By: Chris Crespo of Cinema Crespodiso
Top Two Titles Coming to Netflix… July 2018
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Coming to Netflix July 8, 2018
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – Season 10 – Coming to Netflix July 6, 2018
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is getting a whole new season as part of a deal Jerry Seinfeld struck with Netflix, in which the streaming giant agreed to produce the newest seasons of the show while also picking up all the past seasons from Sony’s Crackle service, the original home of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. For the uninitiated, this is a show in which Jerry Seinfeld picks up a comedian friend of his (usually a white dude of some sort), and then drive to a diner to get some coffee. Their conversations in the car and while drinking coffee are recorded and turned into a show, and there you have it, remarkably simple in set up and execution. You know what else is really interesting about this show? Jerry Seinfeld is being sued for creative and intellectual theft, as an old collaborator of his claims that he came up with this idea way back in the 1990’s, and Jerry Seinfeld shot it down then by a decade later revived it as his own idea, without providing any credit or compensation to the original creator. Which should not be a surprise to anyone because amateurs create and professionals steal, so maybe expect this case to be settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, as the show has proven relatively popular, certainly the most well liked and most watched thing Jerry Seinfeld has done since the end of his eponymous situational comedy. It is an easy going show, with funny people having a relaxed conversation (except for the Jim Carrey episode because that guy seemingly cannot chill out for even a moment as long as there are cameras nearby), and an easy way to pass some time. No stress, no mess, just some (mostly) dudes talking with coffee breath.
Her
Coming to Netflix July 29, 2018
At the end of the month, Netflix will be adding to their extensive library the Spike Jonze film “Her,” in which Joaquin Phoenix plays a letter writer who obtains a new computer operating system that has a level of artificial intelligence that currently only exists in science fiction films like this but in reality isn’t that far down the road from where we are now. This story imagines what it would be like if our Alexas, Siris and Cortanas not only provided map directions and cookie recipes but also managed to attend to our emotional needs as well. Is it absurd to think that certain emotionally unavailable people who find the appeal in a partner that could be put away or shut off when things got weird or tough? “Her” goes through the entire life cycle of such an imagined relationship, and the story examines the different ways the relationship would work and how it would affect other real world relationships and how it would be seen by others, and by the end of this story it is amazing how nuanced and “real” this seemingly artificial relationship feels. It also helps to have a great cast like this one, filled with actors all ready to go to those emotional places, prepared to take a silly sounding set up and turn it into something with gravitas and meaning, and of course Spike Jonze knows how to make a damn movie, expertly juggling the weird elements pf the story with the much more grounded and emotional aspects, making for a tonally consistent movie that never feels absurd or unbelievable but instead feels much more universal. And if you really want to trip yourself out, first sit down to watch the (dumb but fun) Scarlett Johansson movie “Lucy,” follow it up immediately with “Her” and then end it all with “Under the Skin,” and you’ll find it makes for a strangely satisfying trilogy of human evolution. Seriously. Do it.
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