Some of these movies contain content that might be upsetting to some viewers. 

Over quarantine, Netflix has provided us with something to watch during our abundance of free time. 

I’m sure you’ve binge-watched so many TV shows and movies that you’re now running short on ideas. If you are looking for something new, here is a list of movies and TV shows that you might have overlooked.   

“Community”

If you are a big fan of “The Office” or “Parks and Recreation,” then “Community” is right up your alley. Filled with funny and likable characters, you will always find yourself clicking on the next episode.

The premise for this show is that there are a group of people going to Greendale Community College from all walks of life, and they are all in the same Spanish class with a teacher named Ben Chang. 

The characters in the show — ranging from a former lawyer and a former high school quarterback to a nerdy aspiring filmmaker and a politically involved and socially empathetic woman — start up a study group where they have some pretty funny storylines.

Almost every episode is like a farce.

One of my favorite episodes is Season 1, Episode 23, “Modern Welfare,” where there is a schoolwide paintball tournament that turns into an apocalypse. 

Another one of my favorite episodes is Season 3, Episode 14, titled “Pillow and Blankets.” It is almost like a war documentary about a pillow fight. 

This show is a very casual watch, which is something that I like about it — not to mention it is extremely funny. 

I haven’t finished watching the show completely. I’m still on season four of six, so I can’t say too much about how it ends or whether it was executed well. However, from what I have seen, I think the show does an excellent job with character development and plot lines.

Plus, this show has two actors that are fairly well known: Chevy Chase and Donald Glover. Although at the airing, Donald Glover wasn’t as well known as he is now. 

“The Grand Hotel”

This is the best show I have ever seen, hands down. 

“The Grand Hotel” is in Spanish and takes place in late 19th century Spain. I know some people aren’t big fans of reading subtitles, but after three episodes you won’t even notice. My older brother watched this with me; he has ADD and is not a big fan of reading, but he loved it. 

“The Grand Hotel” is about a young man named Julio who hasn’t heard from his sister in months. Despite inquiring about her whereabouts at her workplace, the Grand Hotel, he still has little information. As a result, he takes on a job at the hotel as a waiter to figure out the truth about what happened to his sister. 

This show is filled with corruption, serial killers, murder, secret love affairs, fake identities, kidnapping, and twists and turns that will leave you on the edge of your seat. 

The best part of the show is that they didn’t ruin it by making it run too long. It’s just three seasons and towards the ending, everything is tied up nicely. The character development is fantastic as well, as every character got what they deserved in the end. 

Generally, after finishing any show, I have a few complaints about either the finale, how a character was handled, questions left unanswered, or a bad plot. However, everything is perfectly executed in “The Grand Hotel.”

Be warned though: there is an American version. My advice is not to watch it — it’s bad and doesn’t hold a candle to the cinematic masterpiece that is “The Grand Hotel.” 

First off, they switched up all the characters, renaming all of them. It’s also set in modern-day, and is just a basic, normal TV show that holds no true uniqueness. 

It’s tolerable, but why put yourself through watching a tolerable TV show when you have a fantastic one right at your fingertips.

“Death Note”

I don’t typically watch anime, but one day, while scrolling through my YouTube feed, I saw a video that had been made by the channel Film Theory about the show “Death Note.” After watching it, I decided to watch the show, and from the very first episode, I was hooked. 

The show is set in Japan where a high school senior, Light, comes across a notebook labeled “Death Note,” and on the back is an explanation of what it does and how to use it. 

The Death Note’s rules say that humans whose names are written in the note will die, but only if the writer is envisioning their face while writing the name down — sparing others who share the same name. If the writer includes a cause of death within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, they will die by that cause, and otherwise, they will suffer from a heart attack. In the following six minutes and 40 seconds, details of death should also be written in the Death Note.

Once Light has possession of the Death Note, he uses it to kill criminals, which leads world leaders to question how so many dangerous criminals are all dying of heart attacks. 

An investigation into what is happening is headed by someone who calls himself “L,” and nobody knows what he looks like. For L, this starts an epic chase to find the force behind these killings, and for Light, this generates a time clock to discover L’s identity before he is found.

This show is full of tension and surprise turns of events. It also caused me to think about some philosophical questions. What is justice? Is it fair for one person to decide what justice is? Is killing the way to make the world a safer place? Is killing moral?

This show is one season with 37 episodes. Similar to “The Grand Hotel,” “Death Note” was not dragged on, and it ended the only satisfying way it could end.

Even if you’re not a big fan of anime I suggest you give it a watch. I had not ever seen anime before, but this show is fantastic. 

“Athlete A”

“Athlete A” is a movie about what happened to the girls and women associated with USA gymnastics, and the sexual, physical, and mental abuse they experienced every day. Victims of all this abuse are as young as six.

The circumstances at the time kept these events that took place and the stories of all these women and girls under wraps for decades, with the organization threatening victims not to report through intimidation and lies about handling the situation.  

According to the documentary, someone reported the situation to the FBI, but they did nothing, which led to the FBI to be under investigation for mishandling the situation. 

This movie shares the story of all of these victims and shows how the journalists of The Indianapolis Star uncovered the cold truth of this beloved organization, which helped numerous survivors find a voice and come forward with their stories. 

Overall, this movie helped showcase the bravery and courage that every single one of these women and girls had, including the ones who were unable to come forward due to the organization forcing some of the survivors to sign a non-disclosure agreement years prior to the story hitting the front page. 

“13th”

This documentary is about the prison industrial complex. According to the documentary, the United States has become the threshold for the most incarcerated people, with almost one in four of the world’s prisoners being in the United States.

Countries like China have a bigger population and a 99.9% conviction rate, yet have half the amount of prisoners. 

The documentary noted that all of this is tied back to the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal unless it was a punishment for a crime. This led criminality to be made into a business where people benefited financially from people being locked up.  

This documentary goes step by step through United States history to show all of the different laws that were passed to create our country’s mass incarceration problem. The film also highlights how putting people in prison was turned into a business, and how Americans, and more specifically African Americans, suffered because of that.

I learned a lot from watching this movie and would definitely encourage others to watch it as well, as it helps to educate about an issue in America that not a lot of people know about.