflix Presents: The Characters: Season 1 (Netflix Original)
Popples: Season 2 (Netflix Original)

March 12

Shelter (2015)

March 15

10,000 Saints (2015)
4GOT10 (2015)
The Falling (2015)
Final Girl (2015)
Finders Keepers (2015) (Netflix Exclusive)
Power Rangers Dino Charge: Season 1, part 2
War Pigs (2015)

March 16

Are You Here (2014)
Charlie St. Cloud (2010)
Gridiron Gang (2006)
Happy Valley: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Larry Crowne (2011)
Promised Land (2012)

March 18

He Never Died (2015)
Jimmy Carr: Funny Business (2016) (Netflix Original)
Marvel’s Daredevil: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (2016) (Netflix Original)
The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show: Season 2 (Netflix Original)
My Beautiful Broken Brain (2016) (Netflix Original)

March 22

The Art of Organized Noize (2016) (Netflix Exclusive)
The Ouija Experiment 2: Theatre of Death (2015)

March 24

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
A Promise (2013)

March 25

VeggieTales in the House: Season 3 (Netflix Original)

March 28

Trailer Park Boys: Season 10 (Netflix Original)

March 31

Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation (2007)
Fright Night 2 (2013)
Murder Rap: Inside the Biggie and Tupac Murders (2015)
Sunshine Superman (2015)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Bonds Beyond Time (2011)
Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal: Seasons 1-2

Every TV Show and Movie New to Netflix March 2016

Microsoft has announced next month’s slate of free offerings for Xbox Live Gold members. The four-pack happens to become more interesting as one reads the game descriptions, save for the one blockbuster title on the tail-end that, unfortunately, has a potential audience likely already in possession of it on the Xbox One. In any case, do take a little time to at least read about the first title on this list. It sounds just insane enough to work, or completely fall apart in twenty minutes. Good news is its free, so nobody loses.

Games with Gold February 2016: Xbox One

Hand of Fate (free from Feb. 1 – 29)

I couldn’t describe this one on my own if I tried. Here’s a quote from the official Xbox page on the game: “Hand of Fate is a hybrid roguelike/action-RPG/deck builder, in which the player builds a set of cards into a deck, which is then used to deal out the dungeon floors through which they adventure. Upon entering a combat, all of the cards the player has collected fly into their hands as fully modelled 3D assets, and combat begins.” There you have it. If eighty percent of that sentence made sense to you, this game might be worth a try. It’s the randomized aspect in “roguelike” that’s most intriguing.

Styx: Master of Shadows (free from Feb. 16 – March 16)

As the name suggests, Styx: Master of Shadows is all about stealth, though the screenshots might convince you there’s a little Assassin’s Creed hidden in the DNA. This game reviewed modestly upon release, apparently of solid design and satisfying plot, but not much more than that. If you haven’t sneaked your way through an adventure in a while but feel the urge, give it a go perhaps.

Games with Gold February 2016: Xbox 360

Sacred Citadel (free from Feb. 1 – 15)

This side-scrolling, cooperative beat ’em up looks the part, harking back to retro hack ‘n slashers all the way up to the glorious Castle Crashers. Unfortunately, the reviews tell a darker tale of bland combat and unsatisfying progression. In other words, there’s going to be a lot of button mashing and mental drifting over the course of the experience, almost as much as there are words that begin with an apostrophe to describe the associated genre.

Gears of War 2 (free from Feb. 16 – 29)

The triumphant return of Marcus Fenix ‘n gang happens also to mark the absolute low-point of the series, but that’s saying something since it’s completely playable. There’s even a fight inside a giant worm. Thanks, Cliffy B!

Here are the Xbox Games with Gold February 2016 Offerings

Usually there’s something to say about the particular balance of a given month in Netflix releases. Usually we’re tilting in the direction of exclusives/originals or the opposite. Does it count to say that the balance on offer for Netflix in February 2016 is just right? Films of high to low quality spread out in release year from way back when to just about now and a nice dose of Netflix originals that further the service’s predominance  in the world of TV production are all on offer. Kids movies, adult movies and manboy movies are all there. Even a sequel to the much beloved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon debuts in February. And who knows who that movie is even for?

