Friday, June 10, 2016
Netflix This Movie! Vol. 181
by Patrick Bromley
Netflix may be letting you down for Junesploitation picks this week, but I never will.
June 11: Masters of Horror! Scream 2 (1997, Wes Craven) or Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994, dir. Wes Craven) Hardly any of the Masters of Horror (George Romero, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, ect.) have films on Netflix, so we're stuck with a couple of picks from the late, great Wes Craven. One is a sequel he made for commercial reasons, but it's a pretty good sequel. The other is a sequel he made because he really had something to say on the subject and the franchise he created and it's maybe one of his best movies. It's a little to cerebral to be fun in a Junesploitation-y way, but it's still one of the high points of '90s horror.
June 12: Blaxploitation! - Woof. Netflix has shit the bed here. In the past they've at least offered a couple of titles from the Golden Age of Blaxploitation (like JD's Revenge), but now it seems like they'd much rather have a lot more current stuff. The best I can do is Falcon Rising (2014, dir. Ernie Barbarash), an action movie I didn't particularly like because it's kind of boring and bad but at least stars Michael Jai White, one of the closest things we have to a modern day blaxploitation star. He's the best. If you'd rather not watch something you've already been told is not great, there's always Django Unchained (2012, dir. Quentin Tarantino). Get your shit together, Netflix. It's Junesploitation.
June 13: New Horror! - We Are Still Here (2015, dir. Ted Geoghegan) This is one of the only movies I feel really good about recommending this week, as it was my favorite horror movie of last year. Besides being a great "New Horror" movie, We Are Still Here has a really strong Italian horror vibe, making it especially perfect for Junesploitation. Netflix has a bunch of really strong recent horror movies; while it may be a letdown in a lot of our categories this month, New Horror isn't one of them.
June 14: Nazis! - War Pigs (2015, dir. Ryan Little) Haven't seen this, but it stars Dolph Lundgren AND Mickey Rourke, so it has to at least be worth a look. Besides, it's either this or I recommend Dead Snow 2 (2014, dir. Tommy Wirkola) again.
June 15: Free Space! - Because a love for kung fu movies has been my big takeaway of the month so far, allow me to recommend Five Elements Ninjas (1982, dir. Chang Cheh). It's a bloody, breathless Shaw Brothers effort that moves in fits and starts for the first hour (even though there's some incredible stuff), but be sure to stick around because the last 30 minutes are THE BEST. This is a highlight of Junesploitation so far.
June 16: Monsters! - I'm a big fan of The Relic (1997, dir. Peter Hyams), a rare '90s monster movie that really works, but perhaps the best giant monster movie of the last 20 years is The Host (2006, Bong Joon-ho). If you haven't seen it and have nothing else lined up for Monster day, this one won't disappoint you.
June 17: '80s Action! - Bloodsport (1988, dir. Newt Arnold) Come on, Netflix. You can do better than this. Don't get me wrong -- I'm happy that this is a certain kind of classic and stars an action icon (and as an added bonus is produced by Cannon, the studio that did not get its own day this year and can at least be represented here). But most of us have seen it and the fact that it's basically their only option for this category (besides The Running Man, recommended last week) is some weak ass sauce.
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Yeah, how comes there's no Cannon Day in this month's Junesploitation? Giving it an early break so it can come back strong for the next 20 Junesploitations in a row? A Junesploitation without Cannon Day is like Teller without Penn, why even bother. ;-)
ReplyDeleteEvery day is Cannon day.
ReplyDeleteAmazon is murdering Netflix for picks this month.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Amazon prime video has some really great stuff this year. I still love Netflix, but they're really shitting the Junesploitation bed.
DeleteAm I the only dinosaur that still uses Netflix discs? That's how I've been facilitating my Junesploitation.
DeleteCount me in as one of those dinosaurs.
DeleteI use Netflix Instant AND get Netflix DVDs in the mail, Matt. You're not alone.
DeleteI just want to throw in some more support for The Host for anyone who may not have seen it. It's a truly wonderful entry into the monster movie genre, and one of a multitude of reasons why Bong Joon-Ho is the best!
ReplyDeletei adore the host.
DeleteNot sure if Jai White's "Skin Trade" is streaming yet but it's really good and better than Falcon Rising. Also, I can attest for "We Are Still Here", it was my 2nd favorite Horror film of last year and 4th favorite overall.
ReplyDeleteSkin trade is on Netflix as far as I know. I agree its a lot better than falcon rising.
DeletePatrick...don't know if I asked but since you like The Relic have you tried any of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's "Pendergast" books? Relic was their first and there's a sequel called Reliquary (which that first movie made too many changes for there to be a sequel).
ReplyDeleteThere's fifteen books so far and Gale Anne Hurd is going to adapt Relic and another book, Cabinet of Curiosities for SpikeTV.
And they're better at sticking the landing than Stephen King.
I have not, but thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteI also recommend Preston and Child's books, even the non series ones.
DeleteBTW starz has nearly all the Hellraisers, Predator 1 & 2, Red Dawn, the Beach, Transporter 2, Walk Hard, Weird Science, Superbad, Spy who shagged me, Volcano, Reign of Fire, Smokey and the Bandit 1, 2, 3... it may be worth subscribing for the month thru amazon.
ReplyDeleteAND all the Rockys...
Delete