Waiting For Lightning
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | HitBliss | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Jacob Rosenberg
Starring Danny Way, Tony Hawk, Mike Ternasky, Rob Dyrdek
Samuel Goldwyn Films and First Run Features
Originally Released: March 10, 2012

Waiting For Lightning is a documentary that pursues the crusade of pro skater Danny Way as he aims to accomplish one of the most insane stunts of all time: to jump the Great Wall of China on a skateboard using the biggest ramp ever constructed. As the movie heads towards the inevitable climactic few seconds of the jump, the narrative follows the trials and ordeals of Way from childhood to adulthood, as well as the immediate lead up and planning for the Great Wall stunt.

While the focus of the documentary leads into the China jump, for all intents and purposes, Waiting For Lightning is a biography. It documents how Danny Way rose into pro skateboarding at such a young age, propelling from a difficult and tumultuous home upbringing, dealing with the death of his father, and then the loss of his stepfather through divorce. As his mother fell into a pattern of self-medicating with drug use, and abusive relationships; Danny escaped into skating, becoming one of the most memorable pro skaters of all time.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Netflix | Amazon | Redbox | Google Play | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | Xbox | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Joe Johnston
Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Jenna Louise-Coleman
Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: July 19, 2011

What better way for geeks to celebrate this national holiday than to kick back with a few cold ones and watch the personification of the USA in the Marvel Universe: Captain America: The First Avenger.

And honestly, good ol’ Cap is more important in Marvel than you think. Sure, he leads The Avengers; but Marvel’s most popular heroes, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deadpool, and now Iron Man thanks to Robert Downey Jr., tend to eclipse the important responsibility Captain America has played to the evolution of the Marvel Universe.

Captain America is the personification, not of the United States, but instead for which it stands. I’m not talking about liberty or justice or freedom or patriotism. I’m speaking about people – it’s the people that make this nation so special. And Cap personifies that element, that deep down, we all have the potential to be good people; and that it is not our abilities that make us who we are, but the choices we make.

John Dies At The End
Netflix | Amazon | Google Play | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Based on the novel by David Wong aka Jason Pargin
Directed by Don Coscarelli
Starring Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman, Doug Jones, Fabianne Therese
Magnet Releasing
Originally Released: January 23, 2012

If you’re about to watch John Dies At The End, you are about to fall into a glorious universe of ridiculousness and weirdness you’ve not yet experienced. This flick is part Twilight Zone, part X-Files, part horror, part comedy, and all brilliant – from balls to bones, and will be an immediate classic among geeks and horror fans alike.

David Wong, and his friend John Cheese, find themselves entering a completely new realm of reality and unreality when they come across a new drug they dub “The Soy Sauce.” The substance causes them to open up a whole range of perceptions, and provides them the ability to see and experience creatures and things that “normal” people just cannot perceive.

Arrested Development
Netflix [Seasons 1-4]
DVD [Seasons 1-3]
Created by Mitchell Hurwitz
Executive Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Mitchell Hurwitz, David Nevins
Starring Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Tony Hale, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, David Cross, Alia Shawkat, Henry Winkler, Scott Baio, Ron Howard
Fox [Seasons 1-3]
Netflix [Season 4]
Originally Broadcast: November 2, 2003

Some say it’s the most popular sitcom from the 2000s. Others deem it has a cult following. Either way, Arrested Development has become a phenomenon among its fans – a show that, while created by Mitchell Hurwitz, is driven mainly by Ron Howard. Taking the conception of filming a sitcom using the style of reality television, and littering the show with pop culture references (as well as its own memes that it develops over time), Arrested Development is an amusing viewing experience, though overrated.

The series takes on the concept of "riches to rags", of a wealthy family that fall on bad times when their father George Bluth (the CEO, played by Jeffrey Tambor) is arrested by the SEC. Taking a massive hit to the company, son Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) takes on the responsibility of bringing the business back to profitability while trying to keep his family together.

Netflix has effectively changed “TV” by reviving cancelled series like Arrested Development and producing their own completely original series like House of Cards and Hemlock Grove, and then throwing entire seasons of these shows directly onto their streaming service instead of adding one episdoe at a time.

A second season of House of Cards is already on the way, and now Netflix has announced that they have ordered a season two for Hemlock Grove as well.