New on Netflix in March 2015

Coming to Netflix, just in time for spring.

Subject to change. Titles may be added or removed by Netflix.   

TELEVISION

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Season 1, March 6
"Archer" Season 5, March 7
"Glee" Season 5, March 7
"A Different World" Complete series, March 15
"Third Rock From the Sun" Complete series, March 15
"Bloodline" Season 1, March 20
"Mad Men" Season 7, March 22
"Garfunkel and Oates" Season 1, March 25
"Turn"  Season 1, March 25


MOVIES

March 1
"30 for 30: Of Miracles and Men"
"The Brothers Grimm"
"Evelyn"
"Finding Neverland"
"Mercy Rule"
"Monster High: 13 Wishes"
"Patch Adams"
"Rules of Engagement"
"Teen Witch"

March 5
"The ABCs of Death 2"
"Food Chains"

March 6
"Aziz Ansari Live at Madison Square Garden"
"My Own Man"

March 9
"After the Fall"
"Cesar Chavez"
"The Angriest Man in Brooklyn"
"Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club"

March 10
"Monster High: Haunted"

March 11
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"

March 15
"Marvel & ESPN Films Present: 1 of 1: Genesis"

March 17
"Dummy"
"You're Not You"

March 19
"Life Itself"

March 20
"God's Not Dead"

March 23
"November Man"

March 27
"Frankie & Alice"

March 31
"Ask Me Anything"
"The Man With the Iron Fists"

Gotham: Have we met The Joker?

Gotham: "The Blind Fortune Teller" 

Was that the Joker? Decide for yourself. Joker or Red Herring?

Also, see what executive producer Bruno Heller had to say on the matter.

New Pete's Dragon movie is in Production

Production has started in New Zealand on a new Pete's Dragon. It stars 10-year-old Oakes Fegley (This is Where I Leave You) as Pete. 

The cast also includes Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help), Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games), Oscar-winner Robert Redford and Karl Urban (Star Trek Into Darkness). Howard will be playing Grace, a park ranger who discovers Pete and his dragon friend Elliott, Redford will be playing her father. Bentley will play Jack, a local mill owner, and Urban will play Jack’s brother, Gavin.

The Film is directed by David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.)

“This is a story about how magic can enter one’s life and change the way they see the world. And I think David Lowery is the perfect director to bring this project to life,” says producer Jim Whitaker.

Weta Digital, the Wellington-based digital visual effects company that provided VFX for The Hobbit and the Planet of the Apes prequels, is animating Elliott.

“New Zealand has long been a wonderful partner for film production. Wellington’s state-of-the-art facilities and filmmaker-friendly community, in particular, make it an ideal location to shoot and be based out of,” says executive producer Barrie Osborne. 

This was one of my favorite movies as a kid, there's a part of me that is looking forward to an updated version. But I will always love the classic.

Pete’s Dragon will be in theaters on August 12th, 2016.

The Walking Dead: Trivia About the Voice on the Radio, What He's Actually Saying and more

This weeks The Walking Dead “What Happened and What’s Going On,” was one of the saddest of the show. Beautifully crafted, delving into the mind of a dying man.

Among the sadness was some interesting trivia. The first being the voice on the radio broadcasts. That was actually the voice of Andrew Lincoln (Rick), in his normal accent. 

A disturbing note to what he was actually saying: It was all from real radio reports about the Rwandan genocide. How sad.

“At least 68 citizens of the republic have been killed in four deadly attacks along the main coastal district. The group has continued their campaign of random violence, moving across the countryside unfettered with the republic’s military forces in disarray … There have been troubling reports of cannibalism having broken out in refugee camps along the republic’s transportation corridor. And despite the string of victories by rebel forces, there are disturbing reports of increasing the brutality of their tactics including the wholesale destruction of villages, burning down local prisons, targeting of civilians, and even the widespread mutilation of children and young mothers.”

Also, what was with all the wolf/dog references? There was the graffiti behind Michonne, dog pictures in Noah's little brother's room and someone pointed out that the barb wire fence they had to climb through is a good way to deter wolfs.

All I could think of was Bad Wolf. (Doctor Who reference.)

Now a days getting 15 million viewers is not the norm. The average cable show grabs about 7. The Walking Dead back half of season five began with a 15.6.

.@WalkingDead_AMC Pulls 15.6 Million Viewers As Biggest Regularly-Scheduled Program Of 2015. http://t.co/RLQRiunrJx pic.twitter.com/1QR2YY8hGl
— Comicbook.com (@ComicBookdotcom) February 9, 2015

Last Chance - Sizzle Reel (Starring Renee O'Connor)

From Morning Person Pictures, starring Renee O'Connor, best known as Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess. 

