The best new movies and shows on Netflix

We here at the Daily Dot are big fans of streaming TV and movies, but we also know how easy it is to become overwhelmed by the massive lists of Netflix’s comings and goings each month. Here’s our curated take of what’s new on Netflix this month.

May

Pick of the Month: Bloodline: Season 2 (May 27)

Created by the team behind the critically acclaimed Damages, Bloodline earned Emmy nominations for actors Kyle Chandler and Ben Mendelsohn last year, but still somehow managed to remain below the radar for many Netflix viewers. Season 1 opened with elder son Danny (Mendelsohn) returning home to the seaside hotel the Rayburn clan run in the picturesque Florida keys. Danny had dangerous friends and a troubled history—troubled enough that many of his siblings (played by Chandler, Linda Cardellini, and Norbert Leo Butz) didn’t want him around.

Spoiler alert: Before long, Danny was dead at the hands of one of his siblings. The rest were left to deal with the fallout.

Season 2 is when that fallout comes home to roost. Dead bodies tend to attract attention, and the police investigation into the murder tears at the already fraying threads of the Rayburn family even further. As the official synopsis puts it, “With their backs against the wall, good people may have to do some very bad things.”

Bloodline returns for a 13-episode second season at the end of the month, with John Leguizamo joining the cast as a dangerous figure from Danny’s past—one who’s looking to collect on debts owed. If you haven’t given Bloodline a shot yet, now’s the perfect time to get binging.

2) Ava’s Possessions (May 1)

Most “demonic possession” movies revolve around the actual possession itself, or the exorcist’s attempts to boot the invader out of the innocent host. The 2015 horror/comedy Ava’s Possessions picks up after all that, with young Ava (Louisa Krause) undergoing a sort of rehab after from a month under the control of a dark entity. With no intact memories from that time, she attempts to piece together what happened, who she hurt, and how she became possessed in the first place—all while beginning to realize that the ordeal might not yet be over.

3) Bring It On (May 1)

A Bill Clinton-era classic: Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku star as members of the Toros, a champion high school cheer squad who discover that their former captain stole all their lauded routines from a lesser-known East Compton school. With their reputation on the line, Torrance (Dunst) and her crew must come up with a routine to prove their can hold their own, on their own. Meanwhile, the Clovers, led by Isis (Gabrielle Union) are determined to take the title the Clovers stole from them. Fun fact: Bring It On director Peyton Reed went on to direct last summer’s hit Marvel flick, Ant-Man.

4) I Am Road Comic (May 1)

This 2014 documentary explores the trials and tribulations of the stand-up comic on the road. It’s a rite of passage most comics have to endure, and a regular career staple for some. In addition to his previous 2010 documentary I Am Comic, director Jordan Brady previously helmed Maria Bamford’s The Special Special Special!, so it’s not surprising that Bamford puts in an appearance here. Other featured comedians include Marc Maron, T.J. Miller, Jim Norton, Doug Benson, Nikki Glaser, W. Kamau Bell, Pete Holmes, Judah Friedlander, and Kyle Kinane, to name a few.

5) Pleasantville (May 1)

David (Tobey Maguire) is a shy young teen who spends all his free time watching old television, in particular a 1950s sitcom called Pleasantville, following the adventures of a picture-perfect nuclear family who would give the Cleavers a run for their money. After a strange TV repairman gifts David with an unusual remote control, both David and his popular-girl twin sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) find themselves transported into the world of Pleasantville—complete with a monochromatic color scheme. David couldn’t be happier, but Jennifer begins chipping away at Pleasantville’s innocence, bringing both unfamiliar concepts (like sex) and a literal dose of color into the world.

6) Sixteen Candles (May 1)

Sixteen Candles kicked off writer/director John Hughes’s run of beloved teen comedies that helped define the ‘80s, continuing in The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In Sixteen Candles, Samantha Baker’s (Molly Ringwald) 16th birthday starts off with a depressing bang as her entire family forgets the occasion. To make matters worse, a private note between friends—detailing, among other things, the fact that she’s still a virgin—has found its way into the hands of the the boy she’s crushing on. She soon crosses paths with Ted (Anthony Michael Hall), a geeky young lad who’s pining hard for Sam, and who has made an ill-considered bet with his friends that he’ll be able to sleep with her. It may not be as timelessly brilliant as The Breakfast Club, but Sixteen Candles is still one of Hughes’s best.

7) To Catch a Thief (May 1)

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly star in this classic Alfred Hitchcock film about an ex-criminal forced back into the game against his will. Grant plays a one-time master cat burglar whose skills didn’t extend to clever nicknames (he went by “The Cat”). His quiet life in the French Riviera is interrupted when the local police suspect he’s behind a series of recent robberies that smack of his old m.o. To prove his innocence, he’ll have to nab the copyCat who’s thrown a wrench into his retirement. Step one: Befriend a likely mark and her spoiled but beautiful daughter (Kelly). Is there any doubt she’ll be more of a handful than he bargained for?

8) Marseille (May 5)

Gerard Depardieu stars in this French series for Netflix, playing the long-time mayor of the titular city. Robert Taro (Depardieu) has been the big kahuna in Marseille for two and a half decades, but now his storied reign is imperiled by his former protege (Benoît Magimel), who plans to unseat him in the upcoming election. Netflix has already proven a knack for political drama with House of Cards, so it’ll be interesting to see if Taro proves as adept as lies, double crosses, and doing whatever it takes to maintain power as Cards’ Frank Underwood. Daily Dot contributor Nico Lang, however, thought the show was a comprehensive failure.

9) Grace and Frankie: Season 2 (May 6)

Co-created by Marta Kaufman of Friends fame, Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as a polar-opposites pair whose friendship is sparked in the most unlikely of ways: By learning that their respective husbands (played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) are in love with each other, and would like a divorce so they can be together. As season 2 begins, things are even more complicated, with both a heart attack and infidelity in the mix, all of which leaves Grace with conflicted feelings toward her former husband. Daily Dot contributor Alicia Eler loved what it had to say about female friendship.

10) Lady Dynamite: Season 1 (May 20)

Following in the footsteps of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Louie, and Maron, Lady Dynamite is loosely based on the real life of and comedy of standup Maria Bamford. The show was created by Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz, and Bamford will play a fictionalized version of herself “as an actor on the rise, during her hospitalization for bipolar disorder, and through her present life in LA, where she’s reached a middle ground and found love.” Expect appearances from tons of Bamford’s standup buddies, including Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt, and Tig Notaro, as well as Mira Sorvino, Jon Cryer, and both Brandon Routh and Dean Cain (and if those two aren’t involved in some sort of plotline involving Superman jokes I will be both astonished and disappointed).

11) The Last Man on the Moon (May 26)

It’s been more than four decades since we last landed a human on the Moon, and astronaut Eugene Cernan was the last human to step foot on it before we left. Before climbing the ladder back into the Apollo 17 module in December 1972, he left his daughter’s initials carved into the lunar dust. This documentary explores the life, career, and turbulent family life of Cernan, a member of one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet—those who have been not only into space, but who have set foot on a hunk of rock that isn’t our homeworld.

