Week of October 24th

Hey all, acquisitions are a go! We've been snatching up fun stuff at a rapid rate, and we've got the disk space to keep growing for quite a while.  I really do mean it when I say that I love to get suggestions and requests. My setup for acquisitions is secure, fast, and we've got plenty of disk space. The only hurdle I ever face regularly is knowing what to even get. So please do keep them coming!  The amount of time it takes me to manually set up the download and load into Plex is trivial. I may even make a (private) video showing my configuration and the tools that I use to get new stuff.  If you ever stop by the house, I love to give tours.

With Halloween right around the corner, we've got a few new great entries to the Horror section of the Grown-Up movies library, as well as some great stuff in general:

Don't Breathe (2016) - A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong.

Chris' Note:  I haven't seen this yet, but with a great cast and awesome reviews, Don't Breathe seems to be a rare gem in a genre that's lacking so badly lately. 

1408 (2007) - A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

Chris' Note:  While not at the same level as the classic 'The Shining', 1408 has the same chilling feel of a haunted place with an agenda. Very creepy indeed.







Let the Right One In (2008) - Set in 1982 in the suburb of Blackeberg, Stockholm, twelve-year-old Oskar is a lonely outsider, bullied at school by his classmates; at home, Oskar dreams of revenge against a trio of bullies. He befriends his twelve-year-old, next-door neighbor Eli, who only appears at night in the snow-covered playground outside their building. 





Prince of Darkness (1987) - A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

Chris' Note:  My favorite horror movie of all time. With John Carpenter's classic synth soundtrack, a clever plot, and a spine-tingling ending this is a true classic that I consider underrated. 



On second thought, I'm not linking the trailer. It gives away the whole damned movie.




What we do in the shadows (2014) - Flatmates Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are three vampires who are just trying to get by in modern society; from paying rent and sticking to the housework roster to trying to get invited in to nightclubs, they're just like anyone else - except they're immortal and must feast on human blood. When their 8000 year-old flatmate Petyr turns 20-something human hipster Nick into a vampire the guys must teach him the ropes and guide him through his new found eternal life. And in return they are forced to learn a thing or two about modern society, fashions, technology, and the internet. But it's the introduction of Nick's human friend, Stu, that really changes the vampire's lives and attitudes towards the ever-changing world around them.

Chris' Note:  Hilarious... its "This is Spinal Tap" meets "Interview with the Vampire". 








For the Kids: 

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) - This classic "Peanuts" tale focuses on the thumb-sucking, blanket-holding Linus, and his touching faith in the "Great Pumpkin." When Linus discovers that no one else believes in the creature, he sets out to prove that the Pumpkin's no myth—by spending the night alone in a pumpkin patch. 

Chris' Note: Raise 'em right, people. I got a rock :(







Finding Dory (2016): - "Finding Dory" reunites Dory with friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?

Chris' Note: The horror..... the horror.

Week of October 3rd

Hey all, been a while since I've posted what's new, so I've got a lot to choose from!  Of course, so do you.  Everything has been running smooth with extra disk space and offsite backups in case of emergency.  You guys have had some great suggestions and requests, so please keep them coming!

Star Trek Beyond (2016) - The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

The Infiltrator (2016) - A U.S Customs official uncovers a massive money laundering scheme involving Pablo Escobar.






Luke Cage - Season 1 (2016) - After a sabotaged experiment leaves him with super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive trying to rebuild his life in modern day Harlem, New York City. But he is soon pulled out of the shadows and must fight a battle for the heart of his city – forcing him to confront a past he had tried to bury.

Chris' Note:  Netflix stretched their server capacity thin when  the first season of Luke Cage was released. ChrisFlix(tm) won't have that problem. 





Westworld - Season 1 Episode 1 and continuing (2016) - Westworld is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.

Chris' Note: At the time of this post, only the first episode of Westworld is out, and it is awesome. I'll be getting these either the night they air, or early next morning.






Chris Recommends:

John Wick (2014) - After the sudden death of his beloved wife, John Wick receives one last gift from her, a beagle puppy named Daisy, and a note imploring him not to forget how to love. But John's mourning is interrupted when his 1969 Boss Mustang catches the eye of sadistic thug Iosef Tarasov who breaks into his house and steals it, beating John unconscious in the process. Unwittingly, he has just reawakened one of the most brutal assassins the underworld has ever known.

Chris' Note: One of the most overlooked and underrated action movies in the last decade. Keanu absolutely knocks it out of the park in this movie. Even if you don't have time to watch the whole movie, you should watch the action sequence in the Red Circle club (44:00 - 55:00ish). Its near-perfection as the best R-rated action movie sequence with its style, choreography, and long(er than average) tracking shots. The secret to Keanu's success in John Wick? With only a handful of lines of dialogue, he doesn't have to open his mouth to engage the audience; he lets his body and the guns do the talking.






