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erickmalpicaflores · 6 years

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Erik Malpica Flores Erik Malpica Flores recommends: What is Coming to Netflix in November 2018 |

Chris Pine stars as Robert the Bruce in the orignial Netflix film OUTLAW KING, which is coming to the streaming service in November 2018. Fans of HOUSE OF CARDS will also get to stream the sixth and final season of the show.

Related: What is coming to Netflix Canada in November 2018?

November 1

Angela’s Christmas – Netflix Original: A trip to church with her family on Christmas Eve gives young Angela an extraordinary idea. A heartwarming tale based on a story by Frank McCourt.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Bring It On: In It to Win It

Cape Fear

Children of Men

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Cloverfield

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

Doctor Strange

Fair Game – Director’s Cut

Follow This: Part 3 – Netflix Original: BuzzFeed reporters research sexbots, superbug snipers and more in the third installment of this documentary series.

From Dusk Till Dawn

Good Will Hunting

Jet Li’s Fearless

Julie & Julia

Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles: Pt. 1

National Lampoon’s Animal House

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Planet Hulk

Scary Movie 2

Scary Movie 3

Sex and the City: The Movie

Sixteen Candles

Stink!

The English Patient

The Judgement – Netflix Original: After a traumatic incident at a party makes her a target of gossip and derision, a young college student tries to change her school’s toxic culture.

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep

Transcendence

Vaya

November 2

Brainchild – Netflix Original: From germs and emotions to social media and more, it’s the science of your world explained in a way that’s refreshingly relatable.

House of Cards: Season 6 – Netflix Original: With Frank out of the picture, Claire Underwood steps fully into her own as the first woman president, but faces formidable threats to her legacy.

ReMastered: Tricky Dick & The Man in Black – Netflix Original: This documentary chronicles Johnny Cash’s 1970 visit to the White House, where Cash’s shifting ideals clashed with Richard Nixon’s policies.

The Holiday Calendar – Netflix Film: A talented photographer stuck in a dead-end job inherits an antique Advent calendar that may be predicting the future — and pointing her toward love.

The Other Side of the Wind – Netflix Film: A completion and restoration of Orson Welles’s unfinished film, this satire follows the final days of a legendary director striving for a comeback.

They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead – Netflix Original: This engaging documentary explores Orson Welles’s unfinished film, “The Other Side of the Wind,” which he worked on for a decade before his death.

Trolls: The Beat Goes On!: Season 4 – Netflix Original: With her sunny attitude, Poppy leads her friends in rescuing Mr. Dinkles, supporting Guy Diamond’s new invention and teaching Smidge to be helpful.

November 3

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil

November 4

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Streaming Every Sunday, begins October 28) – Netflix Original: In this weekly show, Hasan Minhaj brings his unique comedic voice and storytelling skill to explore the larger trends shaping our fragmented world.

November 5

Homecoming: Season 1

John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons – Netflix Original: With a rapid-fire lesson in overlooked Latin history, Colombian-American actor John Leguizamo comes to Netflix with his one-man Broadway show John Leguizamo: Latin History For Morons. Examining 3,000 years of Latino history, Leguizamo charts everything from a satirical recap of Aztec and Incan history to stories of Latin patriots in the American Civil War, revealing how whitewashed history truly is. Latin History For Morons earned a 2018 Tony Award nomination for Best Play on Broadway.

November 7

November 8

November 9

Beat Bugs: Season 3 – Netflix Original: Music keeps the Beat Bugs going and points the way to problem-solving solutions in another season of fun and adventure.

La Reina del Flow – Netflix Original: Seventeen years after being wrongly imprisoned, a talented songwriter seeks justice against the men who caused her downfall and killed her family.

Medal of Honor – Netflix Original: This emotional docudrama tells the stories of Medal of Honor recipients from U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and more.

Outlaw King – Netflix Film: This period drama follows Robert the Bruce’s battle to regain control after being made an outlaw by the King of England for taking the Scottish Crown.

Spirit Riding Free: Season 7 – Netflix Original: Seasons change, and so do Lucky’s adventures, whether she’s racing through the snow, outsmarting villains or soaring high in the sky!

Super Drags – Netflix Original: Three gay friends, working by day at a department store, lead double lives as crime-fighting superhero drag queens.

