We're guessing you heard it's supposed to snow this weekend. If you didn't, let us catch you up: it's supposed to snow this weekend.
The snowstorm, dubbed Storm Jonas, has escalated to a blizzard watch, prompting NYC to issue a Severe Weather Warning.
Basically, going outside will be tough. What do we do when going out is tough? You guessed it: binge watch shows and movies.
Yes, that's right, we expect you to be doing a whole lot of binge watching this weekend. Binge watching is absolutely the best way to survive a really intense blizzard.
Some might even say it's lovely to have a pleasant excuse not to go anywhere, and that binge watching may just be the way to have the best time while trapped inside.
So without further adieu, here are our recommendations for what you should be sure to watch while you're holed up inside this weekend.
1. Beasts of No Nation
jtrohman #BeastsOfNoNation is such a phenomenal film. Such a shame it didn't get more nominations (and wins). It deserves more.
Beasts of No Nation is a super intense Netflix original film about civil war raging in Africa, and the adventure that ensues when a fierce warlord (played by Idris Elba) trains a young orphan (played by Abraham Attah) to join his group of guerrilla soldiers.
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After you've caught this gripping film, you can weigh in on whether it should've been nominated for an Oscar. Or even whether non-studio films should or should not be considered for Oscars. Seriously. Idris Elba is amazing.
2. Fargo
Fargo is a somewhat based-on-reality crime drama set in the Midwest. You may know this primarily as the Cohen Brothers movie of the same name. It's okay. They're producers on the show. It works. It's not a cheap knock-off.
Each season tells a different story involving different characters. The first season deals with Martin Freeman (um, Bilbo in The Hobbit movies and Watson in BBC's Sherlock), and Billy Bob Thornton. We won't give anything away. It's. Just. Awesome.
You can check it out on Hulu.
3. Narcos
Are you interested in learning about the drug cartel? Pablo Escobar? The cat-and-mouse chase of the Drug Enforcement Agency hunting him?
Well, the whole thing is about Pablo Escobar, and most of it is told in his perspective. The whole thing is pretty thrilling. Also, it got nominated for a Golden Globe, so that's nice too (whatever Golden Globes actually mean though).
Check it out on Netflix. We would endorse a Netflix-and-chill session, just in case you're wondering about our thoughts on that. It'll be too violent and explosive to watch for too long...
4. The Cosmos
fairpanic Judging by how many times I've watched this, The Cosmos has to be one of my favorite shows! #thecosmos#space#universe#multiverse#neildegrassetyson#carlsagan#stars#starstuff#tardigrades#bigbang#history#science#astronomy
Neil de Grasse Tyson is so on point in this Netflix documentary series.
If you feel like learning while being wildly entertained, you should definitely take a few strong tokes and settle in to find out the origin of life, the stars, and all about the great scientific discoveries of the century.
Really, we hold The Cosmos so near and dear to our hearts, because we are so unbelievably fascinated. Fun fact: Did you know dogs came from wolfs? If you watch The Cosmos Neil de Grasse Tyson will explain how.
5. Mozart in the Jungle
Amazon Prime's original series Mozart in the Jungle, as you may have heard, won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series in a Comedy, and it also took away the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series.
As you can see, the show's garnered a considerable amount of hype. Maybe you've even been left out at work while everyone talked about it.
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However, you'll be left out no more. Finally, Saturday, you'll have a chance to do all of your catching up. The show is great, heartfelt, hilarious, energetic-- it's a nice departure from some of the darker things like Narcos or Fargo.
6. Serial
shaimw Sarah Koenig what?!??? I have so many questions!!! 1. How did you get the Taliban's number? 2. Is it on google? 3. And the Taliban was just willing to talk to you? 4. Who exactly did you speak to in the Taliban. 5. Are you sh*tting me right now? 6. Seriously Sarah. Come on. Seriously? 7. So did the Taliban just pick up? Or did you have to go through some gatekeeper/receptionist? 8. Did you actually speak to someone in the Taliban? 9. Or was it a rep like the Somali Pirates have? 10. Totally unrelated, but why can't that girl pronounce "Mail Chimp" yet? #Taliban #serial #sarahkoenig #bowebergdahl #cc @annettemarie31 @shaemg3
Okay, this is a podcast, so maybe this is more like a binge-listen, but you can do something super productive while you binge-listen. Like, finally clean your bedroom and empty out all the clothes you don't wear anymore.
Plus, Sarah Koenig is on point. Like, so incredibly on point. Season 1 is a little bit more gripping than Season Two, in our opinions, but we still listen to Season 2 every week (and were pretty upset when it wasn't on last week...).
If you have an iPhone, all you have to do to download Serial is click the download button in your podcast app. It's worth it.
,7. The Leftovers (Season 2)
Can you imagine a world in which 140 million people disappeared without a trace?
As you could expect, when the residents of a New York town try to make sense of their situation, grief has split families, cynicism, paranoia, and madness have left plenty traumatized to join a cult called the Guilty Remnant.
As you might have guessed, there's a lot of drama between the cult and the town, and the police chief who tries to keep the peace. But that was season 1, and it wasn't the best thing in the world.
Season 2? Season 2, tho?! Season 2 is fire. There's great story, characters whose actions and motivations you actually care about, and a mystery, and you just let the mystery be.
Watch Season 1 if you haven't seen it (not totally necessary), but Season 2 is also now on HBO Go (for people with cable subscriptions) and HBO Now (for people who want HBO without paying for cable).
8. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
If you haven't seen Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt by now, you need to lock yourself in your room on Saturday, tell all your friends you can't hang out, and spend the entire day binge-watching this incredible show.
You also shouldn't tell anyone you haven't seen it yet.
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It's one of the most quirky, witty, off-the-cuff series there ever was, and the best news is that Netflix announced Season 2 will begin on April 15th. We promise your friends will be talking about it because we will be talking about it and we are all friends, right?!
9. The Godfather Epic
alpacinof The last minutes of his life spent Vito also with the family #TheGodfather #VitoCorleone #MarlonBrando
Yes, The Godfather movies might be the best series (except for Part III) of films of all time. Oh, you hate Part III, too?! Good. What if we told you they had re-cut I & II, put it all in chronological order, and then peppered in some deleted scenes?
Until January 28th, you can find out just how incredible that is on HBO Go and HBO Now. Sure, like any movie, some of the deleted scenes totally suck. But there are some painfully great moments in there too.
10. Transparent
kathleenawerner This show is brilliant! #transparentshow #amazonprimeinstantvideo @angelfig81 @clairenaegle @shelbertrdh @julphoto
Transparent is as entertaining as it is important. It follows the life of a father who tells his self-absorbed adult children about a really impactful life change, and then they deal with the consequences thereafter. You can watch it on Amazon Prime.
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Also, if you're really interested in the life and times of trans women, check out Her Story on YouTube. It's a 6-episode new-media series that looks inside the dating lives of trans and queer women. Each episode is only eight minutes long, so you'll definitely watch all six in an hour.
11. Making a Murderer
We had to include this series on this list because this show is just so in right now.
We know most of the general population already binge-watched the ten hours of this insane documentary during the holidays, but if you haven't seen it already, now's your chance.
We'll give you the cliff notes: Steven Avery is this guy from Manitowoc County who served 18 years for a wrongful conviction, was exonerated due to DNA evidence, was suing the county for millions, and was then convicted of another murder.
Yeah, it's pretty insane. It's also definitely worth a watch.
Check out 6 Reasons Why I Still Love Snow as a Southerner.
[Feature Image Courtesy Ryan Janet Wolowski/ Flickr]