With the past few days having been a bit quiet for new Netflix content – which is understandable given that July 1st brought with it a ton of fresh movies and TV shows, two titles in particular continue to dominate on the platform. Both arrived on the aforementioned date and ever since hitting the streaming site, they’ve held spots on both the Top 10 movies and Top 10 overall charts.
We’re talking, of course, about Patriots Day and The Town. Currently, the former is sitting at #6 on the overall list and #2 on the movies list, while the latter occupies #4 on the movies chart and #8 on the overall. In other words, both pics are pulling in some big numbers and have been holding steady for over a week now. But is their popularity deserved? Absolutely.
Patriots Day follows Mark Wahlberg’s Sgt. Tommy Saunders, who’s working the VIP area of the Boston Marathon. An easy job on any other day, no doubt. But after hearing one explosion and witnessing another, all hell breaks loose and thus we’re thrown into the harrowing events that took place during the marathon on April 15th, 2013, with much of the film focusing on the city-wide manhunt to find those responsible. Powerful, gripping and featuring one of Wahlberg’s best performances, it’s a terrific movie all around.
The Town, meanwhile, sees Ben Affleck star in and direct a crime thriller that’s right up there with the genre’s very best. It follows a group of Boston bank robbers who plan to pull off one last score by robbing Fenway Park. It’s as exhilarating as they come and really cemented Affleck’s status as one of Hollywood’s most exciting directors.
But circling back to Netflix, and with the next few days also looking to be pretty dry for fresh content – aside from Charlize Theron’s The Old Guard, of course – why not do yourself a favor and add The Town and Patriots Day to your watch list if you haven’t already seen them?