Forget the family, the presents, etc… one of the best things about the holidays is the great holiday themed episodes of all our favorite shows. And thanks to the power of streaming, there are tons of hours of Christmas and Hanukkah television specials to stream right now. Here’s a quick and dirty guide for some of the best available on Netflix:

Best Holiday TV Specials on Netflix

30 Rock, “Ludachristmas” (S2 E9)
Arrested Development, “Afternoon Delight” (S2 E6)
Cheers, “Christmas Cheers” (S6 E12)
Doctor Who “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” (S7 E0)
Friends, “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” (S7 E10)
Futurama, “Xmas Story” (S2 E8)
How I Met Your Mother, “How Lily Stole Christmas” (S2 E11)
The Inbetweeners, “Xmas Party” (S1 E6)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “A Very Sunny Christmas” (S6 E13)
The League, “Kegel the Elf” (S2 E12)
Lost, “The Constant” (S4 E5)
Louie, “New Year’s Eve” (S3 E13)
Mad Men, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year” (S4 E2)
The Office (US), “A Benihana Christmas” (S3 E10)
The Office (UK), “Christmas Special”
Parks and Recreation, “Christmas Scandal” (S2 E12)
The Twilight Zone, “Night of the Meek” (S2 E11)
The West Wing, “In Exelsis Deo” (S1 E10)
The Wonder Years, “Christmas” (S2 E3)
The X-Files, “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” (S6 E6)

And for all the new-to-streaming suggestions to check out this weekend before you’re in all-holiday mode, check out our picks below:

Netflix

Time Out of Mind (Oren Moverman, 2014)

In a crowded year-end film landscape, very good films with award aspiration are always going to fall off the map. Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind seems to be one this year. The New York City drama stars Richard Gere as a man recently homeless and widowed as he tries to navigate the difficult conditions and the city’s complicated process while trying to reconnect with his adult daughter. In three films, Moverman (The Messenger, Rampart) has shown no hesitance to bring heavily dramatic work to the screen, and he employs a very interesting perspective to Time Out of Mind in the way he shoots Gere on the cold streets. The former A-lister doesn’t totally blend into the role, but it is a shockingly different look for him. Veteran actor Ben Vereen is great in a supporting role as a fellow homeless man more entrenched in the system. In hopes of not being completely neglected (perhaps like it’s subject), you can stream Time Out of Mind now on Netflix.

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
Helix (Series, Season 2)
Fresh Dressed (Sacha Jenkins, 2015)
Make Believe (Clay Tweel, 2010)
Slow Learners (Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce, 2015)
Theresa Is a Mother (C. Fraser Press & Darren Press, 2012)

Fandor

Le million (René Clair, 1931)

The early sound period is one of my absolute favorites and French auteur René Clair is one of the great masters of the period. Clair is probably best known for À Nous la Liberté, the musical that is shockingly similar to Chaplin’s Modern Times, but Le million is every bit as wonderful. Considering that The Jazz Singer happened only four years previously and silent films were still being near 1931, Le million‘s breadth in use of sound is pretty extraordinary. For its plot, the film is a madcap comedy about a man racing across Paris to recover his jacket that includes a winning lottery ticket in the pocket. It is a light, fast-paced, and music-packed flick unrivaled in its time. You can see Le million as part of Fandor’s “Criterion Picks” until December 27.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Alice in the Cities (Wim Wenders, 1974)
Babette’s Feast (Gabriel Axel, 1987)
A Hard Day (Kim Seong-hoon, 2014)
Speedy (Ted Wilde, 1928)
Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle, 1960)

MUBI

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003-2004)

In hot anticipation of Tarantino’s upcoming release of The Hateful Eight, this is a perfect time to re-watch his mixed-genre double-feature masterpiece Kill Bill. By 2003, the mercurial filmmaker had already made a name for himself, but Kill Bill was perhaps the first clear look at what kind of innovator he is. Originally conceived as one four-hour film, it was eventually broken up to make for a more traditional release—in a way, this foretold the studio mentality of breaking one whole story into different parts. The quality of Kill Bill wasn’t affected, though, even as many may prefer to take in both volumes at once. Full of vibrant characters, a very cool martial arts throwback plot, and a number of stunning action sequences, its legacy lives on as its creator continues to push the cinematic envelope.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
In the Fog (Sergei Loznitsa, 2012)
Le Pont du Nord (Jacques Rivette, 1981)
Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (F.W. Murnau, 1931)

Video On-Demand

The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015)

