January 2012
1 post
7 tags
April 2011
2 posts
Netflix: Twin Peaks →
YES, it’s the whole damn show.
If you don’t know how awesome this is, I can not help you. I’m bummed that you had such bad homeschooling.
Just go relax and let the David Lynch wash over you.
Netflix: Toy Story 3 →
There is not much more that needs to be said about this franchise unless you live outside the USA and/or live under a rock.
I really enjoyed this one. Dont really remember how different it is to the other two stories, but for some reason I just dug it.
February 2011
1 post
holdmelike asked: THANK YOU!!! THIS BLOG IS AWESOME!!!!!!
January 2011
4 posts
The 15 Best Rock Docs on Netflix Instant →
Just found this from my friend Lily. Great collection of recommendations!
Netflix: The Larry Sanders Show: Season 1 →
All four seasons are streamable!
For those who don’t know: In real life, Garry Shandling was on the shortlist to get Jonny Carson’s seat on the Tonight Show. Once Leno got it, Garry started this series about making a late night talk show.
Very meta, very funny. With lots of great hairstyles and clothes from the early 1990s! Also a great cast that includes Jeffrey Tambor (who plays...
A Somewhat Obsessive Guide to All 36 Seasons of... →
As you may have heard, EVERY episode of SNL is on Netflix Streaming! Check out this great list with links to the Netflix page of some key episodes!
Netflix: The Kids in the Hall: Season 1 →
Rejoice!
All four seasons of Kids In The Hall is on the stream!
Do I really have to explain the show? Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, just go. Now.
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Sketch comedy troupe the Kids in the Hall — Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson — turn the mundane into the surreal with their zany characters and...
December 2010
6 posts
Netflix: Big Time →
This movie opened up my eyes on what an entertaining concert film can be when you actually BELIEVE in the music. In this case: Tom Waits.
Part concert, part theater, part over-the-top glitz. Tom Waits at the top of his game as composer, actor, personality.
Pure brilliance.
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
In this bizarre and captivating performance, singer-songwriter and actor Tom Waits...
Netflix: I'm Still Here →
On a rainy winter night, how can you say No to a fake documentary about Joaquin Phoenix quitting the acting biz and becoming a rapper?
Seriously.
Not the best film, but a great piece of profanity and drugs!
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
In 2008, Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix walked away from acting to pursue a rap career, an inexplicably bizarre detour captured in stunning detail in...
It's Tumblr Tuesday!!!
I already appreciate all the support I have gotten for this little blog, but if you use the tumblr platform I would love it if you would recommend us in the Film Directory.
Thanks to you and yours!
Netflix: Exit Through the Gift Shop →
Seriously, if you have a tumblr, you probably know everything there is to know about street artist Banksy and his self-directed documentary. All you need to know from me is that it is now available for streaming! Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Filmmaker Thierry Guetta had been casually documenting the underground world of street art for years, but when he encounters Banksy, an elusive British...
Netflix: Che →
Not much has been said about this biopic from Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleventybillion, Erin Brocovich) and starring Benicio Del Toro, and that’s a ok. Mostly because the 4hr film is “not bad”. Great acting and story pacing, but it took me a while to get through…which makes it great for streaming. You can take your time.
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
...
Netflix: Arena →
This one I ran into by accident, and boy I’m glad I did!! This sci-fi movie from 1989 is filled with references to other (more famous) films, but the heart in this is unmistakeable. Watch for the great costume work on a bajillion aliens as they battle in the Arena!!
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Intergalactic gladiators regularly face off in the ring in brutal championship bouts,...
November 2010
1 post
Netflix: The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West... →
I really enjoyed this documentary about a large hillbilly clan named Whites who live in deep West Virginia. Apparently, they have some notoriety for being crazy thieves, drug addicts, and …wait for it… Mountain Tap Dancers.
Not the greatest in its construction, but you can’t beat the subject matter.
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Hailing from Boone County, W. Va.,...
