Photo: Courtesy of John Irvine
With the end of the year fast approaching, chances are you’re going to have a lot of time on your hands during reading week and over the summer. Keeping this in mind, we Intel editors saved you the time and the heartache of browsing the Netflix Watch Instantly section. Not a Netflix subscriber? You’re bound to know somebody who is. Get them to log you in and you’re set. Check out our recommendations for every kind of mood after the jump.
What to watch when you’re disillusioned with Northwestern’s dating scene:
You’ve Got Mail: The classic 1990s comedy that will remind you of the birth of the Internet when AOL was still popular and mega bookstores like Barnes and Noble actually made money selling hardcovers and paperbacks. Nostalgia bookstore love at its best.
Cry-Baby: A John Waters film for dummies, this caricature of teen love in the 50s is the hipster version of Grease but with more leather and more Rizzo-esque bad girls.
Coupling: A short-lived but legendary British TV comedy. Imagine Friends but where Ross and Rachel really get it on.
What to watch before you study abroad:
Keeping Up Appearances: There’s nothing better than 90s British sitcoms. The show follows the life of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bouquet) and her attempts to appear civilized and high class despite her rough-and-tumble family. You’ll need to know how to keep up appearances in uppity western Europe.
Tell No One: As sexy as it is thrilling, this film’s plot twists will have you on the edge of your seat. Even a francophile will be a bit uneasy about their beloved French after watching this one. Watch this if you’re a bit too enamored with the French.
Skins: Don’t even compare the original British version to its American counterpart. The unending cycle of sex, drugs, alcohol, and teen angst is the perfect cocktail for procrastination and will hopefully provide a glimpse at what kind of antics are in store for your time abroad.
What to watch when you’re hung over:
My So Called Life: 7th Heaven’s rebellious older sister; a teen drama with all the drugs, booze, and lessons learned that a 90s fan could ask for. Don’t remember last night? That’s alright: this kids aren’t likely to remember most of high school.
Party Down: Follows the world’s most dysfunctional party catering company staffed by LA’s finest failed actors, writers, and comedians. A surprisingly good cast: Adam Scott (Parks & Recreation) plays the lead, Jane Lynch (Glee) plays her usual sarcastic, desert-dry character, and Ken Jeong (Community) even makes a couple of appearances. You can blame the party help for your current pain.
Pushing Daisies: A casualty of the writers’ strike, this show’s whimsy and heart is exemplified in the casting of Broadway (and Glee) fav Kristin Chenoweth. Nothing kicks a hangover quite like some pie and a pretty colors—two things this show doesn’t run short on.
What to watch when you need to remember that you’re better off than most people:
Savage Grace: Seductress Julianne Moore stars in this biographical film that looks at the incestuous relationship between a mother and her gay son. With a threesome and a mother son-sex scene, this film isn’t much more than meets the eye, but what meets the eye is fairly hot. Remember, at least you’re not the gay son sleeping with his mother.
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia: As terrible as your life may be, at least you aren’t a White. As long as you’re not snorting pain pills off of maternity ward hospital trays, or sobbing in the drive-thru of a Taco Bell you’re life is probably not too far off track.
Eureka: A great sci-fi show about a town in Oregon created post-WWII to house all scientific development in the US. The show centers around the town sheriff as he tries to fix various scientific work gone awry. Remember, at least you’re not keeping company with some masochistic scientists.
What to watch when you’re playing a drinking game:
Lucky Number Slevin: A glamorous glamorous cast with hard hitting but thoughtful action. Drink every time something blows up or a gun is shot.
Desperately Seeking Susan: Madonna at her prime. A New York gutter-punk whose life in crime seduces a suburban housewife leads the two on a fabulous game of cat and mouse. Drink every time somebody mistakes a housewife for Madonna.
Red: A box-office dud with the most ridiculous A-list cast imaginable (well, not imaginable, but we say that for effect). Excellent plot and writing for an action flick. Drink ever time you see red.
What to binge on during reading week:
Serenity: The final Firefly movie completes the series’ brief plot with similar antics, but a bigger budget. Watch this when you should be studying physics; look for all the ill-informed Hollywood physics.
Summer Heights High: A cult eight-episode Australian comedy. With ridiculous characters like prep schoolgirl Ja’mie, perennial bad boy Jonah, and flamboyant drama (pronounced drah-mah) teacher Mr. G., its a challenge to make it through an episode without laughing out loud. Watch it if you are in a psych course on development and take note when these teachers scar their students.
Dead Like Me: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a grim reaper? Neither have we. Regardless, this pre-2000s, Canadian dram-edy is sometimes lighthearted, sometimes serious, but always sassy (not unlike Intel). Watch this as you study for a religion course, comparing and contrasting the shows view of the after-life and said religion’s.
cool list! although Friday Night Lights is the PERFECT reading-week binge show. definitely gonna check some of these out.