Bottom line: Netflix is for everybody next month. As always, what follows are a select few featured items (chosen by an expert of superior taste) and then the entire list sectioned off by release date. Have fun and love life.

Full Metal Jacket

When Stanley Kubrick decides to do a Vietnam war movie, you know it’s not actually going to be a war movie. Kubrick does everything he can to subvert and overcome the jingoistic cliches of lesser films in the genre, allowing a young Vincent D’onofrio to instill terror on the level of Jack Nicholson in a certain other Kubrick film and the rest of the cast to be people inside soldier suits.

Sin City

No film has ever captured the essence of its source material, on both a visual and tonal level, better than the original Sin City. Somehow every actor shows up to deliver the perfect amount of pul-fiction camp, drab and droning narration include, while the team behind the camera (and especially those in post-production) accomplished a raising of the bar set by  300 before it. It’s a graphic novel on-screen, in three acts separated by their characters and plots but unified by an endlessly compelling vision.

Stardust

This is the first film on this month’s featured list that might actually need its introduction (but certainly not the last). A recreation of Neil Gaiman’s book of the same name (which he went on record saying it was deliberately written in the style of pre-Tolkein fantasy), Stardust also features a pre-Daredevil Charlie Cox in the primary role. The plot more-or-less flows from one fantasy device to another, though in beginning with a unique twist – that a fallen star is actually a beautiful woman with that naive fascination of human life like Joe Black himself – the interweaving of fantastic characters and tales comes across as charming and sincere.

I Love You Phillip Morris

As it becomes scarcer and scarcer, the opportunity to see Jim Carrey in a completely unhinged role is one that shouldn’t be missed. 2009’s I Love You Phillip Morris follows blue-collar criminal Steven Russel who, after coming out and turning from cop to con-man, falls in love with the titular character (Ewan McCregror), unseizing in the psychological exploitation of that love as a provider of infinite excuses to do crime and love it along the way. It is, of course, a comedy elevated in large part by Carrey’s carefree screen presence. Or you could just watch this instead:

Dope

My Dad describes this one as a modern-day John Hughes movie featuring an inner-city nerd, and modern day not just in the sense that it takes place in the year 2015, but also in its cultural sensibilities and relevance. Also, if you’re the type who enjoys bashing the Academy Awards for certain failings of late, you can point your finger in Dope’s direction. It deserved a lot more than it got.

Love: Season 1

Judd Apatow put this series together for Netflix exclusively, proving again (at least in the embedded trailer) that he’s far more interested in talking about the disappointments entangled with fairy-tales than actually depicting them. Still, he’s always on-point-to-the-point-of-on-the-nose, an effect that only wears off if you’ve got a chip on your shoulder about a guy whose name means more than his art. But that’s my problem. Love will probably be pretty good despite my objections.

February 1

A Picture of You (2014)
Armageddon (1998)
Better Call Saul: Season 1
Charlie’s Angels (2000)
Collateral Damage (2002)
Cruel Intentions (1999)
A Faster Horse (2015)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Game Face (2015)
Jennifer 8 (1992)
Johnny English (2003)
The Little Engine That Could (2011)
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles: Season 1
Losing Isaiah (1995)
Masha’s Tales: Season 1
My Side of the Mountain (1969)
Para Elisa (2012)
Pokemon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (2014)
Pokemon: XY: Season 1
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
Sin City (2005)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Stardust (2007)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Teen Witch (1989)
Tin Man: “Search for the Emerald” (2007)
The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom (2011)

February 2

Land Before Time: XIV: Journey of the Brave (2016)

February 3

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

February 4

Love (2015)

February 5

Care Bears & Cousins: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Mad Men: Season 7: Part 2
Turbo: F.A.S.T.: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 6

Lila & Eve (2015)

February 10

Dope (2015)
The Girl in the Book (2015)

February 13

The Face of Love (2013)

February 15

Open Season (2006)
XXY (2007)

February 17

The Returned: Season 2

February 19

Cooked: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Love: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 22

3rd World Cops 2 (2015)

February 23

Bare (2015)

February 24

Marvel Super Hero Adventures: Frost Fight! (2015)

February 26

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Fuller House: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Theo Von (2016) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

February 27

Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

February 29

Ashes and Embers (1982)

Everything New to Netflix in February 2016

Following a somewhat abysmal month of Netflix releases this December, the streaming service might just start the new year off on the right foot. It’s a classic Netflix offering, in fact, less reliant on exclusives and originals and simply delivering the goods on decent-to-great films and some beloved television that’s reasonably recent. Mostly, though, there isn’t an obscene number of comedy specials.

