The great thing about Netflix is that it gives you a lot of TV and movie watching options. The bad thing about Netflix is that it gives you…a lot of TV and movie watching options. To cut down on your Netflix search and discover time, Netfix aims to ease the process of parsing the good from the bad. The great from the not so great. From action films to foreign dramas, we’re raked the catalogs to offer only the finest that the preeminent streaming service has to offer. So settle in, get your remotes ready and prepare for the red wave of Netfix to wash over you.

FORCE MAJEURE (Ruben Östlund, 2014)

Ruben Östlund‘s Force Majeure was a favorite at the 2014 Cannes Festival, boasting a talented cast, beautiful cinematography and an original balance betwixt thrills, suspense and comedy. When a Swedish family takes a holiday in the French Alps, an avalanche strikes, causing major upheaval in the psyches of Tomas and his wife, Ebba. A character study of morals, you could say, Force Majeure is an offbeat collection of misunderstandings and displaced desires in supposed paradise.

AMELIE (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

It’s hard to have missed this quirky 2001 French comedy starring Audrey Tautou, but if you still haven’t seen it, prepare to be charmed out of your mind. Amélie tells the story of a whimsical, oddball woman who decides to bring people together in lovely ways through acts of kindness. If Wes Anderson were a French director, he might have made something like this film. Also, the soundtrack is supremely pleasant.

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)

Pretentious in a hipster kind of way, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a wildly confident Iranian Vampire Western, filmed in black and white. Blending genres can be hit or miss, but in this case it’s most definitely a hit. The film follows a young female vampire, played brilliantly by Sheila Vand, as she roams the empty, silent streets of Bad City. The western vibes enter around the character of Arash, who offers the vampire a ride one night.

THE HUNT (Thomas Vinterberg, 2013)

This expertly portrayed story of false persecution delves into the lonely life of Lucas, played to perfection by Mads Mikkelsen, following a disparaging misunderstanding between him and a student that costs him everything. Any further information would be too much information. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, this is Danish cinema at its finest!

WE ARE THE BEST! (Lukas Moodysson, 2014)

1982 Stockholm is the world three preteen female protagonists live within in We Are the Best!, navigating through their angst, vastly different home lives and the 80’s punk scene. Friendship, gender equality and youthful rebellion are just a few topics this film touches on, and in the most charmingly adolescent way that smacks you with nostalgia, especially if you’ve ever cut all your hair off as a young girl, which I am certainly guilty of on more than several occasions.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

A young boy becomes friends with his next door neighbor and realizes she’s responsible for a few murders about town, yet this doesn’t scare him off. Adapted for the screen by original author John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In is a creepily portrayed glimpse of adolescent angst. Americanized in 2010 as Let Me In, both versions are certainly worth a watch. But watch this one first.

A HIJACKING (Tobias Lindholm, 2013)

While we’re on the subject of Americanized versions, A Hijacking, out of Denmark, was released the same year as Captain Phillips. The two could be considered companion films, although vastly different in portrayal. A Hijacking focuses evenly between the hostage protagonist, and the back and forth between the captors and the CEO of the freight company.

THE BABADOOK (Jennifer Kent, 2014)

Australian horror flick The Babadook is a psychological journey into the home life of a troubled young boy and his insomniac mother as they deal with personal demons. When an unsettling children’s book finds its way onto Samuel’s shelves, Amelia is forced to see her son’s unstable condition not as hallucinations or imaginative stories, but something real.

OLDBOY (Park Chan-wook, 2005)

Oldboy follows Oh Dae-su as he’s inexplicably locked away in prison for fifteen years, only to be eventually released with no information on why he was ever incarcerated. Quirky, comic and full of revenge violence, this South Korean film of vengeance won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Festival, and rightly so. Rightly so.

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It’s an insanely busy time of year as I’m rushing to see the remainder of 2014 flicks, preparing for a Top Ten Horror Films of the year and bustling to get ready for a trip around the world. Last week in theaters meant two big blockbuster with colons screenings, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Exodus: Gods and Kings. I enjoyed one more than I thought I would and one quite a bit less. This paved the way for our long awaited release of Ranking Ridley where we put the films of Mr. Ridley Scott to list form. At home, a few heavies, a horror and a pair of wonderful new hits made up the heart and soul of this installment of Weekly Review.

THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN (2014)

Adam Robitel‘s found footage horror begins in convincing manner with a graduate’s students dissertation taking her to the home of Alezheimer’s patient Deborah Logan. Logan’s, played by the ably creepy Jill Larson, affliction is causing her to do some unorthodox things but when she starts peeling off her skin and speaking in tongues, those studying her are left to assume that there’s something more than meets the eye going on. Released to almost no fanfare (and unceremoniously dumped on Netflix) Logan may not be all that original but it’s wildly effective at deliciously blending body horror with surprisingly eerie FX. (B-)

THE BIRDCAGE (1996)

With the recent passings of Mike Nichols and Robin Williams, The Birdcage seemed ripe for a watch and what a joy that experience was. Uproarious and tender, this Williams-Nathan Lane starrer is a LGBT film ahead of its time – if you ignore the fact that the son is supposed to be sheepish about his parent’s orientation but comes across as heavily pigheaded. Nonetheless, The Birdcage‘s warm center shines through, offering a poignant piece that’s equally emotionally and explosively funny. (B+)

THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988)

My recent obsession with Sarah Koenig‘s Serial Podcast had me craving some more true crime and The Thin Blue Line is a real doozie. While I’m filled with doubt as to what the ultimate result of Serial may be (I fear, like the rest of the listeners, that it will all have been for naught) Errol Morris‘ groundbreaking film proved a precedent for documentary-style investigative journalism inflicting a real impact on judicial proceedings. Morris’ film is so effective at discrediting the jailing of a man wrongfully convicted of a life sentence for murdering a police officer that he was RELEASED FROM PRISON 12 years after his incarceration. Though dated, Blue Line is a cornerstone for the importance of the documentaries and a must-see for anyone who’s a fan of true crime. (A-)

WE ARE THE BEST! (2014)

A trio of 80’s Stockholm misfit band together to ignite a punk group even though they have no talent to speak of. Lukas Moodysson adapts the story with the help of his wife Coco Moodysson from graphic novel “Never Goodnight” and what is lost in translation is made up for by a seething sense of fun. The young performers are always on their mark, adding pathos to the sense of timeless adolescence captured on film. Screened at last year’s TIFF Special Presentation section, We Are the Best! has won over the hearts of critics and audiences who’ve heard the punk gospel and the reason couldn’t be more clear. It’s wholly lovable. (B)

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (2014)

Check your expectations at the door, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is some kind of wonderful lightning in a bottle. How Ana Lily Amirpour takes familiar elements from vampire romance and morphs them into something wholly novel is sight unseen. This slow-moving Iranian art film makes way for a non-stop display of impeccably gorgeous celluloid, black-and-white images dancing against a grainy hi-fi score that’s in part Sergio Leone spaghetti Western and equally a rave scene. It’s eerie and beautiful, creepy and delicate, like Winding Refn taking on Jim Jarmusch. Quite unlike anything else you’ll see this year, Girl also holds the honor of being one of the most important, forward-looking flicks of the year. Who would have expected vampires to ever mean so much (B+)

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