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Netflix Instant Recommendations: March 2014

 
Netflix Instant Watch
Netflix Instant Watch
Netflix Instant Watch



Posted March 6, 2014 by

As you may have noticed, we have entered a new month of 2014. That means that not only do you get to flip to the next page of your calendar, but more importantly it means that Netflix has added a wealth of new content to their streaming catalog. February had some good additions and just when you think they couldn’t possibly top those, they go ahead and add some of the best movies made in several different genres. We thought we should take a look at what has been added this month and what is must watch viewing for March 2014.

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Silence of the Lambs

A film that many people have said is one of the only movies without a flaw. It was only the third film to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). It is also the first Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film. It stars Jodie Foster as a young FBI agent who tries to get help from Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to catch a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill.” There’s not much to say about this film, it is a perfect blend of crime, drama, and horror with terrific performances all around.

 

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The Blair Witch Project

The film that started the found footage horror genre follows three film students who are making a documentary about the mysterious Blair Witch. They trek through the Maryland woods looking for landmarks that the locals had told them about. For the sake of anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, I’ll stop there with the plot description because the less you know the better. The filmmakers also know this because very little is actually seen on film. This film generated buzz back in ’99 by people actually believing that the footage was real and found by the government. It’s that feeling of watching something that actually occurred and the use of the fear of the unknown approach that makes the movie work. This is not a multiple viewing movie, but movies like “Paranormal Activity” can thank “The Blair Witch Project” for a new way to make horror films.

 

Capote (2005)

Capote

We lost one of the generation’s best actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, earlier this year and Netflix has graced us with the film that won him his only Academy Award. The film was directed by Bennett Miller and co-stars Catherine Keener. Hoffman plays writer Truman Capote and follows his experience in writing a non-fiction book “In Cold Blood.” This is a title that has been on and off the catalog for a while and I’m glad the folks at Netflix decided to put this one back up for everyone to see just how good PSH was and what the world lost when he died.

 

Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver

Another Best Picture nominated film makes the list with this classic from Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro. Just as “The Silence of the Lambs” was, this film was considered “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant by the US Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. De Niro plays ex-marine Travis Bickle, a dark, lonely, and depressed man living in 1970s New York City. He takes a job as a taxi driver and soon develops violent thoughts about the government and the world in general. De Niro plays the character so realistically that we care for him and hope that he doesn’t do what he wants to do. He is a fantastic anti-hero and Scorsese directs the film as only Scorsese can, dark, grungy, and only through Bickle’s eyes. This is the definition of a character study and Bickle is such an interesting character that we can’t help but go along for the ride.

 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Dr. Strangelove

Stanley Kubrick’s only satiric comedy is a terrific look at the fear of the atomic bombs and how governments of different countries could lose control of them at any moment. The film is presented in black and white, however legend has it that Kubrick was so detail oriented that he insisted the large table that government officials sit around must be green felt. The plot is that one fateful night, a general calls for a plane to drop a bomb on the Soviet Union. Government officials gather together to figure out how to stop the plane from reaching the destination and starting a nuclear war. Comedian Peter Sellers plays three different characters, including the title character who hilariously describes a “Doomsday Device.”


Chance Parker

 
Chance Parker