12) The Do-Over (May 27)

Adam Sandler’s four-movie Netflix deal continues with The Do-Over, an R-rated action comedy starring Sandler and David Spade as a pair of hard-luck losers who decide to start over by faking their deaths. Unfortunately, the new identities they take on belonged to a couple of guys who had even bigger problems. The flick has been described as in the vein of Midnight Run and Pineapple Express, but given that this is a Sandler joint, I’ll believe it when I see it. Hopefully it’ll at least be better than The Ridiculous 6.

April

1) Special Correspondents (April 29)

Ricky Gervais wrote, directed, and co-stars in this upcoming satire that remakes a 2009 French comedy. Eric Bana plays a struggling New York radio journalist who hits upon a clever scheme to drum up ratings. He begins faking “front-line reports,” pretending he’s bringing listeners breaking coverage from the middle of a war zone… when in actuality, he’s embedded above a Spanish restaurant in Queens. Which could be equally harrowing, I suppose, depending on if the restaurant has run out of paella. In the French original, the journo’s fake narrative spirals so far out of control that his native country is calling for a rescue mission to save him from captivity in Iraq, but there’s no telling where Gervais’ version will go. The cast also includes Vera Farmiga, Kevin Pollak, America Ferrera, and Benjamin Bratt.

Netflix is continuing its expansion into producing original films in a big way this year, with the Brad Pitt political satire War Machine due out later in 2016. Special Correspondents looks to be another worthy addition to Netflix’s film slate, following up on last month’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday; February’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel; and last year’s critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation. It’s certainly gotta be better than Ridiculous 6...

2) 2001: A Space Odyssey& A Clockwork Orange (April 1)

We don’t normally do this in this column, but we’re going to suggest a rather excellent double feature from this month’s Netflix additions. This month is packed with a much more solid movie selection than we’ve seen recently, including these two undisputed late ’60s/early ’70s science-fiction classics from director Stanley Kubrick. One stretches from prehistory to a future that never came, chronicling mankind’s interactions with—and manipulation by—an inexplicable alien force represented by the mysterious, iconic monoliths. The other is an unblinking look at madness, ultra-violence, and questionable remedies thereof, starring Malcolm McDowell as a gleeful thug named Alex in a dystopian London where milk plus is the drink of choice and beating people to death is always better when accompanied by classical music. We’ll leave it to you to decide which one you want to watch first…

3) Chaplin (April 1)

Robert Downey Jr. won a BAFTA for his performance as legendary silent film actor/comedian Charlie Chaplin in this Richard Attenborough–directed biopic. Adapted by William Boyd, Bryan Forbes, and William Goldman from a pair of Chaplin biographies, Chaplin has the aged actor recollecting his groundbreaking career through a series of flashbacks, from his difficult childhood to his Hollywood golden years to his persecution by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The stellar supporting cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Kline, Dan Aykroyd, and even a pre-X-Files David Duchovny. A standout role for an actor who has since become one of the biggest stars on the planet.

4) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (April 1)

The movie side of Netflix streaming has often been a dumping ground of bad horror flicks and stuff that once would have languished in Best Buy discount bins. But this month all is forgiven, because they’ve added some genuine classics like this one. Steven Spielberg’s beloved tale of a boy who befriends a wayward stranded alien is a defining childhood movie for many, and one which still holds up beautifully some three and a half decades after its original release. It’s got heart, it’s got laughs, it’s got thrills, it’s got genuinely frightening moments, and it’s got that extra dose of trauma that all the best ’80s kids’ flicks inflicted upon us. Be goooooood and show it to your kids if they haven’t already seen it.

5) Explorers (April 1)

It’s definitely no E.T., but I’ll always have a soft spot for this lesser ’80s kids’ classic from director Joe Dante. Explorers was the film debut of both Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, who, alongside Jason Presson, star as friends who build a ramshackle but functional spacecraft after mysterious recurring dreams implant the designs in the mind of young Ben Crandall (Hawke). Before you can say “hover conversion,” the trio are slipping the surly bonds of Earth and headed for a rendezvous with whoever—or whatever—had made contact with them. The mystery is a lot more compelling than the execution of the answers, so this is one childhood favorite where I’d actually be OK with a remake. But it’s still good fun nonetheless.

6) Mystic River (April 1)

Hollywood has raided author Dennis Lehane’s bibliography several times over the past decade and a half (see also: Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island) but it all started with the Oscar darling Mystic River back in 2003. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins both took home Academy Awards for their roles as the grieving father of a murdered girl (Emmy Rossum) and his childhood friend/possible suspect, respectively. The film itself also earned the Big Three trifecta of Oscar noms: Best Picture, Best Director (Clint Eastwood), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Brian Helgeland), as well as a Best Supporting Actress nod for Marcia Gay Harden. Kevin Bacon also stars as another childhood friend of Penn and Robbins’ characters, now grown into a cop investigating the girl’s death.

7) The Princess Bride (April 1)

Based on the 1973 novel by William Goldman—well, the “good parts version,” anyway—The Princess Bride is an epic tale of adventure, derring-do, and true love between the beautiful Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) and a dashing man in black (Cary Elwes) determined to rescue her from betrothal to the evil Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). The marvelous supporting cast includes the lovable Andre the Giant, the weaselly Wallace Shawn, a nigh-unrecognizable Billy Crystal, and Mandy Patinkin in a star-making turn as Inigo Montoya. There is swordplay and there is silliness; there are battles of wits and rodents of unusual size; there is even one of the all-time great kisses. Feel like doing nothing this weekend but watching this movie over and over and over again? As you wish.

8) The Ranch, Part 1 (April 1)

With a catalog that includes Lillyhammer, Sense8, and Fuller House, one thing nobody could accuse Netflix’s original programming of being is predictable. That trend continues with The Ranch, a sitcom starring That ’70s Show alums Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson alongside Sam Elliott, Debra Winger, and Elisha Cuthbert. Kutcher stars as a failed pro football player who returns home to help run the family ranch with his brother (Masterson) and father (Elliott). It has the look of your standard multicamera sitcom, but without any censors to call foul whenever somebody decides to drop an F-bomb or two. The show is also departing from the standard “here’s a season, binge it all” Netflix model. This isn’t “season 1” but rather “part 1.” Part 2, also consisting of 10 episodes, will debut later this year.

9) The Shawshank Redemption (April 1)

If Netflix wants to get on my good side, it couldn’t do better than adding this, my favorite movie of all time, to its streaming catalog. Masterfully adapted by Frank Darabont from a Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption is a the story of one man’s wrongful incarceration and decades-long struggle to cling to hope—and maybe even scratch out victory. Tim Robbins is sublime as Andy Dufresne, an innocent banker sentenced to life inside Shawshank State Penitentiary after the murder of his wife. He soon befriends Red (Morgan Freeman), a long-timer who “knows how to get things.” As the years drag on, Andy tries his best to make things better for himself and his friends, and to remind them that hope is a good thing—perhaps the best of things. I’ve watched this movie a thousand times, and I’ll watch it a thousand more, and I still won’t tire of that ending.

