Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

Dead to Me is really good. It doesn't quite go the direction it looks like it is going at first and it remains refreshingly low stakes, but it's got more credible emotional realism than anything I've seen in a while.

Christina Applegate is a revelation. She's been wildly underused since Married with Children ended.

She was only missing for 7-8 years between that show and then Anchorman revived her career. Seems like something good every couple years with her since then.

Thanks for the Fortitude recommendations. We may move to it post haste for our sci-fi fix.

Credits are rolling on Gone Girl which had us hooked and theorizing with great enthusiasm. So good! It's a cruel reflection of our reality where truth is separate from what can be proven, with emphasis on public perception, being first, and facade commitment.

Spoiler:

And evil came out on top. No! No! We almost cannot cope without a sequel, or an alternate ending, something, where the manipulative sociopathic murderous impediment to the course of justice gets their comeuppance.

I've been sampling a lot of Netflix at 1-3AM the past few weeks due to my 5 month old deciding he hates sleep.

I started Santa Clarita Diet, having seen some positive reactions to it after the news of it getting canceled. Through 3-4 episodes my take is: it's okay. Something feels a little uninspired about the sort of yuppy parody aspect of it, but I'm sticking with it a little bit.

I watched all of I Think You Should Leave. There are some very funny sketches, and episodes coming in at like 18 minutes is very compatible with the baby's bottle consumption timing. But I did think it was strange how many sketches were some version of "person denies a thing everyone knows is true and will not let it go." But the skit about the Best Baby award show was quite hilarious to me.

I want to watch Tuca & Bertie. I have started the first episode 3 times, but I keep falling asleep during it. I think that is just a sign of my extreme sleep deprivation and not a negative judgment on the show. But it's possible it's both.

BadKen wrote:

Was that one guy... shooting a minigun at Jupiter?

Yes. He was.

Also, "Let's ignite Jupiter!"

As a Sci-Fi movie it has a sense of scale that is rarely, if ever envisioned on screen as this film manages. it's breathtaking in places. The plot however is all over the place (and I believe considerably adapted from Cixin Liu's original short story) Terrifically entertaining to be honest, but completely nonsensical in a great many places.

Also for a search and rescue team that military unit was toting enough weaponry to make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush.

We caught up with Jurassic Park 1, 2, and 3. I'd only saw the first previously. It remains a good flick. The Lost World (2) wasn't worth the time. And 3 was a surprising return to the form of the original. This leaves the newer Star Lord one, Jurassic World.

My best friend and I watched a bit of Tuca & Bertie while working on costumes over the weekend. It's a neat show filled with visual puns that has a lot of fun with animation styles and techniques. The first episode is... almost a bit too much to behold. I was not enjoying it and ready to pass, but we were intrigued and kept going. It calmed down into episodes 2 and 3 and ended up being worth a watch through the season.

If you liked Bojack Horseman but want something a little bit less dark and definitely more weird, Tuca and Bertie is for you.

This isn't on Netflix but worth mentioning. Last night we watched the first episode of the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO Now, the non cable version of HBO GO), and my god, the sheer amount CYA from the start of the disaster was mind blowing. Thousands radiated when following simple protocol could have saved them. My SO is an ER nurse who treated a few survivors years after the disaster and explained throughout the episode how quickly radiation exposure affects the body. Scary stuff.

I took a class in grad school about Chernobyl and it was heartbreaking. Basically, if you intended to create a disaster you would have taken the exact same steps.

mindset.threat wrote:

This isn't on Netflix but worth mentioning. Last night we watched the first episode of the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO Now, the non cable version of HBO GO), and my god, the sheer amount CYA from the start of the disaster was mind blowing. Thousands radiated when following simple protocol could have saved them. My SO is an ER nurse who treated a few survivors years after the disaster and explained throughout the episode how quickly radiation exposure affects the body. Scary stuff.

A couple of years back (google tells me it was 2006, my god I'm old) the BBC did a "Surviving Disaster" series, which included Chernobyl. They were docu-dramas based on accounts and interviews with people who were actually there.

It was pretty damn good.

Sorbicol wrote:
mindset.threat wrote:

This isn't on Netflix but worth mentioning. Last night we watched the first episode of the Chernobyl miniseries (HBO Now, the non cable version of HBO GO), and my god, the sheer amount CYA from the start of the disaster was mind blowing. Thousands radiated when following simple protocol could have saved them. My SO is an ER nurse who treated a few survivors years after the disaster and explained throughout the episode how quickly radiation exposure affects the body. Scary stuff.

