The Netflix Stream: Week of February 20th, 2011

The end of a month means a huge shift in Netflix content, with movies being removed and added like mad. For every good movie that’s leaving the stream this week, we have another coming in. There’s also one TV show that you absolutely need to watch before it’s gone.

Leaving the Stream
  1. ‘Louie: Season 1’ (3/1):You’ve never seen a show quite like ‘Louie‘. Sure, it borrows a bit from ‘Seinfeld’ in that it cuts between stand-up comedy and sitcom, but it goes in entirely different directions. Stories begin and end at strange times, the flow is unique, and the attitude of the show is a strange mix of depression and optimism. It also stars Louis C.K., who might be the funniest man ever. Watch the episode ‘Cop Movie’. If you don’t laugh, then you hate comedy, fun and love.
  2. ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’ (3/1): Not just ‘Star Trek IV‘, but all of the original crew and ‘Next Generation’ movies will be off Netflix in March. I highlight ‘Voyage Home’ because it’s my favorite of the series. I know it’s heresy not to put ‘Wrath of Khan’ at the top of my list, but that’s just the way it goes. Something about time travel and whales just works for me. (Read Blu-ray review.)
  3. ‘The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters’ (2/28): This is one of my favorites. Whether or not you call it a documentary, ‘The King of Kong‘ is a great movie. It’s like David vs. Goliath, except that Goliath owns a hot sauce company, wears a lot of American flag ties, and is damn good at ‘Donkey Kong’. Seriously, if you haven’t seen this, then you absolutely need to. It’s funny, sweet, and even a little inspiring.
Entering the Stream
  1. Hellboy’ (2/26): Boy, do I love ‘Hellboy‘. It’s a great flick with plenty of humor, action, and (most importantly) Ron Perlman in the role he was born to play. Seriously. Perlman is Hellboy and Hellboy is Perlman. It’s also a movie directed by Guillermo Del Toro. While ‘Hellboy’ isn’t the best film Del Toro has made, it’s certainly the most fun. (Read Blu-ray review.)
  2. ‘Fargo’ (3/1): We lost this great movie back in August, but it’ll be back and ready to stream on the first of March. ‘Fargo‘ is one of my favorites from the Coen brothers and will likely remain so for a long time. It’s the sort of quirky dark comedy they became known for. A lot of that stems from the very funny but very real accents of the protagonists. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re getting a second chance this week. (Read Blu-ray review.)
  3. ‘Shock Treatment’ (3/1): This is one you’ve probably never heard of unless you’re a die hard ‘Rocky Horror’ fan like I was in high school. Even then, I only found out about it because the theme was played on Dr. Demento one night. It’s not a direct sequel, but a strange spiritual sequel in which Brad and Janet return to Denton. The returning cast includes Patricia Quinn, Charles Grey, Richard O’Brien and the ridiculously attractive Nell Campbell as Nurse Ansalong. Is it as good as ‘Rocky Horror’? Well, that depends on you. I find it entirely satisfying, but I have to admit that it grew on me slowly. The music is certainly great, as is the message. “The sun never sets on those who ride into it.”

9 comments

  1. “I know it’s heresy not to put ‘Wrath of Khan’ at the top of my list, but that’s just the way it goes.”

    I wouldn’t feel too bad, it and First Contact are not at the top of my list either. Here is my favorite Star Trek Movies from Favorite to least:

    Star Trek 11 (to avoid confusion)
    4 – The Voyage Home
    7 – Generations
    6 – Undiscovered Country
    10 – Nemesis
    1 – The Motion Picture
    8 – First Contact
    9 – Nemesis
    5 – Final Frontier
    2 – Wrath of Khan
    3 – Search for Spock

    Needless to say, I am not too popular with other Trekkies. That, and my order of how I like the series really throws people off:
    Enterprise
    TNG
    TOS
    Voyager
    DS9
    TAS.

    • lordbowler

      Mine is slightly different:

      2 – Wrath of Khan
      4 – The Voyage Home
      6 – Undiscovered Country
      Star Trek 11
      8 – First Contact
      7 – Generations
      5 – Final Frontier
      10 – Nemesis
      9 – Insurrection
      3 – Search for Spock
      1 – The Motion Picture

      And Series:
      Enterprise
      Voyager
      TNG
      TOS
      DS9
      TAS.

        • Alex

          William, it’s not heresy to not put ‘Wrath of Khan’ at the top, but I think put Generations in number 3 would get you burned at the stake in most medieval hamlets.

          My Personal List:
          Star Trek
          6 – Undiscovered Country
          8 – First Contact
          2 – Wrath of Khan
          4 – The Voyage Home
          9 – Insurrection
          3 – Search for Spock
          7 – Generations
          1 – The Motion Picture
          5 – Final Frontier

          Series
          TNG
          DS9
          TOS
          VOY
          Enterprise
          TAS

          I’ve never heard of this “Nemesis” of which you speak. The TNG movies ended on a relatively decent note. There was no Nemesis. There was no Tenth Movie. The was no Shinzon. Data is not dead. No, I won’t believe it! You can’t make me!!!

  2. HuskerGuy

    Well, shit, I’m bummed as hell King of Kong is going away. That has been my go to streaming (well, that or Dr. Horrible) movie when there isn’t much else going on. Such a good story.

    Never cared much for Louie. Watched a handful of episodes and determined it wasn’t for me.

    • I’m with you on this one. King of Kong was the first movie I ever watched on Netflix streaming. Even though my internet was slow and it had to pause to buffer ever several minutes, it was absolutely riveting.

      I’ll try to catch it one more time.

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