Tag Archives: Netflix

3 Female-driven Shows To Watch On Netflix Right Now

So.. we don’t have telly.

I mean, we have a telly, but we just don’t have the telly stations.

It’s not a hipster choice – or a choice at all, to be honest – we’ve just broken the remote and haven’t gotten back around to getting a new one, or fixing the old one.

That’s been going on for a.. year. (I know, I’m a psychiatrist’s wet dream)

ANYWAY, we are quite content with our Netflix life and considering that we haven’t an option to watch anything else, spend a fair amount of time with all of the shows available from them.

I LOVE Netflix – the variety of movies and series that they are churning out is phenomenal – and the talent that they are attracting speaks volumes in terms of what was the industry is going.

I spoke with a friend ‘in the know’ over dinner at the weekend (Roberta’s, since you’ve asked – the new ‘It’ place in town. Meh is my feeling on it tbh) – and he says that Hollywood isn’t dead yet.

“Sure you’d have to go see Dunkirk in the cinema!” he cried. “You couldn’t watch Dunkirk at home on your telly! It’s too amazingly cinematic for that!”

(Note to self: go see Dunkirk)

He’s right, I’m sure both can survive side by side but while I’m at my current stage of parenting (i.e. 2 smallies, exhausted by 8pm, the greatest of treats right now is a glass of wine whilst watching some entertainment is peace), I need to tell you which are the best of Netflix shows at the moment, in my humble opinion.

1. GLOW

It’s no secret that I love the 80s and will jump at any opportunity to crimp my hair and wear day-glo bands around my wrists – so for the 80’s setting and for SO many other hilarious reasons, I ADORE Glow. Ladies wrestling and bad perms, that’s all you need to know – now, go!

2. GYSPY

I have two words for you – Naomi. Watts. Check out her acting brilliance in this psychological thriller in which she plays a therapist with her own long list of mental problems. Such a clever concept and entirely gripping.

3. 13 Reasons Why

This was very difficult to watch due to the subject matter of teenage suicide but I have to say that the lead actress, Katherine Langford, does an EXCELLENT job and Kate Walsh as her mother will break your heart into a million pieces. But it’s really important, so watch it.

*Netflix have kindly gifted me a 12-month subscription in return for writing a few thoughts on the shows that they stream and produce. I don’t have to like them, I just sometimes do *

3 Female-driven Comedy Shows We Love On Netflix

We don’t have any telly at our house.

Well that’s not entirely true: we have an actual telly to watch telly programmes on but we are not connected to any TV channels.

This is one of a long list of weird shit we have been putting on the long finger since moving back to our house after renovations in May.

That was almost 8 months ago and the ‘Weird Undone Shit List’ also contains things like curtains and blinds (so anyone can still just look in!), emptying a drawer full of screws from one of our wardrobes to make room for, you know, CLOTHES, and finishing off that last wall in the back garden so that the cement mixer doesn’t end up living with us permanently.

Anyway, while we just sit around not re-connecting our tv channel service to our tv, we’ve been watching a lot of Netflix.

Here are the female-driven comedy shows that I just adore at the moment:

Chelsea

I am a committed fan of Chelsea Handler. So much so that I bought 3rd row seats for her gig at The Olympia Theatre in 2014 and had to be practically carried in and home by Ass Monkey as I had only given birth 6 days previously.

Her new gig on Netflix is really engaging – super guests, lots of political commentary and a nice new educational slant on things whereby we all get to experience her growing up alongside the brilliantly funny comedian.

2. Haters Back Off!

Colleen Ballinger has hit the nail on the head with this bonkers series. It is often described as ‘surreal’ comedy but I find it somewhat true to life when it comes to the character she has created, ‘Miranda Sings’.

Miranda CAN’T sing, that’s the point, BUT that doesn’t mean she can’t have her own YouTube channel, right? You have to watch it, honestly, I crack up laughing at every episode.

3. Ali Wong: Baby Cobra

She is tiny, she is Asian, she is 7 months pregnant and she has the most unbelievably filthy mouth I have ever encountered.

And *I* have a filthy mouth.

We’re talking anal sex, the degrees of women’s ‘wetness’ according to age, giving your man the ole finger-up-the-buttski, making him go down on you..

..I actually blushed a little and that says a LOT coming from me. I also roared laughing, well worth a watch.

*Netflix are kind enough to give me an annual subscription to write about cool shows like these and more. That cool?*

How Tony Robbin’s Netflix Documentary Changed My Life

I once played a comical side-kick to a ‘Life Coach’ from Co. Louth.

He was ‘Batty Ryan’, played by Joe Rooney and I was Katarina, a very scorpy Polish woman who stayed by Batty’s side for mainly suspicious reasons.

Joe Rooney and I endeavoured to take the piss out of the all-too-common ‘Life Coach’ or ‘Guru’ who burst onto the post-Celtic Tiger scene in their thousands circa 2009/2010.

They were going to make things better, you see, change your lives, get you right back up to the top of that corporate ladder and help you be wealthy once more.. if only you would hand over your credit card details.

Joe and I didn’t really buy into that B.S. so we wrote an entire comedy show around it; “Batty Ryan Will Change Your Life!”

The show was brilliant and I enjoyed every single minute of the tours that we did around Ireland. That particular comedy character came to a grounding halt when I got pregnant with Jacob in 2011 as alas, playing Katarina required a few energetic dance routines AND a bit of a physical fist-fist with Batty Ryan.

(Which she won, of course).

But the Tony Robbins ‘I Am Not Your Guru’ documentary caught my eye on Netflix just over a month ago.