The Great British Baking Show: Collection 6 – Netflix Original: The mouth-watering contest returns to the big white tent with 12 new bakers and another season bursting with delicious surprises.

Treehouse Detectives: Season 2 – Netflix Original: Brother-and-sister detectives Toby and Teri are back on the case, helping others, being brave — and asking big questions about the world around them.

Westside – Netflix Original: Westside offers an unscripted and deeply personal glimpse into the journeys of nine young L.A.-based musicians as they follow their dreams. Each episode sheds light on their creative processes and personal struggles, interspersing cinema verité-style documentary footage with beautifully produced music videos featuring original songs.

November 12

November 13

Loudon Wainwright III: Surviving Twin – Netflix Original: Grammy-winning singer Loudon Wainwright III reflects on the close but complicated relationships between fathers and sons in this intimate evening of music and storytelling, from executive producer Judd Apatow, director Christopher Guest and produced by Funny Or Die.

Oh My Ghost – Netflix Original: When a skilled but timid chef is possessed by a sassy spirit, her newfound confidence catches the eye of her longtime crush, a culinary hotshot.

Warrior – Netflix Original: A war veteran plagued by guilt over his final mission teams up with his best friend’s widow to infiltrate a dangerous Copenhagen biker gang.

November 15

May The Devil Take You – Netflix Film: When her estranged father falls into a mysterious coma, a young woman seeks answers at his old villa, where she and her stepsister uncover dark truths.

The Crew – Netflix Film: Work-life balance breaks down for Paris’s most gifted armed robbers when a grave mistake forces them to work for a crime boss in a high-stakes heist.

November 16

Cam – Netflix Film: Her online life’s been stolen. Her real life’s unraveling. There’s only one way out: beat the impersonator at her own game.

Narcos: Mexico – Netflix Original: See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in Mexico.

Ponysitters Club: Season 2 – Netflix Original: Skye and the Rescue Ranch gang return for another round of action-packed adventure, incredible friendship and adorable animals.

Prince of Peoria – Netflix Original: When an easygoing 13-year-old prince goes incognito as a U.S. exchange student, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a fastidious overachiever.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power – Netflix Original: In this reboot of the ’80s series, a magic sword transforms an orphan girl into warrior She-Ra, who unites a rebellion to fight against evil.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Netflix Film: Saddle up for six tales about the American frontier from the unique minds of Joel and Ethan Coen, who wrote and directed this anthology.

The Break-Up

The Kominsky Method – Netflix Original: Michael Douglas stars as a briefly successful actor turned revered Hollywood acting coach. A Chuck Lorre comedy series also featuring Alan Arkin.

The Princess Switch – Netflix Film: When a down-to-earth Chicago baker and a soon-to-be princess discover they look like twins, they hatch a Christmastime plan to trade places.

November 18

November 19

The Last Kingdom: Season 3 – Netflix Original: As Alfred’s health weakens — and with it his dream of a united England — Uhtred must take command and confront a new threat, Danish warlord Sigrid.

November 20

Kulipari: Dream Walker – Netflix Original: Now the Blue Sky King, Darel must lead a rescue mission to save a Dream Walker — leaving the village under the protection of the Kulipari youth.

Motown Magic – Netflix Original: Imaginative boy Ben transforms his city by bringing colorful street art to life, armed with a magic paintbrush — and the classic sounds of Motown.

Sabrina – Netflix Film: A toymaker and his wife are terrorized by a demonized doll after their adopted child tries to summon her late mother’s spirit using a spooky ritual.

The Final Table – Netflix Original: The Final Table is a global culinary competition show featuring the world’s most talented chefs fighting for a spot at the elite, Final Table made up of the greatest chefs from around the globe. The series features 12 teams of two chefs from around the world cooking the national dishes of Mexico, Spain, England, Brazil, France, Japan, the U.S., India and Italy. Each episode focuses on a different country and its cuisine, with celebrity ambassadors, food critics and the country’s greatest chef eliminating teams until the finale. In that last episode, only one of our competing chefs will win a place at the Final Table, joining the nine legendary culinary icons — Enrique Olvera (Mexico), Andoni Aduriz (Spain), Clare Smyth (UK), Helena Rizzo (Brazil), Vineet Bhatia (India), Grant Achatz (US), Carlo Cracco (Italy), Yoshihiro Narisawa (Japan) and Anne-Sophie Pic (France). The series will be presented by Andrew Knowlton, James Beard Award-winning Writer and Editor at Large, Bon Appétit. Created and exec produced by Robin Ashbrook & Yasmin Shackleton. The production company is theoldschool.

Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia – Netflix Original: Trevor Noah gets out from behind the “Daily Show” desk and takes the stage for a stand-up special that touches on racism, immigration, camping and more.

November 21

The Tribe – Netflix Film: An executive-turned-viral sensation loses his reputation and his memory, but finds a new life with his biological mother and her empowered dance group.

November 22

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet – Netflix Original: This season, Kinga subjects Jonah and the bots to a devious new experiment: a back-to-back marathon of six hilariously cheesy — and riffworthy — films.

The Christmas Chronicles – Netflix Film: Two siblings team up with Santa Claus for a high-flying holiday adventure. A new Christmas classic from the makers of “Harry Potter” and “Home Alone.

November 23

Frontier: Season 3 – Netflix Original: While Harp pursues Lord Benton to rescue Grace, Michael takes command of the Black Wolf Company and Sokanon embarks on a righteous crusade.

Fugitiva – Netflix Original: A woman organizes a escape plan camouflaged as a kidnapping to protect her children from her husband’s enemies.

Sick Note – Netflix Original: This black comedy series follows a slacker misdiagnosed with cancer whose lies lead him into an absurd web of secrets, blackmail and suspicion.

Sick Note: Season 2 – Netflix Original: Rupert Grint, Nick Frost and Lindsay Lohan star in the second dose of the brilliantly dark comedy. And the lies just keep on coming…

To Build or Not to Build: Season 2

November 25

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Best Gift Ever

November 27

Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attel – Netflix Original: Veteran comedians Jeff Ross and Dave Attell roast each other, the audience and special guests.

November 29

November 30

1983 – Netflix Original: In a totalitarian Poland, law student Kajetan Skowron and detective Anatol Janów unravel a terrible conspiracy stretching to the country’s foundations.

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding – Netflix Film: A year after helping Richard secure the crown, Amber’s getting ready to walk down the aisle with him. But she’s not so sure she’s cut out to be queen.

Baby – Netflix Original: By day, Chiara is a promising student at one of Rome’s most elite private high schools. But by night, she leads a scandalous secret life.

Death by Magic – Netflix Original: British magician Drummond Money-Coutts, or DMC for short, is on a mission to uncover the stories of magicians who died performing the most dangerous stunts ever attempted. He travels the world to track down where the fatal performances took place and to work out exactly what went wrong, sharing his magic with the people he meets along the way. It’s a journey that spans four continents and eight cities around the world. His aim is to pay homage to the craft by creating his own updated versions of the stunts that cost these magicians their lives, from being buried alive under tons of wet concrete, to playing a game of Russian roulette, to escaping from a collision with a speeding steam train. The series will follow DMC as he recreates the stunts where others have failed, in the most extreme magic show ever attempted. To succeed he must avoid the fate that met those who came before him and paid the ultimate price: Death by Magic.

F is for Family: Season 3 – Netflix Original: When Frank befriends a handsome young fighter pilot — voiced by Vince Vaughn — the family embarks on a whole new set of adventures.

Happy as Lazzaro – Netflix Film: Ordinary teen Lazzaro is content with life as a sharecropper in rural Italy, but a visit from the aristocrat landowner’s son changes everything.

Rajma Chawal – Netflix Film: An internet-rookie father attempts to use social media to enhance his faltering relationship with his millennial son.

Spy Kids: Mission Critical: Season 2 – Netflix Original: Finally feeling like a real team, the Mission Critical kids face their toughest test as they set out to destroy Golden Brain’s lair once and for all.

The World Is Yours – Netflix Film: To escape his life of crime, a small-time mobster in Paris accepts one last job involving Spain, drugs, the Illuminati and his overbearing mother.

Tiempo compartido – Netflix Film: Two men join forces to rescue their families from a tropical paradise, convinced a U.S. timeshare conglomerate has a sinister plan to take them away.