This looks good. It will be nice to see Renee O'Connor in what looks to be a meaty role.

Carrie, a woman who escaped her own violent past, is newly introduced to the “LCO” (Last Chance Org) by Marnie, a gutsy ex-cop who now reluctantly runs this sort of vigilante underground that helps people break away from desperate situations. Carrie and Marnie work with a team that include volunteers from both sides of the law; from a mouthy hacker, a lawyer, a bitter police captain, a bounty hunter, etc., each bringing their own issues to the table.

The creator of the Lost in Space robot and Robby the Robot passes away

The creator of the Lost in Space robot and Robby the Robot passed away on December 9th at 100 years old.

RIP Bob Kinoshita... You did real good. http://t.co/oNcWFcGPDN
— Bill Mumy (@BillMumy) January 13, 2015

Robby the Robot, Will Robinson (Bill Mumy) and The Robot

Lost in Space episode 20 
"War of the Robots" 
1966









Irwin Allen hired Kinoshita as art director for Lost in Space. Kinoshita designed both the Jupiter 2 (the spaceship) and the robot who's famous for always shouting, “Danger, Will Robinson!”

Lost In Space Robot Creator Robert Kinoshita Passes Away At 100 http://t.co/jLJ4tEdeVZ #RobertKinoshita #lostinspace pic.twitter.com/ho0QPCVYd1
— Comicbook.com (@ComicBookdotcom) January 14, 2015

Did Boyhood deserve the Golden Globe for Best Drama?

Wow, I liked the movie Boyhood, but no way thought it deserved a Golden Globe for Best Drama. Nomination, sure, but to win? Did they view the competition?

There were definitely issues with being filmed over 12 years. For those that don't know Boyhood was shot over 12 years so that the boy could age naturally from 6 - 18. Some of those years they shot for only a few days, and it showed. It was obvious they didn't get the coverage they needed and some of the story transitions were jarring and felt like pieces were missing. The story is simple: follow a boy as he grows up with divorced parents, alcoholic step-parents and basic crap kids deal with. I loved the concept and looked forward to seeing it.

I enjoyed it. It was cool seeing the same actors over time aging normally. But then I asked myself what would I think of the movie had that "cool" aspect not been there. Honestly, I'd think it was okay but didn't have a fully enough developed story. Rough edits and a real lack of transitions relying on the "aging" actors to tell you time passes hurt the film. There are times (ages approx 9-11) you can't tell the difference. So did time go by? Wait what happened to so-an-so? These are the questions you wind up asking. Honestly, I still have no idea if some of the events were over one, two or three years. Simple visual or dialogue used for time transitions in most films would have solved that issue.

At one point the step-father forces the boy to cut his hair. It's a painful scene and later when the boy tells his mom why he's so upset she cries and apologizes. (She was told he wanted the haircut.) Yet the next scenes, step-dad long gone, the boy has the same short hair-cut, grown in but short. Is that supposed to show how much time went by? Your hair would grow a lot more in a year, so did he decide he liked the short hair? Then suddenly he's grown a lot more and you know either more than a year went by or the last few "years" he looked the same, or he grew a lot over the year. All very feasible. Which is it? I don't know. I could go watch again and look for clues but my point is should I have to? If it's jarring enough to take you out of the movie then there's an issue.(If you look at the pictures above there are a few in the middle where he looks the same, only slight hair changes. I didn't catch those subtle hair changes upon first viewing which made it look like all the same time frame to me. Patricia Arquette's hair changes helped show a new year but she wasn't always first on screen when the time changed, and some of them were also subtle.)

In storytelling there's a point to everything. That's why "based on real life" dramas are dramatized. So that in a two hour movie you have a distinct storyline. Sometimes Boyhood felt like a "based on real life" movie without the dramatization. Boyhood had moments of childhood with the only real flow-through story being the mother, not the boy. (It's not actually based on a real life. I'm just giving an example of what it feels like.) Now, as I said this is a decent movie, worth watching. I just feel it could have been so much better if the details of the story were maintained better, had a better flow.

After watching it I learned that there was a lot of writing on the fly, no complete storyline. Understandable when they didn't know year to year if they'd get everyone (actors) that they wanted/needed, but never good for movie making.

Great innovative movie making? Yes.
Great acting by the adults? Yes, well the two leads. Patricia Arquette deserved supporting actress which she did indeed win.
Great story? I'd say decent not great.

Overall a movie worth streaming. Especially with the knowledge of how it was made. But Golden Globe worthy? Which is saying that it's Oscar worthy. No, not in my opinion.