TALES FROM NETFLIX WATCH INSTANTLY I: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

I've been putting off this blog wayyyyy too much. I cant believe how long it's been since I made an entry. I've decided to be more diligent about this blog, no matter how unpopular it is.

It's a new day, FUCKERS!

I've wanted to start a new section of the blog. It is inspired by Netflix's sudden decision to separate the streaming and physical renting of DVD/Blu-Rays. I want to celebrate the best and even strangest of what the limited selection of streaming films have to offer. I have not quite figured out how to make a graphic for the logo....so I'm just calling it TALES FROM NETFLIX WATCH INSTANTLY! Makes it sound all ominous and forbidden, doesn't it?

When I saw that this first selection of TALES FROM NETFLIX WATCH INSTANTLY had been licensed for streaming, I literally jumped for joy! I really wanted y first selection to be an Asian film since they never get as much recognition as they deserve. This film has become one of my favorite Palme D'Or winners in recent memory. Tragically, it has become one of the most underseen and perplexing films of the last few years. I am of course referring to Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.  This film is something I feel is what something as cheesy and potentially dangerous to the movie industry as Netflix streaming is made for: quality and acclaimed foreign films that not many would be giving a chance to otherwise.Not just lam horror films from the 80s that never got a DVD release. I had already seen the film on the internet earlier this year sans sub-titles (bootleg, baby!). It saddens me to report that this film actually was given the Palme D'Or by Tim Burton over two years ago...yes...TWO YEARS AGO. It did not get the North American release it deserved. I am guessing this might be b/c it is an Asian film that has nothing to do with action scenes and all to do with ideas and concepts. That seems to spell doom in the marketplace today.I don't know why it took so long to get to Blu-Ray/DVD and, of course, streaming, but here it finally is in all of its glory. Luckily, it has been shown at esteemed art houses like The New Beverly in LA and The Loft in Tucson at the first annual Lost Film Festival to make up for it (sort of).

Not many know that Uncle Boonmee actually started as a multimedia art installation. Like Matthew Barney's films, this film seems to exist to enhance and expand the concepts introduced in the exhibit such as reincarnation, family duty, country vs. city lifestyles, traditional vs. modern society, and the dehumanization of society by television. I feel that's a lot in a film where stories that features a spirit manifesting itself as a sort of Bigfoot creature, ancient princess who agrees to have underwater oral sex from a talking catfish, and silhouettes with red eyes represent humanity at its most spiritualistic and harmonious. Anyone who has seen Tropical Malady already kind of knows what they are getting involved in.

I say, stream it and give this one a chance. I have heard from many that they found it boring and too cerebral, and I felt some of those claims were valid (I felt like I must have developed ADD from all of the films I've seen over the years since my attention kept waning while watching it for the first time). However, if you succumb to the film's slow rhythms, culturally specific references, stunning imagery, ambiguous ending, and matter of fact surrealism, you will discover a treasure of world cinema that will be taught, debated, and referenced in film history classes for ages to come.

Plus, it's got some amazing poster designs. What do you have to lose?! This one of the best offers Netflix Watch Instantly has to offer. Stream it before the license expires!