Awards shows can be a farce – we all know this. Just look at the 2018 Grammys, at which barely any women won awards, and where hip-hop was still not given a seat at the table.
But if award shows are your thing, then chances are you’ll be tuning into the 90th Oscars on March 4. (More likely, you’ll be watching the opening monologue and select acceptance speeches on YouTube the day after.)
Either way, we’re looking forward to seeing Netflix take home a statue or two: the streaming service has scored eight nominations – four for its period epic Mudbound alone.
Until then, here are Netflix’s offerings for Mad March:
Terrace House: Opening New Doors (series)
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The premise for Japan’s Terrace House isn’t that different from Big Brother or Jersey/Geordie Shore: put a bunch of strangers in a house and roll cameras.
But gone are the carnage of binge drinking and lurid romps in outdoor spas that took place within equally horrific interior design fit-outs.
Terrace House contestants are as trendy as they are polite. They host dinner parties and have deep-and-meaningfuls in the study. The house – of marble, granite, and teeming with plant life – is a modernist dream. The banter is hilariously heart-warming, especially when relayed over English subtitles. “You can make some simmered dishes for me next time,” a guy awkwardly suggests to the girl sitting on the couch with him.
Simmer me timbers. Terrace House: Opening New Doors airs March 13 on Netflix Australia.
Nailed It (series)
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Finally, a cooking show us pseudo-foodie plebs can relate to. The show’s slogan could be summed up as: “what you tried to make vs. what you actually made”. Contestants are presented with an extravagant baked good and are tasked with recreating it for a panel of judges. To put it lightly, the cakes are a blobby, misshapen Play-Doh-Kitchen-Creations mess.
You won’t be laughing alone – host Nicole Byer and the judges openly roast the contestants and howl at their baked monstrosities.
The (baking) gloves are off. Nailed it airs this March on Netflix Australia.
Ladies First (documentary)
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In Ladies First, director Uraaz Bahl shows how India’s Deepika Kumari rose against all odds to become the number one female archer in the world at just 18.
Kumari was 12 when she took up archery, with hopes of elevating herself out of her impoverished village. In the beginning, she had to practise her craft using homemade bamboo bows and arrows. She has become an inspiration to millions, especially young girls in her native India, who are stifled by traditions and customs that often put them last.
Ladies First airs March 8 on Netflix Australia.
Jessica Jones Season 2 (series)
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Undeniably the best character in Marvel’s Defenders, Jessica Jones (and her leather biker boots) is back to kick some villain ass. This season also sees the anti-heroine face traumas in her past – the death of her family, and the torturous experiments that resulted in her powers. There’s character development, sure, but her coping mechanisms remain the same: drink hard liquor and break things.
As fellow Defender tells her, “Jessica Jones, you are a hard drinking, short fused mess of a woman.”
Jessica Jones Season 2 airs March 8 on Netflix Australia.
The Outsider (series)
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The Outsider stars Jared Leto as an American POW, who must join the violent underworld of the Yakuza in exchange for his freedom. The trailer aired last week and has since fielded widespread criticisms for its whitewashing of Asian culture.
No matter how you look at it, it’s pretty funny that Leto wears dark contact lenses in the film to mask his blue eyes. Discussions at the first table-read almost certainly went like this: “We want him to be an outsider *nudge*, but we’ll give him dark eyes so the Asians can relate.”
Dude goes through some pretty harsh training under the Yakuza bosses in the trailer, so you’d be forgiven for thinking this is actually a Joker: Origins movie.
The Outsider airs March 9 on Netflix Australia.
Rapture (documentary series)
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From Mass Appeal comes an eight-part series that showcases what hip hop has become. You’ll join the likes of Nas, Dave East, T.I., Rapsody, Logic, G-Eazy, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, 2 Chainz and Just Blaze as they split time between their families, the studio, and on tour.
Sacha Jenkins of Mass Appeal, on the new series:
“Way back, when hip hop culture was in its gestational phase, the powerful message therein didn’t go much further than the five boroughs of New York City. Today, rap music is the heartbeat of Mother Earth, and Netflix is the embodiment of the eyes from which she sees. It is a great honor for Mass Appeal to work with Netflix to produce our new series Rapture. We’ve been telling hip hop stories since ’96, and as natives we feel it is our duty to do the movement justice. Rapture is bangin’. Straight up.”
Rapture airs March 30 on Netflix Australia.