As always, here’s a completely objective list of featured items followed by the full month’s worth of new stuff for Netflix January 2016 for you to judge on your own account.

Training Day

Denzel Washington plays a deliciously evil cop and Ethan Hawke tries not to die as his partner. Training Day established that Washington could do more than good-guy, Oscar-bait acting and break bad every once and a while. He would spend the rest of his career trying to live up to his corrupt detective in similar but inevitably inferior roles. And all the while Hawke managed to keep pace and continue his streak of under-the-radar brilliance. (Don’t believe me? See Boyhood or Gattaca).

Constantine

Say what you will about Keanu Reeves. Say what you will about Shia Labeouf. Say what you will about comic book adaptations that don’t involve super hero team-ups. Constantine manages to work for a number of reasons. First, this is another role that Reeves’ superior style of non-acting fits perfectly. Second, the shear amount of strange that unfolds is satisfying enough to behold. Third, the story lends itself beautifully to some wonderful visual recreations from the comic book and a “they-went-there” ending that leaves no viewer asking for more. It’s a self-contained little gem of a film.

Meet the Parents

Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro prove an unlikely team-up can lead to an unlikely success, as the two engage in a comedic psychological battle before the younger proposes to the older’s daughter. Of course, the primary twist on the formula is De Niro’s character, an ex-spy who hasn’t quite left the agency on a number of disturbing levels. Stiller is just Stiller, but in the good way. Meet the Parents is tame by today’s standards, but still a worthwhile bit of time.

Parks and Recreation: Season 7

This ambitious final season to a show that constantly proved more ambitious than its premise pretty much knocked the entire series out of the park. If you missed out on the original airing (and you probably did), do your best to enjoy Parks and Recreation’s time-jump swan song, in which every character found some ending that doubled as its own beginning, all the while satirizing the modern day with a happy-go-lucky look at the not-so-distant future. Most importantly, Ron Swanson shoots a drone out of the sky.

January 1

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Along Came Polly (2004)
American Girl: Grace Stirs up Success (2015)
Angry Birds Toons: Season 1
Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (2009)
Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007)
Catwoman (2004)
The Celebrity Plastic Surgeons of Beverly Hills: Season 1
Constantine (2005)
Forensic Files: Collection 2
Friday Night Tykes: Season 1-2
The Good Road (2013)
House of Wax (2005)
How to Change the World (2015)
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Journey to Le Mans (2014)
Loins of Punjab (2007)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Nanny McPhee (2006)
Piku (2015)
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005)
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
The Rundown (2003)
Shout Gladi Gladi (2015)
Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball (2009)
Something New (2006)
Stephen Fry Live: More Fool Me (2014)
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle: Season 3
Swordfish (2001)
The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
Under Arrest: Season 1: “Put Some Clothes On”
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
The Wedding Date (2005)
The Whole Ten Yards (2004)

January 2

30 for 30: Four Falls of Buffalo
I’ll Have What Phil’s Having: Season 1

January 3

Sofia the First: Season 2

January 4

Blunt Force Trauma (2015)

Training Day (2001)

January 5

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 10
New Girl: Season 4

January 8

Adult World (2014)

Dragons: Race to the Edge: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Tom Segura: Mostly Stories (2015) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 10 

Dos Hermanos (2010)
El Hombre de al Lado (2009)
Esperando La Carroza (1985)
The Marziano Family (2011)
Rosario Tijeras (2005)
Un Oso Rojo (2002)

January 11

Littlest Pet Shop: Season 4

January 12

The Ladykillers (2004)

January 13

Parks and Recreation: Season 7

January 14

The Testimony (2015)

January 15

Degrassi: The Next Class: Season 1– NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Last Five Years (2015)
Moonwalkers (2015)
Occupied (2015)
The Overnight (2015)
Sirens: Season 2