10) Sunset Boulevard (April 1)

Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote this classic black comedy about a struggling screenwriter (William Holden) whose life is flipped-turned-upside-down after a chance meeting with the once-great Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), an aging former silent film star lurking in a decaying Hollywood mansion and dreaming of a comeback. Figuring her comeback could be his big break—or at least a decent paycheck—Joe Gillis (Holden) convinces her to hire him to rewrite the dreadful script she’s cobbled together, and they’re off to the races. Unfortunately, since the film opens with Gillis floating facedown and dead in Norma’s swimming pool, it’s safe to say this is one writing assignment that goes terribly awry.

11) V for Vendetta (April 1)

If you’ve ever wondered why Guy Fawkes masks are the fashion of choice for the hacktivists of Anonymous, look no further than this 2006 dystopian thriller based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. Natalie Portman stars as Evey, a young woman living in an oppressive, fascist future England in which propaganda is rampant and “undesirables” regularly vanish in the night. After she’s rescued from thugs by a mysterious masked vigilante calling himself V, Evey begins to question the quiet life she’s lived and realize that the inaction of good people such as herself is what has led the world to such a dire circumstance. It’s worth watching for Hugo Weaving’s masterful performance alone, imparting V with fury, compassion, and wit, in spite of being trapped behind an expressionless mask the entire time.

12) Look Who’s Back (April 9)

Whoever you might be guessing is back, there’s a good chance your answer wasn’t “Hitler.” Nevertheless, that’s the concept behind this bizarre 2015 German satire in which the Führer himself awakens in a vacant lot in Berlin, some 70 years after taking his own life at the climax of World War II. Borrowing a page from Sacha Baron Cohen, Look Who’s Back then mixes scripted sequences with improvised content wherein Hitler (actor Oliver Masucci) interacts with random Germans. To borrow a phrase from Fawlty Towers, don’t mention the war!

13) Turn: Washington’s Spies – Season 2 (April 11)

With popular and critical hits such as The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul hogging the spotlight, it’s understandable if this AMC historical drama has flown below your radar. Since it’s returning for a third season at the end of this month, however, now is the perfect time to binge. Turn follows the history of the real-life Culper Ring, an organization of spies working under the command of General George Washington during the war that birthed our nation. Jamie Bell stars as Abraham Woodhull, a young New York farmer who becomes a key figure in the intelligence ring. Intrigue, assassinations, and a Revolutionary War setting? Sounds like a better version of Assassin’s Creed III.

14) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2 (April 15)

The adorable Ellie Kemper returns for a sophomore year as Kimmy, a former cultist now living large in the Big Apple after years of being stuck in a bunker with a lunatic who’d convinced her she survived the end of the world. Co-created by Tina Fey, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has plenty to offer for anyone who still misses 30 Rock, from the same kooky sense of humor to appearances by Rock vets such as Jane Krakowski and Fey herself. Season 2 will see Kimmy reconnect with her estranged mom, plenty of guest stars, and Kemper in an elf costume. It’s frankly impossible to dislike this show, and if you even try, you should feel bad.

Pick of the Month: Marvel’s Daredevil: Season 2 (March 18)

Marvel and Netflix kicked off their ongoing partnership with a bang last spring, finally giving the devil his due in the form of a Daredevil TV series that was as smart, dark, and brutal as the character deserved. Thanks to the brooding performance of lead Charlie Cox and the behind-the-scenes talents of tag-team showrunners Drew Goddard and Steven S. DeKnight, all those bad memories of Ben Affleck in red leather were forgotten. We also got a truly terrifying Kingpin courtesy of Vincent D’Onofrio and an overall worthy launch of Marvel and Netflix’s roadmap toward the eventual Defenders miniseries.

For season 2, there’s even more to be excited about, because the Punisher is coming to Hell’s Kitchen. The Walking Dead’s Jon Bernthal joins Daredevil as a ruthless vigilante who’s willing to take his war on crime a lot further than old hornhead, and who serves as a reminder of just how far down the abyss Matt Murdock might fall if he’s not careful. As if the Punisher didn’t complicate things enough, Matt will also have to deal with his old flame Elektra (Élodie Yung) reentering his life. Fans of the comics know that she brings more baggage with her than your average ex… and the bags are all filled with knives.

2) Adult Beginners (March 1)

The League’s Nick Kroll stars as a former hotshot Manhattan entrepreneur whose company takes a nosedive on the eve on its launch. His life in disarray, Jake (Kroll) is forced to move in with his pregnant sister (Rose Byrne) and brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale)… and to get a taste of real responsibility as nanny to his 3-year-old nephew. Reviews were mixed, but I’m a fan of Kroll so I’ll give it a look-see regardless. Wait, or was it Krull I liked?

3) Before We Go (March 1)

Captain America himself took a break from bouncing his adamantium shield off the face of bad guys long enough to helm this romantic drama. Cap actor Chris Evans made his feature directorial debut on Before We Go, in which he also co-stars as a man who gets swept up into a long overnight adventure with a beautiful stranger (Alice Eve) after she misses her train at Grand Central Station. Brooke desperately needs to get home to Boston by morning, so she and Nick (Evans) embark on a series of romantic mishaps trying to figure out how to get her where she needs to go.

4) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (March 1)

After the controversial Star Trek Into Darkness, Fast & Furious franchise director Justin Lin is taking the helm for the next sequel, Star Trek Beyond. Meanwhile, Trek is due to return to the small screen next year with a new series headed for CBS’s exclusive streaming service and with Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) serving as showrunner. Thankfully, whatever happens with the future of where no man has gone before, we’ll always have Trek’s finest hour to return to, and you can enjoy it again on Netflix this March. Clear a couple of hours to rewatch Wrath of Khan for the umpteenth time, or check out the epic battle between the crew of the Enterprise and genetically engineered madman Khan for the first time if you’ve never seen it. But remember a blanket; it is very cold in space.

5) House of Cards: Season 4 (March 4)

Netflix’s flagship political drama returns with the duplicitous Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) still ensconced in the White House and enjoying the fruits of many decades’ worth of scheming, deceit, and betrayal. Unfortunately, he may have to enjoy that power without the one person who has been his partner in crime from the start. Last season’s shocker of an ending saw First Lady Claire (Robin Wright) finally fed up with Frank’s disrespect, declaring she was leaving him—leaving Frank, for once, unsure what to do. Safe to say the fourth season will focus heavily on the crumbling of Frank and Claire’s relationship, as well as the fact that Frank is in the midst of an election year. But honestly, what could the House of Cards writers possibly come up with that will be more outlandish than this real-world election cycle?

6) Louie: Season 5 (March 4)

It’s hard to believe that Louis C.K.’s brilliant semi-autobiographical TV series is already five seasons deep, but that just serves as the perfect excuse for a binge watch. The fifth season is a bit shorter than previous outings, clocking in at eight episodes of the usual vignettes focusing on a fictionalized Louie’s career, family drama, dating disasters, and general existential neuroses. The guest list for the season is as impressive as always, featuring appearances by Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Michael Cera, Jimmy Fallon, and Charles Grodin, as well as comedians Steven Wright, Todd Barry, Jim Norton, and Nick DiPaolo.

