House of Wax
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Written by Chad & Carey Hayes
Starring Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padalecki, Paris Hilton, Brian Van Holt, Robert Ri’chard, Jon Abrahams
Warner Bros
Netflix Release: December, 2016

A 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. A Metacritic score of 41. 2005’s House of Wax… this movie must SUCK! Of course, if you hit the flashback machine a decade, the bane of all human existence was Paris Hilton. Long before anyone cared about the Kardashian sisters or what stupid names Kim names her kids, there was Paris, the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune. Famous for a leaked sex tape, and a reality show on cable TV (sound familiar?), Paris Hilton coined the phrase “That’s hot” and… that’s it. That was her major contribution to America. And right in the middle of her notoriety, she gets cast in the remake of the beloved 1953 Vincent Price horror flick, House of Wax. The movie didn’t stand a chance. But here’s the thing… it’s kinda awesome. And, it’s now available streaming on Netflix.

More below.

Making A Murderer
Written & Directed by Moira Demos & Laura Ricciardi
Featuring Steven Avery, Laura Ricciardi, Danielle Ricciardi, Laura Nirider
Netflix
Netflix Release: December 18th, 2015

“It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer” – Sir William Blackstone (1765)

The foundation of our legal system in the USA is that you are innocent until proven guilty. Even more so, it is the duty of the prosecution to prove innocence whereas the defense just needs to show reasonable doubt. There’s a scene in the 1994 classic, The Shawshank Redemption where Tommy (Gil Bellows); a new inmate to the prison relates a story where another inmate from his previous prison confessed to the murders that Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is locked away for. When he brings this to the warden’s attention, he is unceremoniously shot in the yard for “trying to escape.” This is a gut-wrenching scene in a near-perfect film. You meet this character and you get your hopes up that he will be the key to Andy’s freedom. And then, he’s dead and Andy’s reaction gets him sent to solitary confinement. If you stretch this one scene into a 10-part documentary series, you’d have Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Unfortunately, unlike Shawshank, this is a true story with real people facing almost unreal circumstances. The story has captured the zeitgeist of America, and has generated a new wave of activism. It’s also the most rage inducing binge-fest on TV.

Spoilers below.

The time has come once again for that most hallowed and accessible of online streaming services known as Netflix to cut a few titles from its voluminous selection of films and television shows while adding many more guaranteed to please its subscriber base.

Below you’ll find my picks for the best of Netflix’s new additions for the month of January 2016. As usual, most of the titles are available for viewing at the start of the month, but there are a few more set to premiere later in the month that those of us unable to get out to the movie theater much will find to be of great interest.

By now, if you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, then you’re likely to this weekend. And when you do, you’ll hear the familiar sounds of John Williams‘ score, which incorporates snippets of the original Star Wars trilogy, along with new compositions.

While the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is currently available for purchase on CD and MP3 (and soon on vinyl, too), you can hear the entire score right now for free.

Listen to the entire Star Wars: The Force Awakens here below!

With the holidays in the United States, there is a tradition of finishing a big meal and transitioning into some deep couch sitting as you watch some football. As of November 20th, though, you also had the option of watching some finely crafted Marvel Entertainment in the form of Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix. While you feasted on turkey, you could then binge on this darker and more noir-esque offering of a comic book-based show. If nothing else, you could watch David Tennant give one of the creepiest and nastiest villains in the Marvel universe a life on screen (seriously, it’s magnificent).

After binge-watching the show myself over the past week, I can honestly say that Jessica Jones, while not as polished as its predecessor, Marvel’s Daredevil, it is definitely worth some deep couch-sitting time.