Netflix stepped up their game on two fronts in 2015. First, they produced and released three of the best series of the year - Master of None, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones - which speaks to the streaming service's dedication to taking on more audacious material (at least from a marketing standpoint) and lending stylish vision and potent politics to material like Marvel comics. Secondly, they've put out a slew of films that were abandoned by Hollywood, including Beasts of No Nation, Creep, and Winter on Fire, films that take on risky subject matter or tap into the B-movie spirit of modern filmmaking that Hollywood is increasingly disinterested in.
And from the news today from Netflix, this is something the streaming service is looking to continue. As THR reports, the streaming service will be releasing at least two more films with the quick theater-to-streaming turn-over system that they used with Cary Fukunaga's Beasts of No Nation. The first of these projects, and the lesser in terms of anticipation, comes from Chris Sparling, the writer behind Buried, ATM, and The Sea of Trees, Gus Van Sant's yet-to-be-released latest, entitled Mercy. Sparling's feature film debut is described as a home invasion thriller, starring James Wolk and Tom Lipinski, and seems to be in line with Sparling's other chamber thrillers, often based on a minimal amount of characters.
The more exciting prospect in this deal would be Girlfriend's Day, a noir-tinged comedy co-written and starring the great Bob Odenkirk, who plays an unlucky greeting-card writer who must fight for his life when he's framed for murder. Amber Tamblyn, wife of Odenkirk's comedy partner, David Cross, will co-star in the film, which Odenkirk wrote alongside Philip Zlotorynski and Eric Hoffman, the latter of which has written regularly for Mr. Show and W/ Bob and David. Girlfriend's Day will also serve as Michael Stephenson's first narrative work as a director, following The American Scream and Best Worst Movie, the latter of which is the well-known, pretty-damn-good documentary on the notorious Troll 2. Let's all hope that neither of these films with come out with the same reputation as that frankly unwatchable trainwreck.