January 16

Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

January 17

Z Nation: Season 2

January 19

Curve (2015)

January 20

Drone (2014)

January 21

When Calls the Heart: Season 2

January 22

Sharknado 3 (2015)

January 23

Chelsea Does (2016) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 25

From Dusk Till Dawn: Season 2
Turbo Kid (2015)

January 28

Frozen Planet (2011)
Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice (2011)
Frozen Planet: The Epic Journey (2011)
The Making of Frozen Planet (2012)

January 29

Ever After High: Dragon Games — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 31

Words and Pictures (2013)

Everything New to Netflix January 2016

All but one of the four free Xbox Games with Gold January 2016 offerings are almost overtly designed to get you to buy more stuff down the line. The good news is, because of that fact, they happen to be reasonably high-quality games. Hooray for us. Hooray for Microsoft. Hooray for video games all around.

As always, the Xbox 360 games on offer will also be backwards compatible with the Xbox One when they go free. That’s especially important this month, as the highlight of the bunch rests on the older console. Here they are:

Xbox One Games with Gold January 2016

Killer Instinct: Season 1 Ultra Edition (free from January 1 to 31)

Though this one has, since the launch of the Xbox One console, been technically free-to-play, the Ultra Edition nets you all eight original fighters instead of just one. I’d say that’s an improvement. This also gets you  Killer Instinct Classic, a port of the original game onto the new console, if that’s your thing. Of course, Killer Instinct Season 2 is well under way, so be wary of potential addictions. Or don’t, and suffer the consequences.

Zheros (free from January 16 to February 15)

Zheros is a side-scrolling (albeit somewhat three-dimensional) brawler with cooperative play and humorous writing. Alarmingly, it wasn’t created between the years 1998 and 2008, which means it’s supposedly nostalgic in its designs. Other than that, it might be worth your time if the rest of your game library happens to spontaneously dissipate into the ether.

Xbox 360 Games with Gold January 2016

Dirt Showdown (free from January 1 to 15)

Developer Codemasters is doing everything it can to reintroduce the Dirt series to potential buyers as they roll out their latest well-received racing sim, Dirt Rally. Dirt 3 went free last month, and now the in-betweener Dirt Showdown, which takes a more fantastical approach to the demanding driving modeled employed in the series, finds its way into Xbox owners’ hands. Dirt Rally will hit consoles on April 5, 2016.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (free from January 16 to 31)

This is one of the densest titles to hit the Games with Gold promotion in quite a while. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a full-on stealth RPG, first-person shooter with a AAA science-fiction storyline so highly-budgeted it’s almost among the pantheon of never-gonna-happen Hollywood recreation games. If anything’s gonna fill your time while family members wonder if you’re ever going to make something yourself this holiday season, this is it. And don’t forget, the sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided hits in the summer of 2016.

Here are the Free Xbox Games with Gold January 2016 Offerings

The concepts “holiday season” and “free of charge” are diametrically opposed, which might explain why Sony and Microsoft’s respective freebie offerings for their gaming networks are so undeniably tame. There’s no Rocket League in the bunch, but that isn’t to say there’s nothing. There’s just a whole bunch of sort-of somethings. Here’s Sony’s list for all three of its active consoles.

*It’s worth noting that, possibly for the first time ever, none of the titles on this list are cross-compatible (and so they are neither cross-buy) with a second Playstation console. Each title is free for its respective console over the month of December 2015, starting from the first Tuesday of the month (Dec. 1, in fact).

PS4

Both of the PS4’s free PS Plus December titles are mediocre reboots of classic games. Don’t mourn for them, though. They have allowed me to do twice the work in half the time.

Gauntlet: Slayer Edition

This classic reboot might have looked phenomenal in the days of its predecessor, but today it’s only hitting the market to mild interest and middling acclaim. If the name on its own excites you, throwing the title up on the screen might be worth an afternoon or two. Particularly, it’s worth playing with friends, as it reflects a similar, if somewhat dumbed-down, version of common hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers popular today.

King’s Quest – Chapter 1: A Knight to Remember

This classic reboot might have looked phenomenal in the days of its predecessor, but today it’s only hitting the market to mild interest and middling acclaim. If the name on its own excites you, throwing the title up on the screen might be worth an afternoon or two. Particularly, it’s worth playing on your own, as it reflects a similar, if somewhat dumbed-down, version of common story-based adventures popular today.