October 2010
5 posts
Netflix: After Hours →
Something about this dark comedy by Martin Scorsese has followed me since my youth… long before I really understood what it was really about: NYC in the 1980’s and the clash of cultures that is that town.
Everyone loves Scorsese, but most pass this movie by. You shouldn’t make that mistake. It’s weird, fast-paced, and a heart that pounds like Manhattan.
Here’s the...
Recommend Us In Film! →
It seems like people are liking the sorts of films we are highlighting on this blog, so recommending us in Film for Tumblr Tuesday would be the bee’s knees!
Thank you in advance!
Netflix: The Secret of Kells →
How did I miss this movie?
The 2d, hand-drawn animation is GORGEOUS.
The Netflix blurb sums up the plot nicely:
When Vikings attack an Irish abbey, the monks must stop work on the legendary Book of Kells and protect their home. So Brendan (voiced by Evan McGuire), the 12-year-old nephew of Abbott Cellach (Brendan Gleeson), is tasked with completing the magnificent work. Now, he must...
Netflix: Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 →
I tried to get into this show a while ago, but for some reason it just didn’t happen. I like it, but not enough to wait for the next episode much less the next season.
Well, EVERY EPISODE is now available for streaming and I’m going to give it another shot!
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Join Adama (Edward James Olmos) and Laura (Mary McDonnell) as they lead a ragtag fleet of...
Netflix: Heartbeeps →
While I was going to school in Santa Cruz, where this movie was filmed, there was a hotel with dozens of film stills of this movie. And that is how I first learned about this gem.
Created in 1981, when tech was both exciting (like WarGames) and scary (like WarGames), Heartbeeps bounces around in goofy robot costumes and beautiful voices. Seriously, some of America’s greatest character...
September 2010
5 posts
Netflix: Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated... →
Some of the most visually striking animation MTV has ever produced, coupled with a storyline that keeps folding in on itself to the point of surrealist abstraction.
In other words: IT’S AWESOME. And strange. And beautiful.
Here’s the blurb on Netflix:
Sexy secret agent Aeon Flux (voiced by Denise Poirier) takes on a world of chaos and corruption in this collection of MTV’s...
3 tags
Netflix: The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Another fine reader submission! This time from Lavfave!
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Considered by many to be the first full-length animated film, the story of Lotte Reiniger’s mesmerizing work is taken from The Arabian Nights. A young prince named Achmed embarks on a series of great adventures, including uniting with Aladdin and the Witch of the Fiery Mountains to save a...
2 tags
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles: Season 2
User Submission Alert!!!
This time by Jesse!
Unfortunately ending with the second season, this show had a rocky start with season 1 but really digs in deep with season two. The stories are dark, complicated and expands the Terminator universe in ways far better than the 3rd and 4th movies. Now that it’s on Netflix streaming, you have no excuse not to check it out. Also Shirley Mason is...
4 tags
Netflix: Shinbone Alley →
This feature-length animation is an odd little film. On the surface, it looks like a crazy 70s musical romp with a script based on Mel Brooks’ Broadway show about the love affair between a cat and a cockroach. Seriously.
In reality, its a pretty serious feeling movie with some clunky songs sung by vocal greats like Carol Channing (one of the greatest voices EVAR). Most of these animals...
Netflix: The Kingdom: Series 1 →
To let you know how much I love this Danish mini-series: I own it on both VHS and DVD.
This is one of the more accessible Lars von Trier films (mostly known for the Bjork-starring movie Dancer In the Dark).
Set in a hospital that may or may not be on top of a bunch of dead spirits, The Kingdom is full of oddball characters. From pill-popping doctors, to down-syndrome children as nurses...
August 2010
12 posts
Netflix: I Am Cuba →
This is MAJOR for me.
When I first went to college I was exposed to this lavish, multi-storied, collage of Cuba. Its the Cuba of my dreams: a vibrant, hip Cuba of the 1960’s. Everything in this movie looks lush, from the hipster 60’s parties to the migrant workers in the fields. This movie is highly politicized, as you will read in the blurb, but some of these tracking shots (that...
It's Tumblr Tuesday!
