Netflix’s Best November Additions for the College Student

Time to gobble up some great content.

Quinten – The Irishman (2019)

Since making his directorial debut with Who’s That Knocking at my Door in 1969, Martin Scorsese has been one of the most impactful and influential cinematic voices in the world. Although every upcoming project of his is always one of the year’s most anticipated releases, The Irishman stands in a league of its own. By reuniting some of Scorsese’s frequent collaborators and sprinkling in some of the biggest names in the crime genre on top, The Irishman is sure to be a gangster biopic of epic proportions. And if somehow the names Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, and Stephen Graham can’t get you excited enough to dive into this three and a half hour gangster flick, surely the groundbreaking de-aging VFX should do the trick. 

Back in her fifth Netflix comedy special, Iliza Schlesinger brings us riffs from her recent wedding. A calm bachelorette party was never an option – so gear up for the zombie bachelorette army, wedding planning, and the traditional garter removal that makes everyone uncomfortable if we’re being honest. But Iliza’s special is more than just a new show we get to laugh at – it’s representative of the change in whose voices are valued, particularly in the grossly male-dominated field of comedy. Until recently, it’s seemed that the standard for comedy is talking about men’s sexual prowess, cheating on your wife, being the “man” of the house, anything about dicks, and humor that sometimes just isn’t funny or relatable to anyone else but the demographic represented on stage. Now we’re seeing that comedy goes so far beyond this and can grapple with social issues and content pertinent to anyone. Ladies, we have Iliza, Whitney Cummings, Katherine Ryan, Sofía Niño, Ali Wong, Nikki Glaser, Tiffany Haddish, and it just keeps going. So sit back, grab your gals, and get ready to laugh your ass off about female masturbation, marriage traps, being a single mom, bad hookups, your crazy friends, and sex robots. And don’t worry, these powerful women aren’t afraid of calling out patriarchy and sexual assault on their stages, turning their platform into a space where we normalize these topics.

Mihir-Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj: Volume 5 (2019)

Hasan Minaj has been racking up awards for this show for a reason. He explores the current cultural and political landscape similar to the way John Oliver does on Last Week Tonight. However, Minaj recontextualizes his reporting from his own perspective of growing up as a Muslim Indian immigrant in America. This recontextualizing also allows him to be self -aware, leading to even more jokes while remaining informative

James – The King (2019)

If you like Shakespeare, Timothée Chalamet, or the Twilight Saga, you might want to take a look at David Michôd’s The King.  You may know Michôd from his last film War Machine (2017), although he takes The King in an entirely different direction. The film is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2 and Henry V, following the timeline of the two plays yet taking its own liberties and losing the complex language and iambic pentameter.  The King tells the tale of Hal, Henry V, who goes from a life of hedonism as a prince to a fierce and strong king, fighting against France in battle. Timothée Chalamet plays Hal and Robert Pattinson as his antagonist, the Dauphin of France. We can expect a movie that challenges the war positive nature of Henry V that has been espoused in recent popular adaptations, replacing it with a more realistic interpretation. The film begins streaming on November 1st.

Harry – Queer Eye: We’re in Japan – Season 1 (2019)

The Fab Five is back and better than ever! This time, they embark on a new journey to Tokyo to help young men and women search for confidence. Queer Eyes has always been celebrated for its inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as its redefinition of traditional gender roles and expectations. In addition to all the elements you loved about the People’s Choice Award winner, We’re in Japan! adds an impressive cast of Japanese celebrities like Kiko Mizuhara and Naomi Watanabe. The new series will be perfect for Queer Eye enthusiasts, new fans who are interested in Japanese/Asian culture, or just casual viewers who want to have a good time!

Chris – The End of the F***ing World – Season 2 (2019)

Up until the start of spring semester sophomore year, I had only seen two TV series in their entirety. Game of Thrones I watched religiously and eagerly awaited every new season, but other than that I didn’t really have a favorite genre and rarely browsed for anything other than nature documentaries. All that changed one rainy April Sunday when, after a somewhat tumultuous week of events, I decided to lie in bed and watch Netflix. After spamming my family group chat for our password I saw four little icons representing my two siblings and parents accounts and opted for my brothers. The first title that popped up in big, bright red letters with a blaring old school soundtrack and slightly creepy kid narrating said “The End of the F***ing World” and I thought to myself “yeah, that’ll do”. I became instantly enthralled with the show, loving everything from the spooky romantic but somehow feel good soundtrack to the dark British humor and brazen sailor-like cursing rants embarked on by co-lead Alyssa (Jessica Barden). I watched the entire show that day and proceeded to walk around our apartment complex to each of our friends apartments and either rant about how good it was or force them to stop whatever they were doing and watch an episode with me. I recently read an article about the upcoming return of the show where it was described as “not an instant classic, but spread by word of mouth” and I’d like to think I played a small but solid part in that movement but anyway if I didn’t convince you to watch it at some point in the last two years then hurry up and watch season 1 now because The End of the F***ing World returns on November 5th!

BY: DIFF Staff

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