This month I didn't watch too many new things. When I was watching Netflix this month, for the most part I was rewatching series rather than trying out new ones, but there were a few that caught my interest. I'm sure you're relieved that for once, the length of this post won't be the same size as a novel, but I'm sure that'll change for February's edition. So enjoy it while it lasts. lol
Corrupt Crimes
Curious and Unusual Deaths
CNN's The Eighties
Escorts
The 100
Real Life Wife Swap
The Investigator: A British Crime Story
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
One program that stuck out for me was Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf. I might be in the minority here, but I actually loved his take on the Count. He was deliciously evil, sarcastic in a dry and self-aware and simultaneously oblivious way (which I know sounds confusing, but he was entirely aware of being a bad person, yet completely oblivious to the fact that he was an awful actor and a nightmare on the eyes) and I think this might be some of his best work. There are tons of cameos by familiar faces like Joan Cusack, Will Arnett, Alfre Woodard and Catherine O'Hara, to name a few, that make up quite an eclectic cast. Patrick Warburton narrates us through the series as Lemony Snicket, our constant wet blanket of foreboding throughout the Unfortunate Events.
Corrupt Crimes is a series I saw last month but didn't pay attention to until a couple of weeks ago, when I didn't have anything else to watch. lol I'm sorry I underestimated it though; it's been an intriguing series so far. The crimes vary, from Ponzi schemes to the infamous 1997 Wild West style shootout in LA between the LAPD and two would-be bank robbers.
Escorts is an English documentary following the lives of two friends who live and work together as escorts. It's not a super heavy documentary, but I think it does help to bolster the opinions of those who feel you can enter the sex industry voluntarily. Maybe it sounds bad, but I'm of the opinion that if you feel that's how you want to live and lead your life and you make the conscious, voluntary choice to enter the sex industry, who am I to say nay, you know? Anyway, you get to know both women, what motivates them to do what they do, and their goals for the future (both eventually want to get out). What interests me the most with workers in the sex industry, whether it be adult films, nude modeling, escorting or full-on prostitution, is what led them there. The viewer is able to see them try to navigate real-life dating or at least explore the possibility while juggling their jobs as escorts and the reason why they ended up escorting slowly comes out. Like I said, this isn't super heavy but it's worth watching if you're into that.
Real Life Wife Swap came up in the Recommended list after I finished watching Escorts and at first I thought it was a documentary-styled take on ABC's Wife Swap. I was wrong. lol This mini-series is about swinger couples; I realized a bit later that the term 'Wife Swap' was a slick hint at what was actually going on. Each episode features a different couple in the English swinger scene and their goings-on, and there was quite a bit of variety with each couple that created a pretty diverse look overall. Much like Escorts, this series lets you get to know each of the couples involved and their motivation/desire to swing. I wish the series had been longer; it was only a handful of episodes.
My uncle, his wife and one of my brothers have been harassing me since before Christmas to watch The 100, and while I was interested in the show months ago, I'm not into it now. All three of them, however, love the show so they've been bugging me to watch it. I cut a deal with my brother (if I watch The 100, he has to watch Stranger Things) and we watched the first two episodes a couple of weeks ago. The premise of a future in which Earth is uninhabitable doesn't seem quite as far-fetched as it did a couple of years ago, and the concept itself does intrigue me. It's the characters that irritate me into not wanting to watch any more episodes. lol I'm on the fence about continuing to watch, but I really want my brother to watch Stranger Things (and I need an excuse to rewatch it) so I might have to power through.
CNN's The Eighties is part of their 'decades' series as this has two predecessors, The Sixties and The Seventies. This isn't much different from the others; it follows America's political, cultural and most impactful events and people of the 80s. I haven't gotten too far into the series but I've enjoyed hearing more about the stories that shaped the decade I was born into.
Curious and Unusual Deaths is a docu-series about just that, curious and unusual deaths. Different deaths that on the surface sound unusual are explored, like how someone can die from something as simple as touching a door knob, or how a man with murderous intent for his family was killed by of his own booby traps in his home. Each episode features someone different and it's pretty interesting to watch the dots be connected in deaths that sound too implausible to be true.
Finally, The Investigator: A British Crime Story follows one of Britain's top detectives as he attempts to solve a 30-year mystery. After a housewife named Carole goes missing in the mid-80s, investigators eventually arrest her husband Russell. He makes history by later being convicted of his wife's murder without a body ever turning up or confessing to the crime. His daughter never got the answers she needed from her father, as he rejected all of her attempts at communication over the years. Her hopes that her mother's disappearance and likely murder will be solved hinges entirely on the investigative skills of the detective and his team. The father is quite the character, I'll say that. He sends his daughter, the detective, his team--and subsequently, the viewer--on wild goose chases, plays games with everyone involved and leaves a lot to be answered. It's a riveting story and there's a lot more to it than I've said, so give it a look.
Picks of the month: The Investigator: A British Crime Story, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Throwaway pick: Escorts
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