Entertainment

It Could Be A Long Wait For 'PP2' Online

by Katherine Cusumano

So often, the "Song of the Summer" in a given year comes from that summer's blockbuster. It was true for Despicable Me and "Happy," and it was true-ish for Pitch Perfect and "Cups." But now summer is coming to a close and 2015 doesn't really have a song. It makes us long for a time of Pitch Perfect, or even the more recent Pitch Perfect 2when will Pitch Perfect 2 be on Netflix?

Luckily, the Pitch Perfect sequel will be released this fall, in time to soothe any lingering sunburn and provoke nostalgic summer memories. It came to iTunes yesterday, which means it's high time it also come to Netflix. Unfortunately, that's just happening not yet — and it shows no signs of being released in the next couple of months. It could be a long and lonely winter before the movie's release on Netflix, which, I'd guess, might happen all the way out in fall 2016.

A ton of new films are coming to Netflix this month, (Lawrence of Arabia, Madame Bovary, Moonrise Kingdom, Philomena — where is American Horror Story: Freak Show when I need it, though?), but Pitch Perfect 2 wasn't among the recently announced selection. Nor has its prequel Pitch Perfect been made available to stream, actually. If a musical is your question, though, Netflix probably has the answer. From television to film, the streaming service offers a whole lot of song-and-dance interludes that might have you taking your jazz-hands all the way to the inevitable Pitch Perfect release.

1. Mulan

Confession: "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" is still my go-to pump-up song. (If it's not yours, you're not psyching yourself up right.)

2. Pocahontas

Honestly, any Disney princess film ever could probably find its way into this list. See also: Hercules, The Aristocats, Tarzan (less princess, more awesome lady who happens also to be a scientist).

3. Holes

If I'm being totally fair, Holes probably doesn't qualify as a musical. That being said, it's equally well-known for its infectious soundtrack as it is for a baby Shia LaBeouf post-Even Stevens and pre-Disturbia.

4. Glee

Ryan Murphy — formerly of Nip/Tuck and now of American Horror Story and Scream Queens — helmed this musical series about a high school a cappella group (loosely a cappella — their musical renditions often suddenly sprout fully-backed orchestras) looking for redemption. (So, Pitch Perfect in serialized form.)

5. Rent

As far as classic musicals go, Rent is one of the most accessible. It's one of those ones, like Wicked or Grease or Mamma Mia!, that encourages you to keep listening to the soundtrack long after the theater experience is finished. The original book won a Pulitzer, and Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs reprise their roles from the Broadway run in the screen adaptation.

6. Grease

Speaking of Grease, it's on Netflix, too, and worth a revisit. Early Stockard Channing and Olivia Newton John at her peak — not to mention John Travolta before his decline and fall and miraculous Quentin Tarantino-fueled comeback. It's greeeeeeeased... Lightning!

7. Footloose

Not the 2011 remake, but the 1984 original film — it features an amazing (and amazingly youthful) cast including the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin Bacon, John Lithgow, and Dianne Wiest. Footloose is based on actual events of a small, religious Oklahoma town in 1978, where dancing had been banned for 90 years per a moral dictum before a few high schoolers decided to challenge authority.

8. Chico & Rita

Chico & Rita is a musical ode to the jazz scene in Cuba in the ’40s. It combines a love story with historical narrative (taking place on the eve of the Cuban revolution and highlighting some of the great names in jazz of the era, including Charlie Parker), and moves between Havana and New York and Paris and Los Angeles. It was nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar, though it ultimately lost to Rango.

Pitch Perfect 3, according to IMDb, is currently slated for a 2017 premiere. Fingers crossed Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 come to a streaming service before then, because I'd like to brush up on my Anna Kendrick trivia before diving into the third installment. But at least until then, Netflix has a whole lot of choices on tap to get your fix of normal people randomly breaking into song.

Image: Universal Pictures