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Netflix, Prime, Hulu - surprise hits (movies & series)


alisoncooks
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What have you recently watched that is a hidden gem? Whether it's an original (such as a "Netflix original movie") or you simply missed it/never heard of it when it was first released. 

 

For me:  About Time (Netflix)

It's got a decent cast lineup (Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander). Produced by the same guys that did Bridget Jones/Notting Hill/Four Weddings and a Funeral. Quirky, British rom-com. No shortage of the f-bomb (and other profanity) but golly, it's just so touching and charming. I've watched it twice in as many weeks, and bawled both times (but it's not a sad ending, not at all -- I hate tragic endings!)  Domhnall is now my official celebrity crush (though I typically don't go for gingers). 

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I LOVED About Time!  Glad you liked it as well.  

I got sucked into Cobra Kai, a YouTube original.  Ended up signing up for the free trial of youtube premium to watch all of it, I'll cancel now that I'm done.  It picks up Karate Kid 30 years later... from Johnny Lawrence's perspective.  It is SHOCKINGLY good.  

 

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I'm a documentary sort of person.

I really enjoyed "great British castles"  two seasons of 10 episodes each.  there was another one about irish castles.

the special on George Boole.  he was largely self-taught,. He did say if he'd done "the normal thing", he would just have done what his professors gave him and never gone off into unknown territory.  He developed Boolean algebra. (where it sat in some university's library until someone else discovered it in the 1920s)  he never attended university (or even higher school - but he was well known enough that when Trinity? college was looking for math professors - his name was suggested by some of the leaders in the field of their day.)

 

eta: the doc on Althorp was interesting too.  (I personally think diana's brother can be rather a jerk, but he's humble about his responsibilities to the estate and that he is just passing through so his job is to safeguard/care for it and everyone/everything on it.)

 

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I think Younger is still on Hulu and it's very cute. It's not, like, the best sitcom ever or anything, but I never heard anyone talking about it, which I think was a shame. I mean, it's got Sutton Foster! I love Sutton Foster. She played a newly divorced early 40-something with a daughter in college who gets mistaken for being much younger all the time so she decided to embrace it to get a job. It's very wacky wacky, but also sort of sweet and zany.

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I watched Holiday in the Wild (starring Rob Lowe and Kristen Davis). It is not a hidden gem, lol, but if you like Hallmark Channel type romances...go for it. (It's very clean, if you want something safe to watch with kids in the room.) Plus, it has super cute elephants. 

If you watch it, then read this review: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/holiday-in-the-wild-netflix-review/amp

I literally snorted my coffee reading it. 

Edited by alisoncooks
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42 minutes ago, alisoncooks said:

I watched Holiday in the Wild (starring Rob Lowe and Kristen Davis). It is not a hidden gem, lol, but if you like Hallmark Channel type romances...go for it. (It's very clean, if you want something safe to watch with kids in the room.) Plus, it has super cute elephants. 

If you watch it, then read this review: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/holiday-in-the-wild-netflix-review/amp

I literally snorted my coffee reading it. 

Hubby is out of town, and I watched Holiday in the Wild last night. It was cute. But the commentary was spot on!! Hahahahaha!

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Last week, I somehow landed on "An Inspector Calls" on Amazon Prime.  It was a BBC (and likely Masterpiece) production a few years back and is based on a famous play.  I enjoyed it. 

I love cooking shows, and the kids and I loved "Britain's Best Home Cook" (Hulu),  "The Big Family Cooking Show" (might have the word British in it) on Netflix, and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (Netflix).

"North and South" is really good. I saw it years ago. Think it's on Netflix now.  (If you like BBC period pieces.)

If you want to try Turkish shows, my Aunt (non-Muslim, Christian lady in her 70s) loved "Kurt Seyit & Sura"....she watched it obsessively until she finished it. (I think it was a Ramadan serial...so 30 episodes!). "Resurrection Ertugrul" is super popular as well...and there are multiple seasons on Netflix.  It's historical fiction in the Middle Ages regarding the father (I think) of the guy who eventually founded the Ottoman Empire.

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7 hours ago, alisoncooks said:

I watched Holiday in the Wild (starring Rob Lowe and Kristen Davis). It is not a hidden gem, lol, but if you like Hallmark Channel type romances...go for it. (It's very clean, if you want something safe to watch with kids in the room.) Plus, it has super cute elephants. 

