The Netflix Stream: Week of October 2nd, 2011

It’s been a while, but this is a very good week to be a Netflix subscriber. We’re losing practically nothing from the stream and gaining a great deal. I highlighted two things that are leaving this week (and they’re two very good things) but that’s about all I could find on the list worth talking about. New movies and shows, on the other hand, are plentiful.

Leaving the Stream
  1. ‘The Princess and the Frog’ (10/10): In 2009, we finally got something that I’d been waiting for since ‘Lilo and Stitch’ – Disney’s return to traditional animation. And no, ‘Brother Bear’ and ‘Home on the Range’ don’t count. I’m talking about big-budget features. ‘The Princess and the Frog’ ranks pretty low on my list of Disney films, but that’s like calling out ‘Castle in the Sky’ as my least favorite Miyazaki movie. ‘The Princess and the Frog‘ is still totally worth watching. (Read Blu-ray review.)
  2. ‘Spartacus: Gods of the Arena’ (10/7): You don’t have much time to finish watching the ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ prequel ‘Gods of the Arena‘, or what little of it is available on Netflix. Three of the episodes are streaming and they aren’t even the first three. Still, if you need to check them out, now’s the time. (Read Blu-ray review.)
Entering the Stream
  1. ‘The Wonder Years’: Whooosh! Hear that sound? That’s the sound of your childhood rushing back – the rush of nostalgia. Relive memories from one of the finest coming-of-age comedy/drama shows of all time. ‘The Wonder Years‘ paved the way for shows like ‘Malcom in the Middle‘, which is also new to streaming. Bet you ‘Breaking Bad’ fans don’t look at Bryan Cranston the same way again.
  2. ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’: So I was in the middle of this bad breakup because my girlfriend and I had absolutely nothing in common. No common ground to start on, as it were. Then I said, “What about ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s‘?” She said, “I think I remember the film, and as I recall, I think we both kinda liked it.” And I said, “Well that’s one thing we’ve got.” It’s a classic movie starring the incomparable Audrey Hepburn, and also a chance for me to make a cheap joke by writing the chorus of a Deep Blue song. That’s a winner either way you look at it. (Read Blu-ray review.)
  3. ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’: I love the Original Series and I love ‘Star Trek: TNG’, but ‘Deep Space Nine‘ is the one I watched growing up. It’s a great show too, and the fact that it eschews the traditional formula for something a bit more stable is very cool. It also marks the completion of the Netflix ‘Star Trek’ collection. With all the series now available to stream, now it’s time to add the movies!

3 comments

  1. Well, I’ve been watching DS9 for a couple of months now on Amazon. Hey, so I know you do Netflix, and Josh does Vudu, you ought to have someone start covering Amazon and Blockbuster, especially now that people are leaving Netflix in droves. I will probably cancel mine by the end of the month.

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