Media Monday - Best of Netflix

Dear Bee-logosphere,

The person whose Netflix account I have been using is canceling their subscription. I looked at getting my own account but decided that I'd go check out the library instead (+to list of things to do) and save myself $9/month. But I thought I'd post some of my favorite movies that I've watched.

• To Be and To Have: A French documentary about a modern-day one-room schoolhouse and the incredible teacher and students that work and study there.
• Sugar & Spice: A lighthearted teen comedy about a pregnant cheerleader and her daring squad.
• The Education of Shelby Knox: A documentary about a courageous girl fighting for comprehensive sex education in Lubbock, TX (the town with the highest teenage birthrate in the US).
• Sound and Fury: An eye-opening documentary about the deaf culture, the cochlear implant and how it creates tension in two families.
• Frontline - the Medicated Child: An episode of Frontline that looks at the use of anti-psychotics in children suffering from "bipolar" disorder.
• The Business of Being Born: A documentary that gives us the other, non-hospital point of view of birthing. The documentary certainly has its biases against our culture's way of delivering babies, it is helpful to learn about options that mothers-to-be have.
• Tap: An AMAZING movie starring Gregory Hines, young Savion Glover, and a bunch of the "old guys" - Sandman, Jimmy Slyde, and others. There are so many great tap scenes in this show.
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: One of my favorite movies. A great love story with some interesting ideas about event memory. Totally not plausible, but still thought-provoking. If you could completely forget the person who broke your heart, would you?
• Spice World: An underrated movie! Critics hated it. But that's because they didn't the point that it is the Spice Girls and it is supposed to be silly. Full of great cameos: Meatloaf as the bus driver, Elvis Costello as the bar tender, Hugh Laurie, and Elton John as himself.
• The Royal Tenenbaums: This is one of my favorite Wes Anderson films. I don't know how to describe it in a few sentences though... other than to say, you should see it.
• Coupling: This is the British version of Friends, but it is a whole helluva lot funnier.
• The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: This is a documentary about a homeless man in San Francisco who feeds and cares for the parrots that have curiously and surprisingly found a home in the Bay Area. It's very touching and I cried at least twice.
• Cabaret: Bob Fosse directed and choreographed this amazing musical. Liza Minnelli will make you laugh and make you cry. Oh, and you'll definitely hate Nazi's just a little bit more after watching this.
• Cannibal! The Musical: I was so excited when I saw this online. It's a very campy musical by the creators of South Park.
• Helvetica: A documentary about, you guessed it, Helvetica. Helvetica has shaped the world we live in. Some graphic designers love it, others hate it. This is a film that changes your perception.
• Kicking and Screaming: A very funny movie written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It shows what happens to four college grads who aren't willing to step out of college life and into the real world. The dialogue is really good, sometimes pretentious but it works for the characters. My favorite character, though? The bartender who has taken every class by every professor the unnamed college offers. It's the perfect "I just graduated movie" and I definitely related to the guy who refused to go to grad school.

It's been an entertaining few months, but between my sweet cable package, the library, and Hulu, I think there's plenty of films and shows at my fingertips.

Happy President's Day, Blogosphere!