The Netflix Stream: Week of April 10th, 2011

Brace yourselves. We’re losing far more from the Netflix stream this week than we’re gaining. While there are no huge titles leaving the stream, the only movie we’re getting that I even recognize is a low-budget zombie flick. And I’ve only heard of that one because I have a roommate who loves low-budget zombie flicks.

Leaving the Stream
  1. ‘Frantic’ (4/15): While I haven’t gotten around to seeing ‘Frantic‘ yet (it came out when I was six, so it wasn’t exactly a high priority for me at the time), I’ve been told that the movie is simple enough to describe: Take the Liam Neeson movie ‘Unknown’ and make it better. It stars Harrison Ford back when that was still something to brag about, and was directed by Roman Polanski.
  2. ‘David Cross: Let America Laugh’ (4/15): This is less a comedy show than more of a tour diary. ‘Let America Laugh‘ takes you across the country with Cross as he encounters some strange and amazing people, one of the worst audiences of all time, and a woman who insists that Robin Williams is “indie.” Reviews on Netflix are mixed. You can take those for whatever value you ascribe to them, but I’m a fan of this unconventional flick.
  3. ‘The Karate Kid’ (4/15): No Jackie Chan here, this is the original leg sweeping, body bag getting, waxing on, waxing off ‘Karate Kid‘. It’s not just the excellent and memorable original we’re losing, though. We’re also going to have to say goodbye to to the decent ‘Karate Kid II‘ and the forgettable ‘Karate Kid III‘.
Entering the Stream
  1. ‘Forget Paris’ (4/15): Since I’m not familiar with any of the films coming to the stream, I’m judging by arbitrary criteria. ‘Forget Paris‘ is the highest rated of all the new films, with 3.3 stars. It’s a feel-good romantic comedy that stars Billy Crystal and Debra Winger. Not my cup of tea, but it may work for some.
  2. ‘Mutants’ (4/15):Mutants‘ makes the list for being a title I’ve heard of. It’s a French zombie movie, or a French mutant movie (it’s really a bit unclear). It seems like the filmmakers are going for the zombie crowd while not specifically making a zombie movie. It seems pretty ’28 Days Later’, which isn’t exactly a bad thing.
  3. ‘Fear Me Not’ (4/15): The reason ‘Fear Me Not‘ makes the list is because of the cover, which is just plain neat looking. The movie itself is a psychological thriller based around a man taking a new drug to help him relax. The drug has unintended consequences, and from there things get interesting. If you’re into the whole hipster thing, you might want to check this out. It’s a Scandinavian thriller you can bring up to feel cool while your friends are talking about Stieg Larsson. “Yeah, that’s good, but have you seen ‘Den Du Frygter?’ Oh, I’m sorry, you’d probably call it ‘Fear Me Not’. I’m huge into Scandinavian cinema.”

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