Netflix #23 and Netflix #24

Netflix #23 - The Host - Suggested by Michelle, Howard, FDot, and Brett

Not liking this movie wasn’t even in the realm of possibility. What wasn’t to love? It’s a Korean monster movie for goodness sakes! So just imagine how shocked I was when I was let down. Prior to watching The Host, I rewatched Cloverfield (which holds up nicely on the small screen by the way) so I was all set for another awesome monster movie. It started off good enough: humans suck, so they accidentally create a giant mutant monster. But what followed were some pretty serious disappointments. I shouldn’t blame the movie entirely, I just had completely different expectations. Take the monster for example. It bursts out of the water and kicks people’s asses, which is all fine and good, but I assumed that it was going to get bigger as the movie went along, because as far as movie monsters go, this one was downright puny. So everytime the monster appeared on screen and it wasn’t suddenly enormous, it was another disappointment. But it swung around like a monkey, which was neat so I kept watching. The movie kept going and the main characters seemed to be getting picked off one by one. For a brief moment, the unassuming and totally awesome Aunt (who happens to be an archery champion) appears to be emerging as the Ellen Ripley of the movie. The music starts pumping, she’s running with her bow in hand, and I sit up in my seat, super excited at the idea of her charging into the monster’s den and kicking some serious monster ass. But no. She gets knocked out and doesn’t come back until the end of the movie. Another disappointment. And the virus storyline? What was the point of that? Why couldn’t it just be a monster movie? Why did there have to be this completely tacked on government conspiracy subplot? Maybe if I watched it again, I’d be able to enjoy it more, since I won’t have any false expectations, but chances are I won’t.

Netflix #24 - Idiocracy - Suggested by Hayes

I really enjoyed this one. You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s a science fiction comedy starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, and Dax Shepard made by the same guy who did Office Space. Luke Wilson plays an average guy who goes into cryogenic sleep for 500 years and wakes up in time where everyone on Earth is a complete moron. Not only is it really funny, but it makes some very good cultural points. For example, water has been replaced by a Gatorade-type beverage, and everyone just blindly drinks it (and uses it to water crops) because it has electrolytes, yet no one has a damn clue what an electrolyte is (as a matter of fact, neither do I) but apparently it’s what “crops crave”. There’s also some really great scenes that take place in a future hospital and sadly, the hospital staff doesn’t seem that much dumber than some health care workers I’ve dealt with. It almost reminded me of a live-action South Park in it’s absolute absurdity (don’t forget Maya Rudolph is in this, and she plays a prostitute of course) but still smart enough to be absurd in new and clever ways. I’d definitely recommend this one for a rainy day if you need something different to watch.

Keep your recommendations coming!