WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
The Other Side Of The Wind
How often do you get to see a new movie from a director who’s been dead for three decades? Shot in fits and starts in the 70s and left uncompleted when he died in 1985, Orson Welles’s long-lost drama finally reaches the public thanks to the efforts of director Peter Bogdanovich, who convinced Netflix to fund its completion. The biggest twist? It’s actually about the attempts to understand and complete the unfinished work of a notoriously complicated filmmaker, played by Welles’s pal John Huston. Presumably this incredible coincidence will be explored further in Morgan Neville’s documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, which arrives on Netflix the same day as Welles’s feature. November 2
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs
Originally announced as a miniseries, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Netflix feature still has an anthology structure, lining up a magnificent ensemble for a series of Old West campfire tales. There’s Tim Blake Nelson as the eponymous singing cowboy and James Franco as an outlaw Tom Waits plays a grizzled prospector and Zoe Kazan, a reluctant pioneer Liam Neeson is a travelling showman and Brendan Gleeson, Tyne Daly and Saul Rubinek are stagecoach companions on a long, dark ride. Saddle up. November 16
House Of Cards (season 6)
In the trailer for the sixth and final season of House Of Cards, First-Lady-turned-president-of-the-United States Claire Underwood (the glorious Robin Wright) declares, “The reign of the middle-aged white man is over.” Indeed, in this season, Kevin Spacey, who played her husband and former president, Frank Underwood, is killed off since Netflix fired Spacey over sexual assault allegations. We don’t know the details of Frank’s death yet, but we can only hope it’s as cruel and unceremonious as the other deaths he’s orchestrated over the past five seasons. And now with Frank finally out of the picture, we can’t wait to see how Claire will rule the country on her own – probably with plenty of political backstabbing, assassinations and lurid affairs. November 2
Happy As Lazzaro
Italian director Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders) won the best screenplay prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (in a tie with Iran’s Nader Saeivar for 3 Faces) for this film about a childlike man (Adriano Tardiolo) in a tobacco farming village who becomes mixed up in a kidnapping plot. Shot on 16 mm, the movie whipped up critical buzz (and distribution deals) in Cannes, furthering Rohrwacher’s rep as an auteur who is following in the Italian cinema tradition of mixing realism with folkloric whimsy. November 30
Super Drags
Superheroes, anime and drag queens are really popular so of course Netflix’s algorithm has spit out an animated series about superhero drag queens. Originating in Brazil, Super Drags looks like a raunchier version of Powerpuff Girls and features voices by Drag Race alumni Trixie Mattel, Shangela, Willam and Ginger Minj. Brazilian queen/pop star Pabllo Vittar does a voice for the Portuguese version. November 9
Narcos: Mexico
Narcos’ wrapped up its taut third season with a nod to Kiki Camarena, the DEA agent who played a defining role in the war on drugs. If you don’t want to have the events in the series’ new season spoiled for you, don’t Google Kiki or the Guadalajara cartel boss he investigated, Félix Gallardo (Diego Luna). The first three seasons covered the rise and demise of Colombia’s Medellin and Cali Cartels. But before covering the subsequent transition in power to Mexico’s cartels, Narcos: Mexico goes back to that trade’s roots in what can be described as both spinoff and prequel. November 16
ReMastered: Tricky Dick & The Man In Black
Kanye West recently made headlines by visiting Donald Trump’s White House. But the Pussy-Grabber-in-Chief is not the first U.S. prez to court a celeb in order to woo voters under the guise of discussing prison reform. Part of ReMastered, an eight-part series of documentaries about the ways music intersects with politics, this film by directors Barbara Kopple and Sara Dosa revisits the moment when Johnny Cash went to Richard Nixon’s White House in July 1972 to talk about prison reform and wound up performing a series of songs that likely made Tricky Dick deeply uncomfortable. November 2
Baby
Inspired by a true story, this Netflix original series deals with teen sex workers in Rome. Chiara is a promising student at an elite private high school by day. At night, she and a group of friends sell sex in search of independence and identity. Not much is revealed in the trailer − Chiara sits at a vanity as a sultry down-tempo version of Girls Just Want To Have Fun plays in the background − so anticipation is high for when the series drops. November 30
Courtesy of TIFF
Sebastián Lelio’s romantic drama Disobedience features underrated performances from Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz.
