Drew Barrymore, Rooney Mara lead 2017 Hollywood comebacks

HOLLYWOOD, California — Following her Golden Globe win as Best Actress in a drama TV series and Best Actress victory for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Claire Foy reprises her role as the young Queen Elizabeth II for the second season of “The Crown."

Claire Foy poses in the press room with the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series for "The Crown" at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Likewise, Drew Barrymore takes on her first major comeback in years with “Santa Clarita Diet," which premiered in Netflix on February 3.

From left: Skyler Gisondo, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson and Drew Barrymore arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of "Santa Clarita Diet" season one at the Cinerama Dome at ArcLight Hollywood on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Drew plays Sheila, the “funny zombie” and wife to Joel (Timothy Olyphant). Joel and Sheila are husband and wife realtors leading vaguely discontented lives in the L.A. suburb of Santa Clarita with their teenaged daughter, Abby, until Sheila goes through a dramatic change, sending their lives down a road of death and destruction...but in a good way.

Also, this year, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” star Rooney Mara and Robert Redford of “All the President’s Men” return in the radar for the romantic sci-fi film, “The Discovery."

Actress Rooney Mara poses at the premiere of "The Discovery" during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)

“The Discovery” is set one year after the existence of the afterlife is scientifically verified. Millions around the world have ended their own lives in order to “get there." A man and woman fall in love while coming to terms with their own tragic pasts and the true nature of the afterlife.

“The Discovery” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last January 20 and will be released by Netflix within the year.

Early this month, Emmy and Tony Award winner Neil Patrick Harris also graced the screen as Count Olaf in “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”.

Based on the internationally best-selling series of books by Snicket (aka Daniel Handler), “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” recounts the tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans – Violet, Klaus and Sunny – whose evil guardian, Count Olaf, will stop at nothing to get his hands on their inheritance. The siblings must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling his many devious plans and disguises, in order to discover clues to their parents’ mysterious death.

Available on Globe Broadband, the eight-episode series is a Netflix original production, executive produced by Emmy Award winner Barry Sonnenfeld and Daniel Handler, and also stars Patrick Warburton (Lemony Snicket), Joan Cusack (Justice Strauss), Malina Weissman (Violet Baudelaire) and Louis Hynes (Klaus Baudelaire).

A scene from Netflix's "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"

Last month, Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television treated families to 13 hours of adventure, suspense, and limitless imagination with the all-new series, “DreamWorks Trollhunters”.

When the world of humans and trolls collide and an ordinary teenager is beckoned to save them both, parent and child alike will find themselves cheering on an unlikely yet lovable hero. With dozens of hours of unstructured time to fill until kids head back to school, “DreamWorks Trollhunters” offers 26 cinematic episodes that tackle topics such as 24 acts of bravery destined to build confidence; 15 jokes adults will love that kids will not catch; 32 ways to appreciate the power of friendship; and 14 times you might get a little choked up, among others.

 

“We program our shows around people’s lives - not advertising schedules,” Andy Yeatman, Director of Kids Content for Netflix, says in a statement. “We know our members are hungry for new content in the slow post-holiday weeks of late December and early January, which is when our viewership peaks. So, we teamed with DreamWorks Animation Television and acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro to launch 26 episodes - the most we’ve delivered of any original series at once - to give families a new story to enjoy together.”

Apart from these new series, Netflix, which claims to have originated “binge-watching” as it allows immediate download of entire shows and seasons to be viewed at one’s convenient time, also unveils other programs to binge-watch for this 2017:

“Chef’s Table” Season 3 (February 2017)

“Chef's Table” features six of the world’s most renowned international chefs, and offers viewers the opportunity to go inside the lives and kitchens of these culinary talents. Season 3's chefs include: Jeong Kwan, Baekyasa Temple (South Korea), Vladimir Muhkin, White Rabbit (Moscow, Russia), Tim Raue, Restaurant Tim Raue (Berlin, Germany), Virgilio Martinez, Central (Lima, Peru), Ivan Orkin, Ivan Ramen (New York, NY), and Nancy Silverton, Osteria Mozza, (Los Angeles, CA)

“Marvel’s Iron Fist” (March 2017)

Billionaire Danny Rand (Finn Jones) returns to New York City after being missing for years, trying to reconnect with his past and his family legacy. He fights criminal elements corrupting New York City with his kung-fu mastery and ability to summon the awesome power of the fiery Iron Fist.

“Sense8” Season 2 (May 2017)

Picking up where season one left off, Capheus (Toby Onwumere), Kala (Tina Desai), Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre), Nomi (Jamie Clayton), Riley (Tuppence Middleton) , Sun (Donna Bae), Will (Brian J. Smith) and Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) come together both physically and mentally, plunged into the middle of each other’s tragedies and triumphs. On the run from Whispers (Terrence Mann), and forced to question their very identity, it is a matter of survival as the Sensates must find a way to live with, understand and protect one another against all odds.

“Master of None” Season 2 (2017)

Best known for his role on the award-winning series “Parks and Recreation”, comedian Aziz Ansari stars, writes, and directs “Master of None”, a new Netflix original comedy series loosely based on his own life experiences.

“Master of None” follows the personal and professional lives of Dev, a 30-year-old actor in New York who has trouble deciding what he wants to eat, much less the pathway for the rest of his life. Ambitious, funny, cinematic, and both sweeping in scope and intensely personal, Dev's story takes him through subjects as diverse as the plight of the elderly, the immigrant experience, and how to find the most delicious pasta for dinner. The show was created by Ansari and Parks and Recreation writer Alan Yang. The series is executive produced by Ansari, Alan Yang, Michael Schur, Dave Becky, and David Miner.

From left: Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, and Caleb McLaughlin pose in the press room with the awards for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for "Stranger Things" at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

“Stranger Things” Season 2 (2017)

A love letter to the ’80s classics that captivated a generation, “Stranger Things” is set in 1983 Indiana, where a young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange little girl.

“War Machine” (2017)

A pitch-black war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (“Animal Kingdom”) recreates a US General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an absurdist look at a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on one of the most polarizing war figures of a generation: successful, charismatic four-star General Stanley McChrystal, who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.

 

“The Defenders” (2017)

Marvel’s “The Defenders” follows Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones). A quartet of singular heroes with one common goal – to save New York City. This is the story of four solitary figures, burdened with their own personal challenges, who realize they just might be stronger when teamed together.