SPRING OFFERINGS EDITION

Spring is here. Easter and Passover are being celebrated, and the flowers are blooming. However, flopping on the couch and binge watching is fun in any season.

So between your gardening, bird watching, and generally just enjoying the spring weather... I offer you some options to binge watch for your viewing pleasure.

Let's begin...

MOVIES THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOVE MOVIES:

1. "Pulp Fiction" (1994)

This movie blew my mind when I first saw it and made me think "So, this is what movies are suppose to be like".

Here is the plot...

Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) ; his actress wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) ; struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) ; master fixer Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) and a nervous pair of armed robbers, "Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer).

Here is the trailer...

2. "Get Out" (2017)

I'm sure most of you have seen it or at the very least heard about it. After all, it did win Jordan Peele an Oscar.

I enjoyed this film, even though I saw a lot of it coming. It's a magnificent horror film.

Here is the plot...

Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

Here is the trailer....

3. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975)

I saw this movie when I was a kid, and I immediately fell in love with Monty Python's weird brand of humor.

Here's the plot...

A comedic send-up of the grim circumstances of the Middle Ages as told through the story of King Arthur and framed by a modern-day murder investigation. When the mythical king of the Britons leads his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, they face a wide array of horrors, including a persistent Black Knight, a three-headed giant, a cadre of shrubbery-challenged knights, the perilous Castle Anthrax, a killer rabbit, a house of virgins, and a handful of rude Frenchmen.

Here's the trailer...

4. "Betty Blue" (1986)

This movie blew me away when I saw it in the 90's. It is a French love story and a French tragedy. However, it is definitely for adults due to the eroticism of the couple's relationship.

Here is the plot...

A would-be writer (Jean-Hugues Anglade) falls for an unpredictable woman (Béatrice Dalle), then he slowly realizes that she is going insane.

Here is the trailer...

5. "Oculus" (2014)

This dark horror indie had me thinking about it days after I saw it. It's worth a viewing if you're a horror fan.

Here is the plot...

Haunted by the violent demise of their parents 10 years earlier, adult siblings Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and Tim (Brenton Thwaites) are now struggling to rebuild their relationship. Kaylie suspects that their antique mirror, known as the Lasser Glass, is behind the tragedy. The seemingly harmless reflections contain a malevolent, supernatural force that infects the mind of anyone who gazes into it. As Kaylie gets closer to the truth, the siblings become caught in the mirror's evil spell.

Here is the trailer...

6. "A Prophet" (2010 was the USA release)

This is a great French drama. I absolutely loved it, but is very gritty.

Here is the plot...

This acclaimed crime drama follows Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), a delinquent young Muslim man, who is struggling to get by in a French prison. When he is taken under the wing of powerful Corsican mob boss Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), he begins performing regular assignments for him, proving himself invaluable to the imposing criminal. As Malik rises in the mob ranks, he gains more power, but also more enemies, a situation that eventually brings conflict with his mentor.

Here is the trailer...

7. "Abott and Costello meet Frankenstein" (1948)

This is PRETTY old school, but if you can get on board with that, I promise you'll chuckle.

The comedic duo of Abott and Costello are a delight.

Here's the plot...

In the first of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's horror vehicles for Universal Pictures, the inimitable comic duo star as railway baggage handlers in northern Florida. When a pair of crates belonging to a house of horrors museum are mishandled by Wilbur (Lou Costello), the museum's director, Mr. MacDougal (Frank Ferguson), demands that they deliver them personally so that they can be inspected for insurance purposes, but Lou's friend Chick (Bud Abbott) has grave suspicions.

Here's the trailer...

8. "Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil" (2010)

I know this may not have won any Oscars. However, this horror comedy is the perfect film to put on and to pair with whatever snacks you like.

The two leads are adorable. I promise. This movie is the ultimate warning that you really shouldn't judge based on appearances.

Here's the plot...

Two scruffy pals' (Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk) backwoods vacation takes a bloody turn when ignorant college students mistake them for a pair of murderous hillbillies.

