Is Netflix good or bad? It's been the debate of choice on the internet since, well, the site's invention – but especially over the past month in the spotlight for the Big Red Streaming Behemoth.
First Netflix found itself in Steven Spielberg's sights as the famed director proposed rules to the Academy forcing it – and any future streaming services – to exclusively put their films in theaters for a certain window of time if it wants Oscar nominations. Most of the internet sided with the tech giant because, while Spielberg is beloved director of some of the most influential and entertaining movies of all time, arguing for an aspect of cinema that makes it special and unique, Netflix let you watch "Sandy Wexler" and "Mute" from your living room.
Suddenly, however, Netflix went from Film Twitter fav to pariah when, after framing itself as the saintly patron of on-screen diversity, it cancelled the critically acclaimed cult Latino sitcom "One Day at a Time" – then took to Twitter to cry over the grave of the show it just murdered.
So ... is Netflix good or bad? As with all things, the answer is likely in the middle. Even somebody like me who glibly pokes at the streaming behemoth any chance I can get on social and digs into anti-Netflix editorials and columns like they're red meat has to admit the service's positives – and its rivals' many negatives, such as supersized studio offerings and the sad state of most theatrical outlets. (Though it's not cinemas' fault that we forgot how to behave at the movies!) Any level-headed conversation about Netflix is doomed to loop in endless directions and land on approximately 17 different theses.
But here's one obvious truth: Netflix is not your friend. Like with the old video game console wars, you can give your blood, sweat and tears arguing the good name of Netflix, but they'll only care that you give them – and no one else – your money.
Netflix is a ruthless, debt-fueled tech corporation with no interest in outside accountability. (Part of the reason why the axing of "One Day at a Time" rankled many is that the service blamed low viewers – a statistic and perspective only Netflix would know since it famously doesn't release them, save for when they make Netflix look preposterously good.) Just because it likes memes, wears a "Pulp Fiction" T-shirt and makes "Bird Box" available right away for you to half-watch on the couch doesn't mean that it actually cares. Making something convenient is not the same as quality. It's opportunism disguised as benevolence, neglect and promotional disregard as artistic freedom and algorithmic genius – and, as Vox's Todd VanDerWerff points out, the expensive and restrictive past as a bright new future.
Indeed, while it offers the best streaming experience right now, that might not be the case much longer. Soon, the other studios – who, by the way, are not your friends either – will have their own services, taking all of their shows and movies with them, leaving Netflix's relatively young library to hold its own. And will "Sierra Burgess is a Loser" and "Polar" be enough to keep your subscription when there's the entire Marvel and Star Wars library on Disney+, or a century of film history on Warner or Universal's future service? Maybe then Netflix will bother letting you know it released a Steven Soderbergh movie this year.
Anyways, just some stuff to keep in mind when watching some of Netflix's new arrivals coming in April – including "You vs. Wild," a new interactive show featuring Bear Grylls guiding you through survival situations that will almost certainly also serve as a creepy data-mining exercise. Here's the rest:
April 1
"Across the Line"
"All the President's Men"
"The Bone Collector"
"Bonnie and Clyde"
"Deliverance"
"Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood"
"Evolution"
"The Fifth Element"
"Freddy vs. Jason"
"Friday the 13th"
"The Golden Compass"
"I Am Legend"
"Lakeview Terrace"
"Monster House"
"Obsessed"
"Penelope"
"Pineapple Express"
"Pokemon the Series: Sun & Moon" season 2
"P.S. I Love You"
"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"
"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2"
"Snatch"
"Spy Kids"
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Ultraman"
"Valkyrie"
April 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Kevin Hart: Irresponsible"
April 3
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Suzzanna: Buried Alive"
April 5
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" part 2
"In the Shadows"
"Legacies" season 1
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Our Planet"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Persona: Collection"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Roman Empire: Caligula: The Mad Emperor"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Spirit Riding Free" season 8
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Tijuana"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Unicorn Stone"
April 9
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Trolls: The Beat Goes On!" season 6
April 10
"New Girl" season 7
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "You vs. Wild"
April 11
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Black Summer"
April 12
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "A Land Imagined"
"Band Aid"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Huge in France"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Mighty Little Bheem"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "The Perfect Date"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "The Silence"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Special"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?"
April 15
"Luis Miguel - The Series" season 1
"The New Romantic"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "No Good Nick"
April 16
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Super Monsters Furever Friends"
April 18
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "My First First Love"
April 19
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "A Fortunate Man"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Brene Brown: The Call to Courage"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Cuckoo" season 5
"I, Daniel Blake"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Music Teacher"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Rilakkuma and Kaoru"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Samantha!" season 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Someone Great"
April 20
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Grass is Greener"
April 22
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Pinky Malinky" part 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Selection Day" new episodes
April 23
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson"
April 24
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Bonding"
April 25
"The Hateful Eight" extended version
"The Ugly Truth"
April 26
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "The Protector" season 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "ReMastered: Devil at the Crossroads"
"The Sapphires"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" season 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Street Food"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Yankee"
April 27
"American Honey"
April 28
"Señora Acero" season 5
April 29
"Burning"
"The Imitation Game"
April 30
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Anthony Jeselnik: Fire in the Maternity Ward"
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Baki" part 2
NETFLIX ORIGINAL: "Ingress: The Animation"
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
