Netflix in June: Blue Jasmine Ragnarok, and Baby Sebastian Stan!
Tuesday, June 5, 2018 at 12:00PM Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles on Netflix and other services, we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share -- no cheating! Which of these films will you be streaming this month for the first time or as a rewatch? Which would you like to see covered at TFE? Please do tell us in the comments.
Ready? Let's go...
-OPEN THE DOOR, BITCH!
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Oh I hearted this movie at the time. I fell so hard for Ari Graynor and I'm always pissed her career didn't truly explode. She shoulda been a leading lady in major comedies immediately. She's still around of course but where is the big career this hilarious turn foretold? (Pssst. She's not Nick or Norah but she's what I remember about the movie. Is she Infinite?)
His mother was kind enough to send this back to us.
The Covenant (2006)
Howcuuuuuuute it's baby Sebastian Stan! I had completely forgotten this movie existed...
It was before the days of every movie being about people with superpowers. And I saw it in theaters! I only remember that there were cute guys and they got powers or something... like energy ball CGI stuff, you know how that happens. I almost want to live-blog this. It's probably quite a time capsule.
...an encription system that nobody could crack. Wonderfully clever idea and the Inventors Council agreed.
Bombshell (2017)
A fascinating documentary about movie star / genius inventor Hedy Lamarr. Glenn reviewed it here and I also greatly enjoyed it. Diane Kruger plans to cover some of this same material as Hedy Lamarr in a TV miniseries. But the actress just announced that she's pregnant so we're assuming that project will be delayed.
[SIGH] I miss my nose.
Coco (2017)
Pixar's latest Best Animated Feature Oscar winner (they've won 53% of all the Oscars in that category) is a charmer but I wish it hadn't won Best Song, too! Or maybe it's just that tuneless Oscar night performance that turned me against the song?
-His credit card was used yesterday in Montreal. He had not been reporting missing.
-Good, let's keep it that way.
Taking Lives (2004)
Remember when Angelina Jolie only made disposable mainstream movies? Oh wait...
Has any star with screen charisma that seismic ever had such a relentlessly unworthy filmography? I've actually never seen this so I shouldn't judge but I was surprised to see two lovely French actors sharing this scene with her: that's Olivier Martinez in the middle before his Halle Berry years and Jean-Hugues Anglade (who I loooooooooved in the late 80s / early 90s) to the right. There's actually quite a cast in this thing: Gena Rowlands, Ethan Hawke, Paul Dano, etcetera. Now I'm curious though it looks dire in the 2 minutes I watched.
And let's end with a CATE BLANCHETT DOUBLE FEATURE!
JESUS! It's too menial. I'd go nuts!
Valiant effort, but you never stood a chance!
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Thor Ragnarok (2017)
Okay... this is the only Streaming Roulette that I cheated on since I wanted to get a Cate Blanchett moment from both but I promise I grabbed the first thing that came up accordingly on the "spin" --though with Blue Jasmine I didn't even need to cheat because it's all Cate all the time anyway. Damn she was great as Jasmine. There are many years in which an actors or actresses steamrolls their way to the Oscar statue but there are very few years where one actor deserves to collect every single prize (spread the wealth awards voters!) and this happens to be one of them. An all-timer. In fact, Hela's cartoonish boast "Valiant effort, but you never stood a chance!" could double as a line to any of her competitors from 2013. Yes, she's also fun in Thor Ragnarok but that movie has other pleasures that eclipse her. I can't believe Taika Waititi actually made a good Thor movie (it's a first!) but I never should have doubted him given his previous filmography. I've seen all of his feature filmography (with the exception of Eagle vs Shark) and his Oscar nominated short and they're all so charming.
Also new for June
101 Dalmatians
Assassination Games
The Boy
The Departed
He Named Me Malala
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Just Friends
The King's Speech
Miracle
National Treasure
November 13: Attack on Paris (a Netflix Original)
The Nutcracker
Outside In
Righteous Kill
Rumor Has It
Singularity
Terms and Conditions May Apply
Later in June
Alex Strangelove (6/7) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Ali's Wedding (6/8) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Hollow (6/8) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Sense 8 Finale (6/8) *squeeeeee*
The Staircase (6/8) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Treehouse Detectives (6/8) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Cutie and the Boxer (6/14) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (6/14)
Lust Stories (6/14)
Maktub (6/14) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Queer Eye S2 (6/14) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Set It Up (6/14) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Step Up 2 (6/14)
Sunday's Illness (6/14) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
In Bruges (6/16)
Disney's Tarzan (6/23)
Le Gouts et les couleurs (6/24)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (6/26)
GLOW, Season 2 (6/29) ← SO EXCITED
Reader Comments (16)
I've had issues with the last two best original song winners. They're simple, pretty melodies that barely form a complete song. "Moana" was robbed last year. "Coco's" win is a little less egregious. It won because it was used effectively in the film's emotional climax, but outside of the film it's kind of lifeless on its own. I would have much preferred "Mystery of Love" or, to a lesser extent, "This is Me," even though I loathed "The Greatest Showman."
I know you say Angie has screen charisma but i've never bought into that belief,I'm with Amy Pascal and if she is so charasmatic why does hardly anyone go and see her films when she is the lone reason to see them,she's no Roberts or Bullock.
Raul: Can't disagree.
Nat: I'm honestly waiting for Luke Cage Season 2, in spite of how much the other two Marvel Netflix Season 2's have been a step from their first seasons.
I don't know who I should be more jealous of in that Hela/Thor top/bottom situation in that picture!
JOey --- LOLOLOL
The Covenant was terrible. Only Sebastian Stan came out of that film unscathed as he was the only thing in the film that I liked.
Angie most certainly has screen charisma - she just has abysmal taste in projects (or she had a terrible agent - didn't she fire him?). I vividly remember watching Girl, Interrupted for the first time and thought she would literally blow up the screen. She was that electric.
"The Covenant" is a big budget David DeCocteua cute boys in the underwear movie
Cate the Great.
Jaragon: Its A TALKING CAT!?!
Jolie has crap taste in material. I wish a real auteur got their hands on her for something interesting.
Yeah I've wondered a lot about that a lot, too -
why Ari Graynor never exploded after Nick And Norah -
she gave a star-making performance in it, and yet she never took off - very sad and baffling.
A group watch of THE COVENANT is a must.
When I think of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, I think it's in Rafi Gavron. It he, in my opinion, stole the movie and I would like him to have a great career.
The actor I loved in "Nick and Norah" was Kat Dennings. The career I expected to take off was the two writers who wrote the book, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. I loved their YA books.
And I love Angelina Jolie. For me, it isn't exactly charisma. It's recognition. I can relax, thinking, finally, here's a real person. I recognize the interior landscape. Ah the bliss, of watching a woman who gives zero f**ks.
Well, Blue Jasmine had its high points. Certainly Cate Blanchett rang all the bells with her dramatic performance, including showing someone who is in very dire straits. Very much enjoyed Sally Hawkins, who I had only encountered once before in The Shape of Water; she was terrific as the sister who has bad taste in men. Bobby Canavalle was a pleasure to watch as the greasy boyfriend. But I was stumped by the ending, Cate Blanchett just seems to wander away from everyone. I guess Woody just wanted to show how some people, even rich people, wind up on the streets?