PS Vita

Freedom Wars

This poor man’s Monster Hunter doesn’t so much do wrong as it fails to do anything noticeably right. The setting might be futuristic and the monsters less organic, but the conceit is almost exactly the same: team up cooperatively to roam the landscape and take down over-sized bad guys for incremental awards. The execution isn’t quite up to snuff.

Rocket Birds: Hardboiled Chicken

It’s a side-scrolling shoot-em-up platformer starring chickens. We didn’t know we needed it until it existed, now the world can’t have existed without the presumption of hardboiled chickens. Or was it hardboiled eggs?

PS3

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Ubisoft, instead of pretending to make a new game by painting an older one, didn’t pretend to make a new game, and instead painted over an old one, with style. It works. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon throws neon and killer dragons over the Far Cry 3 map and structure, then truly sexes it up with a manic tone riffing off 1980’s macho action movie attitude. I say again, it does work.

SSX

EA decided to reboot the SSX series a couple of years ago. Mechanically and graphically impressive, we all thought it was the dawn to a new snowboarding age. Fast-forward to now and nothing has come of it, except this free game on this month. There’s also Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, if that falls under the same umbrella, but nobody wants to share an umbrella with a stinker.

And that’ll do it for the free PS Plus December titles. See you in January, when Sony and Microsoft remember they need to make these lists look good at least twice a year.

The Free PS Plus December Games are Mildly Interesting

For the second month in a row since activating the free backwards compatibility feature for the Xbox One, Microsoft has gone out of its way to create the most boring list of free Xbox 360 games which will also be playable on the newer console. We’ll forgive Microsoft, just one more time, since December also happens to be the most important month of the year for new video game sales. Here’s looking to January.

As is the norm now, all Xbox 360 games on this list are backwards compatible with the Xbox One, you’ll just need to download them via browser if you don’t own the title.

Xbox One Games with Gold December

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (free from Dec. 1 – 31)

This Diablo-inspired RPG takes on a classic character and does exactly what you’d expect with him. The gameplay mechanics at play here may not be all that exciting, but for fans of hacking and slashing creatures straight out of the Gothic horror encyclopedia, look no further.

Thief (free from Dec. 16 – Jan. 15)

Among the most underwhelming of next-gen reboots, Thief wouldn’t have drawn any meaningful attention when it launched had it not come from such glorious roots. No matter. As a free offering, it’s certainly worth a download and a playthrough. Just don’t expect to be excited for the never-to-exist Thief 2.

Xbox 360 Games with Gold December

Castlestorm (free from Dec. 1 – 15)

Somehow, this tower defense game just keeps popping up on free games lists. If you missed the Xbox One version a couple months ago, or the Playstation version after that, now’s your chance to get the least updated, ugliest incarnation on the market. If there’s something to be said for being the original, then you might find it here.

Sacred 3 (free from Dec. 16 – 31)

If you aren’t playing Van Helsing this month, you might try Sacred 3, which fills almost the same exact genre slot, but does it a little worse. In fairness, Sacred 3 is more of an action RPG than Van Helsing, but just barely. Other than that, you could probably play a more interesting game in your head.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (free from Dec. 16 – 31)

This is one of the rare first-person shooters designed explicitly for the single-player experience (after the year 2007), and for what it seeks to do it does it well: the atmosphere, attention to detail and pacing make for an engaging, but short-lived first-person romp.

The Free Xbox Games with Gold December Offerings are Boring

If you’ve managed to blast through Jessica Jones since its release on Netflix last month and you’re looking for yet another reason to validate that subscription, the streaming company has a announced a December slate of releases to challenge your very understanding of what the service can be. Let’s be clear here: you need to love comedy and, more importantly, celebrity comedians, to get excited about Netflix in December. Unless you’re a huge John Hamm fan. If you have Mad Men withdrawals, this might be the month for you, too.

As always, here are a few carefully (consciously, at least) curated highlights for the month, followed by the full list down below.

