Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Thought it might be fun/useful to devote a thread that flagged semi-obscure or off the radar films & tv shows on Netflix's Watch Instantly service.

A few recent discoveries:

Burnt Offerings
MST3K: The Wild World of Batwoman
American Grindhouse
Vampyr
Who Is Harry Nilsson?
Shock Waves
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue
Man with the Movie Camera
World's Greatest Dad
Rolling Stones: Stones in Exile

There are so many MST3K movies available, it is awesome.

My roommate and I watched about three quarters of the Doors doc that Tom DiCillo made. Johnny Depp narrates.
It's pretty ridiculous and awesome.

xpost -- between that, the DVD sets and YouTube it's a golden time.

yeah, I think I've gone through about a dozen MST3K's this month already

x-post - I'm not a Doors fan, but that I've heard good things about that doc

Between checking a few months ago and checking a few days ago, a bunch of Criterion Collection films have been added. I don't remember so much from the Essential Art House boxes being available before, and it looks like almost all of them are there now.

Unfortunately, I found this out after I added the Bergman box set to my Criterion order the other day. Hopefully they'll let me return it unopened so I can get the Cassavetes box instead.

you can stream a woman under the influence now so... maybe rethink that, too

oh shiiiit, Killing of a Chinese Bookie is streamable now too!

Recently I've watched and enjoyed the following: The Watermelon Woman, Suspiria, Rockers, She, The Last Picture Show, and Le Jetee (inspiration for 12 Monkeys).

Oh and a lot of old Nickelodeon cartoons from the 90s have been added but y'all probably already know that.

The White Ribbon is available!

Claire Denis' 35 Shots of Rum

I think all of the Paul Morrissey Warhol-produced films are on there.

Louie season 1, one of the most fascinating shows in a long time.

Dogs Decoded: Nova is an awesome doc about recent canine research. Highly recommended for any dog owners.

Loved Louie as well.

Also streaming:
The Girlfriend Experience
Slings and Arrows
Blue Thunder

And HAVOC!

i watched the happy hooker goes hollywood on streaming netflix tonight. "recommendation" is a strong word, but i had fun.

"American Grindhouse"

Haha so amusing who co-produced this (it's okay btw as talking head features like this go).

if you liked "The Wild World of Batwoman", make sure to check out "Eegah!"

Louie season 1, one of the most fascinating shows in a long time.

Yeah, I never got a chance to check this out until it was on Netflix - it's great.

"I Am Love" is pretty fascinating

if you liked "The Wild World of Batwoman", make sure to check out "Eegah!"

I did and it was great!

barking dogs never bite - korean black comedy about eating the dogs
we jam econo - awesome minutemen doc

if i start posting on this thread i will be participating in 3 different netflix streaming threads which seems excessive

There's two other streaming threads? Did I miss something?

dont feel bad, one of them is my own self-indulgent fault and the other is on I Love Games.

JJJUSTEN MAKES ONE SENTENCIRIFIC REVIEWS OF ALL THE CRAP THAT HE WATCHES LATE AT NIGHT ON NETFLIX STREAMING XBOX SOMETHING WHY BECAUSE HE BORED ALSO BECAUSE
Netflix Streaming Film Recommendations: Because You Can't Always Play With Yourself

one is jjjusten's personal joint and the other has a tmi title

xp

Sorry jjjusten! I totally missed your thread. Thought I did a search first. Look forward to reading those threads.

Tales from the Script has interviews with everyone from Richard Rush to Paul Schraeder to Shane Black about big-studio screenwriting. Lots of guys I'd never heard speak before. Good documentary.

the documentary about milton glaser (hugely important graphic designer) is on instant netflix. can't wait to see it.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (aka "The Banksy documentary") is an unexpected mindfuck, and surprisingly isn't really about Banksy at all. I recommend!

yeah that looks good

^Had me all fucked up over art, commerce, life in general, for a couple days.

Recent watches:

Soul Kitchen
Vengeance
Valhalla Rising
Centurion
Rewatched first five eps of Party Down Season 2
Planet B-Boy

Another thumbs up for Exit Through the Gift Shop. Just watched the Joan Rivers doc this weekend, too.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye is a good doc, not sure if it's on Netflix instant.

