Bottle Shock
Alan Rickman at his best is intense and terrifying, even when he’s playing less evil characters. In Die Hard
and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
I had never heard of this movie before I came across it on Netflix, but I had heard about the event it commemorates—California wines taking down French powerhouses in a wine tasting. Maybe a documentary would have been better, but I gather that the Americans were such underdogs that no one bothered to document the events at the time.
It moves slowly (at least compared to Die Hard), but it’s enjoyable none-the-less. Even if you know nothing about wine.
The I.T. Crowd
Here at Qworthy HQ (HQworthy?), we love British TV shows. Well, the ones we have access to, anyway. When it comes to British workplace comedies, everyone knows The Office (though I get the feeling some people only pretend to like the original series) but less known over here is The I.T. Crowd. I.T. is less about cringe-worthy moments and more about broad physical comedy, but the best part, by far, is the slew references to nerdery—RTFM T-Shirts, Electronic Freedom Foundation stickers, a constantly telling callers to reboot their computers, social awkwardness… everything you love about the I.T. department.
The I.T. Crowd walks the line between completely ridiculous and standard “realistic” situation comedy in a way that U.S. multi-camera shows never seem to get right. As evidence, search YouTube for the dead-on-arrival NBC version of The I.T. Crowd staring Joel McHale. It has nearly the same script as the original and even brought over Richard Ayoade to reprise his role, but it hardly worked at all. (I suppose we can feel thankful that pilot wasn’t picked up, because Community is a great show that suits McHale much better.)
If you normally don’t go for British shows but like geek jokes and slapstick humor, this may be a good introduction. Or maybe you don’t care. They’ve made four short seasons of The I.T. Crowd, but only three have made it to video and Netflix streaming. Here’s to hoping season four comes along soon.
The I.T. Crowd: Series 1 on Netflix
The I.T. Crowd: Series 2 on Netflix
The I.T. Crowd: Series 3 on Netflix
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Star Trek Remastered
Netflix and Hulu aren’t the only places to watch streaming content. One of these other services is TV.com, CBS’s answer to Hulu (there is even an an iPhone app, but apparently not an iPad app, yet). It even offers videos in 1080p high-definition. That brings us to the reason for this post—Star Trek, the original series.
The franchise may have hit its stride in theaters, but it was the TV show that kicked it off (and introduced us to tribbles). As someone who was grew up with The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home (volumes III and IV, respectively), it’s interesting to watch the show and see Shatner before his Kirk became a caricature of himself.
The whole series is there on TV.com in all its remastered glory, but you’ll have to click around a bit to find and watch the episodes in order.
(For a nice list of places to watch TV shows online, check out this list from Mashable.)
Star Trek Remastered on TV.com
The Jerk
One day, after I’m wildly successful through some fluke of my personality quirks, I’d like to think I’d crash and burn as successfully as Navin R. Johnson, Steve Martin’s greatest character ever. From the opening lines through the end when he’s found in the alley clutching his beloved thermos, the titular Jerk is the funniest ass in all of Hollywood.
Like all good comedies, you either love it or hate it. And, if you love it as much as I do, you’ll take any opportunity to watch it. I think I’ll go do that now. And then I’m going to look into getting this site listed in the phone book.
Also, pizza in a cup.
Ghostbusters 2
The studios have long loved to make sequels, and now they also love to make those sequels available for streaming. I assume it’s just to spite me. But in this case the joke is on them, because Ghostbusters 2 holds up pretty well next to the original. Venkman’s TV show, Vigo the Carpathian, the river of slime, and the Statue of Liberty walking down the streets of Manhattan… what more could you ask for in a sequel?
I keep hearing rumors that they’re going to make a third Ghostbusters movie, featuring a whole new set of ‘busters. If they do make it, I’m sure it will be on Netflix streaming mere moments after it comes out.
Short Circuit
When you look over Steve Guttenberg’s body of work, one movie stands out as better than the rest. But since Cocoon isn’t available for streaming, we’re left with Short Circuit. It may not have won any Oscars, and it may have been slightly racist in parts (really, Fisher Stevens as an Indian?), but it was one of my favorite movies growing up. And it holds up surprisingly well, even with the dreadful ’80s attire.
They were shooting for a futuristic look, but the decades have revised Number Five into a sort of proto-steampunk robot traipsing around the world and learning what it’s like to be alive. Just remember: disassemble = dead.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Hey look, here’s one that’s available on both Hulu and Netflix. It’s written and directed by Jim from The Office, John Krasinski and based on David Foster Wallace’s short story collection of the same name. It’s a bit slow, and given that it came out just last year and is already available on both services tells you all you need to know about how successful it was.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on Netflix
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men on Hulu
Top Gear
BBC’s Top Gear is a car show, of course, but it’s more than that. It is one of the best-shot shows on television, and it’s truly funny (even if you don’t get the British pop culture references). Even if you don’t care about cars, you’ll likely enjoy the hosts’ friendly rivalry, the often-ridiculous challenges and the best segment: Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, where celebrities compete for the best time around a road track in a compact car.
The worst thing about Top Gear is that it isn’t really available in the U.S. Alright, yes, BBC America shows Top Gear episodes on a six-or-so-month delay, but they cut them up to make room for commercials, and they don’t bother to show all of the episodes anyway.
Netflix has seasons (or series as Brits say) 10 through 12 available for streaming, which will get you the episodes from 2007 and 2008, which isn’t so long ago that the cars are no longer relevant (if that’s your thing). Short of piracy, it’s the only way to really enjoy Top Gear in the States. At the very least, you should check out a few episodes before watching the History Channel’s upcoming American version of Top Gear so you understand what an uphill battle the U.S. show really faces.
Top Gear: Series 10 on Netflix
Top Gear: Series 11 on Netflix
Top Gear: Series 12 on Netflix
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Way back in 2008 Hollywood had a little problem: the writers and studios couldn’t come to a collective bargaining agreement, causing a work stoppage. Some writers kept on creating, just outside of the studio system. Geek hero Josh Whedon worked around the strike to produce an extremely successful web series called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. If you weren’t paying attention at the time, you may have missed it entirely, though, as it was only posted online for a short time.
Fortunately for the rest of us, we can still see Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and crew on DVD and Netflix streaming. Don’t let the fact that it’s a musical stop you from checking it out, or I’ll be forced to track you down and shoot you with my freeze-ray.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Netflix
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
“I’m having a birthday party, but you’re not invited, but you can come if you want.” — Arnie
It’s hard to believe this movie was made 17 years ago, but I guess its age is part of what makes it a classic. Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover… do you even have to know what it’s about to want to watch it?
It’s only available until Sept. 30, so if it interests you at all, get over to Hulu and check it out now.
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape on Hulu
