Watch This Now! - Recommendations For Netflix Instant Watch

Heya, folks. It’s Thursday, and the weekend is bearing down upon us hard and fast. That means its prime movie watching time. For some that will mean a trip to the theater to see Jonah Hex, and for others it will mean cracking open a dusty VHS cassette case to watch a vintage spot of cheese. On my weekends, I often find myself turning to the magic of Netflix, but not the red envelopes that denote something worth going to the mailbox for. I’m talking about Netflix’s streaming demons, the “Watch Instantly” selections.  This week I’m going to start it off with a trio of my favorites that I’ve reviewed in the past.

First off, there’s Hide and Creep. Chance Shirley’s 2004 zombie comedy is still one of my favorite zombie films of all time. Not only does it spin an interesting and frequently hilarious tale, it also pegs a portion of southern culture that carefully balances caricature with reality. What Shirley did right was set his film with the culture as a backdrop and not the main joke which is where so many Southern fried films go wrong. So against the backdrop of Thornby, Alabama, you get a cast of great characters that will keep you chuckling while delivering quite a few head shots. I'm still waiting on his second film Interplanetary to make its way to DVD so I recommend you folks see that. Until then, check out how we deal with the zombie menace below the Mason-Dixon line.

For the next film, I’ve picked another favorite of mine, 2002’s Project: Valkyrie. For my money there’s never been a better low budget, retro inspired, robot vs. Nazi film ever made. Jeff Waltrowski. While I still await his effects laden second film, It Came from Yesterday, I still find myself going back time and time again to this film. Inspired partially by classic science fiction of the ’40’s and ’50’s, the film follows the relationship between the sensitive, ass kicking robot Valkyrie and Jack, the creator of the robot’s loser grandson. When skinheads shoot themselves up with experimental Nazi drug, it’s time for Valkyrie to kick some Fourth Reich butt, and he’s going to need Jack’s help.

My last selection for this weekend takes a decidedly darker turn. Stepping away from comedy for a moment, I want to recommend Fay Dunaway in The Eyes of Laura Mars. This American film has more than a faint trace of the Italian giallo in it, and with great performances by Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, and Raul Julia, it’s a hard one to pass up. Dunaway plays Laura Mars, a fashion photographer, who somehow begins to have visions of a serial killer on the prowl and killing. Combining an interesting plot with the visuals of cinematographer Victor Kemper (Dog Day Afternoon, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure), it’s a fascinating watch that will leave you in suspense until the final surprising reveal.

So there you have it, a trio of ideas for what to call up for some instant viewing this weekend. After all, who wants to go out in all this heat when you can sit inside, crank up the A/C, crack open a beer, and check out a film with just the touch of a button!