For The Kids:

Robin Hood (1973) - With King Richard off to the Crusades, Prince John and his slithering minion, Sir Hiss, set about taxing Nottingham's citizens with support from the corrupt sheriff - and staunch opposition by the wily Robin Hood and his band of merry men.

Chris' Note: One of my favorite cartoon movies growing up, this holds up well today. In a CGI world, its crazy how spectacular hand-drawn cell animation can still look. They really don't make them like this any more.

Week of September 11th

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 11TH

Good news, everyone... we have new disks added and tested! We now have enough space to get some new movies and shows (I've been holding back a bit until now). Depending on how my encrypted backup tests go, we may have an additional 6TB for adding content. For reference, ChrisFlix(tm) currently uses up about 10TB of space.  

So what do I mean by encrypted backups?  Basically the entire ChrisFlix library will have a clone in the "cloud", available to be re-downloaded immediately in the event of a disaster (major disk failure, hack, hardware failure, fire, etc). It may take me a while to recover from whatever that disaster may be, but once on the air again, I would be able to re-acquire the entire ChrisFlix library in under a day. The usual issue with doing this in this kind of content is that your cloud storage provider will often tap you on the shoulder and kindly ask you to move your illicit content elsewhere. Fortunately I will be able to encrypt the entire library with a 256-bit key that will be stored offsite. They can't ask me to move it, if they can't tell what it is without about 3-4 days worth of compute time on a super-cluster. Truthfully, the cloud providers don't really care what I upload, but if the movie industry asks them to scan ALL of their data for a movie, they'll do it and they'll kick off anyone with the content they are scanning for. With the data encrypted, my cloud storage provider is happy, and I'm happy.  
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) - After the re-emergence of the world's first mutant, world-destroyer Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

Chris' Note:  Rounding out the new (and better) X-Men trilogy, Apocalypse features two of my favorite Marvel villains: Magneto and Apocalypse.  Unfortunately, the story falls a bit short, but it does feature many of the characters fans thought were missing from the first two.  In general, I prefer X-Men Days of Future Past, and either way I would recommend watching Apocalypse last. 

Free State of Jones (2016) - True Civil War era story about a white Southerner who falls for a slave and consequently rebels against the Confederacy.

Chris' Note:  Alright, alright, alright. I heard you like rebellions, so I put a rebellion inside your rebellion. 

For the Kids:

Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016) - Five teenagers fight evil to save the universe in those five robotic lions uniting to form Voltron.

Chris' Note:  The remake of Voltron on Netflix is great, and takes me back to the days of watching it after elementary school. I love the heroic themes, and the mix of sci-fi with fantasy. It also teaches the virtues of teamwork.

Week of September 4th

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 4TH

Captain America: Civil War (2016) - Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies.

Chris' Note:  Make sure you have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier before watching Civil War, Age of Ultron is recommended as well. This will probably end up being my personal movie of the year for 2016. 

Tony Stark: "Do you even remember them?"     TWS: "I remember all of them."

Now You See Me 2 (2016) - One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface only to find themselves face to face with a new enemy who enlists them to pull off their most dangerous heist yet.

Chris' Note: What happened to Isla Fisher from the first movie? :(

The Night Of (Season 1, 2016) - After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.

Chris' Note: I have just started this series, but it has come highly recommended by both critics and friends/family.







For the Kids

The Secret Life of Pets (2016) - The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.

Chris' Note: This should have been available a few days ago, but it was stalled due to a disk issue. This should be available by Monday 9/5.

Now Playing on ChrisFlix(tm) Week of August 28th

Week of August 28th

Sound City (2013) - The history of Sound City and their huge recording device; exploring how digital change has allowed 'people that have no place' in music to become stars. It follows former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighter David Grohl as he attempts to resurrect the studio back to former glories.

Chris' Note:  Sound City is one of the best music documentaries ever made... and who doesn't love Dave Grohl?

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) - When his new album fails to sell records, pop/rap superstar conner4real goes into a major tailspin and watches his celebrity high life begin to collapse. He'll try anything to bounce back, anything except reuniting with his old rap group The Style Boyz.

Chris' Note: A hilarious example of what The Lonely Island would do on Saturday Night Live if they didn't have to follow FCC guidelines. The cameos are truly epic. 








The Nice Guys (2015) - A private eye investigates the apparent suicide of a fading porn star in 1970s Los Angeles and uncovers a conspiracy.

Chris' Note: Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe are great in this. Plenty of witty dialogue and cleverly choreographed action scenes.