Netflix. It's on the 360, it's on PS3, it's on the Wii, it's $8 a month, it doesn't require a disc, and it's now even in Canada (with a severely reduced selection). So. Unless you're really poor, a picky Canadian, a hater of the 7th art, or European, there's no excuse for not having it!

What movies has the streaming service allowed you to discover?

Because of the limited selection here in Canada, which denies us access to some of the more recent and popular movies on the service, I've been using Netflix to watch 2 different kinds of movies: terrible crap that I'd never make any effort or pay anything to see (The Happening, Teen Wolf Too), and highly respected and acclaimed foreign movies that for some reason I always put back on the shelf without renting when I'm at the video store.

So here's a recommendation for you:

Amores Perros - This movie received much acclaim, won many prizes, and I'm probably one of the last chumps to see it. But hey, maybe you haven't seen it either, so at least I'm better than you. From looking at the title, you may recognize the word "amores" (love) and get totally the wrong idea about the movie. You may also recognize "perros" (dog) and be completely befuddled. Basically, the movie contains three vignettes in which cruelty and, yes, love, are central themes.

For one third of the movie, you follow the story of a kid using his dog to participate in dog fights and win money so he can elope with his brother's wife. For the second part, you follow a couple's crumbling relationship and oh god you're getting totally the wrong idea again. Don't worry, it's totally interesting and plays out a bit like a thriller. Actually, watching it I felt like I was reading an Edgar Allan Poe short story, but maybe it's just because it features... sounds... coming out of the floorboard. The third story is about this vagrant who abandoned his family to become a guerillero, went to prison, and now takes on hitman jobs from the corrupt cop who arrested him.

The characters cross each others' paths a couple of time, so you could say it's a bit like Pulp Fiction in that way, except I found the stories and characters in this film infinitely more interesting. Heh.

I don't know what your experience with foreign movies is or what you think of them, all I can say is that this movie is absolutely not boring. From the first scene to the last, I was hooked.

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I just started Bojack Horseman and went through like the whole first season in a day or two. Pretty hilarious stuff.

They got a lot of big names to voice act too. Or semi-big names anyway. It's fun listening to new characters and seeing if you recognize the voices.

I just finished Bojack! Watched both seasons over the last couple of weeks.It's like Rick and Morty in its cynicism, its damaged main character and the stealth emotional stories underneath the silliness. I love the way some cartoons have grown up since I was a kid.

Saving the Christmas ep for later.

@Zero

Cool. I'm curious how you feel about the second season, I thought it was even better.

@Infinitywave

Ultimately, I'd say Bojack is even more bleak overall, even if it's less violent. I wouldn't hesitate to call Rick and Morty a comedy above all else, but Bojack definitely mixes more drama in. That penultimate episode of the second season (the one with the deer family and New Mexico) was some heavy stuff...!

All in all though, they do have some similarities and I think they're both shows worth watching.

If anyone has any kung fu movies to recommend that are suitable for kids then please let me know, we watched Legend of the Drunken Master on the weekend and they loved it, I think Forbidden Kingdom is on the cards next.

Beyond the Black Rainbow

@warerareif the kids are ok with subtitles, Shaolin Soccer is ridiculously fun.

The first season of Gotham just came on, on Monday. I'm completely sucked in. About 10 episodes in. Love the two leads - Jim Gordon as the Russell Crowe character in LA Confidential and Harvey Bullock as Popeye Doyle from French Connection.

The guy who plays the Penguin completely nails it.

@chrisguy

I'm glad to hear that since I plan on checking out Gotham eventually, and everywhere I go to discuss TV online, people just crap on Gotham relentlessly.

For another Batman-esque show that was just recently added to Netflix, you guys need to check out Person of Interest. The first two or three seasons is basically just a live action Batman show without the costumes (and a smaller number of codenames and insane psychotics than you would expect in Batman), and with Batman split into two people instead of just being one guy. (One has the looks and fighting skills, while the other has the smarts, money, and social grace - though that's not to say that the fighter isn't smart or that the smart guy can't take care of himself when he needs to).

