On paper, “The Life Ahead” sounds like sentimental mush - orphaned immigrant kid gets rescued from a tortuous life of crime by the maternal Holocaust survivor and former prostitute who takes him in.Īnd make no mistake: Director Edoardo Ponti, who directs his mother Sophia Loren as said survivor opposite newcomer Ibrahima Gueye as the immigrant child in question, certainly has made that kind of movie. Here’s what IndieWire’s Eric Kohn wrote about the film in his recent mixed-positive review: In a year without Cannes, the Oscar for Best International Film is anyone’s for the taking, and Netflix Movies isn’t going to miss an opportunity to shoot its shot and pick up some easy hardware.Įnter: Edoardo Ponti’s “The Life Ahead,” an Italian melodrama starring the great Sophia Loren (Ponti’s mom) that seems custom-made for the awards race. If that’s not enough to sell you on a trip down memory lane, how about a performance from the ever-reliable Michael Ironside, a glimpse at a baby-faced Walton Goggins, and - wait for it - camerawork from “Easy Rider”.Īvailable to stream November 1.
Funny as it can be to look back at pre-Oscar Swank in a role like this, she does a solid job of splitting the difference between live- action Disney heroine and something a bit rougher around the edges. Miyagi, millennials still have a Karate Kid to call their own thanks to Hilary Swank.Ī video store staple that has since risked falling out of the public consciousness forever, “The Next Karate Kid on Netflix Movies” gender-flipped a major Hollywood franchise before that became all the rage in the 21st Century.Īnd it managed to recapture a lot of the original trilogy’s formula-driven fun in the process. “The Next Karate Kid” (1994)ĭespite being too young to have trained alongside Ralph Macchio, and too old to think of Jackie Chan as our Mr. Cutler’s Billie Eilish doc coming to Apple TV+ early next year), so there’s good reason to hope that “In Wonder” will respect the high bar that’s been set for its genre so far.Īvailable to stream November 23. Story with his debut feature, but this kind of film is becoming increasingly common (“Blackpink: Light Up the Sky” is now on Netflix, with R.J. Of course, Swift had the benefit of collaborating with the great Lana Wilson, and there’s no telling if music video veteran Grant Singer is going to mine similar interest from Mendes.’ He has Taylor Swift to thank for that, as the excellent film that Netflix released about her political awakening earlier this year helped galvanize a trend that’s been simmering on the back burner for a while now (let’s not forget Lady Gaga’s “5 Foot 2” on Netflix Movies).Īnd sparked perhaps too much poptimism that the incoming wave of “behind the curtain” music docs might be more substantive than they sound. Here are a few things I know about pop star Shawn Mendes: He’s not a Jonas (I’m only 95% sure about this one), he wrote that absolute banger I used to listen to at the gym back when gyms existed, and the thunderously loud concerts he played in downtown Toronto during the first weekend of TIFF last September drove a significant portion of the world’s film critics insane.Īnd yet, sight unseen, I’m admittedly curious to check out this feature documentary about his life and career. When it comes to library titles, the offerings range from hard classics like “Boyz n the Hood” and “A Clockwork Orange” to reliable favorites like “Ocean’s Eleven” and whatever “ Hit Hard” is besides something to watch between seasons of “Cobra Kai.” Lucky for you “The Queen’s Gambit” isn’t going anywhere. The jury is still out on Ron Howard’s Oscar hopeful “Hillbilly Elegy,” but with “Mank” and “The Prom” waiting in the wings until December that leaves a paltry slate of Netflix Originals topped off by the well-reviewed drama “The Life Ahead” (starring the iconic Sophia Loren, and directed by her son) and the as-yet-unscreened pop doc, “Shawn Mendes: In Wonder.” Maybe Netflix knows that people have more important things on their mind this month, maybe the streamer is just saving its big guns for later, or maybe it’s just trying to focus everyone’s attention on Diana’s introduction on “The Crown” (she roller-skates in Buckingham Palace!).īut November 2020 might be Netflix’s most anemic month for new releases since this column first ran four years ago. Sophia Loren Oscar contender “The Life Ahead” and a doc about pop star Shawn Mendes lead a paltry month of new offerings from Netflix. The 7 Best Netflix Movies in November 2020 that Nigerians can watch/download.
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