As you spend time with your family this holiday season, keep in mind that it could be worse—as is evident in faux-doc horror film The Visit. Hailed as M. Night Shyamalan’s return to quality filmmaking, the film is a thoroughly satisfying thriller with a few genuinely scary sequences. There may be plot details that don’t quite hold up and the inevitable twists may not exactly be any grand revelation, but this is no doubt the work of a very talented filmmaker who is looking to use the horror subgenre in creative ways. Of special note is Chicago stage actress Deanna Dunagan who gives a remarkable performance as Nana—at times heartbreaking, at other times completely frightening, she is obviously giving her all to the role and it pays off. You can check out The Visit to rent or buy on iTunes this week, three weeks before DVD and Blu-ray.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
He Named Me Malala (Davis Guggenheim, 2015)
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015)
Ted 2 (Seth MacFarlane, 2015)

Despite his great films and huge influence on several of today’s most celebrated directors (including Quentin Tarantino), Brian De Palma is somehow one of cinema’s most underrated filmmakers. While De Palma has had his share of misfires (Snake Eyes) to outright disasters (Bonfire of the Vanities), he’s also responsible for many great films (Scarface, Casualties of War, Dressed to Kill, The Untouchables, and Obsession to name a few).

In honor of the New York Film Festival premiere of Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow’s new documentary De Palma (read our review), which screens on October 11^th, Way Too Indie put together a list of the Top 5 Brian De Palma Films. With such a lengthy filmography and a true master of his craft, it was difficult to decide on just five of his films. So after watching the following films, be sure to check out more of his prolific catalog.

Top 5 Brian De Palma Films

#1. Blow Out (1981)

One of the greatest and most criminally under-seen films of all-time, Blow Out is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word, up there with the best of fellow new Hollywood greats like Spielberg, Scorsese, and Coppola. Featuring John Travolta’s best performance, it makes you wonder how (outside of Pulp Fiction) he has been so spectacularly wasted throughout most of his career. Pino Donaggio’s heartbreakingly beautiful score will sit with you for days after hearing it, no matter how many times you’ve heard it before. Nancy Allen is at her most charismatic, her chemistry with Travolta so rich and natural. At one point while jotting down notes for this article I simply wrote “VILMOS FUCKING ZSIGMOND”, the incredible cinematographer who is a frequent collaborator with De Palma. (Note: Zsigmond’s middle name isn’t “Fucking”, but I’ll be damned if that’s not how I pronounce it every time I watch the many ambitious photographed sequences in Blow Out.)

But the real star of the show is of course, Brian De Palma. Blow Out is the moment when it all clicked in place, all the tools and style De Palma had been toying with and perfecting over the years are on full display here. Beautiful, and in some cases groundbreaking, use of split diopters, Steadicam, split screens, and expert audio editing demonstrates his technically proficient skills. But this is also De Palma’s most mature film. Though not completely void of some of his trademark sleaze and sophomoric humor, Blow Out is a classic thriller that illustrates the frustrations of a person in post-Watergate America tired of the political cover-ups. The film also contains the most tragic, painful, and beautifully executed ending I’ve ever seen in a film.

Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of the Criterion Collection’s release of Blow Out on DVD & Blu-ray. Don’t download it, don’t wait for it on Netflix, buy the Criterion release. You won’t regret it.

#2. Carrie (1976)

Shield your eyes Kubrick super-fans, not only is this one of the strongest horror films of the ’70s, it’s also the best film adaptation of a Stephen King horror story. Don’t get me wrong, The Shining is excellent (so put down that Jack Torrance’s axe), but De Palma’s Carrie is so stylistically rich and anchored by an incredible performance from Sissy Spacek that it’s impossible to turn away from. Spacek and Piper Laurie’s Academy Award-nominated performances (along with Travolta’s stellar work in Blow Out show what a great director of actors Brian De Palma has been throughout his career. Make sure to see this right away if you haven’t already, and if you have, it’s the perfect time for a rewatch.

#3. Carlito’s Way (1993)

One of the more underrated De Palma films and certainly not as widely known as his other collaboration with Al Pacino, but Carlito’s Way is De Palma’s finest crime drama, even superior to Scarface in just about every way. Pacino is in top form here and (along with his Michael Mann collaborations) delivered some of his finest work since the ‘70s. Sean Penn heads up a strong supporting cast. Stephen Burum’s cinematography is exquisite. And David Koepp’s script brings a solid foundation that is missing from most of De Palma’s efforts in this decade.

#4. Sisters (1973)

Along with 1974’s Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters was the film that set in motion the De Palma we know today. The film demonstrated just how versatile he could be considering his earlier work on counter-culture comedies. While Sisters is rough around the edges in some areas, the talent is very clear. De Palma has always been accused of being a Hitchcock rip-off artist and it’s easy to see why when watching something like Sisters (or better yet, Dressed to Kill). But lost in that criticism is the fact that De Palma has always been experimenting and curating his own style by way of his Hitchcock influence. That experimentation is rarely more evident than it is in Sisters with its heavy use of split screens and De Palma allowing the exploitation side of him show with increasingly graphic imagery.