Late Season 3 or Season 4 kind of gets away from that, but overall it's a great show.

I honestly don't see the point in Gotham. It's early Batman. Just....without Batman.

At least Smallville still had Clark running around doing his Superman thing even if he hadn't actually adopted the Superman identity.

@warerare I can tell you what is NOT suitable for kids. Shirley and I started watching Journey to the West, which is from the director of Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer so I was expecting something more light-hearted fun like those but man... the intro is dark and violent and it specifically involves a kid watching his dad joking around swimming and then his dad gets attacked and dragged underwater and blood rises to the surface so yeah... probably want to keep kids away from that one. Shirley couldn't keep watching so we turned it off. Yet it still obviously has some comedy elements too so it is tough to get a sense of the tone they are going for.

@Shadowlink

I thought Gotham had Bruce running around in some capacity? It just doesn't focus on Bruce like Smallville did with Clark.

@V_s

It does, but he's just a kid. If he's not Batman then...why?

@Shadowlink

Could the same not be said of Clark and Smallville (especially once they took the show to Metropolis)?

@V_s

But Clark does Superman things. Bruce isn't doing Batman things. (Is he? I've only seen the first couple of eps and a few other pieces here and there- Last thing I saw of Bruce was him being told by some guy about how things were done at Wayne Enterprises or something.)

I dunno. I've never been the biggest Batman fan, so maybe that's part of my apathy towards the show. But I just can't fathom how you have a 'Batman' show without the one thing that makes it 'Batman'.

@Shadowlink

I was under the impression that Bruce had begun some sort of Batman-esque training in the show, but I haven't watched any of it yet to know for sure.

I don't think I would even really consider it a Batman show. It's a Jim Gordon/Gotham City show. Just like how there's a comic book series just about the Gotham City PD, this is the TV show equivalent to that (more or less).

Did you consider Birds of Prey to be a Batman show, for example? (I've never actually seen that one either, but based on everything I know about the show it never crosses my mind as a "Batman show" whenever I hear that term used.)

@V_s

I haven't really seen Birds of Prey. I guess it would be a sort of spinoff though.


I dunno. Maybe I'm being too harsh judging it purely through the 'Batman' lens. It kind of reminds me how the early Bantam-era Star Wars novels focused on the 'Main Trio' of the OT (Luke, Leia and Han) and then we got the Rogue Squadron novels- A series initially concieved as an experiment to see if the fans would buy into stories based mostly on new characters and *didn't* have the movie trio as the focus.

The X-wing series ended up being one of the strongest and most well recieved parts of the Old EU (second only to Zahn's novels.) so I guess the concept can work if you make the so-called 'supporting' characters deep and compelling enough to carry a franchise without the flagship character.

Gotham does have little Bruce running around. And he's a freaky, intense little guy.

I think the show does a good job of creating a setting where a Batman-type coming along is nearly inevitable. They've already had a vigilante killer character, with warnings that there'll be more like him.

@Zero Is that the one with the pig demon things? I was actually told that may be suitable, glad I know to avoid it now

@warerare Not sure if it has pig demons, after a pretty brutal intro Shirley didn't want to keep watching so we turned it off. I'll probably just have to watch that one alone.

Without really spoiling too much, the intro is basically this water demon that goes around killing a bunch of people in a fishing village. Actually the most disturbing part to me was how innocent and playful it was until things went bad. They spent a few minutes with this little girl and her father just goofing around and such so I thought he was a main character but... nope.

@Shadowlink
There was a old pitch (fifteen years ago, maybe?) which appealed much more to my sensibilities. It was a show about Young Bruce Wayne training to become Batman. The pilot (or at least the script) was supposed to be really good, too, but it was never picked up. Sadness.

I haven't watched Gotham. I also don't understand how I'm supposed to care if Batman isn't the pivotal character. The Gotham PD comic never really appealed to me, either.