Last Call – Titles Rotating Off the Service in November 2018

November 1

Amelie

Crossfire

Cruel Intentions

Cruel Intentions 2

Cruel Intentions 3

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park III

Oculus

Phenomenon

Run to me

Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball

Steel Magnolias

The Invasion

The Land Before Time

The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure

The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving

The Lazarus Effect

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Reader

Up in the Air

November 12

November 16

November 17

Undercover Boss: Seasons 1-5

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princeofny · 6 years

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A clarification, not a review, of “Astroball”

Some – not all, but some – of “Astroball” by Ben Reiter came about because of the author’s half-joking prediction in 2014 that the then-worst team in baseball if not one of the worst teams in baseball history, the Houston Astros, would ride their rocket scientists, mathematicians, corporate veterans and Ivy League college graduates who permeate their front office to baseball dominance and a World Series win in 2017.

The story would be interesting but not so easily salable had that freak guess not happened to come true.

But it did.

To his credit, Reiter acknowledges the lightning bolt nature of that prediction/guess/divine intervention– whatever you want to call it – coming to fruition. However, the remainder of the book serves as a love letter to the architect of the Astros’ rise, general manager Jeff Luhnow, to the degree that even his wrongs turned out to be not so wrong; even his mistakes contained a method behind the perceived madness; and any glaring gaffe stemming from arrogance, ignorance or coldblooded inhumanity could be mitigated and explained away.

As the Astros and Reiter bask in the afterglow of the achievement of their ultimate vision, it’s ironic that the relentless criticisms of the organization that had receded into the background rose again with the near simultaneous release of the book and, within 20 days, the club’s acquisition of closer Roberto Osuna who was only available from the Toronto Blue Jays because he was under suspension by Major League Baseball for an alleged domestic violence incident for which he was arrested with the case still pending in Toronto.

In one shot, the Astros regained their reputation for putting performance above people; for indicating that profit takes precedence over right and wrong.

In the immediate aftermath of the trade for Osuna, the handwringing on Twitter and outright criticism by columnists and radio hosts made it seem as if the Astros had never exhibited this type of borderline sociopathic tendencies in the past when it is precisely how they behaved to get so far, so fast. The World Series title and the narrative of how it was achieved gave them an “it worked” safety net.

Suddenly, the intriguing stories of Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, Carlos Beltran and Sig Mejdal – for the most part, positive portrayals of generally likable people – were jolted back to the ambiguity of some of the Astros' clever, manipulative and underhanded tactics used to achieve their ends.

What cannot be denied and was shown again with the Osuna trade is the Astros did and do treat human beings as cattle whose survival is based on nothing more than their current usefulness; that any pretense of acceptable and unacceptable behavior hinges on cost and usefulness. The book’s attempt to humanize Luhnow and his staff in contrast with the manner they run the team was immediately sabotaged by acquiring Osuna.

The big questions about “Astroball” should not center around what’s in the book, but what’s not in the book.

Those who are either not invested in the concept of the Astros’ new way of doing things being the wave of the future or did not walk into the movie when it was half over and remember exactly what happened during the reconstruction will wonder about the following:

How is the name Andrew Friedman mentioned once for his role as president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers and not as Astros owner Jim Crane’s first choice to be the Astros GM – with Luhnow the second choice?

How is it possible that the name Jon Singleton, who received $10 million for nothing, is nowhere in the text?

Why were the circumstances under which manager Bo Porter was fired completely ignored and treated as part of a planned process?

Why was the rushed trade for Carlos Gomez a shrugged off mistake with one sentence dedicated to it?

One man’s reasonable explanation is another’s farcical alibi. Depending on one’s perspective and agenda, both can appear true.

The drafting of Brady Aiken and subsequent attempt to lowball him following an agreed-upon contract was adapted to show how brilliantly conniving Luhnow was for offering the precise bonus amount to benefit the club in the subsequent draft should Aiken reject the offer as they knew he would – in fact, there’s an attempt to make Luhnow look benevolent for how Aiken was treated.

The release of J.D. Martinez is an admitted mistake…but then-manager Porter was blamed because he only gave Martinez 18 spring training at-bats the year Martinez arrived touting a new swing as if Porter was not being told what to do and had any choice in the matter as to who played.

“He (Porter) also couldn’t fail to provide someone like J.D. Martinez enough at-bats for the organization to make an informed decision about him.” (Astroball, page 143)

Are they seriously saying that Porter did not have it hammered into his head what the front office wanted and which players were to be given a closer look; that he was not an implementer of front office mandate with little-to-no actual say-so?

