For cord cutters, the anticipation of watching an event live gets transferred over to the weekly dumps of content on the various video streaming platforms. What’s dropping when becomes important knowledge to have as you organize your queue. If you don’t have time to comb through all the content coming down the series of tubes that is the Internet, don’t worry — we do. Here’s our picks for what you should watch this week.
House of Cards (Season 3)
As if you needed a reminder as to how messed up the strange world that exists only in Washington D.C. is, House of Cards is back with the ultimate reminder. Every bit of corruption, spin, and egotism that you imagine exists in our politicians is embodied in one man: Frank Underwood (brought to life by Kevin Spacey). The South Carolina congressman who enters on a political warpath after being passed over for for Secretary of State makes his return to whatever screen you stream from for season three of the political thriller.
Playing alongside Spacey is Robin Wright, who turns in an incredible performance as Claire Underwood, the wife of the congressman who has every bit as much ambition and need for power. As we learned in season 2, both are equally capable of doing what needs to be done — regardless of what it may be — to get what they want. As the characters continue to wade into the depths of nefariousness, practicing a ruthless brand of pragmatism to get what they desire, season 3 promises bigger stakes and bigger rewards.
Ralphie May: Unruly
If you’ve lost track of Ralphie May over the years, you’ve been missing out on one of the funniest stand up comedians around. After finishing second in the first run of Last Comic Standing, May became one of the most productive comics working, cranking out comedy specials and albums with regularity. It’s been three years since his last, but he makes his return with the Netflix-hosted speical Ralphie May: Unruly. It promises to bring May’s unique brand of observational humor and regular ability to twist expectations by utilizing a simple-person stereotype to drop insightful and hilarious takes.
Orphan Black (Season 2)
If you’ve been craving a sci-fi series that is worth spending some binge-able hours on, Orphan Black may be your answer. It’s still a young show, with season three set to premier in April 2015, so now is a great time to catch up on the first twenty episodes of the John Fawcett-directed series. Starring Tatiana Maslany, the show follows Sarah Manning, who assumes the identity of one of her clones. With plenty of moral and ethical questions about cloning on top of strong storytelling, it’s a can’t miss.
Clerks II
Kevin Smith’s cult classic Clerks launched his career, and has served as a marker for changing points in his career as it’s progressed. The original got him in the door, where Clerks II marks a point of emotional maturity for the writer/director. The film is full of just as many dirty and crude jokes and all the pop culture references, that made the first a hit, but it’s also a film full of questions about growing up and possibly growing out of friends and relationships. Plus, there’s a pretty great dance number.
1,000 Times Goodnight
When you see photos or videos from the middle of war zones, you might not think about the people who take those pictures or film those scenes. Photo journalists often wind up right in the middle of the action, which is exactly where protagonist Rebecca finds herself as she’s documenting female suicide bombers in Afghanistan. She’s made to choose between her family, who fear for her safety, and her work, and is placed in a difficult situation when she and her daughter visit a refugee camp in Kenya.
