Netflix is back to its old self next week — at least in terms of the volume of new TV shows and movies that will hit the streamer through August 3. From new original series like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (starring Wednesday’s Emma Myers) to dozens of third-party movies, there’s plenty of new content to keep you busy. Other standouts include the return of Unstable, a comedy starring real-life father and son Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe, with a particularly zany streak that I enjoyed when it debuted last year.
For a complete rundown of everything that’s hitting the streaming giant over the next seven days, our monthly Netflix guide is the perfect source to consult. It lists all of the original series and movies, documentaries, standup specials, and third-party films that will be added to the streamer each day throughout the month. On a related note, our regular Netflix coverage throughout the month also includes a weekly analysis of the streamer’s global Top 10 TV chart.
At the same time, mixed in with the influx of new content coming next week are also a few titles I’d probably steer clear of if I were you — a recommendation that, admittedly, I don’t often share. I’m doing so this time, though, because of one title’s controversial nature and because of quality issues that plague two others. They include:
The director’s cut of Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon (parts one and two), as well as Joe Rogan’s new standup special Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats.
The latter, taped live at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, is Rogan’s first new standup special in six years. He’s obviously been just a little busy since then, cementing his status as one of the top podcasters today (I say “one of” the top, because he’s just been overtaken by Tucker Carlson, who’s now the top podcaster on Spotify).
That said, Rogan really needs no introduction. He reportedly agreed to a $100 million exclusive licensing deal with Spotify for The Joe Rogan Experience, guests of which sometimes include conspiracy theorists, far-right figures, and newsmakers who make questionable pronouncements. His podcast has also sparked controversy for everything from his use of offensive language to racial slurs.
Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats hits Netflix on Aug. 3, and unless you’re ok with essentially an extension of his podcast in terms of content and style, this one might not be for you.
That brings us to Snyder’s Rebel Moon director’s cuts, both of which arrive on Netflix on Aug. 2.
The logic here is pretty simple. Basically nobody — outside of, I assume, Snyder’s family — has enjoyed these movies. For one thing, the story here is unnecessarily split into two movies, and both critics and fans have found a rare thing to agree on by castigating both of them. The first Rebel Moon film, for example, has an abysmal 22% critics’ score and a 56% audience score (based on more than 10,000 user ratings) on Rotten Tomatoes. And both of those scores are even worse for the second film (17% and 48%, respectively).
Bottom line: Giving viewers an extended version of a thing that nobody liked in the first place doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing that’ll change anyone’s mind.
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