Streaming

“Metastasis!?! What the hell is that,” you may ask. The answer is infinitely more familiar to you than you know.

Currently streaming on Netflix in Spanish with English subtitles, Metastasis is the Colombian remake of AMC’s award-winning classic Breaking Bad. The series is pretty much a scene-by-scene remake, and The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at key comparisons between the two series.

According to THR, the series was well received on Univision and aired a whopping five nights a week. Some differences include the series naturally ditching the original setting of Albuquerque for Bogota and efficiently naming its anti-hero “Walter Blanco.” Also, Saul Goodman’s character is wonderfully named “Saul Bueno” and hosts a legal talk show.

If you’re a fan of the original and have seen Metastasis, then comment below and tell us what you thought of the remake.

Showtime announced via their web site today that they are joining the standalone streaming market as HBO did earlier in the year. Eschewing the rebranding undertaken by HBO NOW, the Showtime streaming service will be known simply as Showtime and will launch on iOS devices plus personal computers this fall. 

All Showtime content present and past will be made available with the service. Upcoming high profile Showtime projects include the return of The Affair, Masters of Sex, and Homeland in addition to the controversial return of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. 

The service will cost $10.99 a month after a 30-day free trial period. Those interested can sign up at Showtime’s website for further information and notice of the platform’s launch. 

According to an article first published in the International Business Times, HBO is officially moving forward with its stand-alone streaming service to debut next month as HBO Now. This is not surprising news as it has been previously confirmed that HBO was going in the Amazon Prime and Netflix direction of offering its programming without a cable or satellite tether.

The big news is the unveiling of the pricing structure – $15 per month – and the identification of a launch partner in Apple through its Apple TV content provider. It was later confirmed at an Apple products conference that Apple TV and other iOS devices will be the exclusive mobile provider for the service. Users will still be able to access the service from standard PCs. The pricing structure is significantly higher than rival Netflix whose costs range from $8 to $12 per month.

The launch of HBO Now will be timed to coincide with the April 12 Season Five premiere of HBO’s most popular show Game of Thrones. This move will bring shows like Thrones – a show that consistently sets records for most illegal downloads – to some 10 million TV viewers who do not buy cable packages, according to the article.

Netflix is ushering in 2015 by adding NBCs iconic Friends to its stable of streaming television shows. This development is amazing news to those Friends-lovers who had to rely on their DVD collection or (shudder) browse for the show in syndication.

To celebrate this news, we at ADTV recommend the following 10 episodes as most representative of the series. They’re not necessarily the best (it’s a fool’s errand to try and rank them), but they’re the ones we certainly remember the most. Feel free to add your picks in the comments section below!

“The One Where Rachel Finds Out,” Season 1, Episode 24

The Ross/Rachel’s romantic arc ran through the entire series, wrapping up only in the series finale. This episode provided the release that many viewers craved by having Rachel accidentally discover Ross’s undying affection for her. The reveal happens during Rachel’s birthday party where Ross has given her an expensive pin that resembles one owned by her grandmother. Chandler tries to defuse her astonishment by saying, “Come on, Ross? Remember back in college, when he fell in love with Carol and bought her that ridiculously expensive crystal duck?” And so Friends history was made.

“The One With the Prom Video,” Season 2, Episode 14

Friends often dealt in flashbacks, giving Courtney Cox ample opportunity to don her legendary fat suit, but the most emotionally satisfying flashback showed Monica and Rachel preparing for their senior prom. Rachel’s date was a no-show, so Ross (David Schwimmer wearing an afro wig and mustache) puts on a tuxedo and attempts to take Rachel to the prom. Just as he’s set to come down the stairs, Rachel’s date arrives, and it’s not until the group views the videotape years later that Rachel realized what Ross offered to do. This kicked off the official Ross/Rachel relationship. This episode also features an amusing subplot about Joey buying Chandler a gaudy gold bracelet. Through a series of events, they end up with matching bracelets – “bracelet buddies.”

“The One Where No One is Ready,” Season 3, Episode 2

Ross invites everyone to a black-tie function at the museum. When he arrives to take them, no one is ready. Joey and Chandler fight over a chair, and the fight escalates to Joey wearing all of Chandler’s clothes at once while “going commando.” Monica obsesses over a voice mail from her ex-boyfriend Richard (Tom Selleck). Phoebe’s dress is accidentally doused with hummus. Rachel can’t decide what to wear, and, frustrated, Ross yells at her, causing her to wear sweatpants. Taken out of context, the episode highlights the most annoying aspects of the characters. Yet, it’s a testament to their skills as actors to somehow make the events and arguments endearing.

