99 Best Releases From Netflix Network (Page 3)
Chad and JT Go Deep
There’s been a recent boom in the television sphere of hybrid comedy/documentary series, ranging from altered talk shows (The Eric Andre Show) to pranks with the pals (Jackass) and cringe “reality” series (The Rehearsal). Looking to join the ranks is Netflix’s new show Chad and JT Go Deep, a comedic mockumentary series that flirts with cringe comedy, advocates for important causes, and aims to make us all members of “stokenation.” Continue Reading →
Tuca & Bertie
Tuca & Bertie Season 3 finds Tuca (Tiffany Haddish) and Bertie (Ali Wong) rebuilding their lives in the season two Bird Town flooding and moss infestation aftermath. They’ve got promising leads professionally with new jobs on the horizon. Plus, they’re both in solid relations. Bertie with adorkable long-term boyfriend Speckle (Steven Yeun) and Tuca’s new beau Figgy (Matthew Rhys). The two bird besties might be leveling up in careers and personal life, but there’s always some drama waiting around the corner to pounce in and disrupt their technicolor dreams. Continue Reading →
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight
The Kung Fu Panda universe is no stranger to the small screen. Previously, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny ensured that audiences could watch more antics of Po the Panda in the comfort of their home. But the newest expansion of this franchise, the Netflix program Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, breaks new ground by being the first of these shows to feature Jack Black reprising the role as Po. Continue Reading →
Stranger Things
The one thing that no one can deny is Stranger Things Season 4 remains aggressively itself right up to the end. Its final two episodes, feature-length films onto themselves, serve everything that one could enjoy about the first seven episodes with a side of everything that frustrates and annoys. The good news is that the bad bits remain a side dish, not the main course. The better news is that ratio tips even further in favor of what’s enjoyable. Continue Reading →
Bridgerton
SimilarAround the World in 80 Days, Helltown, My Holo Love, No Escape, Santa Evita, The Summer I Turned Pretty,
Bridgerton is back this week, and yes, there will be bodices ripped, smelling salts fetched, and pearls definitely clutched. But before getting into all of that, let’s do a little housekeeping. While you’re not going to find a bigger romance fan than this reviewer, that doesn't mean this review will overlook Netflix using actors of color to bolster what are mainly white characters and storylines. Continue Reading →
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
The story of Sarma Melngailis seems tailor-made for tabloid headlines. The former queen of New York’s vegan scene went on the run after embezzling millions of dollars and stiffing employees and investors. A year later she was captured after the police traced an order she made to the emphatically un-vegan Domino’s pizza. Continue Reading →
The Andy Warhol Diaries
There shouldn’t be anything more to say about the New York City art scene circa 1965 to 1985. True, it’s an exciting subject, depicting an era that was a unique combination of glamorous and trashy, inclusive and deeply snobby, and something we’ll never see again. Nevertheless, it’s been exhausted, a tragic, oft-told tale of excess decimated by drug use and AIDS. And we certainly seem to know all we could ever know about Andy Warhol, the father of that scene, who made superficiality and detachment seem fashionable. The Andy Warhol Diaries, however, is a rare, moving look at the person behind the carefully cultivated persona, who craved traditional domesticity while being drawn to the frenetic downtown party circuit at the same time. Continue Reading →
Murderville
Murderville has a terrible premise. It’s a parody of police procedurals, but also involves improv comedy, performed mostly by actors not known for their improvisational skills. It sounds like forced laughs of the most uncomfortable kind, where the jokes are sparse and the flop sweat is flowing. It shouldn’t work at all. And yet, somehow, it not only works, it’s a genuine delight, and a respite from a relentlessly bleak season. Continue Reading →
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window
At this point, the wine-soaked citizen detective has become its own genre. Adaptations of boilerplate mysteries like The Girl on the Train and The Woman in the Window give plenty of fodder for Netflix’s newest series: The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window starring Kristen Bell as the titular Woman. Of course, spoofs and parodies are all well and good. Considering that Netflix also produced Woman in the Window, though, this newest feels a bit like having your cake and eating it too. Continue Reading →
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
Did you know that the earliest hair extensions on record are over five thousand years old? Doesn’t that just snatch your wig? That’s just one of the many facts you’ll learn by tuning into the latest arm of the Jonathan Van Ness empire, their new Netflix series Getting Curious. And it’s produced by World of Wonder – aka the company that makes the juggernaut that is RuPaul’s Drag Race. Continue Reading →
