For a large chunk of 2018, I had a pretty staid daily pattern: I engaged briefly with the news of the outside world, and once the incredulity and nausea reached a certain threshold, I would immediately retreat into the largely imaginary landscapes offered up by Netflix. This isn't to say that my time wasn't occupied with other pursuits, from reading comics and books to watching movies and sports, but after looking at my viewing history for the year, it was clear that Netflix had a hold on my time.
I also worked and slept. Keep that in mind when you see the following list:
Adamantium Status (in that it is bonded to my bones now and forevermore)
Springsteen on Broadway
Let me first say that I'm not the world's biggest Bruce Springsteen fan. To me, that means that I love his work from pretty much every period of his career, but I'm not a trading-bootlegs deep-cut sort of fellow. I first saw him in '96 on a solo tour, and I last saw him in an all-star greatest-hits "please vote for John Kerry" show in '04, but I haven't seen the full E Street band experience, and it's likely I never will. But I read his book last year, and I put myself on the waitlist for his Broadway residency earlier this year. And on the waitlist for the summer dates. And on the waitlist for the fall shows. Needless to say, I was shut out of all three chances, and as I was ready to lay down the long green to make it happen, I was mightily bummed.
Enter Netflix.
The day after his residency ended, Springsteen on Broadway popped up on Netflix, and I carved out a Sunday morning to soak up all two and a half hours of the performance. It's important to note that "performance" is exactly what it was, as it was a hybrid of a Broadway one-man show and a solo tour. On Broadway, Bruce was a storytelling lion in winter, weaving tales of naked emotions and distinctly American perspectives, breaking down the mythology of BRUUUUUCE! while also buttressing it, all set to a sampling of his prodigious catalog. I was moved to tears more than a few times, and I was left exhausted at the end, despite having never left my comfy couch. And the next time I watch it, I can focus on all the things I missed the first time 'round, which I couldn't have done had I actually made the trek to NYC. That show alone paid for my '18 Netflix bill, so everything before or after was gravy.
Diamond Status (look at the pretty sparkles!)
GLOW (Season 2)
The Break with Michelle Wolf (Season 1)
Dark (Season 1)
The End of the Fucking World (Season 1)
Black Mirror (Season 4)
Santa Clarita Diet (Season 2)
The Haunting of Hill House (Season 1)
Big Mouth (Season 1 & 2)
Alias Grace
The Night Comes For Us
Hold The Dark
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
For better or worse, Netflix has changed how stories are categorized. What are movies, and what aren't? Isn't The End of the Fucking World a long-ish movie instead of a (should-be) stand-alone series? And isn't The Ballad of Buster Scruggs more of a picaresque with a rotating exemplar of 19th Century American than a honest-to-gosh movie? And does it really matter in the end, so long as the stories are compelling?
Platinum Status (shiny shiny!!)
Tidelands (Season 1 )
Glitch (Season 1 & 2)
Ozark (Season 1)
Disenchantment (Season 1 Part 1)
Orange Is The New Black (Season 6)
Better Call Saul (Season 2 & 3)
Tabula Rasa (Season 1)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 4 Part 1)
Arrested Development (Season 4 Remix & 5)
Love (Season 3)
Requiem (Season 1)
Everything Sucks! (Season 1)
One Day At A Time (Season 1 & 2)
Altered Carbon (Season 1)
Stranger Things (Season 2)
The Sinner (Season 1)
Lovesick (Season 3)
The Vietnam War (Parts 1-10)
Wild Wild Country (Parts 1-6)
Bobby Kennedy for President (Parts 1-4)
Cam
Train To Busan
Death Note
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
The Other Side of the Wind
Filmworker
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City
--whew!--
Again, there's some things (like Nanette) that are hard to classify. There are shows -- some native to Netflix, some imported from networks and/or other countries -- and there are movies and there are limited series documentaries, and there is comedy. But it's all under the Neflix banner, and the time to consume under that banner is now. Because in a few years, with all the completing platforms that are launching or threatening to launch, will make streaming look a lot like cable from a decade ago. Cable cord cutting will increase, but so too will streaming "channels" with exclusive content on each. What that will mean for Netflix is still up in the air, but for now, trying to keep up with the deluge of Netflix-delivered content in the age of Peak TV, it's enough to give a person eyestrain. This person, in fact.