“The One With the Jellyfish,” Season 4, Episode 1

The season four opener has Monica, Joey, and Chandler going to the beach where Monica is stung by a jellyfish. The most common remedy for a jellyfish sting is to have someone urinate on the bite, and Chandler finally agrees to do so. This episode is also crucial in the Ross/Rachel storyline as Ross breaks up with a girlfriend and, before they can get back together, Rachel asks him to read a letter asking Ross to accept that their breakup was his fault. Ross falls asleep while reading the letter but won’t admit it. In a subplot meeting with her mother (Teri Garr), Phoebe describes her life at 18: “Let’s see, my Mom had killed herself, and my Dad had run off, and I was living in a Gremlin with a guy named Cindy who talked to his hand.”

“The One With the Embryos,” Season 4, Episode 12

This episode sets up the cover-up for Lisa Kudrow’s real-life pregnancy with Phoebe opting to become a surrogate mother for her brother Frank Jr. (Giovanni Ribisi), but it’s most famous for the wager between Chandler/Joey and Monica/Rachel on who knows more about whom. The bet ends in a trivia contest, devised by Ross, where Monica and Rachel gloriously lose their apartment by incorrectly guessing Chandler’s job as a “transponster.” As Monica exclaims, “That’s not even a word!

“The One With All the Thanksgivings,” Season 5, Episode 8

Season five proved to be especially great for the series as it offered many episodes widely acclaimed as the series’ best. I’d originally intended to include the Thanksgiving episode where they play the football game, but this flashback-laden clip show proved much funnier. They all assemble for a Thanksgiving meal and reminisce about their personal worst Thanksgivings. The episode gets a lot of mileage out of Chandler’s broken family (“It’s a tradition, like the parade, if the parade decided it was gay, moved out, and abandoned its entire family.”), but the true addition to the classic Friends canon is Joey getting his head stuck in a turkey in an attempt to scare Chandler. This is also the first time Chandler tells Monica he loves her – while she’s wearing a turkey on her head.

“The One Where Everybody Finds Out,” Season 5, Episode 14

There’s a lot of “finding out” on Friends. When Ugly Naked Guy decides to move out, Ross to applies to sublet his apartment. While visiting the apartment, Phoebe sees Monica and Chandler having sex across the way. This sets up a series of hilarious deceptions and mixed signals including Phoebe pretending she’s in love with Chandler (“They don’t know that we know they know we know!”). Things escalate until Monica and Chandler finally admit to all but Ross that they are an item. This episode is widely seen as one of the best of the entire series.

“The One With the Ball,” Season 5, Episode 21

This episode starts off simply: Joey and Ross throw a ball around. They realize they’ve been able to toss the ball without dropping it for a few hours when Monica (of course) joins and makes it a contest. There isn’t a great deal of plotting, but it has what the best Friends episodes feature – seamless, easy chemistry amongst the cast. One of the episode’s subplots involves Rachel buying an expensive hairless cat. Ross famously asks “Why is it inside out?”

“The One With the Holiday Armadillo,” Season 7, Episode 10

This was a decent episode unexpectedly elevated by a Ross storyline. He wants to teach his son, Ben, about his family’s Jewish heritage, more specifically Hanukkah. Events escalate (as they tend to do on Friends) until Ross, dressed in the only costume he could find – an armadillo, and Chandler, dressed as Santa Claus, face off. When recounting the best Friends episodes, it’s a nice thing to do to throw Ross, typically embroiled in annoyingly neurotic plots, a bone once in a while. Here, he actually does a really nice thing and has some great moments with his son.

“The One With the Rumor,” Season 8, Episode 9

While it’s not the best Thanksgiving episode, it’s certainly one of the most high profile thanks to Brad Pitt’s (married to Aniston at the time but mainly promoting his film Spy Game) guest appearance on the show as Will Colbert, a formerly fat high school friend of Ross and Monica’s. Highlights include the “I hate Rachel” club, the titular high school rumor that Rachel was a hermaphrodite, and Joey’s drive to eat an entire 19-pound turkey while wearing maternity pants. The writers did Brad Pitt a solid by giving him the line “Look at her holding those yams. Those are our two worst enemies, Ross – Rachel Green and complex carbohydrates.”

There are a raft of new movie titles to be available on the small screen in September by way of Netflix streaming. Highlights include All is Lost (2013), Good Morning Vietnam (1987), School of Rock (2003) and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and A Single Man (2009). Here’s a mostly complete list with descriptions from our friends at Netflix followed by the date they’ll debut.

