Super excited about the new offerings on Netflix. We’ve got “Fringe” seasons 1 to 4, “Mad Men” season 5 (get crackin’ – season 6 premieres in a week!), and Robert Pattinson’s “Cosmopolis,” to name a few.
But first, a few notes from Netflix:
- “Hemlock Grove,” a Netflix original series, premieres April 19, 2013, and all 13 episodes will be available to watch all at once, just like how “House of Cards” premiered. “Hemlock Grove” is a gothic murder mystery thriller from Eli Roth. Cool!
- Netflix launched its integration into Facebook. Not sure if this is good or bad. I guess good if you don’t mind letting your friends see what you watch.
- Additional programs from Cartoon Network (“Adventure Time,” “Ben 10,” “Regular Show,” “Johnny Bravo”) are on Netflix Just For Kids.
- Netflix announced its newest original series, “Sense8.” It’s a sci-fi series to debut in late 2014 from “The Matrix” directors The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski of “Babylon 5” fame. From the IMDB page: “A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world’s order.”
Ok, let’s take a look at what’s new and upcoming on Netflix…
FILM
Avail Now
Cosmopolis (2012) – Drama. Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti. Wall Street whiz Eric Packer is caught in Manhattan’s gridlock as he helplessly watches his empire fall with the rise of the Chinese yuan. Activity erupts in the streets, and paranoia sets in as Packer links the clues to his imminent assassination.
Keep the Lights On (2012) – Drama. Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson, Souleymane Sy Savane. The physical romance between a gay filmmaker and an attorney soon evolves into a more complex relationship, laced with conflicting desires. Over several turbulent years, both men struggle to build a true acceptance of the other’s strengths and flaws.
Avail 4/1
The World Is Not Enough (1999) – Action & Adventure. Pierce Brosnan, Sophie Marceau, Robert Carlyle, Denise Richards, Robbie Coltrane, Judi Dench. Greed, revenge, world domination, high-tech terrorism: It’s all in a day’s work for cunning secret agent James Bond, who’s on a mission — and in a race against time — to protect a beautiful oil heiress from a notorious terrorist.
Avail 4/26
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (2012) – Comedy. Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick. This star-studded romantic comedy follows the intersecting lives of several couples as they hazard the ups and downs of pregnancy and impending parenthood. In the process, they discover some important lessons about life and love.k, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock
Avail 4/29
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011) – Children & Family. Hayden Panettiere, Brad Garrett, Patrick Warburton, Joan Cusack, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Glenn Close. Fresh off a top-secret training with the Sisters of the Hood, feisty heroine Little Red teams up with intrepid reporter Wolf to investigate the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel in this animated adventure.
TV
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Call the Midwife: Season 1 (2012) – British TV Drama. Set in the 1950s, this period drama based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth follows new midwife Jenny Lee and the other midwives and nuns working in a nursing convent in an impoverished section of London’s East End.
Dallas: Season 1 (2012) – Drama. More than 20 years after their final curtain call, the Ewings return with both new and familiar faces — and all the treachery that made the original series a classic. This time around, J.R. and Bobby watch as their sons carry on the Ewing legacy.
Mad Men: Season 5 (2012). Brilliant, hard-drinking advertising exec Don Draper is back for more drama in this critically acclaimed show’s long-awaited fifth season, which charts the volatile ups and downs Draper and his colleagues endure at their Manhattan-based ad agency.
The L Word: Seasons 1-6 (2004) – Drama. This trailblazing cable series follows the tangled lives and ever-changing relationships among a close-knit group of lesbians — including a lusty hairstylist and a recovering alcoholic — who call Los Angeles home.
Avail 4/1
Fringe: Seasons 1-4 (2008) – Sci-Fi & Fantasy. As part of Fringe Division, eager young FBI agent Olivia Dunham uses experimental science to unravel the layers of mystery surrounding a series of dangerous — and escalating — paranormal events called the Pattern.
Hatfields & McCoys (2012) – Drama. Close friends Devil Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy return to their neighboring homes after the Civil War — Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy across the river in Kentucky — to building tensions and resentments that soon explode into warfare.
Avail 4/19
Copper: Season 1 (2012) – Drama. Set in 1860s New York City, this gripping crime series centers on rugged Irish cop Kevin Corcoran, who works the notorious Five Points neighborhood — and who’s on a mission to learn the truth about his wife’s disappearance and his daughter’s death.
Hemlock Grove (Netflix Original Series) (2013) – Sci-Fi & Fantasy. Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgård, Landon Liboiron, Penelope Mitchell, Freya Tingley, Dougray Scott. When the mangled corpse of a local teenager is discovered, rumor and suspicion spread like a plague through Hemlock Grove. As dark secrets bubble to the surface, everyone becomes a suspect in the hunt for a monster that may be hiding in plain sight. From executive producer Eli Roth.
Recap: Get ready for April Fools’ Day with fun comedy classics:
The Odd Couple (1968). Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, John Fiedler. Tossed out of the house by his wife, fastidious Felix Unger moves in with his best pal: deliberately devolved caveman Oscar Madison.
Meet the Parents (2000). Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo. Greg Focker is ready to marry his girlfriend, but before he pops the question, he must win over her formidable father, a humorless former CIA agent.
Wet Hot American Summer (2001). Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon. On the last day at Camp Firewood, everyone wants a final shot at action in this spoof on 1980s summer-camp camp from the creators of “The State.”
Recap: Favorite titles just in time for baseball season!
A League of their Own (1992). Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell, Jon Lovitz. Two small-town sisters join an all-female baseball league formed when World War II brings professional baseball to a standstill. As their team hits the road with its drunken coach, the siblings find troubles and triumphs on and off the field.
The Bad News Bears (1976). Walter Matthau, Tatum O’Neal, Vic Morrow, Joyce Van Patten, Ben Piazza. Walter Matthau stars as the grumbling, beer-guzzling Morris Buttermaker, a former minor-league pitcher roped into coaching a crass bunch of perpetually losing half-pint misfits. Desperate to win, Coach Morris brings in two ringers. One is his ex-girlfriend’s athletic daughter, Amanda (Tatum O’Neal), and the other the rebellious but talented Kelly (Jackie Earle Haley). Director Michael Ritchie’s kids’ sports comedy catapulted the genre’s popularity.
30 for 30: Four Days in October (2010). Baseball’s signature failure myth — the Boston Red Sox’s struggles against the New York Yankees — ended in dramatic style when the Sox rallied from a three-game deficit to defeat their archrivals in the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Recap: Religious titles celebrating the Easter holiday:
History Channel’s: The Execution of Jesus (1995). This documentary attempts to answer that question, from the Last Supper to Jesus’s trial, his execution and his resurrection. Narrated by Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley, the film explores Jerusalem’s Old City streets and the discovery of a mysterious tomb in a cave near Mt. Zion. Experts examine historical facts and scientific evidence as they try to piece together the events surrounding Jesus’s death.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Verna Bloom, Barbara Hershey, Barry Miller. Nikos Kazantzakis’s landmark novel comes to life in director Martin Scorsese’s moving, spiritual and highly controversial film that challenges the Christian notion that Jesus (Willem Dafoe) was both a man and a divine being.
The Passion of the Christ (2004). Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern, Hristo Jivkov. Oscar-winning actor-director Mel Gibson helms this controversial epic that focuses on the last 12 hours of Jesus’s life — from the betrayal, trial and death of Jesus to his brutal crucifixion and resurrection from the tomb. Starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as Jesus’s mother and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, The Passion is spoken entirely in Latin and Aramaic, and the violent Crucifixion scenes are incredibly graphic.
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