Netflix: 5 best new shows to check out

Two huge and highly awaited projects are live this weekend and offer a varied experience. They also have nearly nothing directly to do with each other, or the holidays. Perhaps that’s a plus as we still have weeks before the full-on holiday festivities hit a peak.

Another two are also non-holiday but each of these projects has something special, perhaps for a different audience, and are also each highly anticipated, by the appropriate group of fans, nonetheless. 

Alien Worlds (Season 1) is here for anyone that imagines humanity as a Multi-planetary species (looking at you, Elon)

Applying the laws of life on Earth to the rest of the galaxy, this series blends science fact and fiction to imagine alien life on other planets. The 4-episodes of this docuseries approaches each episode like a separate chapter focusing on a different world a.k.a. exoplanet and explores the likelihood of life being present on any of them. 

This explorative and visually stunning exercise in “what if” takes on the idea that, with at least thousands if not millions of planets in the universe potentially harboring some form of life, what form might that life take? Taking this leap of faith into the question of, not only are there aliens somewhere in the universe, but positing the follow-on query; “where are they and what might they be like and even look like”.

This may not be a journey everyone is ready to take. But if you enjoy stimulation for your imagination and want to join in the speculative scientific thought experiment, maybe this series if perfect for you!

Selena continuation digs into the drama of a superstar destined to shine only briefly, but who will never be forgotten

The first is, of course, Selena: The Series, which has been in the works for an incredible two years.  Fans of season one have been looking forward to this, of course. The possibility for new fans to watch both seasons is also a tantalizing binge option as well.

The continuation of the story Selena Quintanilla, and in particular her rise to music-super-stardom is being played by Christian Serratos – yes,  The Walking Dead star (who is also a Twilight cast member extraordinaire).  

Mank: The movie behind the making of the greatest movie ever made

Second huge release is the Mank which is directed by David Fincher of  Social Network and Fight Club fame. It’s hard to imagine awards shows passing up the chance to laud this legendary director taking on a story about, well the most legendary film production and film script ever: Citizen Kane. 

Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz,  played by Oscar-winner Gary Oldman, is a journalist-turned-screenwriter and as the titular character we see how the tortured genius behind Citizen Kane grappled with the drama of filmmaking during Hollywood’s golden age. The project gives Fincher a chance to make a movie inside another and reference what’s been called the greatest film in the history of cinema. 

New series debuts today: Detention (Season 1) 

On Saturday, December 5 we’ll be able to see a first glimpse of this high school horror drama, based on the eponymously titled videogame.

Made by Netflix in collaboration with the Taiwanese broadcaster Public Television Service, Detention is the first Mandarin series that Netflix has collaborated on and will be aired first on an episodic basis by PTS before streaming live on Netflix.

The synopsis for Detention has been provided by Netflix:

Detention: The Series starts at Greenwood High School in the 1990s. Yunxiang Liu (played by Lingwei Lee), a transfer student, steps into the forbidden area on the campus by accident, where she encounters the ghost of Ruixin Fang (Ning Han). Fang later unveils the hidden history and trauma over the past 30 years, and how a group of young students and teachers were persecuted as they fought for freedom in the era of censorship. Their stories keep coming back to the school like haunting nightmares, waiting to be told and revealed.

The series will be available to stream on a weekly basis each episode becoming available shortly after the original airing on PTS.

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