7) Cuckoo: Seasons 1-2 (March 7)

In this 2012 British sitcom, young Rachel (Tamla Kari) returns home to Staffordshire after a year abroad, stunning her parents when she introduces American Dale (SNL’s Andy Samberg), a free-spirited American friend… who also happens to be Rachel’s new husband. Surprise! Samberg’s schedule didn’t permit him to return to the U.K. for season 2, so he was replaced with a new character, played by Twilight’s Taylor Lautner. Andy Samberg, Taylor Lautner—yeah, that’s pretty much a one-for-one switch, right? Fun fact: NBC ordered a pilot based on Cuckoo this past March, with Michael Chiklis and Cheryl Hines playing the put-upon parents.

8) Hateship Loveship (March 9)

It’s been fascinating to watch Kristen Wiig’s career arc post-Bridesmaids. She’s about to star in the Ghostbusters reboot, which could be a huge blockbuster or a massive flop. But in the meantime, rather than just cranking out easy studio comedies, she’s continued to work on interesting little smaller flicks such as Welcome to Me, The Skeleton Twins, and Girl Most Likely. Add to that roster Hateship Loveship, based on a 2001 short story by Alice Munro. Wiig plays a nanny to a teenage girl and her elderly grandfather. Teen Sabitha decides it would be funny if she tricked the nanny into thinking her recovering addict father (Guy Pearce) is interested in her, kicking off an elaborate ongoing ruse that soon turns into something more.

9) Flaked: Season 1 (March 11)

Arrested Development alums Will Arnett and Mitch Hurwitz reunite on Netflix for this new comedy series in which Arnett plays“a self-help guru named Chip who’s struggling to stay a step ahead of his own lies.” You had me at “Will Arnett as a self-help guru,” but the role looks to be considerably more earnest than AD’s GOB. Ruth Kearney stars opposite Arnett as a waitress and love interest named London. I’ll watch the hell out of anything with Mitch Hurwitz’s name on it, and the trailer below looks pretty great. The first season will run for eight episodes, making it a perfect bite-size palate cleanser between House of Cards and Daredevil.

10) Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (March 18)

It’s been nearly 30 years since we last got a Pee-wee movie (1988’s Big Top Pee-wee, for the record), but that long drought is about to be over. Star Paul Reubens and producer Judd Apatow teamed up for this month’s big Pee-wee return outing, in which the goofy manchild takes a trip that becomes an “epic story of friendship and destiny.” Director John Lee (Broad City) helms a script co-written by Reubens and Paul Rust (who also stars in and co-created Netflix’s recent rom-com series Love with Apatow and Lesley Arfin). The cast also includes True Blood’s Tara Buck and Joe Manganiello, with Manganiello playing Pee-wee’s best friend. Let’s just hope he doesn’t say the secret word.

1) Better Call Saul: Season 1 (Feb. 1)

Netflix is starting things off strong this month, finally letting the cord cutters of the world check out one of the most buzzed-about shows of 2015. Breaking Bad’s Bob Odenkirk returns as shady lawyer Saul Goodman in this prequel to Vince Gilligan’s brilliant AMC drama, but at this point in his life, he was still going by his birth name of Jimmy McGill, and he hadn’t yet found his niche as the go-to legal counsel for drug dealers, murderers, and other disreputable sorts. Better Call Saul introduces us to a Jimmy who can barely pay his rent, six years before a certain Walter White entered his life and set him on a path of destruction. Just as exciting as more Saul, we also get more of Jonathan Banks at his grumpy best as Mike Ehrmantraut, future bad-guy fixer but currently working as a parking lot attendant. How the hell did these guys get from point A to point B, where we met them? Let’s find out.

2) Sin City (Feb. 1)

Say what you will about Frank Miller’s harder-than-hard-boiled writing style, there’s no question that this adaptation of his acclaimed crime comics is visually stunning, contrasting stark black and white with splashes of strategic color. Miller co-directed with Robert Rodriguez, loosely adapting several of Miller’s neo-noir Sin City graphic novels to spin tales of cruelty, double-crosses, and the worst of human nature run rampant across an urban hellscape called Basin City. It doesn’t hurt that the cast includes Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Elijah Wood, Alexis Bledel, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, and Nick Stahl.

3) Stardust (Feb. 1)

This adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel is criminally underrated, but the best compliment I can give to it is this: It’d make a really great double-feature with The Princess Bride. Sure, it’s not as good as that legendary classic, but it’s got laughs, romance, high adventure, evil witches, and sky pirates. What’s not to like? Eventual Daredevil Charlie Cox stars as Tristan Thorn, a simple lad who sets off to fetch a fallen star for the object of his affections, only to discover that the fallen star is a lot more feisty than he expected—and also looks like Claire Danes.

4) I Love You, Phillip Morris (Feb. 1)

Speaking of unlikely romances, this 2009 black comedy stars Jim Carrey as real-life con artist Steven Jay Russell, who gets thrown in the clink and promptly falls head-over-heels for fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Unfortunately, their nascent romance hits a speedbump when Morris is released from prison—so Russell decides to escape so they can be together again. Four times. Honestly, at that point just credit the guy for determination and put them in a halfway house together. Can’t the penal system make allowances for twue wuv?

5) Love (Feb. 4)

If you’re looking for something a bit more… nontraditional… in your love stories, Love might be your cup of tea. So long as you’re not enjoying that tea with, like, your parents or pastor in the room. Irreversible director Gaspar Noe helms this story of a couple in Paris who complicate their relationship by inviting another woman into their bed. Love got a lot of attention for its hardcore 3D sex scenes, but I don’t think Netflix has mastered 3D streaming yet. Still, feel free to watch the flick with 3D glasses on if that does it for you.

6) Hannibal Buress: Comedy Camisado (Feb. 5)

Comedian Hannibal Buress landed in the news in a big way last year, thanks to the increased media spotlight on the rape accusations against Bill Cosby… something Buress had very publically called out onstage in 2014. Thankfully Buress is really damn funny and insightful even without that historical footnote, but he does address it in this upcoming comedy special hitting Netflix in February, along with sillier things such as “zipper etiquette.”

7) Mad Men: Season 7, Part 2 (Feb. 5)

As a devout cord cutter, I’ve long since gotten used to being behind the curve on water-cooler television. Thankfully I’ll finally be able to binge all the way through Matthew Weiner’s brilliant Mad Men when the final episodes hit Netflix Instant in February. It’s always tricky to wrap up a show that’s become a legitimate pop-culture phenomenon, but by most accounts Weiner and company did a solid job giving closure to Dick Whitman/Don Draper and company, while simultaneously tying the show into one of the most famous ad campaigns of all time.

8) Dope (Feb. 10)

The 2015 coming-of-age drama Dope tells the story of Malcolm, a geeky young kid growing up in a bad neighborhood in Inglewood, California. He spends his days obsessing over ’90s hip-hop and dreaming of escaping his surroundings by landing admission to Harvard. An invitation to an underground party soon sends him and his friends on an adventure that will help him discover who he is… assuming he makes it out intact. Dope was executive produced by Pharrell Williams and Sean Combs, and it’s currently rocking an 88 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The soundtrack is also, dare I say it, dope.