#5. Mission: Impossible (1996)

Still the best entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise despite lacking the thrill of high stakes stunts executed by Cruise himself (an area the last two films have excelled in). Where De Palma one-ups the others is his handling of smaller, quieter moments that create an intensity that permeates the whole film (rather than just a few minutes of insane stunts). This proved that De Palma can handle the big scenes as well, the scene where Cruise’s Ethan Hunt steals the NOC list from C.I.A. headquarters is one of the most masterfully directed sequences of his career.

The astonishing thing about Toy Story 3 [spoiler alert] is that the folks at Pixar actually convinced us, for a good 30 seconds, that Woody, Buzz, and the gang were actually going to be melted alive, turned to plasticky slush in a veritable pit of doom. The movie was made for the whole family, of course, and watching our beloved miniature friends meet such a gruesome demise is something that would never, ever happen under Disney/Pixar’s watch. And yet there we all were, clutching our armrests, tears welling up in our eyes, convinced that this was, in fact, the end.

This variety of audience manipulation has come to define the long-running Mission: Impossible franchise. Each new director and crew in charge of the series is faced with this (dare I say) impossible mission of convincing us that, this time, Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt might actually die. Selling us on this idea gets more and more difficult with each film because Ethan has been dodging bullets, falling off motorcycles and hanging off of dangerously high things for almost twenty years now, and he shows no sign of slowing. It’s a tough, tough sell.

So the question is, with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, are Cruise and writer-director Christopher McQuarrie good salesman? Does M:I‘s fifth installment keep you on the edge of your seat, worrying that Hunt and his team may never see the light of day again? Impossibly (there I go again), it does. It doesn’t have the same heart or infectious humor of Brad Bird’s Ghost Protocol, but it follows the same winning formula, making it one of the best thrill-rides of the summer.

Hunt and his fellow members in the Impossible Mission Force (a clunky moniker, though its abbreviation, IMF, rolls off of the tongue nicely), a government-funded espionage agency, face an evil they’ve never known in The Syndicate, an international terrorist group whose primary objective is to obliterate the IMF. Taking The Syndicate down head-on proves to be a stiff challenge for Hunt and company when a meddling CIA director (Alec Baldwin) convinces the government to dissolve IMF, forcing Hunt into hiding as he plots his next move.

Left wasting their days away behind desks at the CIA are the straight-laced William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) and the klutzy, tech-savvy Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg, whose comedic timing makes him an invaluable member of the ensemble), but before long Ethan reaches out to them to help him smoke out The Syndicate. Series veteran Ving Rhames rejoins the team on their mission while series newcomer Rebecca Ferguson dips and twirls around the movie as a deadly double-agent.

Where the movie gives you your money’s worth is in its elaborately staged stunt sequences, all of which are heart-stopping. The movie opens with a shot of Cruise dangling off of the side of an airplane as it lifts off; it was all done for real, with practical effects, and with it Cruise further solidifies his status as the craziest, Evel Knievel MF’er in Hollywood, hands down. To say it’s spectacular is an understatement. But not to be outdone are the handful of other, equally impressive action scenes, which all feel equally distinct and indispensable. A showstopping set piece sees Hunt holding his breath for upwards of two minutes as he infiltrates a futuristic underwater storage unit, while a more intimate moment later in the movie sees Ferguson’s character facing off with a giant thug in a tense nocturnal knife fight. The best of the bunch is a wonderfully orchestrated assassination sequence set in an opera house, paying homage to Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much.

These mini-opuses of spy-thriller fun are so well crafted and suspenseful that we do, as I said, genuinely fear for the characters’ lives. But that fear only comes from the baseline fact that we fear for them as human beings; as characters, none of them are so endearing or lovable that we harbor a deep emotional connection. That’s Rogue Nations‘s biggest shortcoming: while the characters say witty things and obviously care for one another, we don’t get to learn much about them on a personal, hopes-and-fears level, outside their world of globe-trotting, car-chasing and evil plan-thwarting.

McQuarrie continues the theme of teamwork-over-tech launched by Bird in Ghost Protocol, though Bird frankly did it better. Again, when the imaginative gadgets and do-dads fail our heroes, they must rely on each other to save their skins. It’s this human element that made Bird’s movie so great, and while it’s still very much at the core of Rogue Nation, the message feels dampened. This is mostly due to the movie’s almost fetishistic fascination with strange-looking spy things; from a sniper rifle disguised as a brass instrument to USB drives disguised as lipstick (that one’s not even that clever), McQuarrie just can’t help but show them off. Best to leave the gadget porn to 007.

Rogue Nation isn’t the best M:I yet, but it’s easily third on the list, if not second (it’s about as good as J.J. Abrams’ M:I3). Cruise is still a nutjob, we still love watching things blow up in glorious global locales, and the cast has never been better, so why not keep the series going? As far as Hollywood cash-cow franchises go, Mission: Impossible is one I’m always happy to see pop back up at the theater. Now, the real question: What the hell are we going to dangle Tom off of next? My vote? Millennium Falcon. Crossover of the ages, right guys?! Guys?

