Instant Picks of the Week 12/4/2015
Gone are the days of scrolling mindlessly through your queue! No longer will you have to sift through the vastness of what’s coming to the instant viewing wastelands this month! Whether you’re looking for a stellar film or an exciting new show to binge, Instant Picks of the Week brings you the hottest releases in film and television on instant viewing platforms that we know you’ll love, or at the very least not despise.
TANGERINE (Netflix)
What do you get when you cross iPhones, transgender prostitutes, and Christmas Eve? Aforementioned transgender prostitute Sin-Dee’s quest to track down her cheating boyfriend/pimp may not seem like heartwarming holiday fodder, but rest assured there are plenty of good feelings sandwiched between the moments of laugh-out-loud insanity. TANGERINE stands out in the crowd of LGBT-friendly fall releases not only for its ultra-microbudget cinematography (the film is shot entirely on iPhones), but for its ability to relate the unique life experiences of its characters without sinking into the mire of Oscar-bait-y social justice drama. If THE DANISH GIRL is a little too heavy for you this season, please consider working this little masterpiece into your routine of Christmas classics. I promise, you only notice the iPhone for the first ten minutes. [Kate Brogden]
DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WORLD (Netflix)
Sure, you’ve seen all-to-most of the ALIEN franchise; and maybe you furtively closed the browser window after seeing the free speech powder keg that was “Penis Landscape”; and maybe you’ve even played I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM; but what about the man behind the bio-mechanical artwork? DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WORLD (DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WELT in the artist’s native Dutch) is a documentary that explores the life of one of the most recognizable artists of the 20th century. Filmed just before his death and primarily in his own home, DARK STAR offers testimonials from the people in Giger’s life as well as the man himself to explore his inspirations, rise to prominence, and philosophies. The documentary covers moments in Giger’s life that are at once enlightening and almost expected. (The film opens with the artist explaining that his father gave him a skull as a child, and to prove he wasn’t afraid of it, little Giger would carry it around on a sort of leash.) Also important – the pronunciation of “Giger.” [Steven Porfiri]
