New To Netflix: Museums, Criminals, Calvin and Hobbs

New In The USA: MUSEUM HOURS

Jem Cohen's surprise arthouse success of last year ruminates on what is art and how do we as a society interpret it across many years. Part docu-lecture, part romantic fiction, it has, at its center, a compelling autumn-autumn relationship between a Montreal woman (arrived to Vienna to comfort her dying sister) and a security guard at the cities Kunsthistorisches Museum who helps her around and about town.

Quiet and restrained, Museum Hours nevertheless has a near endless capacity to surprise. It serves up a rich ode to the human experience (grief, loneliness, joy, comfort) and is perhaps the best introductory course to Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

New In Canada: THE BERLIN JOB

London gangsters at the top of the food chain have their lives and careers instantly jeopardized when a shipment of the Russian Mafia's cocaine is lost in a ocean accident. They attempt to pull off a major heist on St. George's Day (the former title of the film) in order to get out of debt in a hurry.

Set in London, Amsterdam and Berlin, the great British cast on offer here: Charles Dance, Nick Moran, Sean Pertwee, Vincent Regan and Zlatko Buric go a fair wait to making up for a middling screenplay.

New In The UK/Ireland: ONLY GOD FORGIVES

The second Nicolas Winding Refn / Ryan Gosling collaboration is far more esoteric, and far less accessible than was Drive, but boy oh boy does it have a host of memorable images. It may have polarized folks on it is release, but there is little doubt that the moody film is exactly what the director was aiming for. Consider it a great companion piece to Refn's under-appreciated Valhalla Rising

A grieving, but hard woman (Kristin Scott Thomas, mesmerizing) browbeats one of her criminal sons to avenge the death of her other criminal son. The villain of the piece (or at least, more villainous) is an imposing turn by Vithaya Pansringarm as a corrupt cop, who actually might be doing some good in this particular situation.

The whole affair is shot in a palette neon features minimalist-precise violence and karaoke in equal measure.

New In Scandinavia/Denmark: DEAR MR. WATTERSON

"Calvin and Hobbs" creator Bill Watterson created one of the most iconic comic strips ever made, ended the run at it's peak of success after only a decade (which is relatively short for the medium) and walked away from the business to paint.

Considering Watterson's staunch anti-merchandising stance towards his work and an avoidance of the public eye, the doc focuses on talking to colleagues and fans about the influence of his exceptional body of work.

New In The Netherlands: THE MUTANT CHRONICLES

Here again we have a middling script cast with a host of interesting genre actors: Sean Pertwee (again!), Benno Fürmann, Thomas Jane, Ron Perleman, Devin Aoki, Shauna Macdonald, John Malkovich and Roger Ashton-Griffiths.

The story is set in the twenty sixth century where many technologies are steam powered and mankind has exhausted the planets natural resources and a host mutated humans roam the earth

Netflix is the best low-risk low-cost format for checking out this kind of indie-science fiction - although $25M in the UK, I suppose, qualifies as a pretty huge endeavor. The horrible reviews do not have to deter you from checking the 2008 film out for yourself.