Rewatched first five eps of Party Down Season 2

when are they going to put up the final 5 is my question

they took mall cops away :(

i only got to see, like, 4 episodes.

you could write, like, ten doctoral thesiseseses just watching that show and never leaving your couch. amerikkka writ sad.

Just watched Black Narcissus -- so good.

when are they going to put up the final 5 is my question

up now

Milton Glaser doc is good btw.

Just watched Black Narcissus -- so good.

― pixel farmer, Thursday, December 23, 2010 12:38 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Beautiful stuff like these seems worth waiting for the disc to show up, no?

I just watch Hoarders and old SNLs

Exit through the gift shop is so awesome

I know the disc would be better quality than streaming, but streaming is definitely better quality than regular tv -- there are far fewer compression artifacts than I get on cable. Maybe Netflix can tell I have decent downstream bandwidth (10 Mbps), I dunno. Turn off the lights in my office, watch fullscreen on the larger monitor, in with the earbuds, ask the family not to mess with me for two hours (or watch in the morning before they get up), a nice near-cinema experience.

"Beautiful stuff like these seems worth waiting for the disc to show up, no?"

Not with my TV, no.

ah good point

i'm a little of worried that Netflix is gonna phase out discs before the internet connections get good enough for streams to be disc-quality

I'M STILL HERE, one of the greatest and most underrated films of the year, is now on instant. Time will be very kind to it.

Just watched Moon, pretty good.
Now starting the Red Riding Trilogy.

Just watched "I Think We're Alone Now" about two disturbed dudes obsessed with Tiffany. Pretty interesting, if a bit depressing.

Come to think of it, both of the dudes are probably ILM regulars.

I find Catherine O'Hara's has-been diva character too familiar

See my take on this is that I also find, I dunno, "Proud Mary" familiar, but it's a hell of a song and if I am in the presence of a really tight band playing it really well I am gonna be into it every single time and there are few comics who can play a song tighter than O'Hara

in later seasons some of O'Hara's line deliveries are surely unprecedented in the history of human speech

OTM. Moira's so earnest and pathetic! I see the whole joke of her character as being a bad actor feigning at being a good and important actor, and the creeping awareness of her own insufficiency. Her affectations are so hollow, they don't fulfill her even slightly –– and the moments in which she drops her pretenses are always rewarding/surprising. (Her last line during the S4 Christmas special!) I love her. Her scenes with Alexis are A+++.

I like Catherine O'Hara's over the top approach- to me that is encouraged when the medium is a quirky charming sitcom with a baseline of what I agree with JiC is sort of an "obvious kind of comedy"... and to my earlier point I think Eugene emphasizes that comedy style in the wrong way unfortunately by being the opposite. Overall I guess I feel like cartoonish big personalities are what make it fun and successful. I'm only somewhat through season 2.

Schitt’s Creek does get better and winds up being one of the best and most heartwarming shows I’ve ever watched. It is so fucking good.

Seriously contemplating buying a T shirt that says we don’t deserve Catherine O’Hara.

Gossip is the devil’s telephone

just wanted to note that Jocelyn and Stevie are also great characters, imo

one of the shows strengths is that it leaves the serious issues largely unexplored, as subtext for the laughs. e.g. David and Stevie's relationship arc, which is a very sweet portrayal of fluid sexuality imo

or maybe I should say that the serious stuff is there as subtext, but it's done so well that it just rolls by

Would highly recommend watching the special that aired after the season finale if you can find it. The cast is all super weepy over the show ending, the impact on fans, etc. It's moving.

I’m only on S2 (long story) and I love Stevie but want her to be.... more than she is? somehow? it feels like she kinda only exists in relation to David.

She does get more of her own thing later iirc.

(I'm still waiting for the last season to hit netflix)

amazing that Catherine is still only the second coolest o'hara

Stevie gets the best redemption

mentioned it in the foreign language thread but gonna rec it here too. 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay' is absolutely stunning to look at, completely gorgeous. the lead actress also wears some amazing fashions and the character she portrays is totally compelling. also the fairy tales her children's book author character comes up with are as dark as classic fairy tales too. loving the director of the hospital as well.

amazing that Catherine is still only the second coolest o'hara

Frank's a good poet but not THAT good

Netflix just added a movie I might like!