The Ridiculous 6

Here’s the first of four films Netflix contracted Adam Sandler to produce exclusively for the streaming service. From the trailer, it’s clear the most important thing about The Ridiculous 6 is that it exists and Sandler doesn’t look quite as depressed as he has in the last few Hollywood roll-outs. In terms of budget, it’s no Pixels, but anything in common with Pixels is a bad thing. Perhaps this is a rejuvenation period for Sandler, or perhaps he’s just going to front-load another movie with all his comedy friends and cash in on his history. I’m optimistic it’s both.

Black Mirror: White Christmas

For those who’ve craved a new season of Black Mirror since they blasted through the existing episodes on Netflix, here’s your holdover until the third season finishes development. Jon Hamm stars as a man who escaped into the isolation of a snowy wilderness from a world where everyone is connected to the internet through an implant in their heads. And if you haven’t seen a single episode of the modern day Twilight Zone, it doesn’t matter. They’re all standalone stories.

Nurse Jackie

Picking up where House left off, Edie Falco’s (The Sopranos) pill-addicted nurse manipulates, lies and betrays her friends all in the name of good, old-fashioned nursing. And getting super high all the time. She’s the female anti-hero to challenge the most perplexing of her male counterparts in the last ten years of television, and noticeably more devious much of the time. The series ended just this past year, so Netflix has the entire run.

You’ll also find a number of comedy specials and shows to round out the new offerings. Bill Murray headlines his own Christmas special and Rob Schneider, of all people, put together a show about all the difficulties that come with being Rob Schneider (think Curb Your Enthusiasm or Louis C.K., except with Rob Schneider. Here’s the entire list:

December 1

#DeathToSelfie (2014)
30 for 30: Chasing Tyson (2015)
50 Shades of THEY: Season 1
A Christmas Star (2015)
A Genius Leaves the Hood: The Unauthorized Story of Jay Z (2014)
Amnesiac (2015)
Broadchurch: Season 2
CBGB (2013)
Christmas Wedding Baby (2014)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Darkman (1990)
Detectorists: Season 1
I’m Brent Morin — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Jenny’s Wedding (2015)
Las mágicas historias de Plim Plim: Season 1
Ray (2004)
Real Rob: Season 1 (2015) — NETFLIX EXCLUSIVE
See You In Valhalla (2015)
Sensitive Skin: Season 1
Starting Over: Season 1
Stir of Echoes (1999)
Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming (2007)
That Touch of Mink (1962)
Tyke: Elephant Outlaw — NETFLIX EXCLUSIVE
Winning Life’s Battles: Season 1

December 2

Stations of the Cross (2014)
Tangerine (2015)

December 3

Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine (2015) 

December 4

A Very Murray Christmas (2015) — NETLIX ORIGINAL
Comedy Bang! Bang!: Season 4 – more episodes

December 5

A Case of You (2013)
Dinosaur 13 (2014)
Inside Man: Season 3

December 7

Vampire Academy (2014)

December 8

One & Two (2015)
Phoenix (2014)
Xenia (2014)

December 9

Phineas and Ferb: Season 4
Trailer Park Boys: Drunk, High And Unemployed Live In Austin (2015) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

December 11

The Adventures of Puss in Boots: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Ridiculous 6 (2015) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

December 14

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

December 15

Drown (2014)
Hart of Dixie: Season 4
High Profits: Season 1
Time Out of Mind (2014)

December 16

Fresh Dressed (2015)
Helix: Season 2

December 18

F is for Family Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Glitter Force: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Making A Murderer: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Mike Epps: Don’t Take It Personal — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

December 19

Chloe and Theo (2015)

December 20

Leo the Lion (2013)
Magic Snowflake (2013)
Santa’s Apprentice (2010)

December 21

El Señor de los Cielos: Season 3

December 22

Queen of Earth (2015)

December 23

Invisible Sister (2015)

December 24

Dawn of the Croods: Season 1 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

December 25

Black Mirror “White Christmas” Episode

December 28

Maron: Season 3
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Season 5

December 30

Parenthood: Season 6

December 31

Battle Creek: Season 1
Manhattan Romance (2014)
Violetta: Season 3
Nurse Jackie: Seasons 1-7

Every TV Show and Movie Coming to Netflix in December 2015

Microsoft may have let the backwards compatibility trick out of the bag for this month’s free offerings, but, simply put, Sony brought the games. Arguably the greatest science-fiction RPG hits the PS3 for free alongside a classic third-person action game that will most definitely never see a sequel. And then, for the PS4, there’s the second season of the only episodic gaming series that really matters (in my opinion). You could count Life is Strange or Minecraft: Story Mode, but then we can’t be friends.