The above quote is one of many in the book that provide a between-the-lines elucidation of what the entire goal of the book is: to tie all the loose ends from that 2014 prediction to the prediction coming to pass, objective truth be damned.

Porter’s firing, rather than being due to the clear insubordination and an attempt to go over Luhnow’s head to Crane regarding how the team was being run, was mystically transformed into a preplanned decision.

Porter and numerous veteran players had an issue with former first overall draft pick Mark Appel being brought to Minute Maid Park for a bullpen session with pitching coach Brent Strom to see if they could fix what ailed him. (They couldn’t.) It was then that Porter and Luhnow were at an impasse and Luhnow was right to fire him. But part of the “process”? After Porter’s hiring when Luhnow made the preposterous statement that he might manage the team for two decades? How does that work? How is this explained away other than it being ignored?

It’s these and many other subtle and not-so subtle twisting of reality that call the entire book and its contents into question on a scale of ludicrousness and goal-setting to cast the Astros in the best possible light, all stemming from that silly prediction from 2014 when it was an act comparable to casually throwing a basketball over one’s shoulder with eyes closed and somehow hitting nothing but net.

One cannot discuss “Astroball” (the figurative New Testament for the reliance on statistics in baseball) without mentioning the Old Testament, “Moneyball”.

“Moneyball” gets a passing mention as the text that kicked open the door for baseball outsiders with ideas that were once considered radical and antagonistic to baseball’s ingrained conventional orthodoxy, but the two stories are intertwined like conjoined twins for whom separation would mean unavoidable death.

Reiter takes clear steps to avoid the same mistakes Michael Lewis made in “Moneyball”. Instead of it being an overt baseball civil war where the storyline was old vs. new and Billy Beane sought to eliminate the antiquated, Luhnow is portrayed as integrating the old guard and formulating strategies to quantify their assessments.

Whereas “Moneyball” took the MLB draft and turned Beane into a “card counter”, “Astroball” acknowledges nuance and luck in the draft.

While ““Moneyball”” treats the postseason as an uncontrollable crapshoot, “Astroball” implies the same thing without trying to eliminate any responsibility for continually losing as the Athletics have done repeatedly.

“Astroball” does its best to inclusive, albeit in a borderline condescending way, while “Moneyball” sought to toss anyone not on the train under it and then, for good measure, backed over them to make sure they were dead.

To that end, “Astroball” is somehow more disingenuous than “Moneyball”. “Moneyball” is how the old-schoolers are truly viewed in the new-age, sabermetric circles while their extinction is pursued opaquely in “Astroball”, making it easier for them to carry it out.

Those invested in the story being considered true will not give an honest review, nor will they ask the questions as to why certain facts were omitted even if they know the answers.

With that, the narrative of the Astros and their rise under Luhnow and Crane presented in “Astroball” is complete and a vast portion of readers and observers will believe every single word of it just as they did with “Moneyball”. They get their validation. And it’s irrelevant whether that validation was the entire point, as it clearly was.

Discarding facts from the past aside, the Osuna acquisition drops an inconvenient bomb right in the middle of their glorification. It’s that wart that shows who the Astros really are. If they just admitted it, they would deserve grudging respect. They claim to care about a player’s conduct and give hedging statements as to “zero tolerance” with that “zero” only existing when he’s an Astros employee. In short, they don’t care about Osuna’s alleged domestic assault just as they didn’t care about Aiken; they didn’t care about Porter; they didn’t care about Martinez; they didn’t care about any of the people who were callously discarded because they did not fit into the tightening circle of those who believe what they believe or will agree to subvert their own preferences as a matter of survival in a world they neither know nor understand.

For those who have a general idea of what is truly happening in baseball front offices and do not take these tall tales at face value, the book is entertaining enough in a televised biopic sort of way as long the creative nonfictional aspect is placed into its proper context. That context goes right back to the 2014 “prediction” that would have been largely ignored had it not happened to come true.

#HoustonAstros #Astroball #MLB #JeffLuhnow #JustinVerlander #CarlosBeltran #BenReiter #Moneyball #BillyBeane #CarlosCorrea #BoPorter #SigMejdal #MarkAppel #BradyAiken #CarlosGomez #JDMartinez #AntonioOsuna

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