9) The Face of Love (Feb. 13)

Annette Bening stars as Nikki, a woman still grieving over the loss of her husband, after his accidental drowning. Then she meets Tom (Ed Harris), a guy who looks uncannily like the aforementioned dead husband. Needless to say, that’s a helluva basis for a relationship, but the two soon become lovers nonetheless, which understandably freaks the hell out of her neighbor (Robin Williams), who is irked at her dating a dude who’s wearing her dead husband’s face (and not just because he himself also had romantic designs on her). Man, modern romance is complicated.

10) The Returned: Season 2 (Feb. 17)

Not to be confused with the short-lived American remake that aired on A&E, this is the French original, which follows the events in a small French town after dead people begin returning. But not in a “hungry undead” kind of way. They’re just back, with no idea how or why they’ve been brought back. The show explores both that mystery and the trials of the returned and their families as everyone tries to adjust to the “be careful what you wish for” scenario.

11) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Feb. 26)

Another entry from the “Netflix Did What Now?” school of unlikely sequels and resurrections, Sword of Destiny follows up on Ang Lee’s acclaimed 2000 flick Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This time around Chinese martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping is in the director’s chair, with Michelle Yeoh returning from the original film and joined by Donnie Yen in a tale that finds a group of warriors fighting to protect a legendary sword known as “the Green Destiny.”

12) Fuller House: Season 1 (Feb. 26)

The other big Netflix original this month is just as unlikely a project as the Crouching Tiger sequel. Two decades after the sitcom wrapped up its run on ABC, Full House is returning on Netflix as Fuller House. Nearly all of the original cast will be back for further stories of the Tanner family. Just don’t expect to find any Olsens hanging around the joint, unless maybe Superman’s pal swings by for a visit.

13) Finding Vivian Maier (Feb. 27)

If you were frequenting the Internet in 2009, you’ve probably seen the work of Vivian Maier, even if you didn’t realize it. That’s when a Flickr gallery of her work introduced the world to the story of a Chicago nanny who was, unbeknownst to most of the world, also an extremely talented and prolific street photographer, taking more than 150,000 photographs over the course of her life. This 2013 documentary chronicles how collectors discovered her work and set about to learn the story of the woman behind the pictures.

January 2016

1) Constantine (Jan. 1)

Vertigo Comics’ hit supernatural comic series Hellblazer became a surprisingly good but unsurprisingly short-lived NBC TV series this past year, but chain-smoking occultist John Constantine made the leap to the big screen a decade ago—even though he lost his accent along the way. Keanu Reeves stars in this 2005 outing directed by Francis Lawrence (the Hunger Games franchise), which sees Constantine caught between the machinations of heaven and hell, with his own soul on the line. The show was certainly a better adaptation of the comic than this film, but the movie has its charms, including Tilda Swinton as an androgynous angel Gabriel and Peter Stormare as a particularly slimy incarnation of Lucifer. It’s not enough to forgive an Americanized Constantine, but hey, Keanu did what he could with it.

2) How to Change the World(Jan. 1)

Director Jerry Rothwell (Deep Water) helmed this documentary look at the origins of the environmental activist organization Greenpeace. It all started in 1971 with a single fishing boat and a group of true believers determined to stop Richard Nixon’s atomic testing in Amchitka, Alaska. The film focuses particularly on Robert Hunter, whose long career includes stints in journalism and politics as well as eco-activism, and how he co-founded the often-controversial Greenpeace along with several others. How to Change the World won both the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing and the Candescent Award after its premiere at Sundance 2015. It’s currently rated 95 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

3) Intolerable Cruelty (Jan. 1)

Netflix is adding two Coen Brothers flicks this month, and while neither is anywhere near the best of the brothers’ works, they’ve still got their moments. In Intolerable Cruelty, George Clooney stars as hotshot divorce attorney Miles Massey, a guy so good at his job that they named an ironclad pre-nup after him. He winds up on the bad side of the beautiful Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) after helping her philandering husband kick her to the curb and leave her nothing. She soon begins to hatch a long con to win Miles’ affections, the better to eventually nab his fortune. This is a Coen Brothers movie, however, so of course things soon get very complicated and very silly. Even though Intolerable Cruelty isn’t considered in the Coens’ top tier, it’s still rated a respectable 75 percent Fresh on RT.

4) Meet the Parents(Jan. 1)

In Meet the Parents (and its inferior sequel, Meet the Fockers) Robert De Niro leverages his tough-guy image to play the intimidating father-in-law every guy dreads of meeting. The man in his crosshairs (and outside his circle of trust) is Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), a well-meaning male nurse who tries and fails at every opportunity to impress De Niro’s Jack Byrnes, a gruff former CIA man who’s convinced Greg isn’t good enough for his daughter (Teri Polo). Greg tries everything he can to prove that he’s worthy and win the affections of his fiancée’s family, but whether it’s clumsily toppling a funeral urn or accidentally burning down a gazebo, the poor Focker just can’t catch a break. Meet the Parents is 84 perfecnt Fresh on RT, proving that they should have stopped while they were ahead. Meet the Fockers—which is also arriving on Netflix Instant and which introduced Greg’s parents in the form of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand—rates only a 38 percent. (The less said about 2010’s Little Fockers, the better.)

5) Stephen Fry Live: More Fool Me (Jan. 1)

Brilliant British comedian, author, and actor Stephen Fry (Blackadder, A Bit of Fry & Laurie) recorded this stage performance as part of a 2014 book tour to promote the third volume of his autobiography, titled—you guessed it—More Fool Me. Both the book and this one-man show focus on Fry’s recollections of the tail end of the ’80s and early ’90s, when his career was already well established and the darker side of fame began to intrude, with glamorous parties and celebrity friends sending Fry down the path to excess and addiction. Thankfully, Fry made it out intact, so now he can look back on it all through the lens of his own cutting wit and a few decades’ hindsight, mixing readings from his diaries from that period with his latter-day insights.

5) We Need to Talk About Kevin(Jan. 1)

I always like to think this is a Home Alone sequel focused on a deeply troubled adult Kevin McCallister, but Macaulay Culkin already kind of made that. But no, it’s actually an acclaimed psychological thriller based on the 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver. Tilda Swinton stars as Eva Khatchadourian, a parent living out a nightmare after her troubled son committed a school massacre. The story unfolds as she remembers her son Kevin’s earlier life, and the various warning signs that the boy was not well. John C. Reilly stars as her husband, Frank, who repeatedly dismisses and downplays her concerns about Kevin (Ezra Miller). The film received critical praise, especially for Swinton’s performance, including from the late Roger Ebert, who gave it four stars and called it “a masterful film.”

6) Training Day (Jan. 4)

Denzel Washington brilliantly played against type in this 2001 crime thriller from director Antoine Fuqua, and his performance earned him an Academy Award for his role as dirty cop Alonzo Harris. Ethan Hawke was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jake Hoyt, a rookie LAPD narcotics officer spending the day training under the legendary and decorated Detective Harris. Hoyt is shaken as he learns how morally gray Harris’ world is, and how many compromises he’s made to navigate the dangerous world that is his day-to-day. Soon, however, the depths of Harris’ corruption become clear, and Harris begins to suspect Hoyt might be a liability he can’t abide.

7) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 10 (Jan. 5)

It’s hard to believe the crew from Paddy’s Pub have been sharing amoral adventures together for a solid decade at this point, but there you have it. Mac, Dee, Dennis, Charlie, and Frank’s 10th year finds them group dating, appearing on a gameshow, attempting to clear Mac’s dad of murder charges, and trying to beat Wade Boggs’ record for the most beers consumed on a cross-country flight. The 11th season of Sunny is scheduled to premiere Jan. 6 on FXX.

8) New Girl: Season 4 (Jan. 5)

On the slightly more twee/less deplorable end of sitcom, we have the Zooey Deschanel Fox sitcom New Girl, which drops its fourth season onto Netflix Instant this month. This outing sees Jess pining for a charming British teacher, Schmidt pursuing a councilwoman, and Cece still struggling with her maddening feelings for Schmidt. You even get to learn Jess’ middle name, which is apparently a whole big deal. The fifth season of New Girl premieres on Fox the same day this season hits Netflix, so you can catch up quickly with some judicious binge-watching and DVRing. (Fun fact: New Girl was developed under the working title of Chicks & Dicks, which they totally should have stuck with.)

9) The Ladykillers (Jan. 12)

The second of the lesser Coen Bros. flicks to hit Netflix Instant this month, The Ladykillers is actually a remake of a 1955 British film starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. Ladykillers was the Coens’ immediate follow-up to their previous flick on this list, Intolerable Cruelty, and features Tom Hanks doing his best Col. Sanders impression as Professor Goldthwaite Higginson Dorr, an alleged linguist who’s actually a would-be criminal mastermind. He and his gang—including Marlon Wayans and J.K. Simmons—pose as a band of musicians and rent out the root cellar of an elderly widow for their “rehearsals,” as cover for their scheme to tunnel into the underground vault of a nearby riverboat casino.

10) Parks & Recreation: Season 7 (Jan. 13)

NBC’s hit sitcom starring Amy Poehler wrapped up its run with its seventh season last February, so as of Jan. 13, you’ll be able to binge your way through the entire series. The final year of the Emmy-winning show unfolds in 2017, with Leslie Knope (Poehler) working as Midwest Regional Parks Director and Ron Swanson having left the Parks department to start a construction company. As the season progresses, Leslie and Ron butt heads over her efforts to found a national park in Pawnee, and the emotional series finale flashes forward even further to show what happens to all the characters we came to know and love.

11) Degrassi: Next Class - Season 1 (Jan. 15)

The Canadian teen drama Degrassi has been unfolding in one form or another for over 35 years, beginning as a series of afterschool specials on CBC Television and spawning multiple spin-off shows over the years, including this latest installment. Degrassi: Next Class will feature ties to the previous incarnations but is aimed at being a standalone “soft reboot” of the show, which is easy to do when you’re telling stories about a high school, which has new crops of kids arriving every year. As with earlier versions of Degrassi, Next Class will tell stories that address issues and problems faced by modern teens, from cyberbullying to sexuality to drug use. All 10 episodes of Next Class’ first season will be available for streaming on Jan. 15.

12) The Overnight (Jan. 15)

Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) are new arrivals to Los Angeles, trying to find their place in a new city and new home. During a family outing to the park with their son, they meet Kurt (Jason Schwartzman) and Charlotte (Judith Godreche), a free-spirited hipster couple who invite everyone back to their house for a playdate with their own kid. As the grown-ups bond and the kids eventually go to sleep, it becomes clear that Kurt and Charlotte may have an entirely different kind of playdate in mind. The Overnight is certified 81 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the talents of both the cast and of writer/director Patrick Brice.

13) Chelsea Does (Jan. 23)

Former E! host Chelsea Handler stars in this new four-part docu-series that will explore a different subject that Handler is interested in each episode: drugs, racism, marriage, and Silicon Valley. Each installment with Handler discussing the topic with a psychologist, then delving into the subject in a broader way. It’s definitely a departure from Handler’s typical image and material, so it’ll be interesting to see her showing viewers, in her own words, her “serious side.” It’s also not the last we’ll be seeing of Handler on Netflix: She has a talk show debuting on the streaming network later in 2016.

Pick of the Month: A Very Murray Christmas (Dec. 4)

One of the best parts of the holidays for cinephiles is revisiting the movies and shows that have become traditional viewing over the years, whether they’re officially “holiday movies” or not. I’ve got a friend who watches Blade Runner every Christmas Eve. For me, Edward Scissorhands has always felt very Christmas-y. Well, this year Netflix is looking to add another tradition to your queue, and it may just be the best present ever: It’s A Very Murray Christmas.

The Murray in question is, of course, the only Murray that matters. Bill Murray headlines this musical/comedy special directed by Sofia Coppola and also featuring George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Michael Cera, Maya Rudolph, and Miley Cyrus, to name but a few. The storyline focuses on Bill Murray making a TV show and worrying that no one will make it to the taping after a massive snowstorm buries New York. But honestly, does the storyline even matter? It’s Bill Murray, singing and generally being Bill Murray, which is awesome. I think I’ll save this one for Christmas Eve and double-feature it with Scrooged.

Best of the rest:

1) Broadchurch: Season 2 (Dec. 1)

If you’re one of the folks who’ve encountered David Tennant for the first time as the sadistic Kilgrave in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, we highly recommend checking out his time as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who. But watching him as a benevolent god might be a bit too jarring fresh off the trauma of Jessica Jones. So allow us to point to the excellent British crime drama Broadchurch as a palate cleanser that puts Tennant on the side of the angels. (Not the Weeping Angels.)

Not to be confused with the American remake Gracepoint—which also starred Tennant—Broadchurch casts the Scottish actor as Alec Hardy, one of two detectives charged with investigating the murder of a young boy in a small British town. The show was created by Chris Chibnall, who previously worked on both Doctor Who and its Torchwood spinoff, as well as Law & Order: UK and Starz’s one-season King Arthur series Camelot. A third season of Broadchurch is scheduled to shoot next summer, but in the meantime the two eight-episode seasons will make for perfect holiday binge watching.

2) The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (Dec. 1)

With Vin Diesel having recently announced that he’s working on both a fourth Riddick film and a spinoff TV series set in the Riddick universe, now’s as good a time as any to revisit the hit-or-miss mythology Diesel and writer/director David Twohy have been spinning for 15 years now. That includes the solid 2000 cult classic Pitch Black; its two lesser sequels, 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick and 2013’s Riddick; the excellent Riddick video games, Escape From Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena; and this 2004 direct-to-DVD animated flick that bridges the first two movies.

Dark Fury picks up after Riddick, Jack, and the Imam escape the deadly world featured in Pitch Black, only to be picked up by a ship full of mercenaries. Unfortunately for Riddick, the ship’s captain has an odd hobby of literally collecting criminals, capturing them in suspended animation and using them as living artwork. Needless to say, Riddick isn’t amenable to this arrangement, which means motherfuckers gonna die. Dark Fury was directed by Korean-American animator Peter Chung, best known for creating MTV’s Æon Flux.

