Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

Anybody else watched Love & Anarchy? It appears to be a Swedish-language take on Younger, a show I've never seen; basically, a woman works for a publishing house and has a fling with a younger dude. There's lots of satire of the book business. I enjoyed it, both as a show and as a Swedish language study aid.

Spoilers for Queen's Gambit

I feel like few people paid attention to the conversation Beth had with Benny about how the Russians were so good because they would play through scenarios together as a team during big match adjournments, which was underlined by Beth spying on the Russians playing through her match with Luchenko, which was very clearly meant to set up the dramatic catharsis of Beth's American cohort walking her through Borgov's scenarios over the phone. It seemed to me to be very much a "Prometheus steals fire from the gods" moment and was largely a build-up to put the two on equal footing, as Borgov abandoned his team's strategies the instant he realized Beth had done the same thing and the two of them ended up improvising the end of the game, where Beth came out on top. This all seemed to be stated very baldly in the layout of the series but I've seen a large number of "I loved this series but UGGGGGH why did the men have to tell her how to win at the end" complaints which... isn't actually what happened

I agree. It's a subtle thing, in a way, and people who are prone to having loud reactions about things on twitter and elsewhere don't do well with subtle.

Yeah I was surprised so many interpreted that as mansplaining when it was a clear reference to individualism vs team work

The reaction makes more sense when you realize/remember most people are fukkin dum

every time i read a twitter thread about a movie or whatever i think to myself people don't know how to watch things

spoiler text just to be safe

The extremely maddening thing is that had it been Ben instead of Beth, everyone would be saying "YAY THE AMERICAN-BASED GROUP CAME TOGETHER AS A TEAM AND LEVELED THE PLAYING FIELD". I felt like the series explicitly and overtly tried to integrate Beth into the chess scene in a way that both acknowledged her gender and attractiveness while simultaneously making it clear that it was the strength of her game that drew the people in her orbit to her and that she was respected as a chess force on merit. She was, in every way, a peer, and that group coming together to assist her would have done so for any of their number who rolled into that position. Instead, people watched it and said "well clearly the idea must be that a woman can't beat this guy on his own" and it's just... I know it's fiction and it's already a stretch that this tragic orphan is magically awesome at playing chess but must we go whole hog into rah-rah magic American "one person can destroy an entire army" bullshit here? Can't we learn that sometimes we should be putting aside our personal egos to support our best overall outcomes? Can we get some empathy back into our culture before we all fry the planet? ffs it's like watching a six-year-old eagerly overplay with a shiny new toy only in this case, the new toy is "the concept of mansplaining"

I think the mansplain angle is a bit of a stretch (tbh I haven't encountered this take, but I don't really go looking for unreasoned arguments), but if the major message of this series is that togetherness is a good thing, when the ambitions of the series seem to be to at least attempt to provide some sort of commentary on some combination of 50s-60s life, gender dynamics, or substance use disorder, then that's probably an underwhelming prize. then again maybe I'm thinking too hard about this, plenty of this is perfectly enjoyable and pleasant on a surface level

just finished this. my whole family watched it. my kids are 11 and 9. they were Extremely Into It. we had a few conversations about drugs, a few conversations about who liked who. i liked how beth losing her virginity was a kind of baffling but ultimately unremarkable blip in her life, as it is to a lot of (most?) people.

at the end of the last ep one of my kids goes 'why are they [the american squad] cheering? it was her ideas that won!' and i was like, well, they helped... WHY_NOT_BOTH.gif - totally agree with dan on this point.

one thing we couldn't figure out.. we were all anticipating a big showdown with borgov in paris - i.e. what we're shown in basically the first scene of the first episode, where she's slugging down booze and pills and facing this guy down, and then it fades to lil' beth at the orphanage.. i was sure this scene would be the climax. but we never saw that again, right?

one thing we couldn't figure out.. we were all anticipating a big showdown with borgov in paris - i.e. what we're shown in basically the first scene of the first episode, where she's slugging down booze and pills and facing this guy down, and then it fades to lil' beth at the orphanage.. i was sure this scene would be the climax. but we never saw that again, right?