If you watch it, then read this review: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/holiday-in-the-wild-netflix-review/amp

I literally snorted my coffee reading it. 

 

On 11/7/2019 at 1:19 PM, PeachyDoodle said:

DH wanted to watch Living with Yourself on Netflix. I acquiesced but was surprised that I actually enjoyed it for the most part. It was darkly funny in an insanely weird kind of way.

The girls and I watched Holiday in the Wild, it was the perfect guilty pleasure. It was clean, cute, happy ending, animals.

I watched Living with Yourself, not safe for kids, but enjoyable and not too long.

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On 11/7/2019 at 8:07 AM, alisoncooks said:

What have you recently watched that is a hidden gem? Whether it's an original (such as a "Netflix original movie") or you simply missed it/never heard of it when it was first released. 

 

For me:  About Time (Netflix)

It's got a decent cast lineup (Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander). Produced by the same guys that did Bridget Jones/Notting Hill/Four Weddings and a Funeral. Quirky, British rom-com. No shortage of the f-bomb (and other profanity) but golly, it's just so touching and charming. I've watched it twice in as many weeks, and bawled both times (but it's not a sad ending, not at all -- I hate tragic endings!)  Domhnall is now my official celebrity crush (though I typically don't go for gingers). 

That has to be in my top 5 movies of all time. It’s such a special movie. I cry at the beach scene every time. 

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My two favorite guilty-pleasure Hallmark-style Netflix Christmas Specials are The Holiday Calendar and The Christmas Inheritance. The acting is much  better in these than most of their ilk.

My recent binge has been the ten seasons of Heartland, a Canadian television production about a family who owns a horse ranch in Alberta. Great characters, super horses, realistic.

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1 hour ago, Kalmia said:

My two favorite guilty-pleasure Hallmark-style Netflix Christmas Specials are The Holiday Calendar and The Christmas Inheritance. The acting is much  better in these than most of their ilk.

For another guilty pleasure, try "Let it Snow." It's full of teen drama but funny and enjoyable. And surprisingly touching. 

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3 hours ago, OH_Homeschooler said:

This one is a bit heavy but there is a mini-series on Netflix called "Unbelievable." I could not stop watching. 

This American Life did a show about her story (and a similar case) a couple of years ago. They rebroadcast it a month or so ago. Totally worth listening to!!

I'm hoping this link will work (on my phone). https://www.thisamericanlife.org/581/anatomy-of-doubt

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17 hours ago, livetoread said:

I kept reading great things about The Good Place, (Netflix) but watched the first two episodes and thought meh. Husband encouraged me to keep trying, so I did, and I love it. 

Same! I put off watching it and put off watching it because it looked stupid but it turned out to be really funny. Being a Jacksonville resident, I especially loved all the Jaguar digs. LOL

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I love these threads!I

We watched About Time last night.  It is a good movie, but it kind of made sad and wistful.  I hope to be a parent my kids will miss in a good way and not one where they will miss me and wish they had had the opportunity to get know me, because I was too busy.  

We also watched Holiday in the Wild and my youngest loved all the animals.

We have watched so many series and are really running out of things to watch, which is probably not a bad thing for awhile.  We hadn't watched anything in weeks.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just finished Brittany Runs a Marathon (on Prime). There are a few things I didn't love about the movie, but there was a lot I did. Made me want to run, and I hate running.

Also, Instant Family is on Prime now. I'd be curious what families with foster/adoption experience thought of it. I really liked it. 

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On 11/10/2019 at 3:24 PM, Chelli said:

This Fantastic Beautiful is a great, hidden gem of a movie (super quirky rom-com) on Amazon Prime.

Indeed, this is such a quirky, lovable gem of a movie.
It's NEARLY a Costume Drama!  😉

I probably sound rude, but I would literally tear up if someone can't find this.
The title is actually "This Beautiful Fantastic" (2016) and delightfully stars "Sybil" from DAbbey.

(Also, it is available on hoopladigital.com, if your library subscribes to this service.)

Ten (?!?) Thumbs Up.  My dh shares one of Bella's quirks, which helps me understand him better.  😉

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If you have it on US Netflix, the Canadian comedy "Corner Gas" is good. It's a little quirky and takes an episode or two to get into the humour, but the writing is excellent. I can listen to the episodes while driving across North America and don't need the visual.

