I pretty much spent most this month either out and about when it was warm and sunny, which surprisingly it frequently was here in Scotland. Or any dull or rainy nights inside with Netflix on, which is why this month's What I've Been Watching post is as Netflix heavy as it is. So let's get straight into it, here's what I've been watching this month. And some movies to watch on Netflix right now;
The Staircase
Okay so technically this is a documentary. But you can definitely watch it like a movie, like I did. As I've mentioned in many a What I've Been Watching post, I love a good true crime documentary. So The Staircase was always going to be something that I would inevitably watch. I have a feeling that as soon as you watch the trailer for this, you'll be hitting the play button on your remote almost instantaneously. It centres around the trial of Michael Peterson who is accused of beating his wife to death at the bottom of a flight of stairs in their home.
He claims that she fell, the police immediately think that foul play has been involved. It's one of those cases where you truly don't know who to believe. Or what to think. And my thoughts as to whether he was guilty or not changed so many times throughout.
It follows his original trial. And without me spoiling it for you, the subsequent years. It was so easy to binge watch. And I think we had watched the entire thirteen episode season within the space of a week. Much like Making A Murderer and The Keepers (see my review for that here), the end of each episode has you dying to find out more. So you ultimately press play on the next episode.
The Kissing Booth
This instantly reminded me of the kind of movies that I would watch at a sleepover in my teens, primarily Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and Wild Child. Admittedly, I haven't re-watched any of them as an adult. But watching The Kissing Booth as an adult was probably about 50% good and watchable and 50% cringey. One of the biggest issues for me not being as obsessed with it as others have been, was the fact that I really didn't see the appeal of Noah. Like at all.
Sure, he's good looking in a traditional high school jock kind of way. But he literally would not stop fighting. Most of his scenes in the movie were of him in a fight, about to get into a fight or recovering from a fight. They usually have the love interest or even the 'bad boy' change a bit to show that he's actually the right guy for her. But that didn't really happen at all in this. Which I found a bit odd if not more realistic, I guess.
I felt like I'd seen the lead actress in a lot of things before. But couldn't quite work out what. After a bit of swift googling, I quickly realised that she'd been in movies like The Conjuring (see my review here) and White House Down. As well as the next movie that I watched in June, which you'll see below.
Set It Up
Just when you think one Netflix Original movie is more than enough for one month, I saw that Set It Up had been added.
Glen Powell, who was one of the best things about Scream Queens as the brilliant Chad Radwell. And Zoey Dutch, who I'd only seen before in Why Him? (see my review here) play personal assistants who work for what you would dub horrible bosses. Yes I know that that's another movie series. At first I was worried that the bosses were just a bit too mean to be believable. But maybe that's because I've never worked somewhere with bosses like that or personal assistants and employees being treated like that. At least openly.
They then decide to try and set their bosses up so that they'll spend less time at the office and more time with each other. Therefore solving both of their problems. What I really enjoyed was the fact that they were self aware about what they were doing and even acknowledged The Parent Trap as they attempted to pull it off.
It's got heart, made me smile and laugh throughout. And you really are willing the two leads to ultimately get together, which is always a good indication of a great rom-com. It's also set in New York, which tends to make me like a movie or TV show even more than I would if it was set elsewhere. Solely because they're traipsing around my favourite city. Seeing them walk The High Line, through Bryant Park and in the shadow of the Empire State Building made me smile even more. And it gave me those butterflies in my stomach that New York will always give me.
50/50
50/50 is easily one of the most underated movies that I've ever seen. You never really hear anyone mention it. Especially when you think of who stars in it but it is just such a brilliant movie! It's ultimately a story of friendship, survival, love and still being able to laugh, even when in the most horrible and painful of circumstances.
It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a twenty-something guy who finds out that he has a rare form of spinal cancer. And his chances of survival are, as the title would suggest, 50/50. It's just SO good! Every time that I've seen it it makes me cry. But then there are scenes and quick quips from Adam's best friend, played by Seth Rogen, which will have you laughing as well.
The supporting cast are fantastic in this. Rogen is brilliant, so much so that it made me want to rewatch some of his best work. I've already watched Knocked Up, Superbad and Bad Neighbours since seeing 50/50 at the start of the month. Anjelica Huston, who will always be Morticia Addams to me, plays his worried mother without being that typical nagging stereotype. And Anna Kendrick is perfectly cast as his hospital appointed therapist, who's still in the process of completing her Masters year.
You'll find it on Netflix, along with everything else in today's post. And it is well worth a watch.
Wish Upon
Another movie fronted by Joey King. Now this certainly wasn't the worst teen horror movie that I've seen (the first Ouija movie, for example, was absolutely dire). But it was still in no way good, if that makes sense.
Basically the main character, played by King, discovers a mystical box which magically starts granting her wishes. And these wishes then come true. But as it's a horror movie, there is a price to be paid for these wishes. The concept itself and even the little bit of background story that we get on why the box is cursed is actually quite interesting. However, they just didn't do enough with it for me.
It's almost like they were trying to make a PG version of one of the Final Destination films. But with none of the interesting deaths or the lead up to said Final Destination style deaths. You know, when water trickles out from somewhere for a character to slip on it. Only for it to trickle away again to make it look like it wasn't involved at all, that kind of thing.
The main character is also really unlikeable which makes it hard to enjoy this movie. Some of the wishes that she makes, even after she knows that by her making that wish, someone close to her will die, are so stupid. You just didn't care what happened as a result.
So those are just some movies to watch on Netflix right now.
Have you seen any of the movies or TV shows in this month's post? If so, what did you think of them? What have you been watching recently? And are you looking forward to any upcoming releases such as OITNB etc.?
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