Many moons ago I used to do a weekly DVD posting, discussing the films hitting release. The ones I liked, disliked and the inbetween. I discontinued it for a few reasons; one of which was that I was basing all of my recommendations not on my knowledge of the product as a home release but as a film. So if later on I ended up buying the disc I discovered that the disc had a fault, whether it be a bad transfer, poor special features or some other unforseen issue.

However, as I’ve discovered I still want that outlet to discuss a smattering of films that I want to recommend to the world. With the rise of streaming as the favoured option of these days for the home viewing I think it’s well thought of as a new and more apt place for what I did with the DVD column, as most of the above issues won’t really apply. Most cases of bad cuts or poor aspect ratio presentations are either remedied quickly or issues that we tend not to fixate on as we’re seeing this as the equivalent of a cable viewing where we’re willing to overlook these problems and just jump in. Later when we love something we’ll buy it on Blu Ray (or 4K whenever that happens in the next few years).

So let me welcome you to my new weekly posting where I take a look at all the titles added to Netflix — as weeks go on I may consider adding trackings for other VOD/Streaming services as I find places to properly capture the data from — throughout the week. I will be focusing on the USA distribution of Netflix and I’ll be recommending anywhere from three to six titles a week that I feel will add to your film experience, if you’re looking to fill that blank two hour gap you’ve got one day this coming week. And I’ll try really hard not to keep pushing the same films week in week out.

So, here’s what I have to offer you this week:

Some Like it Hot (1959)

What can I say about this film that hasn’t been said. The film that Wilder made before the one that everyone points at, The Apartment, remains one of my favourites of his. It puts the likes of Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag all for the sake of whimsical humour and romantic entanglements alongside Marilyn Munroe — because who doesn’t want to watch Ms. Munroe is on screen is sad. Just watch for all the great musical moments and everything else. Just watch the movie.

Penelope (2006)

In the age of Game of Thrones I find this gem of a film more important to show off to friends. If you all can remember there was a time when saying Peter Dinklage’s name had many a head rolling and just quizzical looks. But now in a post GoT world he’s the world’s favourite darling. I’m here to tell you that he’s been doing that bit of being amazing forever, and Penelope is one of those films that he’s a highlight. While not being top billed in a questionably trite film with fairy tale ideas, he ends up elevating every moment he appears in to such heights that we almost forget how rote this movie is and just love it unequivocally.

Drinking Buddies (2013)

I feel like in the last few weeks my site just can’t stop talking about this film. From hitting my underappreciated films of the year list and being a point of discussion in one of my most recent TUMPs it’s a film that I hold near and dear to my heart. Calling this some sort of romantic second coming in the world of storytelling would be overselling but it’s just one of those movies that comes along every year which comes into the game looking to have a solid all around game and does it perfectly. Between Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson this film has it’s fair share of adorable moments that toe that line between friendship and inappropriate romance to the point where for a small moment you’re starting to shout at your television hoping they’ll hook up. It’s great.

Jack Reacher (2012)

I can’t remember a more all around great action detective thriller in recent years in American filmmaking. Christopher McQuarrie is a director that I honestly hope becomes the next big thing in action filmmaking. With him attached to do the next Mission: Impossible film I guess it’s not too far off being a reality. His ability to make films’ action set pieces be that much more cool and characters be that much more badass it’s amazing that it’s taken him this long to get his second film as a director off the ground. This film remains special forever as I doubt we’ll ever get another movie where Werner Herzog sees his full potential with his deadpan narration style voice as just being the horrific bad guy who just seems menacing even when physically he doesn’t. I love this movie.

The Last Stand (2013)

Talking about action giants — I guess I forgot to say that Tom Cruise is short in the Jack Reacher bit, this joke doesn’t quite work I guess — we get to see Arnold flail around for 90 minutes as the Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-Woon reminds us that you don’t need an able bodied actor to make amazing action, I think. Actually, let me not question this film, because honestly it’s a joy. There are a lot of implausible insane things, including a car that’s probably faster than most alien technology in science fiction films, but everything just works as one mindless fun action film that honestly just didn’t seem possible going into it. Looking at an Arnold that probably could still bench press me if he tried today he still seems like the retirement home version of the Predator Arnold I saw when I was young, but he’s still got it guys. Come for the old Arnold, stay for the Peter Stormare, try and forget Forrest Whitaker; that’s what I say.

Anything worth recommending I missed?