WHAT WE CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH
The Irishman
Ever since it went into production, Netflix has been positioning Martin Scorsese’s mobster drama – which reunites him with his Raging Bull, GoodFellas and Casino stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, throws in Al Pacino and examines post-war organized crime in America up to and including the disappearance Jimmy Hoffa – as one of the biggest projects it’s ever handled. Can it possibly live up to the hype? They loved it at the New York Film Festival, so here’s hoping. November 27
The Crown (season 3)
After two seasons, Claire Foy’s reign as Queen Elizabeth II is over. The good news is that the indomitable Olivia Colman, who nabbed an Oscar for playing Queen Anne in The Favourite, is taking over the role, while Helena Bonham Carter will play Princess Margaret. The third season picks up in the 60s and will cover the Aberfan disaster in Wales, the decolonization of Africa and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Of course, we can expect plenty of interpersonal royal drama, especially with Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Camilla (Emerald Fennell) getting added to the mix. November 17
I Lost My Body
Buzz has been building on the festival circuit for Jérémy Clapin’s animated existential drama – co-written by Amélie screenwriter Guillaume Laurent – which follows a severed hand as it tries to find the rest of itself. The English dub features Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which sounds appropriately eclectic. November 29
The End Of The F***ing World (season 2)
The first season of Charlie Covell’s gleefully twisted UK comedy – about teenage rebels who discover the world is far more cruel than they imagine themselves to be – seemed to end on a pretty decisive note, with all-purpose rebel Alyssa (Jessica Barden) in police custody and self-diagnosed psychopath James (Alex Lawther) on the run for murder. Season 2 teased an image of Alyssa glumly wearing a wedding dress in an American-style diner, so who the hell knows what that’s about. November 5
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator
Eva Orner’s Netflix doc chronicles the rise and fall Bikram Choudhury, the guru who popularized hot yoga in North America in 70s Beverly Hills. In the 2010s, lawsuits for harassment, sexual assault and discrimination began piling up, and Choudhury fled to India in 2016. Since this film premiered at TIFF, Orner has been urging California lawmakers to reopen a criminal sexual assault case. Her film features extensive archival footage, interviews with former students, accusers and Choudhury’s lawyer. November 20
Let It Snow
Three YA authors – including The Fault In Our Stars’ John Green – put their heads together and wrote an anthology of interconnected stories, set during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, that serves as the source material for this upcoming comedy-romance. Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina) is among the main cast, Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man) promises to steal his usual quota of scenes and there’s even a queer subplot starring YouTuber-turned-actor Anna Akana. PG-13-rated warm fuzzies, ahoy! November 8
The Man Without Gravity
Every now and then, a movie turns up on Netflix that seems to have been made on a dare. The gold standard for this is still Marie Madinier’s Arctic Heart, which stars Charlotte Le Bon as a genetic researcher who turns herself into a human-penguin hybrid because she’s in love with a colleague. (Yes, really.) This month, it’s Italian writer/director Marco Bonfanti’s magic-realist romance about Oscar (Elio Germano), a man born untethered to the earth’s pull, and the childhood friend (Silvia D’Amico) who keeps him grounded. Roll the dice. November 1
Queer Eye: We’re In Japan!
If you follow any of the Fab Five (aka Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown and Bobby Berk) on Instagram, earlier this year you probably saw photos of the gang traipsing through Tokyo and Kyoto. Turns out they were filming this special edition of Queer Eye, in which they make over four Japanese heroes and experience the country’s food, fashion and design scenes. November 1
Jeff Garlin: Our Man In Chicago
Best known as Larry David’s best friend/manager Jeff Greene on Curb Your Enthusiasm, comedian, actor and writer Jeff Garlin is taking a stroll down memory lane with this one-hour special filmed in his hometown. Part classic storytelling and part improv, Garlin sounds off on his legacy, such as the time he spent a few hours in jail and the sheer amount of donuts he’s eaten in his lifetime. November 12
Earthquake Bird
This atmospheric thriller – adapted from Susanna Jones’s 2001 mystery novel – marks a change of pace for director Wash Westmoreland after his tony character studies Still Alice and Colette. Alicia Vikander stars as Lucy Fly, a translator in 80s Tokyo who finds herself the prime suspect in the disappearance of another foreigner (Logan Lucky’s Riley Keough) whom she’d recently befriended. Why isn’t Lucy being more cooperative with the police? How does her photographer boyfriend (Naoki Kobayashi) figure into all this? Let’s find out together. November 15
MK2 Films
Mati Diop’s Atlantics is Senegal’s official entry for the best international feature category at the 2020 Oscars.
