Netflix Nuggets: Beautiful Ninja Elephants in Stone Boats

Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.

THE BEAUTIFUL PERSON (2008) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: After transferring to a new high school, beautiful Junie (Léa Seydoux) starts dating fellow student Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), but she soon finds herself falling for Nemours (Louis Garrel), an Italian teacher already entangled in secret affairs with a pupil and colleague. Loosely based on Madame de Lafayette’s novel La Princesse de Clèves, this French drama explores the great pain that often accompanies love. Average Netflix rating: 3.2

ARAYA (1959) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: Director Margot Benacerraf offers this acclaimed 1959 film that chronicles the harsh existence of Venezuelan laborers who manually recover salt from the tropical marshes in Araya, an ancient salt-producing region in that country. Average Netflix rating: 3.3

RED, WHITE & BLUE (2010) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: When aloof bed-hopper Erica takes a job at a hardware store in Austin, she crosses paths with Frankie, a struggling musician, and Nate, a mysterious stranger with an ominous past. But their lives don’t intersect in the way you might expect. Average Netflix rating: 3.6

EVEN THE RAIN (2010) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: In this provocative film-within-a-film, director Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) heads to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to shoot a film about Christopher Columbus’s trespasses in the New World, only to find the locals protesting present-day exploitation of the poor. Sebastián is sympathetic to the cause, but realities collide when lead actor Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri), cast as a rebel against the Spanish, becomes a key figure in the current demonstrations. Average Netflix rating: 3.9

GOEMON (2009) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: Based on a Japanese folk legend that echoes the tale of Robin Hood, this ninja thriller follows the exploits of Goemon Ishikawa (Yôsuke Eguchi), who leaves his fighting clan after its chief is murdered and uses his skills as a thief to help the poor. But after learning the identity of his leader’s killer — the traitorous Hideyoshi (Eiji Okuda) — Goemon sets out on a bloody path of vengeance, joined by his loyal friend, Saizo (Takao Ôsawa). Average Netflix rating: 3.9

ELEPHANT WHITE (2011) Streaming Available: 05/17/2011 Synopsis: Hired by a powerful businessman to slaughter the Thai sex traffickers responsible for murdering his daughter, Curtie Church has a clear goal at the start of his mission — but that’s before he finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly gang war. Average Netflix rating: 3.1

JACK GOES BOATING (2010) Streaming Available: 05/19/2011 Synopsis: Philip Seymour Hoffman directs and stars in this romantic comedy about Jack, a marijuana-smoking Manhattan limo driver who begins an unlikely regimen of self-improvement to win the heart of a fellow misfit named Connie (Amy Ryan). But as Jack learns to cook and swim for the benefit of his girl, he also witnesses the breakup of his best friends’ marriage. John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega co-star in this adaptation of Bob Glaudini’s play. Average Netflix rating: 2.8

STONE (2010) Streaming Available: 05/19/2011 Synopsis: Edward Norton plays a convicted arsonist who hopes to get out of prison early by putting to work the seductive talents of his beautiful wife, Lucetta (Milla Jovovich). Robert DeNiro plays the parole officer who is the target of the couple’s cat-and-mouse scheming. John Curran (The Painted Veil) directs this subtle psychological thriller based on the play by screenwriter Angus MacLachlan (Junebug). Average Netflix rating: 2.7

SQUARE GROUPER (2011) Streaming Available: 05/19/2011 Synopsis: Documentarian Billy Corben shines a spotlight on three unusual and interrelated stories about drug trafficking in Florida during the 1970s and 1980s, when marijuana smuggling was big business practiced by everyone from ordinary folks to pirates. Interviews and archival footage examine the practices of the incendiary Ethiopian Coptic Church, the jobless fishermen who grew pot in Everglades City and the enterprising members of the Black Tuna Gang. Average Netflix rating: 3.3

THE SEARCH FOR MENGELE (1985) Streaming Available: 05/21/2011 Synopsis: Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, whose shocking experiments on Auschwitz prisoners made him one of the most wanted war criminals of the 20th century, spent the rest of his life fleeing authorities. His long flight is recounted in this riveting documentary. Through interviews with those who knew Mengele — both during his early years and during his worldwide fugitive spree — director Brian Moser constructs a complex portrait of a man and his deeds. Average Netflix rating: 2.9