Instant Gratification: What’s New To Stream This Week – April 15th, 2011

by Staff on April 15, 2011

Is there anything greater than the Netflix Watch Instant service? No, the answer is no. But with great power comes great responsibility and you might be having trouble choosing from the literally thousands of options put in front of you. Well, fear not faithful Netflix subscriber and avid blog reader, your friendly neighborhood queue masters are here to tell you what’s new to stream this week and what’s worth your time. All of the picks below are available to watch right now on your computer, TV, game console, Bluray player, or mobile device. Seriously, right now. It’s Whatcha Gonna Queue INSTANT edition.

The Other Guys: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are back with a big, loud action comedy. Directed by McKay based on a script he wrote with Chris Henchy, The Other Guys stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as a mismatched pair of New York City detectives. Ferrell plays Allen Gamble, a meek pencil pusher, while Wahlberg plays Terry Hoitz, his hot head partner. Looking to escape from the containment of their desks, they bite off more than they can chew with a money laundering case that goes deep. Eva Mendes, Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L Jackson, and Steve Coogan fill out the extremely funny supporting cast.

The Other Guys has just the right amount of abrupt left turns and shocking surprises to rise above what since the 80s has been a tired genre. Ferrell plays it subdued and straight, thus only increasing his exaggerated comic presence. Wahlberg ends up being the loose cannon and proves that he can go toe to toe with the big guys when it comes to comedy. The Other Guys was probably the best and funniest laugher to come out in 2011, which overall was a poor year for lighthearted fare. It’s absolutely worth a watch.

The Terminator: Though by now it’s become old hat, it is staggering to think how many times James Cameron reinvented a genre. Long before Titanic and Avatar, he was still cranking out iconic, instantly classic films. The Terminator saw release in 1984 and introduced the world to a genius sci-fi concept: time traveling robots who have come back in time to stop the impending apocalypse. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the title character, who seeks to kill Sarah Connor, as played by Linda Hamilton. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier from the future, is her only defense. Cameron brings his affinity for strong willed female characters and eye popping visuals to the groundbreaking feature. And who could forget the beyond memorable lines, “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back.”

The Terminator sits at 170 on IMDB’s Top 250 and in 2008 was added to the National Film Registry by the Naitonal Film Preservation Board. Though, it was overlooked for most major awards. Cameron famously sold the script to producer Gale Ann Hurd for the price of $1, given he was provided the right to direct. The movie’s line “I’ll be back.” was voted as the #37 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100), and as #95 of “The 100 Greatest Movie Lines” by Premiere in 2007.