The Blup’s top picks to stream now or look forward to this month on Netflix.
BO BURNHAM INSIDE
With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comic’s lockdown creation is astonishing.
Well, now we know what Bo Burnham did with his lockdown. Inside is his new Netflix special, created alone in his LA home throughout 2020. And it was not – if its narrative, and the evidence of our own eyes, is to be believed – a project casually tossed off to pass the time. It is, rather, journey to the nerve-centre of the quarantined entertainer’s mind. It could be a breakdown – or it could be the pandemic’s wildest gift to comedy.
AUDIBLE
Audible is a new coming of age documentary short that follows high school athlete Amaree McKenstry and his friends during their senior year.
They all attend the Maryland School for the Deaf, and the documentary focuses on the deaf and hard of hearing students’ experiences in their final year of school, on the football field and off, as the kids get ready for homecoming and prepare to leave school for the wider world.
Executive produced by actor/director Peter Berg, who was also the creator of sports drama series Friday Night Lights, and deaf actor and model Nyle DiMarco, the documentary is directed by Matt Ogens, who also made the award-winning From Harlem With Love.
THIS IS POP
This docuseries consists of eight episodes of 44 minutes each and features famous artists like Boyz II Men, T-Pain, Ludwig Göransson, Hozier, and others.
The official synopsis of Netflix This is Pop reads – Uncover the real stories behind your favourite pop songs as this docuseries charts the impact of the festival scene, Auto-Tune, boy bands and more.
A must-watch for those who love music and are fans of the pop genre. The internet might have an ample amount of information in what’s shown here. But listening and watching the artists talk about their success, downfall, change and impact of music is a superlative experience.
WE THE PEOPLE
Netflix has elected Barack and Michelle Obama to a new position of power at the head of their upcoming animated series. They have produced We the People, a 10-episode television series aimed at educating children on United States civics lessons, for the streaming service.
Across all three-minute music videos, the Obamas have enlisted artists H.E.R., Adam Lambert, Cordae, Frozen‘s Robert and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Hamilton‘s Daveed Diggs, Brittany Howard, In the Heights helmer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brandi Carlile, KYLE, Bebe Rexha, Andra Day, Janelle Monáe, and poet Amanda Gorman to perform original songs and compositions that will soundtrack each narrative.
A press release bills the series as “an exuberant call to action for everyone to rethink civics as a living, breathing thing and to reframe their understanding of what government and citizenship mean in a modern world.”
Netflix – Resident Evil : Infinite Darkness (8 July)
Capcom’s iconic survival horror video game franchise launched in 1996 and has garnered a large following across its ten mainline titles, numerous spin-offs, and the recent remakes of its second and third instalments. The series returned with a new title this past May with Resident Evil Village, which helped the franchise reach a landmark 100 million copies sold since its debut.
Directed by Eiichirō Hasumi, the series is set between the events of Resident Evil 4 and 5 in the year 2006 as the White House is hit by a cyber attack. Leon S. Kennedy is tasked to investigate the incident and crosses paths with Resident Evil 2 companion Claire Redfield, who is herself investigating a strange drawing from a child refugee linked to a mysterious viral outbreak abroad. Their investigations become hampered as the White House comes under attack by a wave of zombies, with no clear explanation as to how they’ve arrived there.
NAOMI OSAKA (13 July)
Tennis ace Naomi Osaka will open her life and career to cameras for a new Netflix documentary. The Japanese star, 23, hit headlines at the end of May by quitting the French Open for her mental health. Osaka, who ranks as one of the best players in the world, got into disputes over appearing at press conferences. After being threatened with fines, she withdrew entirely.
Covering two years, the series catches some landmark moments of the young player’s life. Now, fans will be able to see the real-life pressures the star was under before making the decision.
It’s not known if the film, commissioned before her withdrawal, will include the new development. The three-part series will feature in-depth chats with Osaka, her friends and family.
HEIST (14 July)
The exciting new crime-docuseries will chronicle the events of three famous heists in recent American history:
- Sex Magick Money Murder – A 21-year-old woman steals millions in Vegas casino cash.
- The Money Plane – An aspiring father swipes a fortune from the Miami airport… and uses TV shows to learn how to get away with it.
- The Bourbon King – A Kentucky dad is accused of one of the biggest bourbon burglaries in history.
Each episode will see dramatic reanenacments of the heists, along with original interviews featuring the very people that conducted the jobs.