It came at a time when I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and unsure as to what direction my life was taking.

I had been working long hours away from the kids and as Jacob was about to start primary school, that time away from him was making less and less sense.

There was also some frustration around trying to find the time to get my own things done – setting business plans afoot, getting the house in order after the extension, writing, and spending time with my gorgeous little family.

It just seemed as though those who I mattered the most to, were the ones who were getting the least of me.

So I spent two nights watching the ‘I Am Not Your Guru’ documentary around that time of uncertainty.

I didn’t like it all – some of it was very uncomfortable to watch in the sense that I felt as though his audience members at the ‘Date With Destiny’ event featured were extremely vulnerable and had spent a TONNE of money to be there.

But small parts of it resonated with me. No matter what Tony Robbins intentions are or why he exists as such an important figure to so many people, he is a self-made man who is living a life that he truly believes in and wants to live.

I liked that message a lot and felt inspired to take stock of my surroundings and do the same.

So at 7 am the next morning, I got up and hit the beach for a big walk before Ass Monkey or the kids got up.

I sat there on the sand with the sunrise and cried because I knew I was struggling, unhappy with the balance between work and family and relieved because I knew I was on the verge of a big decision.

Later that day, one of our main full-time staff handed their notice in at our family business Dynamic Cater Care and it was obvious to me: I needed to go back and focus on helping out there while at the same time, calling my own hours.

It took all of 48 hours to make that decision and put the changes in place. When you know, you know…

Jacob has started school and I am now home at 4pm, available to eat dinner with him and Eva, stay on top of what’s happening in school and read their bedtime stories, all cuddled up together the way I needed it to be.

It has made a huge difference to all of us and I genuinely feel like a happier person for it.

So thank you, Mr. Tony Robbins – you might actually be my guru after all.

3 Signs That Netflix Loves Me More Than Ass Monkey Does

My belief that there is nothing on the telly has recently been confirmed.

As we are (yes, STILL) living with my parents while the house renovation work goes on (and on), we are subject to their own telly-watching habits.

Let me be clear: they have ALL the channels – every last one of them – and yet, every evening pre and post news hour, they flick through pages and pages of offerings from television stations and never land on a single one.

‘Nothing on!’ they’ll grumble, and I wholeheartedly agree. Except for maybe Graham Norton, Celebrity Juice and oh my GOD I loved Bridget and Eamonn on RTE 2 recently.

My folks go to bed nice and early and so we scramble for the remote to get Netflix on. Lovely, soothing, reliable Netflix. They won’t mess you around with ads or re-runs of Keeping Up With The Kardashians so that you’re completely confused as to whether Scott is on or off the scene…oh no.

Netflix has your back. Netflix just started showing AB FAB.

I might be a little bit in love with Netflix, you see, and I believe that it might be a little bit in love with me. I think that my Netflix relationship may be stronger than my other relationship – you know, with that Ass Monkey guy that I’m planning on marrying this year. Here’s why:

1. Netflix Doesn’t Judge

Ok, Ass Monkey doesn’t REALLY judge me either, but would he raise an eyebrow if I wanted to re-watch every single episode of Orange Is The New Black before Season 4 premiers on June 17th? Yes he would. Would Netlix? No, Netflix would let me do my thang.

2. Netflix Doesn’t Interrupt

Ass Monkey has that habit of either speaking, or rustling some packet or other at high volume, right at the pivotal part of a movie or programme. Imagine, you’re on the last episode of Season 4 of House of Cards. You sat on the edge of your seat for every other one, marvelling at how Claire can look like that when she acts like THAT.. you have just reached the final thirty seconds and himself pops his head in with a ‘I’m just heading out for a pint ok?’ SHADDAP I’M WATCHING MY SHOWS!!

3. Netflix Has Ab Fab

I feel like this decision was made by Netflix to satisfy me personally. I feel like Netflix knows how much I have ever loved Ab Fab and did it because Netflix loves me too and wants me to be happy. In contrast, Ass Monkey recently asked me if I’d like to watch a documentary with him about the potential existence of alien life form in our solar system. Yep. He doesn’t know me AT ALL.

I am part of the Netflix Stream Team and I received a years free subscription and an Apple TV in return for reviews and updates on what we watch.

Netflix Review: Bates Motel

When your kids begin to grow up, you know, when they have a bit of awareness of the world around them – I dunno, three, four or so – you start to wonder when might be time to move things along in the privacy stakes. Like, is it still ok to chuck your clothes off if they’re in your room before you get into the shower? And when should you stop getting into the bath with them exactly before it starts getting weird? Should you stop smooching the faces off them for hours until their cheeks are raw, in case it’s too, I dunno, suffocating? Essentially, what I’ve been wondering is; will my nudieness and smoochiness at some point become…gulp…inappropriate?!

Not at all! I have it sussed, you see. From now on, the answer to any of my worrisome questions about parental closeness with my kids will be: NORMA BATES. Every single creepy move she makes, subtle and all as they are, is precisely what you should plan to avoid with your kids. Bates Motel is directed so well that Vera Farmiga, who plays Norma, doesn’t need to be an obvious dysfunctional human being and hyper-manipulative mother to give us the proverbial willies. She can just stand a little bit too close for comfort to her son Norman (played by the brilliant Freddie Highmore), or kiss him on the lips for a nano-second too long to get the message across, and make you seriously feel those heebie jeebies. It. Is. Perfect.

If you haven’t watched ‘Bates Motel’ yet, there is no better time than this week – coming up to Hallowe’en! Do it, you definitely won’t regret it.