Mostly Netflix Movies

The best and worst of Netflix and a rare theater review

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Binge Worthy- The Returned/Les Revenants(Netflix Streaming)

My binge worthy Netflix show this week. Title:The Returned (Les Revenants) Rating: 4 out of 5 Starring: Anne Consigny Clotilde Hesme Guillaume Gouix Yara Pilartz Number of Seasons: One (8 episodes) Episode Duration: 50mins-58mins per episode Summary from Netflix: “After returning to their homes in the Alps, several long-dead strangers find themselves unable to remember the details of their own demise. But the town undergoes significant change, too, as their loved ones adjust to the shock of having them back.” What would you do if you came home one day to find that your twin sister was older than you? How about if the woman you are about to marry is about to marry someone else and has a 10 year old daughter. What if your husband who was the same age as you is now in his 70s while you are still in your 30s? What if you found out you had been dead for years? More importantly what if your deceased loved one walked through the door as if not a day went by since they last saw you? These are all question in the French show The Returned. Camille(Died 4 years ago), Serge(Died 7 years ago), Simon(Died 10 years ago), and Victor and Madame Costa(Died 35 years ago) wake up and try to resume their lives but how does a town cope when the living try to mix with the dead? This show has murder, drama, and The French. It’s well worth the time if you are okay reading subtitles. The acting is great and the beginning of this series will absolutely draw you in and want to know more about the small French town build by a dam, in which this show takes place. I would suggest this show to anyone that liked the mystery of Lost as well as those that are waiting for the ABC series The Resurrection. You can watch the trailer here.

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Rubber (Netflix Streaming)

Title: Rubber ‎Running Time: 1hr 22min‎ ‎Rated: R Release Date: November 10th 2010 Cast: Stephen Spinella Roxane Mesquida Jack Plotnick Haley Ramm Wings Hauser Ethan Cohn Netflix Summary: In this inventive twist on low-rent revenge flicks, a car tire named Robert rolls through the desert Southwest, using its strange psychic powers to blow everything up. But when Robert spies a gorgeous woman, he decides to take a chance on love. Director and Writer: Quentin Dupieux (W&D) 4 out of 5 stars "Ladies, gentlemen, the film you are about to see today is an homage to the "no reason" - that most powerful element of style." Going into this film you must take the “No Reason.” As it is. This movie is odd to say the least. A group of people watch this tire come to life and it begins crushing bottles, killing birds, oh yeah! Did I forget to mention killing people? This tire (Robert) falls for a woman (Roxane Mesquida) and kills anyone that may get in his way. There are a few more odd twists in this film and the acting is pretty good. If you have time and don’t mind a movie that is odd and makes little to no sense then this movie is right for you! To watch the trailer click here!

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Antiviral (Netflix Streaming)

Title: Antiviral ‎Running Time: 1hr 50min‎ ‎Rated: PG-13‎‎ Release Date: September 10th 2012 Cast: Caleb Landry Jones Sarah Gadon Malcolm McDowell Netflix Summary: This wild sci-fi vision imagines a freaky future where diseases caught by celebrities are put on the market for injection by their obsessed fans. Virus dealer Syd March makes a big mistake when he gives himself the same bug that killed a superstar. Director and Writer: Brandon Cronenberg (W&D) 4.5 out of 5 stars “Anyone who is famous deserves to be famous. Celebrity is not an accomplishment. Not at all, it's more like a collaboration that we choose to take part in. Celebrities are not people, they're group hallucinations.” Netflix recommended this film to me after watching titles such as Cosmopolis and Dogtooth, and I am very pleased with the suggestion. It stood in my “Based on your interest in…” and “My List” for a while before I finally pressed the big play button. After the wait to play this feature, it was well worth it. 4.5 out of 5 stars. The acting is superb in this indie film. Caleb Landry Jones intrigues you as Syd March, you find yourself enthralled in his life, as he seems to sluggishly move his way through an ever moving world of vanity and shallow needs. The young woman that plays the superstar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) is a perfect leading lady, even though the story centers around Jones when Gadon is on screen you can’t help but follow her. The rest of the supporting cast- including Malcolm McDowell(A Clockwork Orange and 2007’s Halloween) do an amazing job telling this interesting story of what people will do it be closer to their idols. This movie makes you question how far are you willing to go to get close to your idols. With Celebrity steaks sold at the butchers made from the skin cells of the person and skins patches being meshed over your own skin of the Celebrity that “changed your life” because they were on the cover of some magazine. This film makes you question where we as a people are headed currently with our replicas of everything a celebrity touches. The hair, autographs, clothes, rings, sex toys, sex tapes. The story revolves around a business that is booming in this world. Celebrity diseases, from the common cold to that bout of herpes that made the front page of the tabloid. Its employee, Syd March(Jones) codes as well as administers these sicknesses to the willing and paying client. When he gets a chance to get a sample from a very big star (Gadon) he doesn't give it two thoughts before injecting himself with her blood, only to find it kills her a few days later. We follow his quest to cure himself. This story doesn’t disappoint though slow at times and confusing in parts (revealed further in the movie). This film is worth the almost 2 hour runtime and will keep you interested from start to finish. If given the chance take the time to watch Antiviral. You won't regret it. To watch the trailer click here.