I also worked and slept. Keep that in mind when you see the following list:
Adamantium Status (in that it is bonded to my bones now and forevermore)
Springsteen on Broadway
Let me first say that I'm not the world's biggest Bruce Springsteen fan. To me, that means that I love his work from pretty much every period of his career, but I'm not a trading-bootlegs deep-cut sort of fellow. I first saw him in '96 on a solo tour, and I last saw him in an all-star greatest-hits "please vote for John Kerry" show in '04, but I haven't seen the full E Street band experience, and it's likely I never will. But I read his book last year, and I put myself on the waitlist for his Broadway residency earlier this year. And on the waitlist for the summer dates. And on the waitlist for the fall shows. Needless to say, I was shut out of all three chances, and as I was ready to lay down the long green to make it happen, I was mightily bummed.
Enter Netflix.
The day after his residency ended, Springsteen on Broadway popped up on Netflix, and I carved out a Sunday morning to soak up all two and a half hours of the performance. It's important to note that "performance" is exactly what it was, as it was a hybrid of a Broadway one-man show and a solo tour. On Broadway, Bruce was a storytelling lion in winter, weaving tales of naked emotions and distinctly American perspectives, breaking down the mythology of BRUUUUUCE! while also buttressing it, all set to a sampling of his prodigious catalog. I was moved to tears more than a few times, and I was left exhausted at the end, despite having never left my comfy couch. And the next time I watch it, I can focus on all the things I missed the first time 'round, which I couldn't have done had I actually made the trek to NYC. That show alone paid for my '18 Netflix bill, so everything before or after was gravy.
Diamond Status (look at the pretty sparkles!)
GLOW (Season 2)
The Break with Michelle Wolf (Season 1)
Dark (Season 1)
The End of the Fucking World (Season 1)
Black Mirror (Season 4)
Santa Clarita Diet (Season 2)
The Haunting of Hill House (Season 1)
Big Mouth (Season 1 & 2)
Alias Grace
The Night Comes For Us
Hold The Dark
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
For better or worse, Netflix has changed how stories are categorized. What are movies, and what aren't? Isn't The End of the Fucking World a long-ish movie instead of a (should-be) stand-alone series? And isn't The Ballad of Buster Scruggs more of a picaresque with a rotating exemplar of 19th Century American than a honest-to-gosh movie? And does it really matter in the end, so long as the stories are compelling?
Platinum Status (shiny shiny!!)
Tidelands (Season 1 )
Glitch (Season 1 & 2)
Ozark (Season 1)
Disenchantment (Season 1 Part 1)
Orange Is The New Black (Season 6)
Better Call Saul (Season 2 & 3)
Tabula Rasa (Season 1)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 4 Part 1)
Arrested Development (Season 4 Remix & 5)
Love (Season 3)
Requiem (Season 1)
Everything Sucks! (Season 1)
One Day At A Time (Season 1 & 2)
Altered Carbon (Season 1)
Stranger Things (Season 2)
The Sinner (Season 1)
Lovesick (Season 3)
The Vietnam War (Parts 1-10)
Wild Wild Country (Parts 1-6)
Bobby Kennedy for President (Parts 1-4)
Cam
Train To Busan
Death Note
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
The Other Side of the Wind
Filmworker
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City
--whew!--
Again, there's some things (like Nanette) that are hard to classify. There are shows -- some native to Netflix, some imported from networks and/or other countries -- and there are movies and there are limited series documentaries, and there is comedy. But it's all under the Neflix banner, and the time to consume under that banner is now. Because in a few years, with all the completing platforms that are launching or threatening to launch, will make streaming look a lot like cable from a decade ago. Cable cord cutting will increase, but so too will streaming "channels" with exclusive content on each. What that will mean for Netflix is still up in the air, but for now, trying to keep up with the deluge of Netflix-delivered content in the age of Peak TV, it's enough to give a person eyestrain. This person, in fact.
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