5 Netflix Picks: What To Watch This Week Begins With Bill Murray

5 Netflix Picks is your weekly list of random movies we recommend you move to the top of your queue, from romance to horror and everything in-between.

Now that we’re right into December, you’re surely gearing up for the holidays, and trust us, we won’t let the week pass without a Christmas title, but there’s plenty more hiding in the depths of Netflix we found that will fill your weekly watching needs. A cool sci-fi epic, an intriguing documentary, and a curious drama to name a few. But let’s start with a silly comedy …

MONDAY: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO LITTLE

A lot of critics didn’t take to this 1997 Jon Amiel-directed spoof starring Bill Murray as an American in London who thinks he’s part of an interactive theater game but is instead neck deep in an actual deadly plot. A parody of Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1934 classic The Man Who Knew Too Much, this comedy gem might not have the razor sharp zip of say a Coen Brothers‘ film, but Murray sure makes it fun with his deadpan delivery. It would seem a one-joke pony but amazingly enough, the filmmakers make this work all the way through, making it more than good for a laugh. It’s a perfect pick for a Monday night. And speaking of the Coen Brothers …

TUESDAY: A SERIOUS MAN

While I’m sure most of you have already watched the Coen Brothers chilling No Country For Old Men on Netflix (and if not…huh?), we want to steer over to a lesser known film of theirs from 2009 called A Serious Man. It’s about a Jewish man named Larry  (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor in 1967, who is having a rough time of it, leading to a crushing question of faith as his life spirals out of control. A wickedly sharp film with a terrific cast and endlessly fun dialogue, this is a small treasure that may seem directed at a specific audience but couldn’t be further from the truth. And if you thought Magnolia‘s end was strange, try this one on for size. Now let’s get serious about different man …

WEDNESDAY: 41 ON 41

With the recent passing of former United States President George H. W. Bush, there’s a lot of good reasons to look back on the celebrated and controversial life of the one-term president. Directors Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern Winters 2014 documentary 41 On 41 goes deep inside the Bush presidency, exploring the political beliefs and efforts, while exposing the human side of the man, detailing his personal relationships with friends and family, revealing a complex man with vision and humor. Not taking sides, it does offer a broader look into a highly-influential figure at the start of the 1990s. A must for presidential buffs. And while we’re talking about legacy …

THURSDAY: SERENITY

Back in 2002, sci-fi fans were all a flutter over a short-lived series on Fox called Firefly (count us in the pack), a cowboy-space opera of sorts with great characters and even better dialogue from gift from the gods writer/director Joss Whedon. Wrapping up the loose ends left behind by the show’s abrupt and weirdly ambiguous cancellation, 2005’s Serenity was meant to close all the gaps for fans, though only prompted hopes and demands for more. Not necessarily needing to know much about the show itself, the movie is a fun and action-oriented epic with great visual effects and a heartfelt story (read more here). Everything’s shiny. And now for some Holiday cheers …FRIDAY: STICK MAN

As promised, we close out our week with a Christmas tale, a short one, admittedly, this 30-minute animated film lasting just long enough to have some impact and well-worth a watch. Stick Man is voiced by Martin Freeman, a twig finding itself on a number of adventures when it’s separated from its family, taking him far, far away. Along the way, he becomes important to many for what he is, but loses hope he will ever see his loved ones again … until one day when he encounters Santa. Well-animated and plenty funny and touching, this is a cute little gem you probably missed when it released a few years ago.