No, that match happened. It was in the back half and it went about how it should have gone — she was loaded and she shit the bed (figuratively speaking). It was the match where she was drinking glass after glass of water and basically slumping over the table.

oh yeah! i guess the fact they were in paris passed me by!? hmph

We enjoyed it for the design and ATJ and the aura of Cold War intrigue. Lots of weaknesses in the story and characterizations, but a lot of very likable performances. And re the "mansplaining" discussion above, my wife said it was nice to see a ahow where even the guys she rejects romantically can be friends and not turn into vengeful jerks. And for all the predictable arc of the finale, it did not force her to end up with anyone.

ATJ fans, especially those who want to watch a great looking movie that could also be watched as a family, should check out her "Emma," which is very good.

Yes, liked her in that too.

The best thing about the finale was the strong implication that Beth was about to defect to the Soviets - and why wouldn't she!

Overall I enjoyed it for its immaculate design and some very touching character moments - all of Beth's relationships were pretty well drawn, and I particularly liked Borgov's ultimate graciousness in defeat. I think it more or less earned the Hollywood cliches of the last episode. I'm not convinced it had anything particularly to say, or that it'll stick with me for more than a few weeks, however.

The shock-haired guy was such a treat.

yeah he was great

More bitching about people bitching about The Queen's Gambit:

I'm now seeing an article making the rounds about how Jolene was a Magic Negro, which is being gleefully cosigned and... does anyone actually remember how that trope works? What were Jolene's mystical abilities? Where were the other complex, well-explored characters in contrast to Jolene aside from Beth, the one character whom everyone else existed to be in service to or in conflict with? Can we think through our engagement with things beyond the surface of an overeager sophomore essay? The actual criticism of the show is that no one in it is a halfway complex personality except for Beth and mmmmmmmmaybe at a stretch her adopted mother; everyone else is a prop for her to react to. The show works, possibly because of this, but if you're going to go in on lazy characterization you can't just pick one character from the Giant Pile Of Stock Characters permeating the entire thing and say that one is The Problem. Well, you can, but it doesn't strengthen your argument.

Not sure if I've already done so, or someone else has, but "His House" was a stunner

If redacted really was a magic redacted, I don't think she would've been portrayed so heavily as being on a path of self actualisation.

xpost - yes I loved His House

If redacted really was a magic redacted, I don't think she would've been portrayed so heavily as being on a path of self actualisation.

The article I read cast that self-actualization as a cynical pre-emptive attempt to distract people from the trope

Which... come on, people are not that devious a good 95% of the time

Not sure if I've already done so, or someone else has, but "His House" was a stunner

Yep. I liked how the scariest bit wasn't the supernatural elements but the situation in South Sudan and what they had to do to escape it. Not that I was actually averting my eyes from the screen for that bit as I was for the other stuff. The writers have the whitest names ever (Felicity Evans and Toby Venables) and it was originally going to be about Muslim refugees from Syria. https://thebrowngeeks.com/a-conversation-with-his-house-screenwriters-felicity-evans-toby-venables-part-1/

dan it might be helpful to the rest of us if you linked to the analyses you're refuting. I've seen the magical negro trope invoked several times, I think it's a reasonable read tbh, though of course I'll yield to your perspective. as an aside the last "cracker" at the end I found extremely cringe

the trope didn't bother me much because the stakes just felt so low to begin with, if jolene hadn't helped beth out at the end one of the other hundred characters who spent the entire series falling at her feet would have

I mentioned it in the non Netflix streaming thread (lol at me) but Sorry to Bother You is on UK Netflix and is very worth your time!

