What to watch on Netflix, Hulu Plus and iTunes: Apple TV Network’s Hot Picks for your Weekend Flix (May 17-19)

This week we bring you a little something old along with a lot of something new to get your weekend viewing schedule in order with all your Apple TV options tightened up right.  Smack in the middle of May there are some real juicy springtime options so get clicking!

And let’s click it off with Netflix:

• The one you’ve been waiting for- Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 Crime/Drama “Pulp Fiction” is finally available for your viewing pleasure and, if you’ve watched it before, you know this one will be a pleasure!  We never get tired of enjoying this seminal explosion of creative genius that erupted across movie screens everywhere and took the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.  Certainly one of the best films of the 90’s, the sheer brilliance of its script, editing, performances and music went on to enormously influence modern American film language and its wicked sense of dark, ironic humor is still being referenced today.  You’ll laugh until the blood splatters and then you’ll laugh some more.  A work of true cinematic genius that changed the American film game forever.  Yes, this movie is one BAD MUTHA*****R!
• If you’re still in the mood to time travel to the past then zoom over to 2001’s “Tomb Raider” with a still single, pre-Brangelina Angelina Jolie as everybody’s favorite video game heroine come to Action/Adventure, globe-trotting life.  Sure, the story is cheesy (it is after all based on a video game lest we forget) and Angie’s Brit accent is a bit shaky but she looks gorgeous and kicks all kinds of ass and isn’t that all that matters anyway?
• Horror fans, we haven’t forgotten you. If you’re ready to turn off all the lights and tremble under the covers with the One you love then fire up the 2002 Original (let’s all just agree to forget that awful Hollywood remake) Japanese Screamer, “Ju-On, The Grudge”.  Haunted houses just don’t get any creepier as Director Takeshi Shimizu ramps up the gut-wrenching chills in this terrifically terrifying ghost story.  Don’t blame us if you have nightmares.
• TV Pick of the Week– Something for your Shorties this time around. Kids seem to love the 22 minute episodes of “Justin Time”, an animated adventure series where the title hero and his friends travel the world looking for fun adventures.  Dial this one up for your 5-10 year olds and you won’t have to pay for a babysitter because Netflix is currently offering 2 Seasons (26 episodes) worth of shows to keep the Little Ones occupied!  You’re welcome.

Now let’s take a peek at what’s on this week’s menu over at Hulu Plus:

• And we’re going Classic all the way with our movie choices this time around starting with 1967’s “Belle du Jour”.  This sexy/sly/subversive Luis Bunuel film was a 60’s sensation and with Catherine Denueve as the title Good-Girl-gone-Bad this mature examination of love, sex and marriage still has the power to amuse, arouse and set fire to your…conversation.  Adults only please!
• One of our All Time Favorite films and always a mysterious joy to behold, why not enter the dream world of Wim Wenders 1987 “Wings of Desire”.  Bruno Ganz is a lonely angel overlooking Berlin, mesmerized by human frailties, hopes, wishes, wonders, emotions and pining to join the mad, sad parade of humanity.  An evocative masterpiece that always makes us happy to be alive and happier to know love.  And it’s got Peter Falk in the cameo of a career as just exactly who we thought Peter Falk always was…
• OK, if that’s just too much melancholy for your weekend viewing party then maybe it’s time to laugh and we can’t think of a better film to bring the funny then Director David O. Russell’s overlooked 1996 gem of a comic farce, “Flirting with Disaster”.  Ben Stiller is a nebbishy New Yorker with father issues who abandons routine to take off on a nationwide road trip/quest to find his long gone, “real” father along with some much needed closure.  With a luscious Patricia Arquette as his put-upon wife-in-tow, a super-sexy Tia Leone as a neurotic shrink along for the ride and featuring Alan Alda, Lily Tomlin, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal with a young Josh Brolin in the mix let’s just say things go very, very sideways.
• TV Picks of the Week– If you’re already Huluing then why not try the hot new superhero crime thriller “Arrow”.  This series has been getting great word-of-mouth and already has a huge stateside following.  And we have a feeling that the Ladies may enjoy this one too if you know what we mean.  And while you’re here why not check out the Final Episodes of “The Office”.  The American version of Ricky Gervais’ Brit TV hit has went through some bad years but the final weeks have really been some of the best ever and we highly recommend tuning in for the finale if you’re a fan of the show or even if you’re not…yet.

Finally, let’s take a look at what’s in store over at iTunes:

• With the Summer Blockbuster Season in full swing we thought you might want to check back on some of the earlier versions of recent theatrical releases just to get your movie watching engines revved up.  So let’s start with J.J. Abrams well received 2009 reboot of “Star Trek”.  The new cast/crew is introduced, Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty and Zoe Saldana as Uhuru and the USS Enterprise is taken out for a spin in this origin story reboot of the beloved TV Classic. A must-see for you Trekkies out there!
• And while we’re here…Why not try Director Jon Favreau’s original “Iron Man”.  This was the superhero movie that saved us all from superhero franchise overdose and the 2008 action/thriller/comedy is still a rock solid kick-in-the-pants with Robert Downey Jr. absolutely knocking it out of the park as the wise-cracking, playboy/genius, “shellhead”.  Fantastic job all around and a real romp of an Action/Adventure.
• If you’re still looking for more laughs then try the Judd Apatow produced sleeper comedy hit, 2011’s “Bridesmaids”.  Kristen Wiig penned and stars as the loopy loser chick who wants desperately to make everything work out right for her BFF Maya Rudolph on her Big Day.  Needless to say things go hilariously wrong then spin weirdly, wildly and hilariously out of control.  With Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper and a classic cameo by Jon Hamm, this movie will have you spitting out your drinks and choking on your sandwich as you laugh with, at and for the Girls to get it right.  Who said chicks can’t be funny?
• This Week’s Free App– “Face Swap” by Iddiction.  Yea, this one is kind of a goofy time sink but the kids will love it and you’ll be digging it too so if you have an hour or 3 to kill…it’s FREE!

That’s all for this week.  We’ll be back next week with more great Apple TV stuff!

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