If you get a TV or movie rec from the Peanut Gallery, you know it's good.
The Peanut Gallery always has your best interest in mind when we dish out TV and movie recommendations. Here are our first, second, third, and fourth versions of our TV/movie rec series. Our fifth installment won't let you down.
Check them out. Enjoy.
Steve's Recommendation: Garden State
Zach Braff showed that he was capable of a lot more than just being the lead on a comedy television show (Scrubs) when he wrote, directed, and starred in Garden State. Also starring Natalie Portman in the middle of her Star Wars run, it’s hard not to fall in love with her during this film. Sad, romantic, and funny, Garden State also has a phenomenal soundtrack that tells a story in itself. One of my favorite films of 2004 and probably still Braff’s best work in his career.
You can rent Garden State on one of your streaming services.
Josh's Recommendation: Running Scared
This is Paul Walker’s best movie, bar none. An unflinching thriller that is quite literally all gas, no brakes, writer/director Wayne Kramer’s chaotic crime caper pulls out all the stops from both an action and storytelling standpoint. Come for the colorful characters, stay for the “shootout” on the hockey rink.
You can rent Running Scared on one of your streaming services.
Matt's Recommendation: Coherence
One of my all-time favorite independent sci-fi films, Coherence (2013) is directed by James Ward Byrkit on a minuscule budget of $50,000. The plot revolves around a group of friends who are having a dinner party on the night a comet is passing Earth. All is normal, but then things begin to get stranger and stranger. And now I must shut up because any more plot info would be a disservice.
It's not the sexiest piece of art you'll ever see, but you'll be so enthralled in the story and the characters that you won't even notice the discrepancy between this and more heavily produced films. In my opinion, the handheld camera helps to immerse the viewer in the situation with the other panicked characters. The writing/story is amazing and the actors do a beautiful job with the "script." I say "script" because a lot of the dialogue is improvised and the actors were given guidelines/rules to follow. That alone is almost enough to watch but if you love cerebral sci-fi movies, this one is for you. It's a shame we haven't seen any more feature films from Byrkit. It's been over 10 years since this movie came out; surely some studio can throw a few bucks at the guy for another movie. You need to watch this under-the-radar film.
You can watch Coherence on Tubi, PLEX, Peacock, and Pluto TV.
Sheehan Recommendation: Unorthodox
One of the best miniseries I've ever seen, Unorthodox follows a young Hasidic Jewish woman as she escapes an arranged marriage and the culture of her Brooklyn community and attempts to start a new life overseas. The story is based on an autobiographical book written by a woman named Deborah Feldman, who went through this type of struggle. The actors do a great job capturing the various customs of this religious movement. Shira Haas, who plays the protagonist, is dynamite. It's just a powerful piece of work, through and through.
You can watch Unorthodox on Netflix.
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