More bitching about people bitching about The Queen's Gambit:

I'm now seeing an article making the rounds about how Jolene was a Magic Negro, which is being gleefully cosigned and... does anyone actually remember how that trope works? What were Jolene's mystical abilities? Where were the other complex, well-explored characters in contrast to Jolene aside from Beth, the one character whom everyone else existed to be in service to or in conflict with? Can we think through our engagement with things beyond the surface of an overeager sophomore essay? The actual criticism of the show is that no one in it is a halfway complex personality except for Beth and mmmmmmmmaybe at a stretch her adopted mother; everyone else is a prop for her to react to. The show works, possibly because of this, but if you're going to go in on lazy characterization you can't just pick one character from the Giant Pile Of Stock Characters permeating the entire thing and say that one is The Problem. Well, you can, but it doesn't strengthen your argument.
― DJP, Tuesday, December 1, 2020 12:57 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

really good points. there is something old fashioned about the narrative structure of the queen's gambit and its exclusive focus on the hero's journey, where other characters periodically pop up and then fade away and are just kind of disposable. it reminds me of a 19th century novel like vanity fair or great expectations. you have this naive outsider who learns the contours of a baffling social world and ultimately learns to bend it to her will.

i like this aspect of the show. there is a kind of stylized detachment it enables that, i think, echoes beth's own personality and perspective.

i haven't finished the series yet, so i don't actually know what happens when jolene returns.

She takes her man, iirc

I've watched the first few episodes of Cuckoo and found it more enjoyable than expected

I started watching Barbarians and two episodes in, it seems like a smarter, better version of The Last Kingdom.

Blasphemy

hey, stop whatever you're doing and watch Nate.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81264694
https://www.vulture.com/article/natalie-palamides-nate-netflix-comedy-review.html
https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/natalie-palamides-amy-poehler-nate-netflix

she borrows A LOT from the great Adrienne Truscott but I'm not mad about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h88lcf2UJKo

I started watching Barbarians and two episodes in, it seems like a smarter, better version of The Last Kingdom.

That keeps cropping up on my splash page. Will have to check it out

Sweet Home is bonkers but fun so far

it's next on my watch list so good news.

anyone watch 40 year old version?

not great

might be interesting if you are a fan of the writer, it's about her life as a playwright who gives rapping a little go. We hadn't heard of her, my missus just thought the trailer was cute.

The film barely resembled the trailer iirc.

I loved 40 Year Old Version, one of the best films I saw this year! Honest, open, well-filmed and scripted and Blank is spectacular in it. Strongly recommended.

it had the little rap about the white guy's butt intact. But yeah if you think a rap career is going to happen... it doesn't. Do things like "Harlem Ave" (the play in the movie) still get made? Goddam

I have sat through several "Harlem Aves" in my time.
I can't speak to how much the trailer resembles the film but I can say that it's an unvarnished and measured look at trying to be a creative in the city and not lose your soul. I liked it better than 8 Mile if that helps.

Wow. I guess i was too beyond belief with the people she was working for.

she decked that one guy and they still hired her and were idiots?

watched a few months ago

they're burlesques but definite types.

so bridgerton...yeesh. the brainless midcult trash 2020 promised for loyal mayor pete voters who thought desperate housewives needed more sex scenes

it's very bad and the episodes feel very very long. it's not even like "sumptuous," the clothes generally look cheap and shitty and every interior looks the same.

Man, did we not like the first episode of Aunty Donna. Who was the first troupe to kind of combine that sort of broad and surreal stoner comedy with lots of exaggerated ott faces and lots of screaming? Surely it preceded stuff like Tim and Eric, right? Given I didn't dig Tim Robinson and don't dig Eric Andre and Tim and Eric (though at least appreciate the anarchy of Eric Andre), maybe it's a generation thing and I'm just too old?

i enjoyed 40 year old version tho the romance felt forced and the first performance was just way too painful

I'll cede that but turnabout is fair play for every "protagonist gets a hottie" autobio-comedy ever made.