SOLID BETS
Disobedience
It’s almost that time when actors start landing accolades for the year’s best performances. But Rachel Weisz and Canada’s Rachel McAdams will likely be ignored for their passionate and absolutely deserving turns in smallish drama Disobedience. Weisz stars as Ronit, a photographer returning to her orthodox Jewish community for her father’s funeral. She subsequently rekindles a tryst with Rachel McAdams’ Esti, scandalizing the closed community. If you’ve seen director Sebastián Lelio’s previous films, like Oscar winner A Fantastic Woman, you know he loves to home in on great performances, suggesting expansive internal lives via discreet gestures and glances. McAdams, in particular, delivers subtle looks that can either be read as lustful or resentful. Her performance rewards repeat viewings. November 1
The Untold Tales Of Armistead Maupin
While filming of the latest installment of Armistead Maupin’s Tales Of The City saga is currently going on in San Francisco (it’ll air on Netflix in 2019), what better time to stream Jennifer M. Kroot’s documentary about the bestselling author and queer activist? The film, which played Toronto’s Inside Out Festival in 2017 but never got a theatrical release, covers Maupin’s eclectic life, which included a right-wing upbringing in the South (he even worked for notorious homophobe Jesse Helms) before moving to San Francisco, coming out and writing the serialized adventures in a newspaper, which became the basis of his books. Maupin is a born raconteur, and friends Laura Linney, Ian McKellan (whom Maupin convinced to come out) and Margaret Cho are among the witty and insightful talking heads. November 1
Children Of Men
Alfonso Cuarón’s grim adaptation of P.D. James’s dystopian novel stars Clive Owen as an exhausted antihero in a near-future England where humanity is watching itself spiral down the drain: we’ve stopped making babies, life has lost all meaning and everything is falling apart. It was made in 2006 but is utterly relevant to the present moment, right down to the thing where the decadent, quasi-fascist government is herding refugees into cages and no one much cares. November 1
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Just in time for the sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald (in theatres November 16), Netflix is giving us a chance to re-watch the first in J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter spin-off series. Set in 1926 New York City, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them follows British wizard and magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he tries to track down escaped magical creatures while navigating tensions between wizards and witches and muggles – or no-majs, as they’re called in this franchise. November 7
Shaun The Sheep Movie
A feature-length expansion of Aardman Animation’s charming stop-motion TV show – itself spun out of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave – Shaun The Sheep Movie is a constant delight of charming, silly comedy and wonderful filmmaking, following its woolly hero, his friends and their sheepdog sidekick Bitzer as they venture into the big city to find their human caretaker, who’s wandered off after a head injury. Come for the adorable, expressive stop-motion animation, stay for the ingenious Banksy subplot. Seriously. November 10
Sing Street
After Once and Begin Again, writer/director John Carney made another movie about misfits who forge an unexpected connection through music. But this time he’s telling his own story, with Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as a kid in 1985 Dublin who starts a band to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton) and winds up discovering a passion for pop. It’s a sweet little picture with some very clever period touches, a few terrific songs and a very charming cast of rising stars, including Boynton, who’s now co-starring with Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody. November 23
Love Actually
Folks either love Love Actually or love to hate the 2003 Christmas flick that spawned copycat movies like Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve. The British film follows eight different couples whose lives are all connected in the weeks leading up to December 25. Hugh Grant plays the prime minister and Bill Nighy is a washed-up rock star in this feel-good romp that also stars Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson and Kiera Knightley. Does it hold up? Re-watch it on Netflix. November 7
Full list of new titles available in November, by date:
TV SHOWS
November 1
Follow This (part 3)
Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles (part 1)
Schitt’s Creek (season 4)
Star (season 3, streaming every Thursday)
The Judgement
November 2
Brainchild
House Of Cards (season 6)
Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (season 4)
November 3
A Taiwanese Tale Of Two Cities (streaming every Saturday)
Dynasty (season 2, streaming every Saturday)
November 4
Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj (streaming every Sunday)
November 5
Homecoming (season 1)
John Leguizamo’s Latin History For Morons
November 6
Black Lightning (season 2, streaming every Tuesday)
Happy! (season 1)
November 8
Riverdale (season 3, streaming every Thursday)
November 9
Beat Bugs (season 3)
Medal Of Honor
Spirit Riding Free (season 7)
Super Drags
Treehouse Detectives (season 2)
Westside
November 12
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 8)
November 13
Loudon Wainwright III: Surviving Twin
Oh My Ghost
Warrior
November 14
The Flash (season 5)
November 16
Narcos: Mexico
Ponysitters Club (season 2)
Prince Of Peoria
She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power
The Kominsky Method
November 19
Donald Glover: Weirdo
The Last Kingdom (season 3)
November 20
Kulipari: Dream Walker
Motown Magic
The Final Table
Trevor Noah: Son Of Patricia
November 22
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet
November 23
Fugitiva
Sick Note
Sick Note (season 2)
To Build Or Not To Build (season 2)
November 27
Bumping Mics With Jeff Ross & Dave Attel
November 30
1983
Baby
Death By Magic
F Is For Family (season 3)
Nicky Jam: El Ganador
Spy Kids: Mission Critical (season 2)
MOVIES
November 1
21
Angela’s Christmas
Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders
Beverly Hills Ninja
Children Of Men
Ethel & Ernest
Look Who’s Talking Too
Lowriders
The Da Vinci Code
The Untold Tales Of Armistead Maupin
November 2
ReMastered: Tricky Dick & The Man In Black
The Holiday Calendar
The Other Side Of The Wind
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
November 7
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Love Actually
Robin Hood
Scent Of A Woman
Smokin’ Aces
The Break-Up
November 9
Outlaw King
November 10
American Ultra
November 15
May The Devil Take You
The Crew
November 16
Cam
The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs
The Princess Switch
November 17
November 20
Sabrina
November 21
The Tribe
November 22
The Christmas Chronicles
November 23
November 24
Forever My Girl
November 25
Harold And Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story
November 26
Bad Santa
November 27
Operation Red Sea
November 28
Bleed For This
November 29
Passengers
Soltera Codiciada
November 30
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding
Happy As Lazzaro
Rajma Chawal
The World Is Yours
Tiempo Compartido
LAST CALL
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month.
November 1
The Queen
November 11
November 21
November 29
November 30
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