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Movies to Watch

This is a list of recently viewed Netflix Streaming films that you may not have heard of but left an impression on myself. Some I will be reviewing this week! 2008 A Necessary Death 2009 Archie’s Final Project Dogtooth 2010 Repeaters(Streaming until 2/21/14) Rubber 2011 A Girl Walks Into A bar Sleeping Beauty My Sucky Teen Romance God Bless America Life Happens Alyce Kills 2012 American Mary Devil’s Carnival It’s A Disaster Antiviral King Kelly Cosmopolis 2013 +1 Sexy Evil Genius Family Weekend Let me know which ones you would like to hear more about!

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Binge Worthy (Netflix Shows)

My binge worthy Netflix show this week. Hemlock Grove Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Starring: Famke Janssen Bill Skarsgård Landon Liboiron Penelope Mitchell Freya Tingley Number of Seasons: One (13 episodes) Episode Duration: 45mins-58mins per episode Summary from Netflix: “The mangled body of a teenage girl is discovered outside a rusted Pennsylvania steel town, where every resident harbors a dark secret. Suspicions and accusations mount as a manhunt for the killer intensifies, even as evidence mounts that the suspect is not a man at all. Famke Janssen and Dougray Scott star in this terrifying series from horror director Eli Roth ("Hostel") and novelist Brian McGreevy, nominated for two 2013 Emmy Awards.” If you are looking for mystery, drama, gore, and Alexander Skarsgård’s(Eric of True Blood) younger brother, look no further than Hemlock Grove. This Netflix original series brings a nice view to the Vampire, Werewolf, and Gypsy mainstream fascination. It will have you guessing until the end sitting on the end of your seat unable to look away until it all unfolds in a terrifyingly brilliant way! So if you are searching through Netflix for something new look no further than Hemlock Grove. I mean how can you say no to the delicious Famke Janssen? You can watch the trailer here.

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Vampire Academy(In Theaters Now) 2/7/14

Title: Vampire Academy ‎Running Time: 1hr 44min‎ ‎Rated: PG-13‎‎ Cast: Zoey Deutch Lucy Fry Danila Kozlovsky Gabriel Byrne Dominic Sherwood Sarah Hyland Sami Gayle Cameron Monaghan Olga Kurylenko Director and Writer: Mark Waters(D), Daniel Waters (W) 3.5 out of 5 stars I have been a large fan of the author Richelle Mead since 2007. It all started with the book Vampire Academy. I stumbled upon it while looking for something in a Barnes and Nobles the cover caught my eye as the girl looked like a young Angelina Jolie. The book captivated me so much so I consumed this book in one sitting, which for a girl that hated reading it meant a lot.- I looked online to find there was going to be a second book and it the mean time I read the Georgina Kincaid series by the same author and didn’t look back from there. Here we are 7 years later as the Vampire Academy film is being released. The cast of this movie was a hit or miss as a whole I would give them a 3.7 out of 5. Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway was absolutely stunning. She was the physical embodiment of the essence in the books. Lucy Fry didn’t capture my attention as Lissa. There was something missing, almost like Lissa was too vein and actually quite annoying to me as a viewer. Sarah Hyland gave a great performance as Natalie Dashkov everything but her last scene, that wasn’t so amazing to me as a viewer (No Spoilers here). For the leading men Danila Kozovsky I think did a nice job as Dimitri Belikov bringing the stoic Russian cowboy to life while Dominic Sherwood was amazing as Christian Ozera! Cameron Monaghan was great at what was given to him but he could have used more involvement in the story. All and all the cast was pretty good. The film as a whole felt rushed to me as the movie had a run time of less than 2 hours and it seemed the writers tried to cram a bit too much of the books content into a short movie. The comedic aspect outshined some of the parts that could have used more of an emotional drive pulling the scene, and many of the dramatic parts were so short that I had no real connection to them as I’d like to. The main romance between Rose and Dimitri felt almost rushed and forced. Lissa and Christian seemed to take a natural and in depth connection and I actually cared that they were together in the end…Dimitri and Rose not so much. I would have been more satisfied if the training sessions were longer and we got to see more dialog between the two through the span of the film. As fan of this book series I would say that it makes me appreciate the fact I have the books to read at any time and actually makes me want to reread the books, but I warn not to go into the movie with high high expectations for this book to movie conversion as it is enjoyable if you let it do it's thing. Go in light hearted and have fun. As a movie goer, it’s great if you want a few teenage laughs with a little action and drama in the mix. It left a lot to be desired speed wise, and connection between characters. I think the most redeeming factor would have to be the performance of Zoey Deutch. All and all it wouldn’t hurt to see this film at least once. That being said I’m going again tonight to see it and this review may change with a second viewing. Watch the trailer here.