3 Days to Kill (2014)  After a terminally ill secret agent retires to spend his remaining time with his family, he’s asked to complete a dangerous last mission in exchange survive its hallucinatory side effects – Available 9/17

All is Lost (2013) Robert Redford  In this harrowing drama — which has no dialogue — Robert Redford portrays a man stranded alone at sea, courageously battling a ferocious storm as he struggles to survive with just a sextant and maritime maps to guide him. – Available 9/5

Bad Grandpa (2013) Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll, Greg Harris, Georgina Cates, Kamber Hejlik, Jill Kill, Madison Davis In-character encounters with real folks provide comic fodder in this franchise featuring Johnny Knoxville in lecherous-gramps disguise. With hidden cameras in tow, Irving Zisman (Knoxville) takes his grandson on an offbeat cross-country tour. – Available 9/27

Beginners (2011) Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos, China Shavers, Melissa Tang Oliver, a graphic artist, is coming to grips with the imminent death of his father, who, at 75, has one last secret: He’s gay. Inspired and confused by his father’s determination to find true love at last, Oliver tentatively pursues his own romance. – Available 9/16

The Believers (1987) Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver, Harley Cross, Robert Loggia, Elizabeth Wilson, Harris Yulin, Lee Richardson Mourning the accidental death of his wife and having just moved to New York with his young son, laconic police psychologist Cal Jamison is reluctantly drawn into a series of grisly, ritualistic murders involving the immolation of two youths. – Available 9/1

The Blue Lagoon (1980) Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins, Leo McKern, William Daniels, Elva Josephson, Glenn Kohan Set in the lush environs of a deserted tropical island, this coming-of-age tale follows two shipwrecked children — Emmeline and Richard — who are stranded for years. As the cute kids turn into beautiful teenagers, nature takes its course. – Available 9/1

Cool Runnings (1993) John Candy, Leon, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, Malik Yoba, Raymond J. Barry, Peter Outerbridge A fictionalized account of the unlikely story of Jamaica’s first bobsled team, Cool Runnings follows their journey to the 1988 Olympics. When Derice Bannock’s (Leon) chances of qualifying for Jamaica’s track team are dashed, he looks for another sport. Derice persuades U.S. bobsledding gold medalist Irv Blitzer (John Candy), who now lives in Jamaica, to coach him and his friends as they attempt to become a world-class bobsled team. – Available 9/1

Crocodile Dundee (1986) Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil, Ritchie Singer, Terry Gilliam, Mark Blum When a New York reporter (Linda Kozlowski) plucks crocodile hunter Dundee (Paul Hogan) from the Australian Outback for a visit to the Big Apple, it’s a clash of cultures and a recipe for good-natured comedy as naïve Dundee negotiates the concrete jungle. Dundee proves that his instincts are quite useful in the city and adeptly handles everything from wily muggers to high-society snoots without breaking a sweat. Hogan’s script earned an Oscar nod. – Available 9/1

Deadly Code (2013) Arnas Fedaravicius, Vilius Tumalavicius, Eleanor Tomlinson, Jonas Trukanas, Vitalij Porshnev, Peter Stormare, John Malkovich Friends Kolyma and Gagarin come of age in a Siberian crime family where Kolyma’s iron-fisted grandfather enforces rules that keep the young men at odds. Their relationship is further tested when they both fall for the same beautiful woman. – Available 9/10

Dennis Miller: America 180 (2014) Five-time Emmy winner Dennis Miller takes a look at the state of the nation in a stand-up routine that touches on health care and climate change.  – Available 9/11

Detention (2011) Shanley Caswell, Josh Hutcherson, Dane Cook, Spencer Locke, Aaron David Johnson, Jan Anderson In this genre-bending slasher flick, a high schooler gets slapped with detention on the same night as senior prom. But plenty of other kids will also be missing the big event when a past-her-prime prom queen shows up to slay them. – Available 9/1

The Double (2013) Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Yasmin Paige, James Fox Jesse Eisenberg plays the dual roles of a timid office worker and his charismatic doppelganger in this cinematic adaptation of a Dostoevsky tale. First spotted on the bus, then at work, Simon’s double may share his looks, but he’s no carbon copy. – Available 9/25

Filth (2014) James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Jamie Bell, Joanne Froggatt, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent An arrogant, corrupt cop who believes he’s the only competent person in his department sees a recent murder case as a path to promotion. But the investigation brings the deluded officer into a rendezvous with reality that he’s wholly unprepared for. – Available 9/11