Here's the trailer...

NEW OFFERINGS FOR SPRING STREAMING, ETC.:

1. "Vida" streaming on STARX on Sunday, May 6, 2018.

The trailer looks delightful, I searched for this on Spectrum until I realized it wasn't even out yet.

Here is the plot...

Two Mexican-American sisters (Melissa Barrera and Mishel Prada) with starkly different personalities reunite and return to their childhood home following the death of their mother.

Here is the trailer...

2. Ugly Delicious -- streaming now on Netflix

Like the chef Andrew Zimmern, I believe food can help bring cultures together, so I was delighted to see this show airing on Netflix.

Here's the gist...

Momofuku and Milk Bar founder David Chang travels the world to explore the ways food builds communities and challenges prejudice. Famous friends including Ali Wong, Nick Kroll, and Jimmy Kimmel join him along the way.

Here's a promo:

3. Trust, Season One - on Sundays on FX and it's also available on FX ONDEMAND

Got to be honest, the Getty angle doesn't intrigue me as much as the DONALD SUTHERLAND angle! If you love Donald, see him in one of his earlier films "Don't Look Now".

Here's the premise for this show...

Just in case you didn't get enough of the Getty dynasty from All the Money in the World, FX's new anthology series will chart the famous family's drama through several seasons, starting with a fresh look at the John Paul Getty III kidnapping that posits the young heir as the mastermind behind the crime.

Here's the trailer...

4. Killing Eve - premieres Sunday, April 8th on BBC America -

I LOVE Sandra Oh, but I love her for the now defunct TV show "Popular". Sorry, I've never been a "Grey's Anatomy" fan. However, this show I can get on board with. Sandra Oh as a wannabe spy? Sure!!

Here's the premise...

Fleabag mastermind Phoebe Waller-Bridge penned this eight-part thriller, about a wannabe spy (Sandra Oh) who gets her big break when she's assigned to apprehend a mastermind assassin (The White Princess breakout Jodie Comer).

Here's the trailer...

Here's another trailer...

And yet another trailer...

5. Barry, airing Sundays on HBO

Bill Hader has had wonderful post-SNL success, and people are saying this TV show will take him to the next level. By the way, I LOVE Bill Hader. If you have the time, I suggest checking out the terrific mocumentary series "Documentary Now".

Anyway, here's the premise of "Barry"...

Disillusioned at the thought of taking down another "mark," depressed, low-level hit man Barry Berkman seeks a way out. When the Midwesterner reluctantly travels to Los Angeles to execute a hit on an actor who is bedding a mobster's wife, little does Barry know that the City of Angels may be his sanctuary. He follows his target into acting class and ends up instantly drawn to the community of eager hopefuls, especially dedicated student Sally, who becomes the object of his affection. While Barry wants to start a new life as an actor, his handler, Fuches, has other ideas, and the hit man's criminal past won't let him walk away so easily.

Here's a promo...

6. "The OG" premieres Tuesday, April 3, on TBS

Okay, this show has two things I LOVE: Brooklyn, and Tracy Morgan.

For those of you who aren't New Yorkers, Brooklyn HAS changed vastly from my days as a kid in the 80's and SOME of the 90's. LOL! It has gone from gritty to hipster.

So I can see why it would be an adjustment for anyone... and for Tracy Morgan's character it is DEFINITELY an adjustment.

Here's the premise...

When Tracy Morgan’s convict character gets released from prison and returns to the “mean streets” of Brooklyn to reconnect with his family, he’s shocked to learn that, gasp, his Brooklyn neighborhood has been gentrified with chic coffee shops and tony brownstones since his 15 years in the slammer. He also has to try to woo back his ex — the undisputed queen of 2017, Tiffany Haddish — while dealing with this nonsense, which is going to be a lot more complicated than he expected

Here's a trailer...

UNTIL NEXT TIME, MY LOVELIES...