A couple of years back (google tells me it was 2006, my god I'm old) the BBC did a "Surviving Disaster" series, which included Chernobyl. They were docu-dramas based on accounts and interviews with people who were actually there.

It was pretty damn good.

Thanks for sharing! We're definitely gonna check this out once we finish the miniseries.

Watched the first episode of season 4 of Lucifer. About the same in quality as season 1 to 3.

Rewatched The Man who Knew Too Little again last night.

It shouldn’t be amazing to me how well that movie holds up, but it does. Bill Murray plays a likeable, if obtuse misfit who goes to an experimental interactive theater experience and ends up embroiled in an international assassination plot.

One of the things I love about it is how good natured it is. Bill Murray's character is oblivious, but never the butt of he joke, and there’s a warmth to the relationship between his character and his characters brother that is refreshing.

Also, Alfred Molina plays an elite hit man who’s called out of retirement to deal with Bill Murray, and his performance is delightful as always. Putting him and Bill Murray in the same screen is almost too much comedic awesomeness to bear.

Highly recommended if you haven’t seen it, and if you have seen it it’s worth watching again.

"This is Lori. She's the Defense Minister's call girl."

*slap*

"Sorry. I should have said actress."

Stumbled across an article last night talking about the new (released yesterday) $700 million dollar Chinese sci-fi action blockbuster just released on Netflix. The Wandering Earth centers around the idea that our sun has started to expand and will engulf the planet in about 100 years and the entire solar system a couple hundred years after. Instead of sending ships out to colonize space, the people and governments of the world pull together to build giant planet wide thrusters to move the entire planet to Alpha Centauri.

I'm only about 45 minutes in, but enjoying it so far. It has English subs and voice-overs so you can choose your preference. The voice-overs aren't Oscar award quality, but they're more than passable.

Here's a link to the article for anyone interested: https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/05...

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Rewatched The Man who Knew Too Little again last night.

It shouldn’t be amazing to me how well that movie holds up, but it does. Bill Murray plays a likeable, if obtuse misfit who goes to an experimental interactive theater experience and ends up embroiled in an international assassination plot.

One of the things I love about it is how good natured it is. Bill Murray's character is oblivious, but never the butt of he joke, and there’s a warmth to the relationship between his character and his characters brother that is refreshing.

Also, Alfred Molina plays an elite hit man who’s called out of retirement to deal with Bill Murray, and his performance is delightful as always. Putting him and Bill Murray in the same screen is almost too much comedic awesomeness to bear.

Highly recommended if you haven’t seen it, and if you have seen it it’s worth watching again.

Did the same a few months back, one night when my wife was at Yoga class. Yeah maybe it's a bit derivative of Get Smart. But the movie holds up well all these years later.

Looks interesting enough, but I wouldn't watch the trailer past the 60 second mark. Seems like it shows too much.

Johnathan was pretty good. Kind of a light thriller/drama with good characters.

vypre wrote:

I'm only about 45 minutes in, but enjoying it so far. It has English subs and voice-overs so you can choose your preference. The voice-overs aren't Oscar award quality, but they're more than passable.

I'm glad it's doing it for you. The trailer made it look far too cheesy for me. A dude shoots a minigun... at a planet. I'm not sure where my line is, but it's way before that.

Of course I say this as a person who has a considerable pile of guilty pleasures. I bought Jupiter Ascending so that I can watch it any time I want! I like dogs. I've always liked dogs.

BadKen wrote:
vypre wrote:

I'm only about 45 minutes in, but enjoying it so far. It has English subs and voice-overs so you can choose your preference. The voice-overs aren't Oscar award quality, but they're more than passable.

I'm glad it's doing it for you. The trailer made it look far too cheesy for me. A dude shoots a minigun... at a planet. I'm not sure where my line is, but it's way before that.

Of course I say this as a person who has a considerable pile of guilty pleasures. I bought Jupiter Ascending so that I can watch it any time I want! I like dogs. I've always liked dogs.

It’s not as “out there” as the trailer makes it look. If you can get past the premise most of the rest of the movie is pretty standard apocalypse action fare. I liked it, but I was disappointed that it didn’t lean into the crazy as much as the trailer implies.

BadKen wrote:
vypre wrote:

I'm only about 45 minutes in, but enjoying it so far. It has English subs and voice-overs so you can choose your preference. The voice-overs aren't Oscar award quality, but they're more than passable.

I'm glad it's doing it for you. The trailer made it look far too cheesy for me. A dude shoots a minigun... at a planet. I'm not sure where my line is, but it's way before that.

