Steve Coogan, one of Britain’s most well-known comedians (primarily for giving career life to Alan Partridge, who I hadn’t heard of), never managed to make waves in the United States. His foray into Hollywood was a noble experiment, and you’ve probably seen him around in several high-profile supporting roles – as the Roman general figurine in Night At the Museum, the doomed director in Tropic Thunder and the corporate villain in The Other Guys. He even headlined two highly-marketed films, Around the World in 80 Days (which lost $70 million+ for Disney) and Hamlet 2 (an under-seen Sundance darling). Ultimately, Coogan failed to make an impact with American audiences. So, after hitting the bottom of the barrel with Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Marmaduke, he went back across the pond and made The Trip.

The Trip originally aired as a six-part series on BBC Two in 2010 and was later edited into a two-hour film for its U.S. release (and subsequent availability on Netflix Watch Instantly). It’s supposedly a sequel of sorts to Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (whatever the fuck that is), following fictionalized versions of Coogan and his friend Rob Brydon as they embark on a foodie tour of England. It was very well-reviewed, with a 97% among the Top Critics on RottenTomatoes.

The film operates without a script, relying on improvised banter and bickering between Coogan and Brydon. It’s dry, quiet and real, and often laugh-out-loud hilarious. Further, it functions as a surprisingly honest account of Coogan’s own insecurities, both personal and professional. As an added bonus, Ben Stiller makes a welcomed cameo in Coogan’s dream (is it just me, or is he better in Britain too these days?).

This popular scene, in which Coogan and Brydon compete for the best Michael Caine impersonation, might just sell you:

“This is the first time in my twenty-year television career that anyone has paid to see me… Oh, don’t get me wrong, they’ve paid to make me go away…”

We all know the story behind Conan O’Brien’s beard of sorrow, est. 2010 — the result of his falling out with NBC over refusing to move “The Tonight Show” past midnight to make way for the flagging Jay Leno. While he reached a $45 million settlement with the network, Conan was momentarily unemployed. He also became more popular than ever.

Millions of viewers rallied for Conan on Facebook and Twitter. Protesters lined up outside NBC buildings with picket signs. Two Asian guys staged a Conan vs. Jay brawl in the streets. The Shepard Fairey-esque “I’m With Coco” sign was circulated endlessly through cyberspace in support of the redheaded late-night talk show host who had suddenly become a beloved underdog (barring, of course, the $45 million).

In the summer between the early 2010 “Tonight Show” conflict and his November 2010 start on TBS’s “Conan,” during which time he was legally forbidden from hosting a television program, O’Brien embarked on the 30-city Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour. Flanked by his sidekick Andy Richter, Conan traveled coast to coast, reaching such venues as Radio City Music Hall, Bonnaroo and the Hult Center of the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon (his inaugural show).

Director Rodman Flender (awesome name) joined Conan on the road to document the tour. The end product was Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, now on Watch Instantly. [Read more →]

Happy Halloween, Netflix. Stock is plummeting like never before, down 75% from July, before its infamous price-hike announcement. “Fundamentals are eroding, management credibility is shot, international growth is deteriorating, and margins are imploding,” says market analyst Toby Wible. Deadline has deemed it Netflix’s Nuclear Winter.

While Reed Hastings lives out the ultimate corporate horror scenario, let’s check out Watch Instantly’s selection of scary movies!

Upon first glance at the “Horror” genre page, one might mistake the streaming service’s collection as lacking. The featured films are mostly low-rated straight-to-DVD fare with titles like Mask Maker, Bloodlust Zombies and Vampires in Havana. However, further inspection into the depths of the Netflix archives reveals a relatively impressive library.

Our Top Ten picks for your holiday viewing, in alphabetical order:

Bride of the Monster – Witness the masterpiece of Edward D. Wood, Jr., deemed “the world’s worst director” by TIME Magazine (and the eponymous subject of an excellent Tim Burton film). Features a washed-up Bela Lugosi and some truly awful special effects. The best in schlock.

The Exorcist – Often cited as the scariest movie of all time. A little girl is possessed by a demon and spews obscenities at her helpless mother. Traumatic, controversial and likely to keep you awake for a long, long time–even if it might be a tad cheesy by today’s standards. More after the jump. [Read more →]

Last Sunday, the super-sized second season premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” shattered records. With 7.3 million viewers and a 3.8 rating among viewers aged 18–49 (the key demographic), it became the most-watched television drama in the history of basic cable.

To put this in perspective, the show beat out a slew of network programs with some very familiar names — [Read more →]

Tonight at 7 pm, the Ivy Film Festival will host an advance screening of Martha Marcy May Marlene at Granoff’s Martinos Auditorium. The film, starring Elizabeth Olsen (the younger sister of Mary-Kate & Ashley, credited as “Girl in Car” in How the West Was Fun), won the Best Director award at Sundance earlier this year. It also currently holds a 93% rating on RottenTomatoes. The screening will be followed by a Q&A from some of the film’s producers (who also held a filmmaker panel at the 2011 Ivy Film Festival) and co-star Brady Corbet. Check out the awesome trailer here. If you couldn’t get tickets these past two days on the Main Green, doors open to non-ticket holders at 6:30 pm. Do it.

