Next Big Thing: Chelsea Handler hits Netflix, Hot Chip drummer joins NZCA Lines

The weekly Next Big Thing column highlights what’s bubbling under the surface in entertainment with a look at rising stars in the world of music, as well as standout TV shows, movies and web series that would be a shame to overlook.

‘CHELSEA DOES’ NETFLIX

Chelsea Handler isn’t one to go quietly. So when the comedian exited her popular E! channel talk show “Chelsea Lately” after a seven-year run in 2014, it wasn’t long before she promised to return with a new project for Netflix.

It took more than a year-and-a-half, but audiences will finally get a chance to see what Handler has in store for the streaming service with “Chelsea Does,” a four-part documentary series intended to introduce her confrontational persona to a global audience.

In the show, Handler tackles topical issues including race, marriage and technology.

But the standout amongst the group is “Chelsea Does Drugs,” in which Handler dabbles in narcotics at her Los Angeles home before heading to Peru for an Ayahuasca ceremony.

Netflix premieres “Chelsea Does” on Saturday.

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FUTURE SOUNDS

Science fiction and electronic music have been dance floor partners for decades, but a London-based electronic trio is bringing their own haunting elements to the sound.

NZCA Lines, founded nearly six years ago by Michael Lovett, has grown into an ambitious and collaborative project for the second album.

This time around Lovett has recruited Sarah Jones, drummer for Hot Chip, and Charlotte Hatherley who previously worked with alt-rock bands Ash and Bat For Lashes.

Together they’ve produced “Infinite Summer,” a concept album that revolves around the story of an Earth that’s facing extinction. The lead single “Two Hearts” captures elements of that theme, telling a story of two lovers left to negotiate their relationship as it teeters on destruction.

“Infinite Summer” is being released on disc, vinyl and is available on streaming music services.

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WOLVES OF MANHATTAN

“The Wolfpack,” a documentary about six brothers who grew up in near captivity inside their Lower East Side apartment, is a unique look at isolation.

Instead of interacting with the real world, they saw it through the lens of Hollywood and re-enacted scenes from classic movies in their own way.

The doc was directed by Crystal Moselle and captures their imaginative attempts to rebuild the outside world through their own mini-films, leading up to their eventual plan to escape.

“The Wolfpack,” which won the grand jury prize at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, is available to stream on Netflix and to purchase on disc.

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