I would be honored if you would “recommend” this blizzog to the tumblr directory! My mom would think its a pretty spiffy thing to get! She’s totally into that sort of stuff!
6 tags
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
User Submission Alert!!! Thanks to aliuribe!!
I wouldn’t say this is a particularly good movie, but I do consider it a gem. It’s a Canadian independent film that was filmed on weekends over the course of 2 years.
Although the title pretty much says it all, there is a lot you won’t be expecting. A Rasputin-esque narrator, a musical number about Jesus gaining public support,...
Watching Netflix Instant Watch →
Another Netflix Streaming blog on the Tumblrs. Maybe they will have something you would like to watch as well!
Netflix: The Great Happiness Space →
What makes a good documentary? One that transports you to a world that you may have known existed, but exposes it with such depth that you can relate to the protagonists. This is such a documentary.
A film about the Japanese sub-culture of Host Boys; males who are paid to hang out with wealthy lonely women in private clubs. In this movie, not only do you get to know a couple host boys, but you...
Netflix: Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Complete... →
This was a total accidental find for me and now I’m hooked!
Carl Kolchak (played by Darren McGavin, who has been in EVERYTHING) plays a reporter who tracks down x-files-like cases that tend to involve various boogymen and monsters.
Here is the skinny:
you get to see LA in the 1970’s, which is always awesome
it has an odd comedic slant that helps the show feel original
Guest...
Netflix: Gates of Heaven →
Made in 1978, this documentary about obsessed pet owners and the infrastructure that caters to them, is filmed as though it was coming from a fiction film. Houses look like kitchy film sets, people act like odder versions of real people— but it IS all real. If you haven’t seen an Errol Morris documentary yet, you are in for a treat.
Here is the blurb on Netflix:
Iconoclastic indie...
2 tags
Netflix: Airborne →
We got a new reader submission from Vinh!!! (you can also submit reviews by clicking the Submit tab on the site)
Take it, Vinh!:
Watch the movie co-starring Jack Black and Seth Green before they were Jack Black and Seth Green. This movie singlehandedly caused many headaches for my parents when I was 12 years old, because after seeing it I begged them for a pair of Rollerblades. Definitely not...
Netflix: Pressure Cooker →
Engaging documentary about a high school Culinary Arts teacher in NYC who is so good at her job, that she is able to help her students get scholarships to the best cooking schools in the state.
The teacher, Wilma Stephenson, holds this doc together, as she is one crazy spitfire, but you only see how the students live outside of school. I kinda wish we got to see how Wilma lives her personal...
Netflix: The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! →
Made in 1989, the live action segments create a great peek into the late 80’s, replete with a wide swath of guest stars like Nicole Eggert (from Charles In Charge) wearing something hideous, to Cindy Lauper looking typically hideous.
The cartoon segments should be skipped. Just fast-forward to the end for the final live action segment and you should be happy. Basically, you take out the...
Netflix: For All Mankind →
Beautiful cinematography of what NASA and its employees looked and dressed like in the 1960’s.
Yes, they also go into space, but the colors, clothes, and buildings is what really made me love this documentary that is compiled from footage only shot during the international space race.
Oh, and one more awesome point about the movie: THE SCORE IS COMPOSED BY BRIAN ENO.
Here is the blurb...
July 2010
5 posts
Netflix Criterion | All Criterion Films on Netflix... →
The title speaks for itself. Educate yerself on some great cinema! Then send us a review of a movie you enjoy! (look for the “submit” link on the top of this site)
Seriously, your cinema mind WILL BE BLOWN.
4 tags
Netflix: Veronica Mars: Season 1 →
I missed this show when it aired on television, even though most of my friends were telling me to give it a try. I’m not sure why I never watched… probably because these were the days of Buffy and I’m not a Buffy fan. Or a fan of hour-long teen dramadies. Or things that look like this in general. So I gave this a try last week and was pleasantly surprised. It’s actually...
5 tags
Black Dynamite
NOTE: This is our first submitted review! And by none other than super-creative Jen Proctor! Enjoy!
