The "new releases" on Netflix seem particularly dreary this morning:
1. Monster: A teenage boy (ASAP Rocky, left) implicated in a robbery fights to prove his innocence, and falls in love.
2. The Baker and the Beauty. A baker and a fashionista fall in love.
3. Call the Midwife. How is this a new release? It's been on for years. No interest in a drama about helping women give birth.
4. Money Explained. A documentary? Yawn.
5. Fatima. I thought this would be about the Virgin Mary appearing to some kids in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 (as in the other Fatima movie that premiered in 2020). But this is a Turkish tv series about "a nondescript housekeeper" who "embarks on a murderous...."
6. Behind Her Eyes. "A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games" when she begins an affair with her boss (Tom Bateman)
7. Sky Rojo: "A fatal turn of events at a brothel sends three women..." Why translate half of the title? Either say "Red Sky" or "Cielo Rojo."
8. Things Seen and Heard. Whoops, sorry, it's the garbled Things Heard and Seen. "A young woman discovers..." That's four movies in a row featuring a woman facing murder, lies, and dark secrets. How about a hot guy facing murder and dark secrets, for a change?
9. The Innocent: "An accidental murder leads a man (Mario Casas) down a dark hole of intrigue." And lies and dark secrets? Thank you. Now, how about a different premise altogether?
10. Mine: "Engaged in a gold-clad life of secrets and lies, two women..." Back to the women facing tragedy, murder, and dark secrets. Yawn.
11. One. "Love...and lies spiral when." Is there some rule that every plot description must contain the word "lies"?
12. Dear Affy: "An engaged couple encounters speed bumps on the way to their wedding." At least there's no tragedy, murder, and dark secrets.
13. Illegal Woman: "An immigration lawyer and a Nigerian woman are caught in a web of corruption, lies..." I guess lying is a serious sin in our society?
14. Firefly Lane. Two girls are best friends over a period of 30 years. Show me a tv show about boy best friends. Ben Lawson (left) gets third billing on IMDB, but I'll bet he is playing one of the girls' boyfriends/husbands.
15. Daughter from Another Mother. Two women bond...how about two men bonding?
16. Get the Grift. Brazilian comedy. Con artist must team up with his estranged foster sister. I hope they don't fall in love.
17. Run On. Korean tv series about a track star (Im Si-Wan) falling in love with a film editor, which somehow pushes his running career "off track."
18. Her Mother's Killer: Colombian telenovela. 30 years after her mother was killed, a woman tries to bring down her mother's killer. At least the title tells you exactly what you're going to get, not like most opaque single-word Netflix titles.
19. Monarcha. Mexican telenovela: "After twenty years, a woman returns to Mexico and vies for control of her family's tequila empire as it threatens to crumble under corruption and secrets." No lies? And what does the single word Netflix title mean? It's not the name of the protagonist, or the Spanish word for "Queen" (Reina). .
20. Stowaway. A woman stows away on a mission to Mars. The crew includes Daniel Dae Kim, and hopefully his abs.
15 of the 20 movies and tv series have women protagonists, either bonding with other women, uncovering dark secrets, or falling in love. Three of the 20 have male protagonists fighting to prove their innocence or falling in love. None, as far as I can tell, features a prominent gay character or any significant male buddy-bonding. I shoulda stood in bed.
Mario Casas always manages to end up naked in what ever he stars in.
ReplyDeleteTwo men bonding over sharing a parent? Okay... (Though seriously, after Supernatural and Game of Thrones, I have to wonder if the 00s were just the Alabama of television.)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't stand in bed. You're not six anymore.
Perhaps the Monarcha aludes to the Monarcha butterflies (Danaus plexippus) annual migration to the Sierra Madre in Mexico.
ReplyDelete