I feel like I made the right decision to repurpose this column as a bi-weekly post as opposed to a weekly one. So much more content to sift through and share in two weeks than in one (obviously).
While I started this feature to highlight the good that Netflix is for us as media lovers I must say that if you focus mainly on what’s new to the system it can be hard some weeks to find those gems. Regardless here’s what I recommend you take a peek at if you’ve got the time.
Archer: Season 4 (TV)
If you’re not watching Archer I weep for you. This show is probably the best satirical spoof spy piece of work that we will ever see. I’m happily enjoying Season 5 (that’s currently airing on FX) where they go Vice; but Season 4 is remarkably special as what we’ve been seeing the first 3 seasons comes to a head in a way that you just can’t imagine.
It’s just funny at it’s best, and if you love cocky one line spitting spies that are actually kind of horrible at their job while being the best (I know that makes no sense, but for Archer it does) have to navigate space, underwater cities and cyborgs then this is the show you’ve been missing all your life.
How I Live Now (2013)
Here’s a title I caught at TIFF last year and I feel like I’ve mellowed on it from then. The film follows the typical “uppity” American teenage girl who’s asked to spend a summer with her English distant family who happen to live in the countryside. As she’s getting more and more into it, and a certain someone in town, World War 3 (or should I saw WWIII?) breaks out and all hell breaks loose.
The film wasn’t my favourite at the festival and I remain under the belief that it’s an okay film. Which means it’s probably worth a revisit, and more than worth your time if you’ve got nothing better to look at for two or so hours.
Bad Boys (1995)
We love to throw some bad movie jokes at Michael Bay, but what he did with the Bad Boys films are probably the greatest things that could’ve ever happened to action cinema in the 90s.
Martin Lawrence is a forgotten name in comedy, Will Smith is missed at times, but what I love about cinema is that you can always pop in a classic and hang out with those friends you haven’t seen in a while. Here Bay gives us two of the best buddy cops to ever have hit the screen with balls to the wall explosions and car chases in the best of ways.
PS. Bad Boys II is better.
Stir Crazy (1980)
If you want to talk about comedy duos then the stint that Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder had together in the the late 70s to 80s are well remembered. Here’s a lesser film of theirs that brought me many laughs in my younger days when they just couldn’t stop playing Pryor’s films on cable.
If you thought Pryor and Wilder were funny on the run in Silver Streak then you should see them when they get put in jail in this film.