WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
Lost In Space
Netflix hasn’t had the best track record with big-budget sci-fi lately, but here comes this un-campy reboot of the campy 60s sci-fi show Lost In Space starring Toby Stephens and Molly Parker as the Robinson family parents and Parker Posey as the villainous Dr. Smith. The 10-episode series is set 30 years in the future when space colonization has become a reality. En route to their new intergalactic home, the Robinsons and their two kids become stranded alongside a robot that says “Danger Will Robinson!” Neil Marshall (The Descent) is one of the show’s directors. April 13
Bobby Kennedy For President
Dawn Porter did a seven-year deep dive into the legacy of Robert F. Kennedy for this four-hour series, which reportedly looks at lesser-known aspects of the late American political icon’s career. The Gideon’s Army and Trapped documentarian purposefully did not approach Ethel Kennedy or Robert’s nine surviving children for interviews since her focus is squarely on politics. Interviewees include Harry Belafonte, labour leader Dolores Huerta and Munir Sirhan, brother of RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan. April 27
Psychokinesis
Yeon Sang-ho’s zombies-on-a-train flick Train To Busan is one of the best zombie movies in recent years and marked the live-action debut for the South Korean animator-turned-director. His latest is about a man who discovers telekinetic powers and sets out to save his troubled daughter. It’s heavy on visual effects, but looks a bit less intense than the wild Busan. April 25
6 Balloons
Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson takes a dramatic turn as the sister of a heroin addict (played by another comedy vet, Dave Franco, who apparently dropped 20 lbs for the role) in writer/director Marja Lewis-Ryan’s Los Angeles-set film, which just debuted at SXSW. The story is based on the real-life experiences of producer Samantha Housman, and Channing Tatum serves as co-producer. April 6
Kodachrome
Another comic actor making a dramatic turn in a Netflix premiere this month is Jason Sudeikis in director Mark Raso’s ode to pre-digital technology, Kodachrome, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. Sudeikis plays an A&R exec whose father (Ed Harris), a celebrated photographer, convinces him to go on a road trip to Kansas to process film rolls before the Kodachrome plant shuts down. Yes, it was shot on film. April 20
Mercury 13
If you aren’t able to catch David Sington’s doc at Hot Docs, you can catch it on Netflix. The film explores the story of 13 women who secretly tested for NASA’s astronaut program in 1961 and passed – only to be denied because of their gender. Jessica Chastain is also developing a scripted series based on the same story with Sully writer Todd Komarnicki. April 20
The 4th Company
There’s no shortage of prison dramas on streaming these days, but Mitzi Vanessa Arreola and Amir Galván Cervera’s crime thriller seems intriguing. Based on a true story, it was shot inside Mexico City’s infamous high-security Santa Martha Acatitla prison and tells the story of a 1970s inmate football team that acts as an enforcement squad for corrupt public officials. It won best picture at Mexico’s Ariel Awards and was shortlisted for best foreign-language film Oscar but ultimately didn’t score a nomination. April 6
The Alienist (season one)
Unless you illegally streamed it when it began airing on TNT earlier this year, this is your first chance to watch this adaptation of Caleb Carr’s fantastic 1994 historical thriller. It’s got a great hook: in late 19th-century New York, someone is murdering the city’s child prostitutes. It’s up to an unlikely trio – the eponymous Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), a sort of early profiler/mind-hunter, the newspaper illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans) and Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning), the first woman hired by the NYC Police Department as a secretary to commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (yes, that one) – to solve the case. If you’re a fan of other historical crime series like The Knick and Penny Dreadful, which have provided thrills while examining the stark social conditions of an era, this will be your cuppa. April 19
The Week Of
Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison production company’s ongoing contract with Netflix has produced some terrific films (The Meyerowitz Stories) and some duds (The Ridiculous 6). This project, directed by Saturday Night Live’s Robert Smigel, stars Sandler and frequent collaborator Chris Rock as very different fathers of a soon-to-be-married couple. Sounds like a mashup of Grown Ups, Meet The Parents and Father Of The Bride. And it’s just in time for wedding season. April 27
Courtesy of Netflix
Bria Vinaite (left) and Brooklynn Prince in The Florida Project.