It’s the time of the month where we need to be looking ahead and making the truly hard decisions. You know what we mean. It’s time to prioritize time and decide which of the titles going away at the end of June on Netflix NEED to be streamed immediately. It can be overwhelming making such hard and fast decisions. We’re here to help. There are more than 40 titles whisking away into the non-streaming-stratosphere and we’ve got recommendations on a few titles you should definitely consider clearing your calendar for.

For some reason, whether it is the product placement or the endless Wilson the volleyball jokes, people seem to have forgotten about Cast Away. It isn’t Hanks’s flashiest performance, but it might be his most difficult to pull off while spending nearly all of the 143 minute film on his own. Not only that, the desert island story is as classic as they come, and we’ve all thought about what we would do in this situation, but Cast Away remains emotionally resonant, visceral and fresh.

Why Should You Watch It? Because it’s the most underrated Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks film. Stream It On Netflix

There probably isn’t enough time to watch all seven available seasons of this classic television series before July 1, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. The Mission: Impossible film franchise has ballooned over the years into a massive success for mainstream and die hard action aficionados alike, and the only positive thing Tom Cruise has going for him right now. Long before, from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, the spy thriller was a mainstay of network television with Peter Graves and a catchy theme song.

Why Should You Watch It? Time to gear up for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Stream It On Netflix

One of Hollywood’s great actors took on the role of a lifetime with the larger-than-life General George S Patton. Starting with Vietnam and increasing ever since, it has become very difficult to make an old-school patriotic war film without a cynical backlash. The portrayal of Patton isn’t only an effort to idolize, but it is impossible not to be captivated by his roughneck charms. Watch this one just for the film’s most famous scene, a rousing speech from Patton set on stage in front of the biggest American flag you’ve ever seen.

Why Should You Watch It One of the great war films ever made with a towering performance at its center. Stream It On Netflix

Playing into Hollywood’s need to find popular properties that can span across multiple films, a major motion picture franchise is currently being developed around Stephen King’s The Stand, with Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) set to direct (he wasn’t born yet when the book came out, by the way). In the mid-90s an epic four part miniseries was made to capture every nook and cranny of the 1000 page end-of-the-world fiction, and it did a pretty good job of it. Starring Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Rob Lowe, and a pretty strange supporting turn from King himself, The Stand is a faithful (author approved) adaptation.

Why Should You Watch It? Adaptation of one of the greatest pulp novels and a precursor to the upcoming feature film series. Stream It On Netflix

As an impressionable high school junior, I adored Super Troopers, one of the first R-rated comedies my friends and I saw in the theaters and relentlessly quoted afterwards. And, besides seeing TV edit scenes while flipping channels on weekend afternoons, I haven’t seen it since. But the ridiculous antics of Thorny, Mac, Rabbit, and (of course) Farva have been forever stamped in my brain. Broken Lizard seemed to be the hottest comedy troop going, but after a few less successful films following, Super Troopers remains their best work. With a massively successful inidiegogo campaign promising a follow-up in the near future, meow is the perfect time for a revisit.

Why Should You Watch It? Endlessly quotable, one of the funniest comedies of its era. Stream It On Netflix

Terminator 2 beefed up Cameron’s sci-fi action hit in nearly every way – the sequel was bigger, added a dense mythology that has continued to grow, and Schwarzenegger came back as the hero. Terminator 3 has its defenders (including Cameron), but there is nary a soul who liked Terminator Salvation, let alone the widespread internet groan for the upcoming film. When Genesys is released on June 31, let’s all stay home instead and watch this classic in protest.

Why Should You Watch It? To replace the memory that Terminator Genesys comes out next week. Stream It On Netflix

Remaining list of films and TV series leaving Netflix on July 1, 2015:

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (Vol. 1-3)
Beauty and the Beast (Seasons 1-3)
Big Fish
Big Top Pee-wee
Bratz: Fashion Pixiez
Bratz Kids: Sleep-Over Adventure
Bowling for Columbine
The Care Bears Movie
Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie
Descent
Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Fly 2
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Fried Green Tomatoes
Harper’s Island (Complete Series)
Hawaii Five-O (Seasons 1-10)
Jack Frost
Knight Rider (Seasons 1-4)
The Langoliers
The Last Samurai
Louis C.K.: Hilarious
The Manchurian Candidate
Melrose Place 2.0
Melrose Place (Seasons 1-7)
Moonstruck
The Muppets Take Manhattan
Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut
Racing Stripes
Seven Years in Tibet
She’s All That
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Space Cowboys
Three Kings
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
Wings (Seasons 1-8)
X-Men: Evolution (Season 1)