Here’s the list:

PS4

The Walking Dead: Season 2

Clem goes her own way in Telltale Game’s follow-up to the groundbreaking first season of The Walking Dead. Instead of wielding guns and axes against the undead, you have choices, the results of being which far more devastating… to the feels.

Magicka 2

A cooperative, top-down shoot-em-up that throws together magical powers, colorful robes and the oppourtunity for some truly bizarre launch trailers.

PS3

Mass Effect 2

If the original Mass Effect was a testing ground and Mass Effect 3 shipped with the pre-installed baggage of a conclusion to a space opera trilogy, Mass Effect 2 was the near perfect middle-ground that sharpened the RPG and shooting mechanics while providing gamers with the most robust team-up system ever. It helps that the diverse cast was compelling across the board and nobody held the expectation of a holistic ending for all those moving parts.

Beyond Good & Evil

Beyond Good & Evil is one of those Gamecube-era games that threw together a bunch of stuff and a decent story into a third-person action game mold, sold terribly, then, only later, was remembered fondly by the eighteen people that played it. It’s definitely worth a go, just don’t expect a sequel anytime soon.

PS Vita

Dragon Fin Soup (also free for PS4 and PS3)

This is a top-down, tactical RPG with roguelike elements. If you get an image of the game from those words alone, it just might by worth your time. Otherwise, Dragon Fin Soup will likely never be anything more than a nuanced enjoyment.

Invizimals

I’d say this game might be something like Sony’s attempt at a Pokemon franchise, but then that would suggest I have even the slightest clue what is going on in the trailer below. Do you?

Here’s the November PS Plus Free Games Lineup

Though the actual game offering is underwhelming, the freebie Games with Gold November lineup for Xbox consoles is owning up to a promise made a few months ago by the company: all four titles will be playable on Xbox One due to the backwards compatibility feature being patched into the console this month. Xbox One owners can grab the Xbox 360 games through Xbox.com/GameswithGold, seeing them automatically downloaded onto their console as a result.

As mentioned, Microsoft has chosen to set off this momentous occasion with the four most boring free games in history.

Xbox One Games with Gold November

Pneuma: Breath of Life (free from Nov. 1 – Nov. 30)

First person puzzles and an existential outlook never needed to combine. Still, there’s no harm in going for it, especially if life is meaningless and we’re all headed for an endless void. Pneuma: Breath of Life, other than adding to the list of words I loathe, contributes a short but thematically ambitious pocket of gaming to the world, likely as valuable to the individual as that individual wants to make it. Good thing it’s free now.

Knight Squad (free from Nov. 15 to Dec. 16)

Knight Squad thinks that thinking is for suckers and we should all just be stabbing each other. Up to eight players go nuts in top-down cooperative missions or an array of competitive modes, killing skeletons, pushing balls into goals or just flat out murdering the crap out of each other. It’s described by the developer as “Bomberman meets Gauntlet,” which should suffice in determining whether Knight Squad is something you want to play.

Xbox 360 Games with Gold November

DiRT 3 (free from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15

Speaking about pure monetary value, DiRT 3 reigns among the rest of the games on this list. It’s a racing simulator eschewing the cleanliness of Forza or Gran Turismo, but lacking in no way the technical skill required to find success. The campaign runs deep and the multiplayer is inventive, emphasizing intense, time-based rally racing over driving in circles like a dunce. In case it isn’t obvious, I loved this game when it came out. I wasn’t alone.

Dungeon Siege III (free from Nov. 16 – Nov. 30)

It’s all in the title. It’s the third in a series about fighting in dungeons and all that the word “dungeon” connotes in the video game world. You hack, you slash, you upgrade, you progress. The game is as generic as its title, but generic is a good thing if you love the genre. See how that works?

Xbox Games with Gold November Lineup Kicks Off Backwards Compatibility