4 Netflix Picks to Watch If You Want to Be Lazy This Summer

Culture

Summer is here! The season of bikinis, BBQs, beaches, and entirely too much time spent on the couch, feeling too tired to enjoy any of it.

Fortunately, we live in the future so unlike the boring lazy summers of the past there’s now plenty online to keep yourself busy while everyone else frolicks in the sunshine.

Here are a few recommendations from Netflix’s extensive library to keep you company while you kick back this weekend:

1. Pretty Wild (Reality TV)

Before checking out new movie, The Bling Ringcheck out this ridiculous reality show featuring some of the titular teen buglers. Originally, the show was supposed to follow Alexis Neiers (the inspiration for Emma Watson’s role in the movie), and her sisters Gabby and Tess through their mostly harmless adventures as Hollywood teens. However, the pilot of the episode of the show gets an unexpected twist when, soon after a home-school lesson from their mom based on “The Secret,” Alexis and Tess are arrested for their connection to the crimes. The rest of the season is an entertaining if bizarre look at what happens when wannabes have their bubbles burst.

2. That Guy ... Who Was in That Thing (Documentary)

Just because school is out doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two. Here’s an easy and surprisingly informative look into the less-glamorous side of Hollywood: character actors, who don’t get the fame or the paychecks of stars even when their resumes are packed with hits. The documentary is made up of interviews with sixteen actors, and everyone speaks pretty candidly about the stress of auditions, getting snubbed by leads, and figuring out how to live between gigs. And, of course, there’s the added fun of trying to figure out where you recognize everyone from (hint: it is probably show about cops).

3. Hercules (Movie)

Maybe it’s not one of the many masterpieces released by Disney in the 90s, but Hercules is still a good time. Between the catchy musical numbers from the Muses and the great performance by James Wood as Hades, this movie is great for casual dates with your summer fling or lazy pizza dinners with your roommates. Although I wouldn’t recommend watching it with anyone that’s recently graduated because they would just ruin the fun by pointing out all the inaccuracies in the mythological stories (we know Philoctetes isn’t a satyr, we just don't care).

4. Spaced (TV)

Spaced hinges on a pretty straightforward concept for a sitcom but it has a nerdy, British flair that would go on to make Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright famous. At the surface, it’s just about a struggling writer and an aspiring comic book artist that decide to move in with each other, mostly because they don’t have anything better going for them, but their friendship grows to be pretty nonsensical and heartwarming. With only seven episodes a season, it’s a nice way to eat up an empty afternoon.