Ozark
SimilarBrimstone, Broadchurch, Jack the Ripper, Tientsin Mystic,
StudioMRC,
Previous seasons of Netflix’s Ozark followed Martin and Wendy Byrde’s (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) quest to survive death and prove their family’s worth to the cartel and their violent rivals. Now, in the fourth and final season, the Byrdes must figure out if they can survive without their dark, criminal lives. They sacrificed a lot to get to the top—but what would they sacrifice to stay there? Thanks to this ask and its answers, Ozark Season 4 Part 1 is slow-burn suspense at its finest, with the Byrde’s maneuvering to stay on top, no matter the personal costs. Continue Reading →
Cobra Kai
When Cobra Kai first premiered on YouTube Red, it seemed just like a fun tribute to The Karate Kid, but it soon revealed itself to be impressively complex. In its first two seasons, Cobra Kai reflected on the dichotomy of good vs. evil. Then, in season three, it became a story about how nostalgia can curdle into something toxic. While Cobra Kai’s fourth season continues to explore these topics while remaining funny and badass, the show’s seams are beginning to show, and its scripts are starting to run out of new ideas. Continue Reading →
Emily in Paris
Similar3rd Rock from the Sun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Komi Can't Communicate, Madan Senki Ryukendo, That '70s Show,
StudioMTV Entertainment Studios,
Full disclosure: I was going to start this review with a Peloton joke given show creator Darren Star’s recent track record. Then out of nowhere, there was an actual Peloton knock-off storyline in this season of Emily in Paris. So my joke told itself. Points to you, Emily in Paris. Continue Reading →
Weihnachten mit Joko & Klaas
KinoKultur is a thematic exploration of the queer, camp, weird, and radical releases Kino Lorber has to offer.
Beneath the great Kino Lorber distribution partner family tree, there are a few classic presents worth opening this holiday season. Below is a brief guide to four films that offer interesting things to contemplate during this time of year, films that—in the spirit of the season, invite the audience to consider charity, capital, and country as they were when these pictures were new and today.
Kino Lorber
Pocketful of Miracles Continue Reading →
The Witcher
SimilarBuffy the Vampire Slayer, In the Land of Leadale,
Planet of the Apes Ressha Sentai ToQger, Sám vojak v poli, The Dawn of the Witch,
Everyone’s favorite silver-haired, monster-killing hunk is back, and this time you can call him Daddy. After a ponderous first season that took the long way to find its footing, TheWitcher’s second season boasts both a more assured stride and a more ambitious scope. Thankfully dispensing with the non-linear timelines, we catch up with Geralt of Rivia and company right where ‘Much More’ left off. But while season one was a witty, delightfully horny romp, season two takes on a gloomier tone and delves into stories with uncertain outcomes. Continue Reading →
Colin in Black and White
I wasn’t alive during the days of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, and Jim Brown’s stands against violent forms of discrimination. Therefore, Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to back down from his principles despite obvious NFL blacklisting makes him the closest my generation has to a genuinely revolutionary athlete. In refusing to stand for the national anthem in the wake of racial discrimination and murder by the U.S. Government, Kaepernick demonstrated he is who certain athletes (I’m looking at you, Kyrie Irving) think they are. Continue Reading →
You
The ultimate representation both of making it, and of giving up, the soul-crushing blandness and hidden darkness of suburbia is a well drawn from many, many times. HOAs and smiling politely through block parties and feigning interest in rose bushes, moving to the suburbs is frequently painted as the end of adventure and creativity. What happens when the couple that moves to their shiny new house to start shiny new lives aren’t just leaving the city but also a trail of bodies behind? Can a relationship work when you’re not just newlyweds and new parents but are also trying your darndest not to murder any more people or each other? Continue Reading →
Midnight Mass
Contains spoilers about Netflix’s Midnight Mass (read our spoiler-free review here) Continue Reading →
Sex Education
SimilarBates Motel,
HIStory Komi Can't Communicate,
The third season of Laurie Nunn’s raunchy, teen dramedy Sex Education kicks off with a montage of the characters engaging in all sorts of sexual activities—some with their partners, some with their secret lovers, and some with themselves. For a show that’s always had a positive attitude when it comes to sex, it’s a fitting choice. However, Sex Education has never been just about hormones and horniness. Since its first season, the show has also proven to be a charming, often heartfelt look at adolescence. In season three, it remains committed to that approach. Continue Reading →