A great month in store on Netflix for those of you who happily while away an hour/day or so on the streaming service. Original shows are returning, new ones are kicking off and some old favourites are being added. Further still there's some quality movies being added to the library from record breaking Oscar winners to superhero blockbusters.
Let's take a look at what's on offer...
TV Shows
Orange is the New Black - Season 4 (17th June)
Things pick up where we left off at Litchfield prison, although they are definitely no longer frolicking and bonding in that lake anymore. In fact, things are definitely leaning more towards the drama side of things in this comedy drama if this trailer is anything to go by. Piper (Taylor Schilling) seems to be picking up enemies left, right and centre, while there's a brand new batch of inmates and correctional officers to be dealing with too.
Happy Valley (3rd June)
Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) is a policewoman in the ironically named Happy Valley, an extremely deprived northern township. Her private life is complicated. She still sees and sleeps with her ex-husband, journalist Richard Cawood, even though he has a new woman in his life. She lives with her sister Clare, a recovering addict, and grandson Ryan, whose mother, Catherine's daughter Rebecca, killed herself after being raped. Now the man Catherine believes to be the rapist, Tommy Lee Royce, is out of jail and back in town.
Bad Education (1st June)
The Jack Whitehall starring sitcom makes its way onto the streaming service. He stars as Alfie Wickers, a posh, newly graduated secondary school history teacher at the fictional Abbey Grove School. In a bid to woo his colleague Rosie Gulliver (Sarah Solemani) he enlists his mismatched class in a bid to make him appear cool, largely failing at every opportunity.
Scream - Season 2 (31st May)
The second season of the MTV series based on the movie franchise of the same name comes to Netflix. After the brutal events of the first season, Emma returns from a recovering retreat in a bid to get her life back on track. However when one of her friends is killed it soon becomes apparent that the killer from season 1 was not working alone.
Movies
Guardians of the Galaxy (20th June)
Abducted from Earth at the age of eight, we jump forward 28 years to meet a grown up Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) to find he has become a space tomb-raider of sorts. When he discovers an orb that gets the attention of Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace, menacing but underwritten), he finds half of the galaxy’s bad guys on his tail. It’s not long before he’s thrown into jail, and he’s forced to join forces with assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), revenge driven Drax The Destroyer (Dave Bautista), science experiment Rocket The Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and the tree-that-hugs-back Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel). Together they must escape the prison, beat the bad guy and save the galaxy. No pressure.
Marvel's biggest gamble proved to be one of their biggest pay offs to date. On paper this really shouldn't work. A former WWE wrestler, a talking racoon and 9 foot tall tree that can only say one word doesn't scream box office success. But an ace soundtrack, a witty script and a breakout performance from Chris Pratt made this the surprise hit of 2014 and arguably the best Marvel outing yet.
The Fighter (1st June)
Mark Wahlberg is local hero, Mickey Ward. Seen as a bit of a journeyman fighter, he's never really gotten his shot because of poor management from his mother (Leo), and often absent coaching from his - former boxing star - half-brother, Dickie (Bale). Mickey is constantly in the middle of an argument about how his career should be going and more often than not things seem to benefit Dickie. But when his brother goes to jail, and Ward begins dating the strong-willed Charlotte (Adams), he's inspired to get back into the ring. Dickie may be a junkie, but he also taught Mickey everything he knows about boxing, so he must decide whether or not he needs his brother in his corner for his final shot.
David O Russel's powerful boxing drama picked up seven Academy Award nominations winning two in the Best Supporting Actor categories for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Bale stole all the plaudits but it's Wahlberg in the less flashy central role that anchors the film with a terrific performance.
Watchmen (7th June)
Zack Snyder's adaptation of the classic graphic novel divided opinion amongst fans of the source material but there's no denying that the film is very pretty to look at. Strong performances from throughout but in particular from Jackie Earle Haley. The film's worth watching for the funeral scene alone.
Requiem for a Dream (1st June)
Four drug-addicted people go into a downward spiral with devastating effects on their families. A woman takes diet pills in a bid to look slim for her appearance on a TV show, her heroin-addict son and his friend turn to crime to pay for their addiction, and one of the boys' girlfriends faces her own battle with narcotics. Darren Aronofsky's drama, based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr and starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans and Jennifer Connelly.
Total Recall (15th June)
Colin Farrell leads the cast in this Len Wiseman directed remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger starring cult classic. In need of a vacation from his ordinary life, factory worker Douglas Quaid (Farrell) visits Rekall, a company that can turn dreams into real memories. Thinking that memories of life as a superspy are just the ticket, Quaid undergoes the procedure -- but it goes horribly wrong. Suddenly, Quaid is a hunted man. He teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) on a search to find the head of the underground resistance and take down the leader (Bryan Cranston) of the free world.
A Million Ways to Die in the West (6th June)
Seth MacFarlane stars as mild-mannered sheep farmer Albert Stark who feels certain that the Western frontier is trying to kill him. Things go from bad to worse when he loses his girlfriend, Louise (Amanda Seyfried), to the town's most successful businessman (Neil Patrick Harris). However, a beautiful, pistol-packing woman named Anna (Charlize Theron) rides into town and helps Albert find his inner courage. Stark's newfound bravery is put to the test when Anna's outlaw husband (Liam Neeson) arrives with plans to plant him in an unmarked grave.
MacFarlane's film didn't tickle the funny bone in the same manner that Ted did but there are a few gags to enjoy here in particular an ace Back to the Future reference starring Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown).
Rise of the Guardians (15th June)
Jack Frost (Chris Pine) is having fun causing snow days and starting snowball fights all over the world, but is having trouble dealing with the fact that no child actually believes he exists. This is not a problem that the Guardians have; as Santa (Alec Baldwin), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and the silent Sandman are given power by the children’s belief in them. But it is this power that the Boogeyman (Jude Law) wants to steal for himself, so the Guardians enlist Jack Frost in an effort to combine forces and defeat the Boogeyman before he replaces all hope on Earth with fear.
Titanic (1st June)
If you're one of the twelve people on the planet that still hasn't seen Titanic then now's your chance. The film that launched Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet into the stratosphere made nearly two billion dollars at the box office and won a record twelve Academy Awards. The cynics out there will tell you to avoid it but we're telling you now, if you embrace it, you'll never let go.