In previous years, the Ivy Film Festival has brought Aaron Sorkin, James Franco, Jack Nicholson and Martin Scorsese to Brown. Davis Guggenheim ’86 presented his influential documentary on the American education system, Waiting For Superman, two years ago. Other advance screenings have included the likes of (500) Days of Summer (with a screenwriter Q&A) and Star Trek.

Last year’s festival saw the pre-release screening of an indie dramedy called Ceremony. Writer/director Max Winkler and star Michael Angarano (“that guy who dated Kristen Stewart”) appeared after the screening to answer questions. The film was released on-demand before its extremely brief theatrical release, and was largely ignored by the American viewing public before finally being tossed, like so many crappy indie dramedies, into the depths of the Netflix Watch Instantly database. Destined to be forgotten.

And that’s a shame. Because Ceremony was good. [Read more →]

Curtain closed, bitch.

A mere 21 days after announcing the division of its streaming and DVD-by-mail services, Netflix has formally acknowledged what a horrible idea that was — Qwikster is dead.

This means that you can still mooch off of your parents’ Netflix streaming account without paying a separate bill. More importantly, lovable stoner Jason Castillo has officially triumphed over capitalism.

 The Netflix Files works to find the hidden gems of Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature, the films and TV shows that have gone largely unnoticed by the streaming community. We understand that no one has a Netflix account anymore, but we’re worried we can’t come up with another column name as good as “The Netflix Files.”

Netflix knows it needs to make some big plays to win back our loyalty. Early next year, they will launch their first original series — “House of Cards,” a Kevin Spacey vehicle directed by David Fincher. If they can snatch up the new mini-season of “Arrested Development,” they’ll be back in the good graces of millions of potential subscribers (all in the 18-34 demographic, all possessing impeccable senses of humor).

Their first appeal for our affection, however, came about last Saturday, when they officially released all 114 episodes of “The Wonder Years” on Watch Instantly.

The beloved show, which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1993, is perhaps better known to our generation as the Nick at Nite staple that we all tuned into right before bedtime. It’s also very likely the best coming-of-age drama to ever air on network television.  [Read more →]

 The Netflix Files works to find the hidden gems of Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature, the films and TV shows that have gone largely unnoticed by the streaming community. We do not cover Qwikster, but we will point you in the direction of Acme Video if you buy us booze at Campus Fine Wines on your way there.

FX (or, as three people on campus like to call it, Channel 046 on IPTV) has recently emerged as the AMC of television comedy. It all started back in 2004, when Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, three struggling young actors, brought their pilot (shot for a meager $200) in to the network. FX saw potential in the three guys, revamped the pilot and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was born. Since then, FX has placed faith in low-cost, high-quality comedies — namely Wilfred, Louie and Archer (the latter two are also available on Watch Instantly). The best of them all might just be The League.

[Read more →]

If you still possess a Netflix account, yesterday you received a sad, sad email from CEO Reed Hastings. Mine began: “Dear Michael, I messed up. I owe you an apology.” The message proceeds to explain that Netflix had not anticipated such negative feedback to its recent change in price structure. It further informs the subscriber that DVDs will no longer be mailed under the Netflix name — now, mail service will operate through “Qwikster.”

The pricing hasn’t changed this time around (both services still cost the same as before, but now cannot be combined on credit card statements), yet the move certainly doesn’t help the company’s image. Especially since the Twitter name “Qwikster” is already taken, and by this guy:

The lovable, hungry-as-shyt Jason Castillo has received over 10,000 followers since Hastings announced the new name. Netflix has offered him $1k for his account, but Blockbuster is probably offering him more to keep it.

Last week we told you we’d keep writing about Netflix because it’s suddenly become an endearing underdog of sorts. This week, we’re gonna retcon all that and instead turn our attention to local, computer-free options for DVD rentals. [Read more →]

It’s been a rough summer for Netflix.

Image courtesy of Deadline.com

In July, Netflix announced its plans to terminate the super-cheap, super-beloved $9.99 plan in favor of making its subscribers dish out more for the use of each service (DVD and streaming). Deadline estimates that the decision will cost Netflix 2.5 million subscribers.

You already know all about this. Maybe you’ve cancelled your account. As long as we’re being honest, I certainly considered doing the same. Briefly. But BlogDailyHerald pays me WAY too much for me to ever stop writing this column.

We wondered whether Netflix would remain such an integral and relevant part of Brown culture. This summer saw the emergence of HBO GO, the amazingly comprehensive library of every HBO series and film. (I used it to binge-watch The Wire in its entirety… like everyone else.) HBO GO could have easily been incorporated into this column. But ultimately, we resolved to stick to our guns.

Netflix Watch Instantly might not be able to give us cool new releases like Toy Story 3 or The Social Network anymore. Yet that’s not really what this column is supposed to be about. We’re looking for the movies and TV that exist off the beaten path, the fun hidden gems. Basically, what we’re saying is Netflix still has a lot of random shit, and we still want to tell you all about it.

So, without further adieu, let’s talk about LARPing.   [Read more →]