Winter is coming and hankering down for a good old fashioned binge watch is in play. With Easter weekend, voting day and worker’s day coming up, it’s a great time to catch up on anything you’ve missed. But not EVERYTHING that’s got hype delivers. Here are my favourite online hits and misses of the moment.
Beyonce – Homecoming (Netflix)
EH OH! I’m KNOW I’m going to get some hate over this one! So let me start by saying that I AM a Beyonce fan. I DO think she’s brilliant. I mean, there’s actually no point talking about it because the numbers speak for themselves; she’s phenomenal and that’s a fact.
Beyonce also made history in being the first black women to headline Coachella, which is epic. She’s brilliant and that’s a fact. But! And there’s a but…this documentary fell short. Sorry.
Sold as “intimate and in-depth” documentary, hold up! Where?! When?! It LITERALLY took 1 hour and 20 mins to get to any behind the scenes footage, with extremely limited story telling.
The first 80 minutes is the Coachella show itself, which would have been ok if most of us hadn’t already watched the 30 minute live show and other clips at the time of broadcast.
This documentary offered extremely limited insights, behind the scenes footage lacked context; how Beyonce worked was short and sweet (not the point of a 2 hour doc, we want to see it ALL!).
To make things worse, I didn’t really enjoy the Coachella show (‘m going to hell for this one). Yes, there were epic moments (Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z, etc), but I don’t feel it translated into screen. I think to really understand the magnitude of having 200 people on stage, you really had to be there. Sadly, the production of this show didn’t translate that well.
Watch it if you’re a big fan, if you’re not a fan, nothing to see here. In fact, this trailer is better than the documentary.
The Perfect Date (Netflix)
Now everyone knows I love me some cheesy chick flicks and I did enjoy the Perfect Date, however, just not as much as the first few Noah Centineo shows like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Sierra Burgess is a Loser. Yes, I clearly have very high taste in chick flicks, LOL! If you have time, stick it on, it’s definitely enjoyable. I’m just saying, don’t pick it over Highway Men.
Lil Dicky – Earth (YouTube)
I really do enjoy Lil Dicky’s pop songs and thought Freaky Friday and Pillow Talk were both absolutely brilliant. His latest single, “Earth“, however, pales in comparison. It’s a great gesture and I did go to the website to see his solutions, but the lyrics are just super weak and it’s really the various voices that keep you watching because the substance isn’t there. Skip the video, just go to We Love the Earth instead.
Channon Rose – Respect (YouTube)
Channon Rose is a YouTuber that I’ve watched from time to time because when I first discovered her channel she would be telling the sordid details of her career as a porn star. I know. YouTube is so crazy sometimes.
Before guys get all overexcited – she didn’t share any of her clips! But, she would explain how things work, which to be quite honest IS actually fascinating! So that’s how I randomly started watching her. She’s a sweet girl and has a number of success ventures with hip hop apparently being next on her list.
NAT. She made this music video and it’s SO bad. “Who woulda thought I could rap like this?” NO ONE! Please stop.
The production is ok but she should just stick to YouTube as I genuinely don’t see this career going anywhere. But you know what? Oprah also sang her own introduction song once upon a time so we can forgive and forget. Welcome to possibly the worst white hip hop song of all time:
Formula 1 – Drive to Survive (Netflix)
Having learnt that my sister in law really loves F1 (who knew?!) she posted about this show on Facebook. Again sports, meh, but I thought I’d give it a go just to be open. Well! I can tell you that I’ve never given two damn rocks about F1 racing and LOVED this doccie series!
It introduces you to all the current F1 drivers, how they got into the positions they are, the truth about F1 and all the politics and drama (I never even knew there was drama!).
While the premise is sport, the show is a LOT more than that which is why someone not interested in sport (such as myself) can enjoy it so much.
Each episode is about 30 minutes each so you can watch one without losing too much time if you think it’s not for you.
WARNING! This trailer probably wouldn’t have enticed me to watch so maybe skip the trailor if you’re not a sporty person like I’m not, and just watch the 1st episode.
Bring Me the Horizon’s Billie Eilish Cover (YouTube)
Obviously I’m totally obsessed with Billie Eilish like the rest of the planet right now, which is why I even bothered to click on this video. Bring Me the Horizon is a hard rock band who did a cover for BBC1 – a populate prerequisite for their live show segment. They do a great job and it’s nice to hear a version in male voices.
Highway Men (Netflix)
The story of the police officers who caught Bonnie and Clyde. Sounds boring, has two old dudes in it, set in the past, but is actually great. I can see how some might think it’s a bit slow, but as someone who studied acting I just love to watch Woody Harrelson and Kevin Costner’s faces. They are old hat at Hollywood and this is a great example of that. This is a definite win.
Lasizwe – Instagram Friend (Instagram)
I’ve come across a few of Lasizwe’s skips before, my favourite being the cashiers at Woolworths, Pick n Pay and Shoprite, “PLASTIK!” SO funny! He recently published this skit about Instagram friends as well, yoh, too funny!
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That Fire LA (YouTube)
I can’t even remember how I stumbled upon this video, I think it was in my YouTube recommendations. Cape Town hip hop artist, Youngsta CPT recently published his new video Yaatie, which is very good. Somehow, these American dudes from LA (I presume from the title) picked it up and did a reaction video.
While there’s nothing new about reaction videos, this is exactly why I love the internet. 1) People get exposed to our awesome South African artists. 2) People can share and publish content from their own homes, no need for super expensive setups. 3) A guy can make a video and throw balls for his dog because the dog is barking LOL! 4) Homies can hang out together and be happy, which makes us happy!
This is just a feel good video with so many moment to enjoy.
Losers (Netflix)
I was having a bad day and was feeling super frustrated, angry and purposeless. So in huff I turned on Netflix and searched for Loser. And, low and behold, this amazing show came up!
EVERYONE knows that I’m not into sport and this show isn’t really about sport. Yes, it’s about sportsmen, mostly, but it’s actually about resilience, what to do when you don’t have big match temperament and what happens when you aren’t the winner that everyone focuses so much on.
What happens to those who seemed to have such promising careers that go no where? Losers will tell you. Brilliant, half an hour or so shows, great for week nights when you want to watch a few in a row but don’t have 6 hours. My favourite was the runner who got lost in the desert!
Lunatics – Chris Lilley (Netflix)
Chris Lilley is a brilliant comedic writer and actor. My brother’s been loving him for years but I only got into him within the last few years or so. Not expecting to see any of his works on main stream media in South Africa, I was stoked to find a new Netflix series from him called Lunatics.
I’ve only managed to watch the first episode so far but his acting is just so hilarious that I LOVE it already! He’s like Trevor Noah, some specials will be better than others but you always have to watch.
Warning: If you’re easily offended, don’t bother watching.
If you’ve seen any of these shows please let me know which episodes were your favorites because these hits really are amazing. And if you DIDN’T think they were that amazing, let me know as well! Happy watching!
