In our covid-ruled times, Netflix has become the behemoth of entertainment worldwide. It’s reach and offerings are so vast that it is almost impossible to find all of the streaming service’s best entertainment by just browsing. In fact, one can spend a whole afternoon going through lists of recommendations without ever watching anything.
So we are here to help with that. LeipGlo put together some hidden treasures from Netflix’s endless line of acquistions and own productions for you to enjoy and recommend to your friends. So with further ado, lets dive in to the wonderful world of Netflix obscura.
Trailer Park Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_NCYLj0lt8
Started as a shoestring-budgeted short film, the story of the three trailer park-inhabiting miscreants Ricky, Julian and Bubbles now spans twelve seasons, several feature films and even a new animated series. The success of this Canadian production can be attributed to the fact that these three characters are created, controlled and inhabited by its three respective actors. They live and breath the many peculiarities and shortcomings of their personas and have done so for decades by now.
The show is structured as a mockumentary, in the same vein as The Office or Parks and Rec, wherein a documentary crew starts following the two Novia Scotia criminals Ricky and Julian as they get out of prison.
However, nearly each season sees at least one of them going back to jail for their newest hare-brained schemes. It’s a truly unique show having survived major changes and several moves, including from Canadian TV to worldwide Netflix distribution. It’s also absolutely riddled with extremely foul language and subversive humor, so viewer discretion is advised.
Stream Trailer Park Boys on Netflix
Studio Ghibli animated films catalogue
While some movies from Japan’s most esteemed animation studio are major hits over here, Studio Ghibli is the rare production company that cannot for the life of them make a bad movie. Aside from the huge hits like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle, there are a dozen films worth watching, like our recently recommeded Porco Rosso.
Just because these films do not have the same prominence does not mean they are not all thoroughly enjoyable and compulsory viewing for all animation enthusiasts. And Netflix currently offers nearly all of them! So here’s a few recommendations of the ones that are not on everyone’s mind when thinking of Asian animation, split into different age appropriate groups for all family members:
Films for the very little ones
Films for the little ones
Films for young and old adults
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imtdgdGOB6Q
Skins
This little British show about teenagers gone wild was and is a true phenomenon in the UK since the mid-2000s. Created by father-son writing duo Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, it follows a group of teenagers for their two final years in school. It’s chock-full of scandalous but also challenging subject matter like drug abuse, mental illness and dysfunctional families and relationships.
Skins is the rare show for young people by young people, even inviting its teenage viewers to apply for writing positions in the show. They are not looking down on and truly empathize with each of its adolescents’ many challenges.
Each episode is structured around one teenage character and all of their struggles and inner turmoil. Meanwhile, the overall narrative is elegantly woven around each individual teenager’s time in the spotlight. Since the series follows a whole generation until their graduation, Skins has three completely different sets of characters, or generations, and basically resets the whole story every two seasons. It’s also been the start for a lot of British stars like Nicholas Hoult, Kaya Scodelario and Dev Patel. However, once again viewer discretion is advised as this show really tackles some heavy subjects.