There is also an animated version out now (Corner Gas Animated). Also very good writing. Brent Butt is a wonderful comedian and writer. Clean, very funny and a feel-good small town setting. My dc love it, and rewatch the episodes all the time.

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My husband loves Shtisel, a family drama set in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community just around the corner from us. I can't get into it, but may try again. It is on Netflix. 

I loved Olive Kitteridge, starring Frances Mcdormand.  It is about a really grumpy, plian-spoken to a fault woman and her family. Through the episodes you come to understand and even love her. 

Very adult (lots of s) but cracking good, the first season of True Detective is a.mazing. 

I really liked Big Little Liars, too. 

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44 minutes ago, Chris in VA said:

My husband loves Shtisel, a family drama set in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community just around the corner from us. I can't get into it, but may try again. It is on Netflix. 


I adore Shtisel.  So glad it is on Netflix now where it can get the attention it deserves.  

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Battle Bots on Hulu.  This might be old news, so skip the explanation if you're already all over it, but it's--robot fighting.  It's awesome.  The commentary is the BEST.  Watching my husband and son watch Battle Bots is even more entertaining than the actual show.  

Poldark on Prime--historical drama (British soldier returns home to Cornwall after fighting for the British in the American revolution) that will make you want to move to Cornwall, buy a horse and learn to ride just so you can stare dramatically out to sea.

i watched a documentary on Hulu this week called Paddle to Seattle that was low-key but surprisingly entertaining.  Two guys paddle wooden (why wooden? I have no idea) kayaks from Alaska to Seattle via the Inside Passage.

 

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It looks like you can watch my gem on Amazon Prime free w/ ads. I had digital credits and it was on sale a while back, so I bought it. For a while it was free on the Roku Channel too.

What We Did on Our Holiday cracks my family up. We all have very different tastes when it comes to movies, but we find new lines each viewing (and there have been many viewings!) and quote it often. "Mickey, stop playing chip Jenga."

It is about a dying parent. It stars David Tennant and Rosamund Pike and the three children were perfectly cast. It also has some faves from Doc Martin and Bridget Jones.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/14/2019 at 4:49 PM, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

And okay I have to throw this out. Did anyone else watch the Irishman on Netflix? I watched it the day it came out because I was home sick, and I totally do not get what all of the hoopla is over this movie, nor why I spent almost 4 hours waiting for it to get better. It's like Scorsese just combined every gangster movie he ever made, only in a far less interesting way. 

Thank you, you have just saved me 4 hours. This was on my "to watch" list but it's crossed off now.

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A very surprise hit with my fwmily-Total Wipeout (BBC) on Hulu.  It's basically an American Ninja Warrior type course. What makes it is the announcers, who often sound more like a David Attenborough documentary than a sports show, and who just plain have that dry, British, Monty-pythonesque humor. Right now, when we're all super stressed, it's been a surprisingly enjoyable thing to watch. We found an episode of the Australian version showing when we were in a restaurant, and looked it up. 

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  • 1 year later...

First Day on Hulu. It is an Australian tween/TV scripted show about a transgirl who is starting secondary school, and is handled very well. 

 

No Good Nick on Netflix (I know the co-producers). It is a scripted teen show about an extremely intelligent 13 yr old foster child who is being pushed and pulled between her father. My teen commented that you could show and discuss every single episode in a sociology class because there is so much there. 

 

Hulu also has some of the 1980's Supermarket Sweep episodes, and they're just plain fun. The new ones sort of miss the mark for me. 

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We just got Netflix over Christmas and I'm loving it! And some of what I'm watching y'all probably watched a while ago (except the newer stuff). And my dh blames me for getting him sucked into some of this stuff! So far:

Currently watching Lupin (dh sucked in too)--top in France I read. 
The Queen's Gambit (dh got sucked in)
Season 1 of the The Crown (dh got sucked in)
dd recommended The Haunting of Hill House which I had read last October. Very good, but a little scary right before bedtime.
I'm on season 4 of The Great British Baking Show--perfect when I don't want to think
Bridgerton (loved it, but could do without explicit sex scenes)

Also the movies Hillbilly Elegies and The Intouchables which stars the same guy as in Lupin.

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