Best Winter Weekend Binge Streaming

There is nothing better than a self-indulgent winter's weekend staying in.

Cold and rainy weather is the best excuse to stay home. A comfortable couch (or bed), duvet, fire (or gas heater) on the go, red wine (or cocoa), freshly popped corn, your favourite furkids by your side and a weekend's worth of binge watching - assuming Eskom is not having their dreaded load-shedding to spoil your fun. (Although here are some tips to keep the lights and internet on if that threatens to spoil your fun)

We've created a list of binge-worthy series and movies that will keep you busy for a weekend (or more) this winter. All can be found between Netflix and Prime.

The Classic Epics

Need we even say more?

• The Matrix - an epic tale of choices. There are 4 blockbuster movies to watch.
• Star Trek - a futuristic look at space exploration and peacekeeping. Everyone has their favourite Enterprise captain. There are 4 series with multiple seasons and a total of 79 episodes, plus the new take on the classic, Discovery, which has 4 seasons as well.
• Star Wars - a futuristic look at planetary cultures and epic battles. There are a total of 9 Star Wars movies.
• Alien - a battle against an invasion on a spaceship. There are 6 Alien movies.
• 007 - The one spy movie that never ends it seems. From the very first release in 1963 (Dr No) it's the gift that keeps on giving. There are now a total of 26 movies.

Fantasy

Fantasy is our personal favourite. That and SciFi, so this list could have been very long. We've tried to keep it short.

• LOTR - an epic tale of courage, friendship and morals tested over 3 movies.
• GOT - love it or hate it, Game of Thrones was an epic tale of shock, broken alliances, choosing your side and dragons. There are a total of 73 episodes.
• Twilight - a coming of age series with a new take on vampires. There are 5 classic movies.
• Harry Potter - a coming of age series intertwined with magic and tough decisions. There are 8 movies in total.
• The Magicians - an adult take on magic with a cult following of Brakebills (the Hogwarts school of magic equivalent). There are 65 episodes total.
• Underworld - a love story with different take on vampires, werewolves and witches. There are 6 movies in total.
• True Blood - a classic love story of vampires, humans and witches set in the South. There are 80 episodes in total.
• The Vampire Diaries - a classic love triangle mixed with a coming of age story in the supernatural world of vampires, witches and werewolves. There are a whopping 171 episodes to keep you enthralled. A later spin-off includes The Originals with a total of 92 episodes.
• Vikings - an epic tale of war and Norse mythology. There are 89 episodes in total.
• Merlin - an overlooked telling of a classic King Arthur story-line, but told from the young magicians viewpoint. There are 65 episodes in total.

Comedy Series

Comedy is a super popular category and the list is nearly endless! For some good old laugh out loud and feel good moments, these are some series to keep your spirits high.

• Space Force - a tongue in cheek look at a space exploration base. The main actor is Steve Carrell. There are 17 episodes in total.
• Parks & Recreation - a tongue in cheek look at government managed facilities. It's funny, because it is kind of true. There are 126 episodes.
• Schitt's Creek - Funny as hell. There is something for everyone in this hilariously written series about a family that is literally left up “Schitt's” creek after losing all their money. There are 80 episodes in total.
• Friends - the classic of all classic OG series. The days in the lives (sic) of a group of friends living in New York. There are 236 episodes in total.
• The IT Crowd - the nerd in you will love this tale about the classic “IT department” you'll find in any company. There are 25 episodes in total.
• Classic BritComs: Mr Bean (15 episodes), Fawlty Towers (12 episodes) and Little Britain (36 episodes) are always superb BritComs that never get old.

Anime

There is a plethora of Anime to watch from the classics like Akira, RoboTech and Neon Genesis to new school classics like Spirited Away and Pokemon. Netflix makes it really easy to find Anime on their app and offer quite a number of the ones mentioned on their app.

• Naruto - a coming of age story of the unpopular kid that really tries his best to be the best ninja in the village. There are 500 episodes in total.
• Dragonball Z - a favourite tale of warriors with different superpowers who battle to save earth from corrupt villains. There are 291 episodes.
• Ghost in the Shell - an epic scifi classic of a living consciousness in a cyborg hybrid body fighting bad-guys. There are 52 episodes in total.
• Ajin - an overlooked anime with a great storyline. A demi-human child is adopted by an evil jin spirit or “genie” and protected from harm. There are 26 episodes in total.
• Baki - the story of a super-buff Chinese fighter testing his fighting skills amongst the world's deadliest. There are 48 episodes in total.

Period Dramas

Period dramas have been around for some time also, but dare we say that the more modern take, like Bridgerton, has certainly brought a whole new glow to the era.

• Bridgerton - the bold new take on a period love story drama with a great soundtrack. There are 16 episodes in total.
• English Rule Miniseries: The White Queen, The White Princess & The Spanish Queen, a trilogy of Kings and Queens starting with the war of the roses in 15th Century England.
• The Tudors - a charismatic series that follows the early reign of King Henry the 8th. There are 38 episodes in total.
• Downton Abbey - Follows the lives of a privileged British aristocratic family. There are 52 episodes in total or a movie if you prefer.
• Outlander - a bit of scifi meets period drama of a world war 2 nurse that travels back in time to 18th Century Scoland and meets a Highland warrior amidst a rebellion. There are 42 episodes in total.

Marvel vs DC

The battle as old as time. There are so many Marvel and DC series and movies to watch. From Iron Man and Thor to Hulk and Superman. Marvel & DC surely have enough stories for hours of entertainment.

• Spiderman - a classic tale of a wimpy teenager that gets bitten by a mutated spider and becomes an unwitting superhero. You have movies (5), and anime series (104 episodes) to choose from.
• Batman - boy witnesses the brutal deaths of his parents and becomes a masked vigilante that takes out crime. There are 4 original movies, but many spin-offs, such as The Joker, and the most recent The Batman. Your choice in watching the anime series also brings you a further 85 episodes.
• X-men - a classic series of mutated humans who have various skills and superpowers. The X-men are a group of goodguys who protect the world from the baddies. There are a total of 13 movies, originally adapted from the anime of 76 episodes.
• Loki - a spin-off from Thor (and Avengers) this story follows the god Loki (half-brother of Thor) on his missions of mischief. The TV series has 6 episodes.
• Iron Fist - follows the story of an orphaned young boy that crash landed, and was taken in by an ancient order of monks and trained in their ways. There are 23 episodes in total.

If you have to consider another person's tastes as well as your own, and you can't agree on what to watch, try WePickFlix to find common interests from old school favourites and keep everyone happy.