Netflix Pix

This week's "watch instantly" picks are all guaranteed to mess with your mind. Some will freak it the heck out. You will never look at Chinese food the same way again. If you have a weak stomach you may want to bypass this week's picks. This is one of my favorite lists of movies. I would love to know what you think of these.

Happy Viewing.


Dumplings

(Gaau ji)

2004 NR 90 minutes

Hoping to hang onto her unfaithful husband (Tony Leung Ka Fai) by looking younger, retired television star Mrs. Lee (Miriam Yeung Chin Wah) eagerly begins eating Aunt Mei's (Ling Bai) famous rejuvenation dumplings, but her increasing appetite for these rare delicacies leads to unsavory complications. Fruit Chan directs this disturbing horror film that features a gruesome look into the dumplings' secret ingredient: human fetuses.







Exam

2008 NR 101 minutes

In this psychological thriller, eight job applicants in a guarded, windowless room are given instruction, exams and 80 minutes to answer one discerning question that may win them a prime position. But they soon discover this is no ordinary test. The exams are blank. With one ejected for attempting to answer the unknown question, the remaining seven must decide what they will do and how far each will go for the coveted job.

The Human Centipede: First Sequence

(Human Centipede)

2009 UR 91 minutes

After their car breaks down while in Germany, Americans Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) wind up at a remote villa -- and soon find themselves trapped in a nightmare. Dr. Josef Heiter (Dieter Laser) kidnaps them for his demented experiment to create a human "centipede." The plan includes removing their kneecaps so they must walk on all fours, then surgically connecting them to a Japanese man to create a bizarre human chain.

The Return

(Vozvrashchenie)

2003 NR 110 minutes

The sudden reappearance of a man (Konstantin Lavronenko) who left his family 12 years earlier stirs up some mixed emotions in the household. His sons know him only from photographs, and while teenage Andrey (Vladimir Garin) is content to accept the unexplained turn of events, his younger brother, Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov), wants answers: Where has the man been all this time, and why is he back? Director Andrey Zvyagintsev's feature film debut.

The Other Man

2008 R 88 minutes

Over dinner, Peter's (Liam Neeson) wife, Lisa (Laura Linney), essentially reveals that she's been cheating on him -- and then disappears the following day. Obsessed with learning the details, Peter tracks down Ralph (Antonio Banderas), Lisa's lover. Believing Ralph doesn't know who he is, Peter plays little games with him in an effort to quell his own despair. Master of human insight Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal) crafts this compelling drama.