Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 1/30/12

Videodrome

In 1983, this insane masterpiece of horror cinema was unleashed upon the world. Speaking volumes about sex and violence in entertainment and art and how it is taken in and changes the viewer, Videodrome is the story of a sleazy cable-tv programmer (James Woods) looking for the next big sensationalistic thing to put his little station on the map. So when he is handed a piece of apparent snuff film, he sets out to find out more about the creators. The effects of this film and his search go places where you would never expect. It's a tense, gory, philosophical and well-made movie, from the mind of David Cronenberg (The Fly, Dead Ringers, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises).

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 1/23/12

Timecrimes

Released in Spain as Los Cronocrímenes, Timecrimes is a super tight, low budget sci-fi movie about what happens when a guy accidentally travels back in time and the repurcussions this one event has on his life and the lives of those he knows. The story is presented so that the plotting and logic of the film slowly come into focus and it all makes for an expertly written time travel story, something that is actually pretty tough to do. Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo, for whom this is his first feature length film, and who also appears in the film as the scientist working on the time machine, Timecrimes is a pretty incredible first film, and as it is slated to go through the Hollywood remake treatment soon, it would do you good to just use your Netflix subscription to check this movie out here and now. Salud.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 1/16/12

The Host

From 2006, this South Korean flick mashes family drama and comedy with big monster horror and the result is a wild ride of a film. The Host starts with a giant amphibious creature of some sort coming out of the Han River to attack the people chilling in the park and to take people back to its lair. Unfortunately for the creature, it decides to take a young girl back for a late night snack, which results in the girl's eclectic family members setting out on a mission to get her back. Extremely well made and full of great moments, The Host is one of the best monster movies ever made.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 1/9/12

Bronson

From the director of Drive and starring up and coming actor Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Warrior) comes a movie about Britain's most expensive and most violent prisoner Charles Bronson (he changed his name to that, thank you very much). This is a wild and intense movie, with a good portion of it set up like a performance art piece, with Hardy as Bronson donning crazy make up and giving insane monologues to the camera as he reflects on his life. Equal parts celebrity, artist and psychopath, Bronson is a fascinating and incredible film about a stunningly violent and fascinating man.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 12/20/11

13 Assassins

A modern Japanese remake of a classic Japanese samurai film of the same name, 13 Assassins is an incredible film recalling the old school cinema of Japan's past but in a modern way, and it does so successfully. Directed by filmmaking cult favorite Takashi Miike and featuring a 45-minute climatic battle sequence that never lets up and just gets better as it goes along, 13 Assassins is a great movie, filled with interesting characters embarking on a seemingly impossible mission, with the fate of all of Japan and possibly the world on the line. Good stuff.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 12/12/11

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

Starring Nic Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes and Xzibit, this is a "sequel in spirit" to Bad Lieutenant and features mega-acting from the Cagester, fat Val Kilmer, copious crack smoking, girlfriend sexing, and weird iguanas. Filmmaking master Werner Herzog is behind this extraordinary piece of modern cinematic exploitation, a real grindhouse movie for the 2000's if there ever was one.

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