Instant Picks of the Week 9/30/16
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.
DOCUMENTARY NOW! (Netflix)
I remember watching DOCUMENTARY NOW! with the same excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. One of my friends played it for me at a sleepover, and I was stunned by how much time had passed without my knowledge that Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers had created an IFC series. DOCUMENTARY NOW! can be summarized by imagining the three aforementioned men coming up with an idea to create a series of parodized documentaries. It is a mockumentary series that at times varies from silly to scary in terms of style and accuracy. So, I watch the series with my mouth constantly open, constantly about to gasp for air after a horrendous amount of laughter. The commentary is witty, and Armisen and Hader always appear so intensely into their characters that it manages to be both ridiculous and believable. It is a series that perfectly exemplifies the best parts of its genre, and puts any other contender to shame. [Michelle Vera]
WE ARE THE BEST! (Netflix)
Veteran Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s 2013 film WE ARE THE BEST! is an earnest coming of age story about two punk tweens, Bobo and Klara, who write songs about “hating the sport” and “the rich and the poor.” Not knowing how to play a chord or keep time, the girls recruit an uptight Christian classmate, Hedvig, to join their band following her performance at the school’s talent show; they eventually cut her hair short and drag her to an older brother’s party. Moodysson directs lightly with an off-the-cuff style and camerawork reminiscent of THE OFFICE. However, the humor (make no mistake, this movie is consistently laugh out loud funny) is not drawn from awkwardness or at the protagonists’ expense, but genuinely earned moments that poignantly capture the pains of growing up. A widely appealing flick that I highly recommend if you like naturalistic comedy and believe that punk isn’t about the music, but the heart — as this movie is full of it. [Phillip Vernon]