Watched a couple of episodes of The Babysitters Club with the kids earlier.

Don't know anything about the source material but was suitably impressed and looks like another good family show to add to the list.

Schitt’s Creek does get better and winds up being one of the best and most heartwarming shows I’ve ever watched. It is so fucking good.

me and the young'un are nearing the end of s4 and absolutely loving it.
it is exactly the perfect way to counteract the chaos in the real world.
so many beautiful moments, and genuine laughs.

There are no limits to the number of threads you can have. A Schitt's Creek thread can be anyone's at the click of a few buttons.

lol pas-agg

totally :) I paused a good while before I submitted.

I have everyone's best interests at heart and feel that a more nuanced conversation could be had on a dedicated thread and it's absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with me being very easily annoyed.

I watched the first ep of the new Unsolved Mysteries thing and it’s actually pretty good?

Not doing hokey re-enactments like the original, more straight true crime doc sorta thing. Which I’m normally allergic to, but that first story was genuinely bizarre.

xpost Well, it probably makes more sense to occasionally discuss the show in this thread (dedicated to the platform which arguably popularized the show) rather than create a whole new thread for a show which is over and done, is the thing.

mods how do you killfile a show

Eurovision movie is stupid, silly & I enjoyed it immensely

:D

The “Monty Python Almost the Truth” doc is really good. May have been up there for years but my first time seeing it. Just make it past the horrific intro.

Okay I'm only going to say it once but...Warrior Nun. If anyone wants to talk about it, come sit over here by me because I AM HERE FOR THIS CHEESY SHOW.

sorry, i noped out of the trailer

I mean if the sentence "secret sect of warrior sisters loyal to each other unto death training to kill demons and save humanity" does nothing for you I can't help you with that.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how everyone's favorite show is not that good. Guess I'll have to try it

only 11 of the 12 seasons of Big Bang Theory are on there, if you want to hold off

As the guy on here who steadfastly stans for cheesy supernatural warfare shows on Netflix (cf my Hemlock Grove thread) I am 100% satisfied by The Order (warlocks and werewolves on campus) and recommend it to one and all

Actually, definitely not one and all, just one and all who like this kind of thing

there is a show streaming somehwere (hulu?) that is post-apocalyptic YA but they are dancers and they discover hip-hop in the archives and I guarantee, without watching it beyond the trailer, or any of these other probably terrible shows like the Order and Warrior Nun, that this show is worse than them.

the order is so much weirder than it has to be, lots of unusual and kinda compelling performances too.

we've been doing one episode of the order a night, followed with an episode of (netflix streamable) bravo con artist dramedy impostors, which is very competent and generally well cast. great uma thurman role.

The first episode of the Middleditch and Schwartz show was pretty funny, if you like improv.

the order is so much weirder than it has to be

YES -- this is exactly the quality I look for in these shows (Hemlock Grove too!)

I'm about halfway through the first season of the Order. It's very watchable and better than I thought it'd be but not something I'd recommend as a must watch (so far anyway)

the order isn't like "good" in a vulture thinkpiece way which is where the charm comes from imo. it's just fuckin stupid which is all i want in a tv show.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/fucking-stupid-is-all-you-want-in-this-tv-show.html

I'm 3 episodes into WARRIOR NUN and I wish it had more action, but nothing about it has been a dealbreaker (though some of the stuff about the Crusades is problematic).

did they change the name because Netflix execs thought it sounded like areola and were afraid the whole show would get me too'd

I was unaware it was based on a manga called Warrior Nun Areala, but I feel like names in the title is more of a manga thing?

it's an American comic fwiw (by a Taiwan-born manga fan), but I'm pretty sure that I've seen other American comics with names in the title. can't be sure though

The construction of putting a description before the name (“Battle Angel Alita” versus “Alita: Battle Angel” is what I was thinking of

Son Of Thunder, Arak

Floor is Lava is just the kind of dumb game show brain requires. I’m already awaiting the oral history of how that show got made 5 years from now.