The Best New Things to Watch on Netflix in November

Stephen Colbert Predicted the Plot of The Force Awakens Honda’s Street-Style City Bike Is the Ultimate Commuter These Are the Three Best Electric Cars on the Road So you didn’t get tickets to opening night of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That sucks. Luckily, we now have your Plan B: Fly to France! If you’re willing to fly to Paris from New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles on Dec. 15, Air France is currently offering a “Flight and Cinema” package that gives travelers tickets to a Dec. 16 screening of the movie and transportation from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the theater. The trip, which could cost you anywhere between $1,300 and $5,000 depending on where you’re traveling from and how fancy you want to keep it, comes thanks to a partnership with EuropaCorp Cinemas, which—for the record—offer a theater experience designed by Fifth Element director Luc Besson. That means, according to the announcement, that you’ll be treated to a 4K widescreen 3-D showing of The Force Awakens with Dolby Atmos sound from more than 40 speakers. In other words, each lightsaber fight will sound like it’s happening close enough to give you a flat-top. Find out more about the packages and book your flights here. No word yet on whether or not the jets will be dressed up like BB-8—we think you need to fly All Nippon Airways for that. Stephen Colbert is late-night television’s most prominent geek culture aficionado, from his well-known Lord of the Rings devotion to his warm welcomes for guests like PewDiePie and the creators of Welcome to Night Vale. Since Late Show was off last week, Colbert didn’t have a chance to comment on the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens during the zeitgiest. So he took a moment out of last night’s show to praise the full-length preview as “not a 10-second slow fade teaser; none of that BS” and note that he spent most of his time watching it “geepling” (a combination of weeping and giggling). But then, just like so many others wondering why Luke Skywalker isn’t on the final poster or whether Leia and Han are hugging at a funeral, Colbert broke into a monologue with his prediction for the plot of the entire film. We have to say, his overall thematic guess for how the Force affects perceptions of good and evil would be pretty cool. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is such a large ensemble (and such a growing one) that bottle episodes are tough, if not impossible. But, perhaps as a consolation prize for spending so much time out of sight on another planet, last night Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) got a whole off-world episode to herself. It’s set on that aforementioned other planet, and even though the alien world’s lack of sun starts to get to Simmons, the blue hue that it gives “4,722 Hours” is gorgeous (and an improvement from the very-much-network-TV look of the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D.). And contained within that beauty is a heart- wrenching story about what happened to Simmons as she struggled to stay sane and alive in a place she didn’t know. Last night’s episode also shed light on why she’s been so weird around her BFF/probable-soul-mate Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) since returning. Turns out, there was a NASA space traveler named Will (Dillon Casey) trapped on Simmons’ planet—NASA was better at figuring out the portal powers of the black obelisk that swallowed Simmons than S.H.I.E.L.D., apparently—and while she was trapped there, feelings developed. (Dun. Dun. DUN!) In the final moments, as the action shifted back to Simmons telling Fitz what happened on the blue planet, we see a broken Fitz grappling with losing Simmons while also vowing to rescue Will. It was the best emotional gut-punch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has landed in ages—and one they ought to deliver more often. Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation barely registered when it hit theaters—so far it’s only made about $83,000 domestically at the box office. But, according to chief content officer Ted Sarandos, that doesn’t matter. Breaking with the company’s typical policy of not sharing streaming numbers, Sarandos revealed today that the movie has already gotten 3 million views in North America. “I think [that] is a bigger audience than any specialty film could ever hope for in its first two weeks of release, and maybe for its entire run,” Sarandos told Deadline. “We are just thrilled with the total audience reach of this film, not just in North America but the world. In the first week of release, Beasts of No Nation was the most watched movie on Netflix, in every country we operate in.” Beasts was a big bet for Netflix. After spending a reported $12 million to acquire director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s movie, Netflix made the bold move of releasing it in theaters simultaneously with its debut on the streaming service. The move rather infuriated big theater chains, which refused to give it screens. But if today’s numbers show anything, it’s that Netflix doesn’t need chains to get people to watch their films. When Bob Odenkirk and David Cross had Mr. Show on HBO in the 1990s, it was the epitome of absurdist humor. The pair’s new show for Netflix, W/ Bob & David, is already shaping up to be more of the same, but with a little bit more populist bent. In a new sketch for the show released today, the pair tackle the absurdity of New Year’s resolutions thanks to a group of poker-playing friends who vow to—with no prior experience in these areas—become Pope, start a smartphone company, become a celebrity judge, stop eating red meat, and become a huge Hollywood filmmaker. (The guy trying to stop eating red meat is the one thought to have an impossible goal.) It’s weird, churlish, and just a little bit off- beat. It’s pretty much everything you’d expect from Odenkirk and Cross—plus it has comedian Paul F. Tompkins shoving an entire slice of pizza into his mouth at once. W/ Bob & David hits Netflix on Nov. 13. Heretofore, the Joker has been masterfully played by many actors, including Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, with the latter receiving an Oscar for his efforts. So if you’re the next guy in line to play the Clown Prince of Crime, how do you stand out? By cranking up the crazy. Case in point: Jared Leto. Speaking with Empire, Leto—who is playing the Joker in next summer’s Suicide Squad—talked about going full-tilt nuts to play the villain, and even pondered giving the interview in character, saying, “I was just thinking that the Joker would probably just say, ‘Fuck you,’ and hang up.” But that was just the beginning; Leto went on to give one of the most Joker-esque responses ever in his attempt to explain how the character affected him. “There was definitely a period of … detachment,” Leto told the magazine. “I took a pretty deep dive. But this was a unique opportunity and I couldn’t imagine doing it another way. It was fun, playing those psychological games. But at the same time it was very painful, like giving birth out of my prick hole.” Well alright then! Guess Suicide Squad is going to be freaking insane. Harry Potter Play Follow @HPPlayLDN Sneak peek! See our brand new artwork for Harry Potter and the #CursedChild! 9:08 PM - 22 Oct 2015 670 736 It’s tough being 11. Especially when your dad saved the wizarding race. Last time we saw Harry Potter, he and Ginny were tearfully saying goodbye to their middle child, Al, as he set off for Hogwarts from platform 9 ¾. Next summer, muggles will be able to enter back into Harry Potter’s wizarding world through the eighth story in the saga: a play premiering at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End. Written by Jack Thorne and based on a story co-authored by J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—which will come in two parts “because of the epic nature of the story”—picks up where the epilogue left readers, 19 years after Harry vanquishes Voldemort. In the past two decades, our hero has left behind angst and adventure in favor of some more conventional concerns: Harry is now “an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children,” according to Pottermore. But this time, it’s not all about Harry. Apparently, The Cursed Child will focus on the trials of that young son, Albus Severus, who presumably was cursed both with a really famous dad and a really unwieldy name. Those of you who loved the frustration of trying to buy Star Wars tickets this week can figure out how to buy priority tickets for one or both parts, by going here. Prices start at £10 ($15), or three galleons, five sickles, and 12 knuts. After weeks of Netflix’s Jessica Jones teasers that ranged from exciting to infuriating with how little they showed of the series, a full trailer is finally here, and it is dark. You thought Daredevil was rought? Try matching the superhero-turned- private-eye Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) against Kilgrave (David Tennant)—a villain who has mind control powers, once tormented Jones, and is now back to torment her again.

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