One of the most underrated movies of 2009, this is a film that takes its comedy seriously. As a parody of Blaxploitation movies, it’s spot on, from characterization to plot to costuming and, most importantly, lo-fi, lo-budget 1970s cinematography, complete with visible boom mics and awkward...
3 tags
Netflix: Trancers →
Director Charles Band, and his production company Full Moon, created some of the best low-budget films in the eighties. (Well, them and their east-coast brethren, Troma Films.)
This gem mixes in Blade Runner, Terminator, Philip Marlow, and generic “space fantasy” into one textbook case of Eighties Awesomeness. I’m a big fan of low-budget 80s filmmaking, with their love of neon...
Netflix: The Candidate →
Easily one of the greatest commentaries on the American political system, while still being genuinely entertaining. Starring Robert Redford as the title subject, and directed by hollywood stalwart Michael Ritchie (director of the original Bad News Bears, Fletch,…yes, I said FLETCH!!), The Candidate is an amazingly pointed black comedy about California politics, American politics, and how...
June 2010
1 post
2 tags
Strangers with Candy: Season 1 →
I love this series from Comedy Central so much, I own all three seasons on DVD.
Reasons to love this show:
Stephen Colbert as a selfish teacher who is scared to be openly gay.
Amy Sedaris, one of the funniest women in America that should be bigger than Oprah.
I’m a sucker for parodies of ABC Afterschool Specials, which this show nails pretty much every episode.
Here is the Netflix...
May 2010
8 posts
Netflix: The Future Is Streaming →
videojumper:
Netflix expects its DVD-by-mail business to peak in 2013, at which point it believes its Watch Instantly streaming service will be driving its growth. That’s the gist of a slideshow posted on the…
3 tags
Netflix: G-Force →
Ok, seriously, this movie really isn’t any good.
BUT! The cast is so tuned to my sensibilities, that it feels like it was cast just for me. Zach Galifinakis, Tracy Morgan, Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell.
Too bad the movie really stars CG gophers who are spies.
What is great about having Netflix Streaming, is that you can just watch a couple minutes and turn it off. Just watch the opening...
Netflix: It Might Get Loud →
I missed this in the theaters and kinda wish I didn’t. Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White (acting the most crazy and rockstar-ish of the bunch) sit around talking and playing guitar. It’s a simple idea that really works and gets you excited about the power of simple things.
Having Jack White run around his hometown with a child dressed just like him and named Jack White Age 8 is one...
2 tags
Netflix: Herb & Dorothy →
This one fell on my lap out of the recommendations queue on my xbox and IT’S AWESOME.
This is a documentary about Herb and Dorothy Vogel, two of America’s greatest collectors of minimalist NYC art. What I loved about this doc is its the first time I’ve seen art collecting as Art Form. Seriously. These two people have met and bought from some of the most important artists of the...
2 tags
Netflix: Jazz on a Summer's Day →
Beautifully shot concert documentary of some of the greatest in jazz in 1958.
What really makes me love this film, is how the director lingers over all the white people boating/eating/talking/looking disinterested, as all the black people onstage sweat and play their hearts out. A great dichotomy that I’m still not sure if the director meant to emphasize.
Plus, in 1958, just looking at...
Netflix: The Dead Next Door →
Not only is this a Zombie movie, its also the most expensive 8mm zombie film ever made!! Yep, they shot this on the smallest, cheapest film format and yet it has more heart/laughs/blood than all the Saw movies combined. Fun watch.
Here’s the blurb from Netflix:
Widely regarded as the most expensive 8mm zombie film ever made, director J.R. Bookwalter’s epic masterwork has been fully...
Netflix: World's Greatest Dad →
All you need to know: Bobcat Goldthwait wrote and directed this.
His previous directorial effort Shakes The Clown is a cult classic and this is pretty close to that yet is oddly “mature”. The humor is even darker in this one, especially since teen suicide as a way for a father to get some attention, is pretty dark.
Here is the blurb from Netflix:
After his son (Daryl Sabara) dies...