3) Darkman (Dec. 1)

Long before he bedeviled Batman as R’as Al Ghul, Liam Neeson played Dr. Peyton Westlake, a brilliant scientist on the cusp of perfecting a revolutionary type of synthetic skin to help burn victims. Unfortunately, after his lawyer girlfriend acquires documents that could incriminate a local crime boss, Peyton gets caught in the middle and blown the fuck up. He survives, just barely: He’s horribly disfigured, incapable of feeling pain, and now flirting with insanity. Fortunately, that’s a useful combination of qualities when you’re about to seek vengeance on a crime syndicate, especially if you’ve also got a synthetic skin formula that lets you disguise yourself. Let the games begin!

A twisted chimera combining director Sam Raimi’s love of pulp heroes like the Shadow and classic screen monsters such as the Phantom of the Opera, Darkman didn’t reach blockbuster levels like Tim Burton’s Batman the year before, but it did become a cult classic that still gets watched and referenced some 25 years later. It also spawned a couple of direct-to-video sequels, several actual comic-book series, and a failed 1992 TV pilot, which you can watch on YouTube.

4) Stir of Echoes(Dec. 1)

We’re now one major holiday beyond peak horror season, but you can only take so much holiday cheer before you need a break. Even if there’s tinsel and colored lights everywhere, that chill in the air will still make for ideal viewing of this underrated ghost story starring Kevin Bacon, directed by David Koepp (War of the Worlds), and based on a novel by the (I am) legendary Richard Matheson.

Bacon plays Tom Witzky, a telephone line repairman living with a pregnant wife and young son in blue-collar Chicago. While he and his friends are having a shindig, Tom makes the mistake of letting his wife’s sister hypnotize him. Unfortunately, the seemingly innocent party trick opens Tom up to something profound: He begins having violent visions of a young girl fighting for her life. Once he eventually learns that the girl from his dreams is a real local teen who vanished a few months earlier, Tom’s obsession with learning what happened to her threatens to tear his family apart.

5) The Da Vinci Code (Dec. 14)

It’s been 12 years, so it’s easy to forget how big a deal Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was in 2003, managing to outsell every other novel of the year that didn’t have “Harry Potter” in the title. The blend of page-turning beach read and faith-baiting controversy was a powerful mix, so naturally Hollywood soon came a-calling, casting Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon, an expert in religious symbolism. After the curator of the Louvre is murdered, the authorities are convinced Langdon may have done the dirty deed, forcing him to try and uncover a centuries-old mystery to clear his name. And the secret involved is a whopper, involving the Catholic Church, the Holy Grail, and Jesus Christ himself. Also, Hanks has really weird hair in this, but that doesn’t seem to be part of the conspiracy, so far as I could tell.

6) Helix: Season 2 (Dec. 16)

Helix was one of the first shows out the gate under the current Syfy regimen, which seems genuinely committed to returning the network to its roots and embracing ambitious genre storytelling like it used to. And the show had a solid pedigree, with Battlestar Galactica’s Ron Moore on board as an executive producer. Unfortunately, Helix was a bloody mess: Season 1 started out as a riff on John Carpenter’s The Thing, then settled into extended wheel-spinning punctuated by batshit-crazy plot twists that would have been more shocking had they made any damn sense at all. There were viruses, silver-eyed immortals, pseudo-zombies, and frozen severed heads. You certainly couldn’t fault the show’s ambition.

Season 2 leaves the arctic setting of its freshman year behind, following CDC disease expert Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) and his team to a mysterious island populated by a creepy cult led by that guy from Wings. (No, the other one.) Syfy killed Helix after season 2, so don’t expect all the show’s questions to get satisfying answers.

7) Black Mirror: White Christmas (Dec. 25)

The critically acclaimed British anthology series Black Mirror is one of the best shows of the young century, and a worthy successor to the legacy of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Created by Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror explores the darker aspects of of our relationship with technology in a brutal and insightful fashion that eschews easy answers. Netflix earned a collective high five from all of us earlier this year with the announcement that it’d be producing a third season of the show, but while we’re waiting for those new episodes to come down the pike, there’s still one you might not have seen yet. The holiday special “White Christmas,” starring Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, hasn’t previously been available on Netflix… but that’s about to change. “White Christmas” intertwines three different stories, including some of the show’s darkest material yet. This is not feel-good television, but we’ll celebrate its Netflix arrival as a Christmas miracle just the same.

8) Maron: Season 3 (Dec. 28)

Standup comedian/podcaster Marc Maron stars as a fictionalized version of himself, trying to balance his personal life and career against the constant realization that he’s usually his own worst enemy. In season 3, Marc struggles with success, invites his ex-wife onto his podcast, and dabbles with antidepressants. If you’re a fan of Maron’s standup or his long-running WTF Podcast, you’ll find plenty to like in Maron. The show has already been renewed for a fourth season on IFC, so expect more to come in 2016.

9) Nurse Jackie: Seasons 1-7 (Dec. 31)

Hulu launched a major partnership with Showtime this past summer, but Netflix continues to acquire the network’s shows as they wrap up, and at the end of the month Nurse Jackie will join Weeds, Dexter, and Californication in the Netflix queue. Jackie stars Sopranos alum Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, a put-upon ER nurse who numbs the stress of her job with pills. Jackie earned critical praise for its dark humor and explorations of addiction, not to mention a Best Actress Emmy Award for Falco in 2010.

November 2015

1) Jessica Jones: Season 1 (Nov. 20)

With Jessica Jones (formerly A.K.A. Jessica Jones), Marvel is doing the same thing it did with flicks like Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man: taking risks. Marvel made a massive small-screen success out of Daredevil, a character that had been languishing in big-screen development hell for years. So next up? An obscure Marvel character all but the most die-hard fans probably haven’t even heard of. And it’s not a traditional superhero tale and it’s incredibly dark material and it’s got the most generic title since John Carter. You certainly can’t accuse Marvel of playing it safe. Thankfully, there’s every reason to be optimistic that Jessica Jones will carry on the solid momentum built by Daredevil and further flesh out this seedy little corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the path toward Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the eventual Defenders Netflix miniseries.

So who the hell is Jessica Jones? Well, she was a costumed superhero for a hot minute, until that career… ended badly. The man responsible for that end was Kilgrave, a sociopath with the metahuman ability to make people do whatever he tells them to. It’s not hard to imagine how that sort of power could be abused, and abuse it he does. (With Doctor Who’s David Tennant in the role of Kilgrave, there are sure to be a lot of traumatized Whovians if the show goes half as dark with his storyline as the comics did.) Now Jessica (Krysten Ritter) works as a private investigator, deeply scarred by her past and just trying to get by. Along the way she meets Luke Cage (Mike Colter), another mysterious figure with powers of his own, including a powerful romantic connection with Jessica. Jessica Jones was created and developed by Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter), based on the critically acclaimed comics by Brian Michael Bendis, and the pilot episode received a rousing reception at New York Comic-Con a few weeks back. Fingers crossed that this show keeps up Marvel’s winning streak.