Flubber (1997) Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald, Ted Levine, Clancy Brown On the verge of losing his girlfriend and his job, a scatterbrained college professor accidentally invents a bouncy material called Flubber. The substance stands to save the day — if the professor can defeat the many rivals who try to sabotage him. – Available 9/1

Girl Rising (2013) Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett, Selena Gomez, Liam Neeson, Priyanka Chopra, Chloë Grace Moretz, Freida Pinto, Salma Hayek, Meryl Streep, Alicia Keys, Kerry Washington Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century. From a 7-year-old Haitian earthquake survivor to an Afghani child bride, these stories inspire and captivate. – Available 9/1

Girlfight (2000) Michelle Rodriguez, Jaime Tirelli, Paul Calderon, Santiago Douglas, Ray Santiago, Víctor Sierra First-time director Karyn Kusama’s powerful film tells the story of Diana (Michelle Rodriguez), a Brooklyn high-schooler who gets little support from her dismissive single father and takes her frustrations out on her classmates. But when she wanders into a local boxing gym, she’s instantly drawn to the action. And though it’s a male-dominated world, boxing provides her a newfound discipline and sense of purpose, as well as a positive male role model. – Available 9/1

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tung Thanh Tran, Chintara Sukapatana, Bruno Kirby, Robert Wuhl When his manic radio show proves a huge morale-booster, Armed Forces Radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer gets sent to Vietnam, where his monkeyshines — lampooning any and all sacred cows — tickle the troops but land him in trouble with his superiors. – Available 9/1

Grace Unplugged (2013) AJ Michalka, James Denton, Kevin Pollak, Shawnee Smith, Michael Welch, Jamie Grace Every Sunday, 18-year-old Grace performs at church with her ex-rock star father, but she longs to share her talent with the rest of the world. Heading for the bright lights of Los Angeles, she soon must choose between stardom and faith. – Available 9/12

Guess Who (2005) Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Saldana, Judith Scott, Hal Williams, Kellee Stewart Ashton Kutcher stars in this remake of the 1967 classic Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? But the tables are turned this time around, as he plays the fiancé of an African American woman who’s met with skepticism and suspicion from her father. – Available 9/1

Hoodwinked (2005) Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers In this nod to Little Red Riding Hood, investigators uncover a tangled web of events when they’re called to Granny’s cottage to look into a domestic disturbance involving a sardonic wolf, an axe and a crimson-caped girl. – Available 9/1

Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie (2013) Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Eliza Dushku, Tara Strong, Ralph Garman, Neil Gaiman, Ben Gleib After hitting the lottery jackpot, Jay and Silent Bob use their newfound cash to become crime-fighting superheroes Bluntman and Chronic. – Available 9/1

Justin and the Knights of Valor (2013) Antonio Banderas, James Cosmo, Rupert Everett, Freddie Highmore, Saoirse Ronan In this animated saga set in medieval times, a young boy slips away from his family home and begins a long journey to pursue his dream of becoming a knight. Seeking instruction from three wise monks, he makes his way to their remote abbey. – Available 9/13

Kid Cannabis (2014) Kenny Wormald, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Ron Perlman, Aaron Yoo, John C. McGinley, Corey Large Teaming with his best friend and a ragtag group of potheads, enterprising teen Nate Norman sets up a lucrative operation smuggling large amounts of marijuana from Canada to Idaho. But the young drug traffickers soon sow the seeds of their downfall. – Available 9/6

Killing Them Softly (2012) Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Vincent Curatola When a couple low-level crooks make a dumb move by robbing a Mob-protected poker game and unwittingly bringing a recession to the area’s criminal economy, a slick enforcer is hired to track down the offenders and take care of business. – Available 9/30

Le Week-End (2014) Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, Jeff Goldblum, Olly Alexander, Judith Davis, Xavier De Guillebon Returning to Paris long after their honeymoon there, a British couple hopes to rediscover the magical feelings of their early years together. There, they meet an old friend whose perspectives on love and marriage help them recover what was lost. – Available 9/6

Lords of Dogtown (2005) Emile Hirsch, Victor Rasuk, John Robinson, Michael Angarano, Nikki Reed, Heath Ledger Stacy Peralta, one of the competitive skaters portrayed in the film. Known as the Z-Boys, the radical riders invent a brazen style of skating and deal with heartache when the sport they live for turns into big business. Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch and Rebecca De Mornay co-star. – Available 9/1

