Here are some Netflix recommendations of things we are enjoying this month, one for the grown-ups and one for the kids:
Once Upon A Time
My girls and I are absolutely loving this series - so much so we are already up to season 3! The story revolves around the fairytale characters of the Enchanted Forest who have been transported to the 21st century because of a curse meted out by the Evil Queen Regina. The characters have no memory of their past lives and are destined to live the same day over and over again until Emma Swann arrives in their little town of Storybrooke.
The episodes tell the story of their present day adventures and struggles alongside flashback episodes which serve to develop the plot and the characters. It is brilliantly dark, with some fabulous twists on the traditional fairy tales we know and love.
Our favourite character is the wonderfully enigmatic Rumplestiltskin aka The Dark One played by Robert Carlisle. He is brilliant as the cowardly, simple man turned darkly magical villain. His storyline is one of the most compelling, combining his strong love for his son with his fear of being powerless. This dilemma leads to some powerful story telling.
There is a huge cast featuring some well known faces. We are forever checking out IMDB to find out what other things the actors have been in.
Larva
This cartoon from Korea has utterly captured Freddy's imagination and is his recommendation for the top Netflix TV show for kids. It features Red and Yellow, a pair of larvae who live together alongside a handful of other creepy crawlies. Each episode features four 2 minute short cartoons starring the greedy, food obsessed pair. Yellow is a bit slow and foolish and often receives abuse from his smaller, more impetuous friend Red in their quest for full bellies. Their relationship may be competitive and contentious, but when it comes to the crunch they are best friends.
They eat or play with things they find that fall through the grate of their underground home and search for food in the house, which they sometimes spend time in. They also try to avoid their adversary the hungry frog and stay one step ahead of Black the stag beetle and Brown the dung beetle. There is no dialogue but the two limbless creatures manage to convey a full range of emotions through their own brand of visual slapstick humour using their facial expressions and tongues!
Larva is truly weird but strangely compelling to watch! It is full of visual gross out humour involving snot, poo, burps and farts - this is obviously something that Freddy finds hilarious. There is also a lot of slapstick violence with bugs pummeling each other and fighting over food. But there is also a message of the importance of friendship that sometimes provides some heartwarming moments for the grubs.
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New on Netrflix this month is the third season of Orange is the New Black, brand new drama Sense8, season 6 of Pretty Little Liars and horror film Insidious. On June 26th a new original show Dreamworks Dragons: Race to the Edge comes to Netflix.