Of course I say this as a person who has a considerable pile of guilty pleasures. I bought Jupiter Ascending so that I can watch it any time I want! I like dogs. I've always liked dogs.

I never saw the trailer so I can't speak to that, but they didn't shoot a minigun at a planet. They were stuck inside an abandoned skyscraper that was encased in ice. It was decent fare as sci-fi adventures go. I've definitely seen far, far worse.

vypre wrote:
BadKen wrote:
vypre wrote:

I'm only about 45 minutes in, but enjoying it so far. It has English subs and voice-overs so you can choose your preference. The voice-overs aren't Oscar award quality, but they're more than passable.

I'm glad it's doing it for you. The trailer made it look far too cheesy for me. A dude shoots a minigun... at a planet. I'm not sure where my line is, but it's way before that.

Of course I say this as a person who has a considerable pile of guilty pleasures. I bought Jupiter Ascending so that I can watch it any time I want! I like dogs. I've always liked dogs.

I never saw the trailer so I can't speak to that, but they didn't shoot a minigun at a planet. They were stuck inside an abandoned skyscraper that was encased in ice. It was decent fare as sci-fi adventures go. I've definitely seen far, far worse.

Spoiler:

The same minigun guy also shoots at Jupiter after they find out not enough Earth Engines were fixed to stop the Earth from hitting Jupiter and the space station AI announces it's going to leave everyone behind and restart humanity with frozen embryos and seeds.

Late (very late!) to the party but I started on Dark this evening. And Dark it is. Also faintly obvious in places

Spoiler:

The date and time on the suicide note for example - I think the link between the little boy who disappears and the man who kills himself is pretty obvious

but it generates a ton of atmosphere and is properly spooky when it wants to be.

I also learned that I remember nothing of the German I studied while at school. In my defense that was the best part of 30 years ago.

My wife and I are four episodes into Dead to Me, and we love it. Both Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are great, and we can't wait to see what happens next.

We caught Adrift last night. Shailene Woodley, is fantastic in her role. The tale has impact as it is a true story. It's well told and has some lush visuals along with impending scenes of utter terror.

raevenote wrote:

My best friend and I watched a bit of Tuca & Bertie while working on costumes over the weekend. It's a neat show filled with visual puns that has a lot of fun with animation styles and techniques. The first episode is... almost a bit too much to behold. I was not enjoying it and ready to pass, but we were intrigued and kept going. It calmed down into episodes 2 and 3 and ended up being worth a watch through the season.

If you liked Bojack Horseman but want something a little bit less dark and definitely more weird, Tuca and Bertie is for you.

Maybe I will give it another chance. I got about halfway through ep 1 and decided I didn't have any cannabis around to make it entertaining.

Has anyone else apart from mrlogical and I watched “I Think You Should Leave”? I watched the first episode more or less by accident and I was pretty dumbfounded by this. Was I supposed to laugh at some point? No kidding, I exactly laughed zero times during that episode. I was mostly just confused.
I cannot even pinpoint precisely what I don’t like about it, perhaps it’s the fact that no one in this episode is particularly nice to anyone? Did anyone else have the same problem or is it just me?

Mario_Alba wrote:

My wife and I are four episodes into Dead to Me, and we love it. Both Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are great, and we can't wait to see what happens next.

My wife and I sawed through it between Thursday and Friday. We enjoyed it!

Brainsmith wrote:

Has anyone else apart from mrlogical and I watched “I Think You Should Leave”? I watched the first episode more or less by accident and I was pretty dumbfounded by this. Was I supposed to laugh at some point? No kidding, I exactly laughed zero times during that episode. I was mostly just confused.
I cannot even pinpoint precisely what I don’t like about it, perhaps it’s the fact that no one in this episode is particularly nice to anyone? Did anyone else have the same problem or is it just me?

I watched it. It was... ok. Mostly just weird absurdist humor, which I tend to enjoy.

Brainsmith wrote:

Has anyone else apart from mrlogical and I watched “I Think You Should Leave”? I watched the first episode more or less by accident and I was pretty dumbfounded by this. Was I supposed to laugh at some point? No kidding, I exactly laughed zero times during that episode. I was mostly just confused.
I cannot even pinpoint precisely what I don’t like about it, perhaps it’s the fact that no one in this episode is particularly nice to anyone? Did anyone else have the same problem or is it just me?

It's *very* absurdist humor. The sketches either have a character completely commit to an action or position that drags everyone else into crazy town or they set up a more traditional premise, jerk the steering wheel 90 degrees, and just see where things go.