Your next true-crime obsession has arrived on Netflix. Not only does the newly released docuseries, Bad Vegan, add a buzzy new title to this genre in the streamer’s library, but this is also another story with a grifter at its core — along the lines of The Tinder Swindler and Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman.
Moreover, there’s also a track record of success behind this new Netflix docuseries. Its executive producer is Chris Smith, who also executive produced Tiger King and Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened. “A celebrity restaurateur once hailed as the queen of vegan cuisine becomes a fugitive when she goes on the run with a man who cons her out of a fortune,” Netflix’s logline reads.
The man does so, Netflix continues, by “convincing her that he holds the key to making every dream — from expanding her food empire to making her beloved pitbull immortal — a reality.”
The “her” in this four-part docuseries is Sarma Melngailis. She’s the restaurateur behind the erstwhile chic New York hotspot Pure Food and Wine, a celebrity destination in its heyday. And which made Melngailis, among other things, the queen of vegan cuisine.
Trouble followed, however, after she met a man named Shane Fox on Twitter in 2011. Again, per Netflix: “Melngailis begins draining her restaurant’s funds and funneling the money to Fox” once his cons started.
He could make her every dream a reality, he apparently promised. But only, and here’s the catch, if Melngailis obeyed him without question whenever he asks her to do something. “A few years later the couple, now married and on the lam after stealing nearly $2 million from the restaurant and its staff, are found holed up in a Tennessee motel by law enforcement.”
How they got caught apparently involved a Domino’s pizza order that led authorities straight to them. So, yeah, this story pretty much has a Netflix winner written all over it, right?
On Wednesday, Netflix announced an upcoming test which is sure to cause drama amongst the account-sharing set. The streaming service said that, over the next several weeks, it will begin prompting some people who share accounts outside of their immediate household to pay extra to continue doing so.
“Members on our Standard and Premium plans will be able to add sub accounts for up to two people they don’t live with — each with their own profile, personalized recommendations, login and password — at a lower price,” read the announcement in part.
Notably, the sub-account test is for now limited to subscribers in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it will remain there. When pressed, Netflix would not provide specifics on any plans to expand the test beyond those three countries. Netflix would also not confirm how many users live in the countries subject to this test.
“[Accounts] are being shared between households,” noted Netflix’s Wednesday announcement, “impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”
According to the streaming giant, the additional sub accounts will be priced at 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru. Netflix also said it will test out a new profile transfer feature, which will allow users to move their entire profiles — think recommendations and viewing histories — to new paid Netflix accounts. (Picture breaking up with a romantic partner, and taking your piece of the Netflix account with you.)
The mostly unregulated practice of account sharing has, up until this point, practically defined Netflix and its streaming competitors. Any challenge to that is sure to put fear in the hearts of users — as it did March of 2021 when Netflix forced some users to verify they had ownership over an account.
Importantly, Netflix’s Terms of Use clearly state that the “Netflix service and any content accessed through our service […] may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” In other words, Wednesday’s announcement merely represents Netflix enforcing its existing terms.
That may come as a surprise to some users, though. That’s because what, exactly, constitutes a household in the eyes of streaming services is often rather nebulous. Netflix confirmed that it defines a household as people living together at the same property — no ex-roommates, far-off siblings, or best friends need apply.
Like we said, get ready for some hard conversations.
It’s that time of year — Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, the dreary dead of winter and … Disney ticket price increase day.
Unofficially, February has become known for Disney ticket price increases. And, surprising no one, Disney ticket prices have been on an upward pricing trend, basically forever. When I bought my Disney World annual pass in the fall of 2018, the all-in cost for that pass was $904.19. In the fall of 2019, when I decided not to renew my pass right then, the cost for a new pass was $1,191.74. As of today, the cost for the same version of the Disney World annual pass is now $1,272.68.
That is a big pricing change in just 18 months.
Here’s a sampling of Disney ticket prices that have gone up:
Ticket type
Old price (pre-tax)
New price (pre-tax)
Disney World Platinum Annual Pass
$1,119
$1,195
Disney Premier Pass (Valid at both Disneyland and Disney World)
$2,009
$2,119
One-day Disney World Park Hopper add-on to a base ticket
$60/day
$65/day
Disneyland MaxPass
$15/day
$20/day
Disneyland two-day tickets
$225
$235
Disneyland Flex Annual Pass
$599
$649
These sorts of price increases take immediate effect when buying tickets and passes directly from Disney, but you can usually beat the increases for a short period of time by buying currently available stock from authorized third-party sites, such as Get Away Today and Undercover Tourist. You can usually save a few dollars buying tickets via these sites anyway, but the savings is even more pronounced just after a price increase.
Article and photo by The Points Guy – Maximize your travel.
Netflix has another relatively light lineup of new releases in March, though it will feature the return of one of its most popular series.
That would be Season 2 of “Bridgerton” (March 25), the steamy Shondaland romantic drama set in Regency-era England. Netflix says Season 1 was its most-watched English-language series ever in its first 28 days, and Season 2 looks to be just as big a hit. The new season will focus on a different coupling, and while Season 1’s breakout star Regé-Jean Page is not returning, viewers can expect plenty of familiar Bridgerton faces, such as Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor), Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Eloise (Claudia Jessie), as well as Penelope Featherton (Nicola Coughlan), and Simone Ashley (“Sex Education”) will join the cast as Kate Sharma, a potential suitor for Anthony.