Lullaby (2014) Garrett Hedlund, Richard Jenkins, Jessica Brown Findlay, Anne Archer, Jennifer Hudson Long after breaking ties with his family, Jonathan learns that his long-ill father has elected to take himself off of life support in two days. Drawn in by the dire news, Jonathan returns to face his kin in an intense emotional encounter. – Available 9/29

Mirage Men (2012) Fascination and controversy regarding UFO sightings have been with us for centuries, but this absorbing documentary offers a disturbing new thesis: that the U.S. military has been distributing false information about them for decades.  – Available 9/1

The Moment (2013) Jennifer Jason Leigh, Martin Henderson, Alia Shawkat, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Meat Loaf After her lover vanishes, a photojournalist winds up in a psychiatric hospital, where she tries to make sense of her fragmented memories — and begins to uncover some unexpected and disturbing truths. – Available 9/11

One Day (2011) Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson, Romola Garai, Rafe Spall, Tom Mison, Jodie Whittaker, Joséphine de La Baume, Ken Stott After a romantic tryst on college graduation night, Emma and Dexter pursue separate dreams. This romantic drama based on a novel of the same name checks in with them each year on the same date, tracking their personal and professional progress. – Available 9/16

Refuge (2012) Krysten Ritter, Brian Geraghty, Logan Huffman, Madeleine Martin, Juliet Garrett, Joe Pallister, Chris Papavasiliou, Helen Rogers After Amy’s parents abandon her two younger siblings — one of them brain-damaged — she’s obliged to leave college to take care of them. While struggling to accept her dreary new existence, Amy meets a man who may change everything. – Available 9/6

School of Rock (2003) Jack Black, Adam Pascal, Lucas Papaelias, Chris Stack, Sarah Silverman, Mike White, Lucas Babin Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fourth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his students the finer points of rock ‘n’ roll. – Available 9/1

Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz After a stint in a psychiatric hospital, bipolar Pat has no choice but to move back in with his football-obsessed parents. While he tries in vain to reconcile with his wife, Pat meets a woman who’s as unstable as he is — and she changes his life. – Available 9/16

A Simple Plan (1998) Bill Paxton, Bridget Fonda, Billy Bob Thornton, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh, Chelcie Ross When brothers Hank and Jacob discover a dead body and millions of dollars in cash in a downed plane, they plot to hide the loot and split it later. It’s a simple plan — until things go murderously awry amid suspicion and mistrust. – Available 9/1

A Single Man (2009) Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Jon Kortajarena, Paulette Lamori, Ryan Simpkins, Ginnifer Goodwin, Teddy Sears, Paul Butler Set in 1962 Los Angeles, this stream-of-consciousness drama centers on a day in the life of George Falconer, a gay college professor who plans to commit suicide in the wake of his longtime lover’s recent death. – Available 9/11

Small Apartments (2012) Matt Lucas, Billy Crystal, Juno Temple, James Caan, Peter Stormare, David Koechner Franklin Franklin has a dead landlord on the kitchen floor and an investigator (Billy Crystal) questioning him. But none of this fazes Franklin. He waits each day for a letter from his brother (James Marsden) who has the secret that can set him free. – Available 9/1

Swiss Family Robinson (1960) John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro, Sessue Hayakawa, Tommy Kirk After being shipwrecked, the Robinson family is marooned on an island inhabited only by an impressive array of wildlife. In true pioneer spirit, they quickly make themselves at home but soon face a danger even greater than nature: dastardly pirates. A rousing adventure suitable for the whole family, this Disney adaptation of the classic Johann Wyss novel stars Dorothy McGuire and John Mills as Mother and Father Robinson. – Available 9/1

The Unbelievers (2013) Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, Stephen Hawking, Ricky Gervais, Woody Allen, Cameron Diaz,  Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss — the dynamic duo of science — travel the globe seeking to promote a scientific worldview and the rational questioning of religious belief, with celebrities, professors and ordinary folks supporting their work. – Available 9/1

Who Is Dayani Cristal? (2013) Gael García Bernal In the oppressive desert heat, Arizona authorities find a man’s decomposing body with only one clue to his identity: a tattoo reading Dayani Cristal. Gael García Bernal portrays the unknown man in dramatic segments of this intriguing documentary. – Available 9/9

Your Sister’s Sister (2011) Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass, Mike Birbiglia Jack, who is mourning the death of his brother, has a complicated relationship with his best friend, Iris, who used to date his brother. Their chaotic situation becomes even more tangled when Jack has a drunken tryst with Iris’s flighty sister. – Available 9/6