By Dennis D. McDonald

I’ve been using an XBox 360 to access Netflix and its streaming video service. While the selection of movies is not as large or as new as the discs they rent, I’ve been able to discover some really interesting films that I might not have seen otherwise. Here are some examples (the initial links are to the Netflix web site):

• Chrysalis. Beautifully produced though ultimately dramatically unsatisfying future-noir thriller. Pits ultraviolent Parisian cop against the usual Conspiracy In High Places plot. Definitely worth a view though. Neat production design, clever views of near-future technologies.

• Re-Cycle. The old what’s a dream and what isn’t theme given very high production values. Characters are dull and uninspiring though. Interesting images but slow in parts.

• Thirst. Yikes, a really twisted vampire movie. Great fun if you tastes are a bit askew. (My review is here.)

• The Isle. Not for the faint of heart. Beautiful nature photography interspersed with demented and perverse action. Consider yourself warned - these people are not your typical next door neighbors.

• High Kick Girl. Teenage girl is a high kick karate expert. Rival gangs and schools are the enemy. Lots of stylized choreographed fighting. No redeeming social value, just good clean fun.

• Kaidan. Another one of those “classic” Asian ghost stories. This one is creepier than most.

• Vanity Fair. Glorious production of the Thackeray novel. Reese Witherspoon is fantastic. Definitely NOT an old “Masterpiece Theater” wannabe.

• Pandorum. Crew wakes up in haunted spaceship. Lots of corridors, things that jump out, creatures acting like zombie vampires. Worth a look but this ain’t no Alien. My review is here.

• Man with a Movie Camera. Absolutely amazing silent movie documentary made in 1929 depicting a day in a large Russian city. My review is here.

Copyright (c) 2010 by Dennis D. McDonald