Netflix also has “Human Resources” (March 18), an animated spinoff of “Big Mouth” featuring the voices of Nick Kroll, Aidy Bryant and Randall Park, among others; Season 4 of the hit behind-the-scenes racing series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” (March 11); the fifth and final season of the bloody Medieval drama “The Last Kingdom” (March 9); “The Adam Project” (March 11), a time-traveling action movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Jennifer Garner; the Leighton Meester Croatian-vacation thriller “The Weekend Away” (March 3); Ryan Murphy’s six-part documentary “The Andy Warhol Diaries” (March 9), which uses AI to creepily recreate Warhol’s voice to narrate; and the docuseries “Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives” (March 16), about a celebrity restaurateur who embezzles millions with her new boyfriend and goes on the run.
There are also a number of new movies being added, including “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Shrek,” “Starship Troopers.” “Sorry to Bother You” (all March 1), “Dunkirk” (March 12) and “Blade Runner 2049” (March 26).
Here’s the complete list of what’s coming as of Feb. 23 (release dates are subject to change):
What’s coming in March 2020
Date TBA 800 Meters — Netflix Documentary
Tomorrow — Netflix Series
March 1 The Guardians of Justice — Netflix Series
Worst Roommate Ever — Netflix Documentary
21
21 Bridges
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Battleship
Christine
Coach Carter
Due Date
Freddy vs. Jason
Gattaca
The Gift
The Green Mile
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Public Enemies
Redemption
The Replacements
Richie Rich
The Shawshank Redemption
Shooter
Shrek
Shrek 2
Sorry to Bother You
Starship Troopers
Texas Chainsaw 3D
Top Gun
V for Vendetta
Where the Wild Things Are
Zoolander
March 2 Against The Ice — Netflix Film
The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure — Netflix Film
Savage Rhythm — Netflix Series
March 3 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season 2 — Netflix Family
Midnight at the Pera Palace — Netflix Series
The Parisian Agency: Exclusive Properties: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Power Rangers Dino Fury: Season 2 — Netflix Family
Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale — Netflix Documentary
The Weekend Away — Netflix Film
Whindersson Nunes: My Own Show! — Netflix Comedy
March 4 The Invisible Thread — Netflix Film
Lies and Deceit — Netflix Series
Making Fun — Netflix Series
Meskina — Netflix Film
Pieces of Her — Netflix Series
March 5 Beirut
March 7 Good Girls: Season 4
March 8 An Astrological Guide for Broken Hearts: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Autumn Girl — Netflix Film
Chip and Potato: Season 3 — Netflix Family
Last One Standing — Netflix Series
Taylor Tomlinson: Look At You — Netflix Comedy
March 9 The Andy Warhol Diaries — Netflix Documentary
The Bombardment — Netflix Film
Byron Baes — Netflix Series
Queer Eye Germany — Netflix Series
The Last Kingdom: Season 5 — Netflix Series
March 10 DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 7
Karma’s World: Season 2 — Netflix Family
Kotaro Lives Alone — Netflix Anime
Love, Life & Everything in Between — Netflix Series
March 11 Formula 1: Drive to Survive: Season 4 — Netflix Series
Life After Death with Tyler Henry — Netflix Series
Once Upon a Time… Happily Never After — Netflix Series
The Adam Project — Netflix Film
March 12 Dunkirk
March 13 London Has Fallen
March 15 Adam by Eve: A live in Animation — Netflix Anime
Catherine Cohen: The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous. — Netflix Comedy
Marilyn’s Eyes — Netflix Film
One Piece Film: Strong World
Team Zenko Go — Netflix Family
March 16 Pedal to Metal — Netflix Series
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives — Netflix Documentary
Hei$t: The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank — Netflix Documentary
A Walk Among the Tombstones
March 17 Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rescued by Ruby — Netflix Film
Soil — Netflix Series
March 18 Alessandro Cattelan: One Simple Question — Netflix Series
Animal: Season 2 — Netflix Documentary
Black Crab — Netflix Film
Cracow Monsters — Netflix Series
Eternally Confused and Eager for Love — Netflix Series
Human Resources — Netflix Series
Is It Cake? — Netflix Series
Light the Night: Part 3 — Netflix Series
Standing Up — Netflix Series
Top Boy: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Windfall — Netflix Film
Without Saying Goodbye — Netflix Film
Young, Famous & African — Netflix Series
March 21 Call the Midwife: Series 10
In Good Hands — Netflix Film
March 22 Jeff Foxworthy: The Good Old Days — Netflix Comedy
The Principles of Pleasure — Netflix Documentary
March 24 Love Like the Falling Petals — Netflix Film
March 25 Bridgerton: Season 2 — Netflix Series
Transformers: BotBots — Netflix Family
March 26 Blade Runner 2049
King of Thieves
March 28 The Imitation Game
March 29 Thermae Romae Novae — Netflix Anime
Mighty Express: Season 6 — Netflix Family
Mike Epps: Indiana Mike — Netflix Comedy
March 30 All Hail — Netflix Film
Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King — Netflix Documentary