SOLID BETS
The Florida Project
Sean Baker’s powerful look at the American Dream was NOW film editor Glenn Sumi’s favourite movie of 2017 and earned a 5N rave from reviewer Radheyan Simonpillai. (Drake also loved it.) Willem Dafoe earned an Oscar nom for his role as a motel owner working in the shadow of Disney World in Orlando, but it’s child actor Brooklynn Prince who owns the movie. April 6
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman star in Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest metaphorical film about bourgeois hypocrisy. As the Greek director has done in past films, he creates his own singular universe to up-end viewers’ expectations in telling an uncomfortable story about a teenager (Barry Keoghan) seeking revenge on a cardiac surgeon (Farrell). April 5
Loving Vincent
This hand-painted animated biopic about Dutch master painter Vincent Van Gogh is stunning to watch, even if the story isn’t as painstakingly crafted as the visuals. The film takes place after the troubled Van Gogh shot himself in 1890 and pieces together his final years via people who sat for portraits. The cast includes Chris O’Dowd and Lady Bird’s Saoirse Ronan. April 16
By The Sea
Director Angelina Jolie’s stylistically adventurous film follows an aging American couple (Jolie and her then-husband Brad Pitt) who spy on their sexy, young French neighbours (Mélanie Laurent and Melvil Poupaud) in 2015’s cheekiest cinematic metaphor. By The Sea is about a topic rarely tackled on screen with such intense interiority (or glamour) – but it’s impossible to say what without spoiling the end. Not surprisingly, the few critics who panned the film upon its brief theatrical run attempted to engage with its subject (hint: it’s not divorce). Yes, it’s probably 20 minutes too long, but no one drapes themselves over a chaise lounge as dramatically as Angelina. April 1
The Nice Guys
When it opened theatrically in 2016, Shane Black’s action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as two investigators in 1970s Los Angeles flew under the radar. (Way more attention was paid to Gosling’s other L.A.-set picture La La Land, which almost won the best film Oscar.) But it should find an appreciative audience on Netflix, where more people will be able to appreciate Gosling’s oddball comic timing and the steady stream of jokes, as well as the gripping crime plot. April 9
Columbus
Kogonada’s beautiful and stylistically rigorous film about two architecture nerds (Haley Lu Richardson and John Cho) walking and talking among modernist buildings quietly became available in March, and since Netflix didn’t give us the heads up, we’re including it in this month’s round-up. One of 2017’s art-house sleepers, Columbus works as a coming-of-age flick but is full of deeper meditations on modernism and immigrant experience. Available now
Beach Rats
Another addition to Netflix that we didn’t know about until mid-March is Eliza Hittman’s dreamy sophomore feature. The New York director’s coming-of-age film is ostensibly about a gay Brooklyn teen (Harris Dickinson) grappling with his sexuality, but it also wrestles with family dynamics, shame and masculinity. Available now
Full list of new titles available in April, by date:
TV SHOWS
April 1
The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale (season one, weekly episodes every Sunday)
Wakfu (season three)
April 2
Ash Vs. Evil Dead (season two)
April 3
Black Lightning (season one, weekly episodes)
April 6
Fastest Car (season one)
Money Heist: Part 2
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: Jay-Z
Seth Rogen’s Hilarity For Charity
The Boss Baby: Back In Business (season one)
Troy: Fall Of A City (season one)
April 7
Dynasty (season one, weekly episodes)
April 9
AMO (season one)
April 12
Hyori’s Bed & Breakfast (season two)
April 13
Chef’s Table: Pastry
Lost In Space (season one)
The Magic School Bus Rides Again (season two)
April 15
Monty Python’s Fliegender Zirkus (season one)
Monty Python’s Personal Best (season one)
April 17
The Chalet (season one)
The Honeymoon Stand Up Special: Collection
Lockup: Chain Linked: Collection 1
April 19
Ainori Love Wagon: Asian Journey (season one)
Charité (season one)
Riverdale (season two, episodes weekly)
The Alienist (season one)
April 20
Aggretsuko (season one)
Dope (season two)
Spy Kids: Mission Critical (season one)
April 21
The Letdown (season one)
April 26
The 100 (season five)
April 27
3% (season two)
Bobby Kennedy For President
The New Legends Of Monkey (season one)
April 29
Superstition (season one)
MOVIES
April 1
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batteries Not Included
Bruno And Boots: Go Jump In The Pool
By The Sea
Dare To Be Wild
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Elizabeth
Fishpeople
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ice Guardians
Kiss & Cry
Krampus
Liar Liar
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
Ride Along
Ride Along 2
Pride & Prejudice
The Best Man Holiday
The Search For Life In Space
Wild Child
April 2
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power
April 3
Fary Is The New Black
April 5
Behind The Curtain: Todrick Hall
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer
April 6
6 Balloons
Amateur
Orbiter 9
Ram Dass, Going Home
The 4th Company
The Florida Project
Todo Lo Que Seria De Lucas Lauriente
April 9
The Nice Guys
April 10
Greg Davies: You Magnificent Beast
April 12
Pickpockets
April 13
Come Sunday
I Am Not An Easy Man
Leatherface
April 15
Eric ldle’s What About Dick?
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
Monty Python’s Almost The Truth
Monty Python: Before The Flying Circus
Monty Python Conquers America
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Life Of Brian
Monty Python: Live At Aspen
Monty Python: Live At The Hollywood Bowl
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five To Go
Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years Of Monty Python
The Meaning Of Monty Python
April 16
Loving Vincent
The Gunman
April 20
Dude
Kodachrome
Mercury 13
April 24
Kevin James: Never Don’t Give Up
April 25
Bill Nye: Science Guy
Psychokinesis
April 27
Candy Jar
Holy Goalie
The Week Of
April 30
The Conjuring 2
LAST CALL
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month
April 1
Hitch
Hancock
Men In Black
Our Brand Is Crisis
Black Mass
April 2
Charlie St. Cloud
April 13
Footloose
April 17
American Dad! (seasons one to six)
April 19
Tropic Thunder