SOLID BETS
Atlantics
Mati Diop’s long-awaited feature debut was a breakout hit on the festival circuit, landing the Grand Prix award in Cannes (where Netflix picked it up) and earning the French/Senegalese filmmaker TIFF’s Mary Pickford Award. It’s also Senegal’s official entry for the best international feature film category at the 2020 Academy Awards. What’s all the hype about? Atlantics is an exquisitely photographed, sweat-soaked ghost story about a young woman in Dakar contending with strange goings-on that start after her lover drowns while attempting to migrate to Europe. Mixing horror, romance and geopolitics, it’s a spellbinding work that solidifies Diop’s rep as an auteur to watch. November 29
Giants Of Africa
Hubert Davis’s doc about would-be basketball players hits all the expected emotional beats while lapsing into what feels like a promo video for Masai Ujiri’s philanthropy. Still, this is perhaps exactly what we need as the Toronto Raptors begin the new season as NBA champions under GM Ujiri’s watch. Teens who escaped domestic violence, poverty and even Boko Haram are among the hundreds lucky enough to be invited to one of Masai Ujiri’s basketball camps in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda. Davis fills out the contours of this outreach program with plenty of eye-catching slow-motion gameplay. November 5
Erin Brockovich
If you found Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat too complicated and tongue-in-cheek, revisit his much more earnest and moving look at greedy capitalists hurting regular folks. Julia Roberts’ Oscar-winning performance as the titular single mom and paralegal taking on a water crisis is a classically Hollywood knockout, mixing her movie-star sass with boots-to-the-ground grit. November 6
Zero Dark Thirty
Kathryn Bigelow’s political thriller never got the love it deserved when it opened in 2012 (the Oscars preferred the popcorn-friendly Argo). Politicians were either displeased by the intel that filmmaker and screenwriter Mark Boal dug up on the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden or spinning their own angles about the movie’s depictions of torture. The film ticks with the intensity of a time bomb and spans a decade of moral indignation, bureaucratic manoeuvring and unnecessary casualties. The mission may have been accomplished, but the anxiety this film leaves you with is impossible to defuse. November 1
List of new titles available in November by date:
TV SHOWS
Coming Soon
Levius
November 1
Atypical (season 3)
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures: Go Team Roberts (season 1)
A Christmas Special: Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir
Cleo & Cuquin (season 1)
Hache
Hello Ninja
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (seasons 1-2)
Queer Eye: We’re In Japan!
Spitfire: The Plane That Saved The World
November 4
The Devil Next Door
November 5
The End Of The F***ing World (season 2)
Seth Meyers: Lobby Baby
She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power (season 4)
November 6
Scams
Novmeber 8
Busted! (season 2)
Greatest Events Of WWII In HD Colour
Green Eggs And Ham
Wild District (season 2)
November 9
Little Things (season 3)
November 10
Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj: Volume 5
November 11
Chief Of Staff (season 2)
November 12
Harvey Girls Forever! (season 3)
Jeff Garlin: Our Man In Chicago
November 14
The Stranded
November 15
Avlu: Part 2
The Club
I’m With The Band: Nasty Cherry
Llama Llama (season 2)
The Toys That Made Us (season 3)
November 17
The Crown (season 3)
November 19
Iliza: Unveiled
No Hay Tiempo Para La Verguenza
November 21
Mortel
November 22
Dino Girl Gauko
Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings
The Dragon Prince (season 3)
High Seas (season 2)
Nailed It! Holiday! (season 2)
Narcoworld: Dope Stories
Nobody’s Looking
Singapore Social
Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (season 8)
November 23
Frontier (season 3)
November 24
Final Space (season 2)
November 26
Mike Birbiglia: The New One
Super Monsters Save Christmas
November 27
Broken
November 28
John Crist: I Ain’t Prayin For That
Merry Happy Whatever
Mytho
November 29
The Movies That Made Us
Sugar Rush Christmas
MOVIES
November 1
Apache Warrior
Christmas Break-In
The Christmas Trap
Christmas With A View
Drive
Ferdinand
Fire In Paradise
Holiday In The Wild
Holiday Joy
Lawrence of Arabia: Restored Version
The Man Without Gravity
Murder On The Orient Express
The Public
Santa Girl
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
We Are The Wave
November 4
Christmas Crush
Dear Santa
A Holiday Engagement
November 5
Tune In For Love
November 6
Burning Cane
Erin Brockovich
Honey
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow
Patch Adams
Shadow
November 8
Let It Snow
Paradise Beach
November 13
Maradona In Mexico
November 15
Earthquake Bird
The Fanatic
GO!: The Unforgettable Party
House Arrest
Klaus
Paw Patrol: Ready, Race, Rescue
November 20
Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator
Dream/Killer
Lorena, La De Pies Ligeros
November 21
The Knight Before Christmas
November 22
Mon Frère
November 25
November 27
The Irishman
November 28
Holiday Rush
November 29
I Lost My Body
Masterminds
LAST CALL
TV series and movies leaving Netflix this month.
November 1
Fifty Shades of Grey
The Shawshank Redemption
November 29
@nowtoronto
