The Netflix Stream: Week of January 1st, 2011

The new year starts off well for Netflix fans. We’re losing the Bond movies (we didn’t have ‘Casino Royale’ in the first place, so it’s not that big a loss), but we’re gaining so much in return. Comedy, drama, and even a true classic.

Leaving the Stream
  1. James Bond (1/8): We’re losing every shred of James Bond that was available to us on Netflix. It’s a blow to die-hard Bond fans, but the average movie lover is only going to miss notable titles like ‘Dr. No‘, ‘GoldenEye‘ and ‘You Only Live Twice‘. All right, ‘You Only Live Twice’ is kind of crap, but I honestly only mentioned so I could link to Bjork’s awesome cover of the theme song.
Entering the Stream
  1. ‘True Grit’ (2011): We got the original last week, and this week we get the remake. How cool is that? Though I absolutely love ‘True Grit‘ proper, I have to admit that the Coen Brothers’ version reigns supreme. Jeff Bridges brings humor and despair with an otherwise hard-edged character, and Hailee Steinfeld manages to not only hold her own but stand out against the always colorful Bridges.
  2. ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’: Just when it seems like the comedy horror genre has dried up, someone comes along and does something incredible. ‘Tucker & Dale vs. Evil‘ is a different take on the horror genre, with our heroes being the backwoods hicks that are only seen to be murderous creeps because of a few misunderstandings. It’s a hilarious film and needs to be at the top of your queue if you dig movies like ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
  3. ‘Louis C.K.: Hilarious’: I hate using the word “hilarious” to describe something that’s not gut-busting funny, but I don’t hesitate in using it to describe ‘Tucker & Dale’ and I don’t hesitate to use it in describing Louis C.K’.s 2009 stand up special. He’s a unique voice in comedy and that’s something that really has to be appreciated. If ‘Hilarious‘ is up your alley, pick up Louie’s latest stand up special, ‘Live at the Beacon Theater‘. It’s $5 for a full comedy special in high definition, completely DRM free.
  4. ‘The African Queen’: My dad decided to instill an appreciation for film in me from a very young age. I was raised on cartoons and videogames sure, but also films like ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and ‘The African Queen‘. It doesn’t get much better than watching Bogart and Katharine Hepburn starring opposite each other. If you haven’t seen it, consider this your homework for the week.

4 comments

  1. After hearing numerous times how Sean Connery was James Bond and how no other actor compared, I was highly disappointed when Goldfinger and From Russia With Love were the only truly good Connery-Bond films. If it weren’t for those two films over the other three stinkfests, I’d go with Lazenby and Craig over Connery. I don’t remember Dalton well enough and GoldenEye was pretty terrible.

    I suppose it’s more of a case of old people are set in their ways with what they like.

    On a similar note, yes, Jeff Bridges can act circles around John Wayne. Wayne won the Academy Award because he looked stellar compared to Glen Campbell.

    • Connery made 6 Bond films in all (7 if you count the knockoff Never Say Never Again), so clearly you have not seen Thunderball, his best in the run. Dr. No is a very early rough draft of what the series would become, but to call it a “stinkfest” is a pretty huge exaggeration.

      You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever, I’ll give you were both stinkfests (as was Never Say Never Again). 🙂

    • Honestly, I’m not a fan of most of the older Bond movies. They’re just so silly! I still love ‘GoldenEye’ for whatever reason. I know it’s not great but I can’t help it – maybe nostalgia. Honestly, ‘Casino Royale’ is the only one that really impresses me as a movie.

      Turn in my man card you say? I lost that thing when I saw ‘Titanic’ in theaters more than once. 🙂

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