If you’re recovering from surgery like Jay is, it’s nice to have Netflix available to pass some of the time. The trick is finding something worthwhile among all those options.
Last night we tried twice to find a hidden gem, with mixed results.
The first movie we tried was Slow Learners. Starring Adam Pally and Sarah Burns, Slow Learners tells the story of two geeky teachers who make a pact to change themselves over their summer vacation in order to improve their dating lives. Naturally, it gets super awkward, super fast, to the point where Jay couldn’t bear to watch Burns attempt a southern accent to make herself more interesting. We eventually fast-forwarded through that part, after initially stopping the movie.
The fact we came back to this movie after stopping it is something positive, but that’s really the best that I can say about Slow Learners. It’s not terrible and there are a few good bits, but overall it’s really shallow, really predictable, and only moderately watchable. I give Slow Learners a score of four random literary quotes out of ten.
While we were on a break from Slow Learners, we took a look for something less awkward and settled on People Places Things, starring Jemaine Clement (Netflix recommended the movie because we watched Slow Learners, oddly enough). Jemaine does his usual quirky Kiwi thing in People Places Things, and I for one find him hilarious almost no matter what else is going on.
In People Places Things, Jemaine plays a semi-starving artist who understandably has a hard time coping after discovering his spouse is cheating on him (which happens in the middle of their twin girls’ fifth birthday party, no less). We catch up with him one year after that party as he tries to move on or make up or…really, he’s not at all sure what he wants and I liked that. People Places Things is clearly more about Jemaine’s journey than his ultimate destination.
I’m happy to report that the journey is entertaining, fairly cliche-free, and full of interesting characters. I really liked watching the discovery process play out for Jemaine’s character, and I enjoyed this movie all the way through. I give People Places Things a score of seven trips to Astoria out of ten.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I’d like to see People, Places, Things. I read a positive review of that one recently. I think I’m going to give A Pigeon Sat on a Brance Reflecting Existence tonight.
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Lol I just watched Slow Learners too. I’m going to forgive Netflix for that one. 😉 G-uno
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Oh, this has happened to me when I’ve had to turn off a Netflix movie because it was unwatchable! Help! And this, after searching and searching for a movie to watch. Maybe you guys already do this, but this would be a great feature on your site to regularly review Netflix movies of different genres. At least it would help me. 🙂
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We do Netflix reviews every so often but could do much more of them! There’s so much to sift through on there. As we find anything good (or really bad), I’ll try to write about it.
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Great! Thank you, Sean.
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If you’re looking for a TV show you may not be familiar with (and if you like westerns), you might try Longmire.
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Thanks, I’ll check it out!
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I was so caught up on your review I see that I rudely forgot to wish Jay a speedy recovery!
G-uno
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Thank you Sean, I always like an entertaining movie 🙂
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OMG, I totally forgot we had to turn that one off.
I get so embarrassed for people, even fictional ones!
Unbearable.
Weird to see Pally in Dirty Grandpa so soon afterward.
I really like Clement, as you know. He’s less awkward than usual in this, but it’s still an offbeat movie with a nice indie feel to it.
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