2) The 100: Season 2 (Oct. 31)

Based on the series of young adult novels by Kass Morgan, The 100 is set a century after a global nuclear war wiped out most of humanity. Thankfully some small percentage of mankind was living aboard 12 space stations orbiting the planet. They unified as “the Ark” and spent the next 97 years cobbling together a makeshift society… but one that’s on the verge of disaster, thanks to failing life support. Out of desperation, the Ark’s leadership conjures up a truly crazy plan: Drop 100 expendable juvenile delinquents back to the surface to see if the planet can support human life yet. But Earth has become a dangerous place in all those long years, and it harbors many secrets. If you get hooked on The 100 after a Netflix binge, the series will return for a third season in 2016.

3) Last Days in Vietnam (Nov. 1)

Rory Kennedy (Ghosts of Abu Ghraib) directed this documentary look at the dire final weeks of the Vietnam War. With the local citizenry desperate to escape as the North Vietnamese army inched ever closer to Saigon, United States forces were ordered to evacuate themselves and any American citizens—but only American citizens. Last Days in Vietnam examines the closing act of a war that defined a generation through archival footage and interviews with those who were there. Kennedy’s documentary currently boasts an impressive 95 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

There are plenty of fascinating things to discover on YouTube, but Anais Bordier found something wholly unexpected: a twin sister she didn’t know she had. A French fashion design student living in London in 2013, Anais had the no-doubt surreal experience of seeing a video online featuring American actress Samantha Futerman...who looked exactly like her. A bit of Googling and social networking later, Anais contacted Samantha and the pair became convinced they’d been separated at birth. The Kickstarter-funded documentary Twinsters follows the stranger-than-fiction tale of their meeting and burgeoning relationship. Moral of the story: Maybe don’t ignore all those emails from names you don’t recognize.

Few horror movies have ever hit me in the gut as strongly as Lake Mungo, and I’m intrigued by the creepy, understated trailer for The Midnight Swim because it gives me the same kind of vibe: an aura of sadness and unsettling strangeness, the sense both of something bad having happened and something worse yet to come. Similar to Lake Mungo, The Midnight Swim is set in motion by a death—in this case, the death of a mother, who vanishes while diving in the notoriously deep Spirit Lake. Her three daughters, one a filmmaker, return home to grieve and deal with her affairs, but strange occurrences drag them deeper into the mysteries of the lake. The Midnight Swim has received strong critical praise for its story and performances, currently holding an 83 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Netflix has been building a solid catalog of diverse, original comedies over the past couple of years, from BoJack Horseman and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to Grace & Frankie and the Wet Hot American Summer prequel. Landing a new series from popular comic and Parks & Recreation vet Aziz Ansari was a major get. Ansari co-created Master of None with Parks & Rec producer Alan Yang, and Ansari stars as Dev, a 30-something actor navigating family, relationships, and generally trying to make a go of it in the Big Apple. Treat yo’self to all 10 episodes of the first season when it premieres this month.

I would have thought Netflix had exhausted its comedy miracles with its seven-years-later resurrection of Arrested Development. But it trumped that feat entirely by getting the principals behind HBO’s brilliant Mr. Show back together for With Bob and David. In addition to Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, the new Netflix sketch comedy series also reunites much of the Mr. Show writing team, including Brian Posehn and Dino “Star-Burns from Community” Stamatopoulos. Mr. Show has justifiably ascended into the holy pantheon of comedy in the 20 years since it aired on HBO, so the show has a high bar to clear. But if there’s a chance it could give us even one sketch as good as “Pre-Taped Call-In Show,” there’s more than enough reason to be giddy.

Sadly, there have been so many horrific headlines in the years since, many of us have probably all but forgotten about the Beltway Sniper shootings of 2002. Director Alexandre Moors’ Blue Caprice tells the story of John Muhammad and Lee Malvo, who killed 17 people and injured more in a crime spree that stretched across several states before culminating in the Washington murders that captured the world’s attention. Named after the modified vehicle from which they fired their shots, Blue Caprice examines Muhammad (Isaiah Washington) and Malvo’s (Tequan Richmond) twisted father-son relationship and the unsettling banality of evil.

As a fan of both Rachel Nichols and time-travel stories done well, I was intrigued by Continuum when the Canadian series popped up on Syfy a few years back. However, I soon got sidetracked and never returned to the show after midway through its first season. I’ve had multiple friends who stuck with it singing its praises to me nonstop pretty much ever since, insisting that the series soon became bold and unpredictable in much the same way shows like Fringe and Person of Interest eventually blew past the limitations of their first impressions. Nichols stars as Kiera Cameron, a cop from a corporate-controlled 2077 Vancouver who follows several “freedom fighters”/terrorists back in time to 2012, where she must track down the fugitives, try and get home, and struggle with the realization that her very actions may already have cut off any access to her own time—or permanently rewritten it. All four seasons will be available streaming by mid-month.

It’s been over two decades since the death of legendary Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, who took his own life on April 5, 1994. Like many fallen celebrities before him, however, his death has become a nexus of conspiracy theories for those who won’t, or can’t, believe the official explanation. Mixing dramatizations with interviews and documentary footage, Soaked in Bleach explores the persistent theories that Cobain’s death wasn’t actually a suicide. It revisits the events through the eyes of private investigator Tom Grant, who was hired by Cobain’s wife Courtney Love to track him down in the weeks before his death. Unsurprisingly, Soaked in Bleach has aroused plenty of controversy, with Love’s lawyers sending out cease and desist letters to theaters and detractors trying to sabotage its Rotten Tomatoes rating before it was even released.

Most people know Jason Momoa from his role as Khal Drogo on HBO’s Game of Thrones, and he’s going to spend the next decade or so immersed in the big-screen DC Cinematic Universe in the role of Aquaman. In between those two life-changing events, Momoa played a heavy in Sundance’s original scripted series The Red Road. Martin Henderson plays Harold Jensen, a recovering alcoholic sheriff in a fictional Jersey town called Walpole. After a cover-up involving his mentally ill wife, Jensen is forced into an alliance with Phillip Kopus, an unsavory member of the local Ramapough Mountain tribe. With its mix of crime, corruption, and Native American politics, it reminds me a bit of Longmire. The series received decent reviews, but it was canceled after its second season. Still, that makes for perfect bite-size binge-watching. If you dig it, definitely also check out Sundance’s Rectify.

The Cannon Films logo was a persistent presence in the B-movie circuit throughout the 1980s, often attached to movies starring Sylvester Stallone (Cobra) or Chuck Norris (Missing in Action), as well as Tobe Hooper’s cult classic “space vampire” flick Lifeforce. They also gave us some of the decade’s easiest punchlines, such as the Stallone arm wrestling movie Over the Top, the Masters of the Universe movie, and the flick which gave both this documentary its title and the internet one of its favorite memes: the mock-worthy breakdancing sequel Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Director Mark Harley’s 2014 documentary examines the rise and fall of the notorious Cannon Group featuring interviews with the likes of Tobe Hooper, Richard Chamberlain, Bo Derek, Elliott Gould, Dolph Lundgren, and Molly Ringwald, to name a few.