The start of a new month means all-new titles available for Instant Streaming. As always, Netflix continues to be the best place to see acclaimed documentaries on a wide spectrum of subjects.

Don't worry, average moviegoer - "The Avengers" is also newly available.

Doc Highlights

* 56 Up

Michael Apted continues his "Up" series by checking in with a group of average people he began documenting as kids back in 1964. He checks in on them every seven years, and Apted makes each installment compelling, even without extensive knowledge of the previous films.

* Johnny Carson: King of Late Night

Long before the Jimmys battled for talk show supremacy, there was only one name in late night that mattered. Here's a helpful little biography for those of us who were too young experience the best. I grew up on Letterman, and that makes me feel old. Can't imagine how you Carson followers must feel.

* Ken Burns: The Dust Bowl

* Ken Burns: Prohibition

While I haven't seen a minute of either of these acclaimed miniseries, Ken Burns killed it with the "Baseball" miniseries back in the 1990s. That's good enough for a spot in the Queue.

New Movie of the Week

The Truman Show (1998)

As strange as he can be on and off the big screen, Jim Carrey has delivered a few outstanding dramatic performances - the first as the unsuspecting subject of a 24-hour reality show in Peter Weir's exceptional high-concept drama.

Carrey's Oscar snub is one the Academy's biggest blunders. And just as "The Truman Show" is one of the best movies of the 1990s, Carrey was snubbed again for one of the best movies of the 2000s - "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

Good news, though. "Eternal Sunshine" is also available on Netflix Instant.

TV Binge

Netflix made a big hubbub this week about acquiring the rights to Fox's hit comedy "New Girl," starring Zooey "I'm quirky" Deschanel as a teacher who moves into a loft with three dudes with their own set of quirks. Only the show's first season is available for now, and it took the show's writers most of the season to tone down Deschanel's antics and make the show more of an ensemble.

Still, there's some hilarious stuff in these early episodes, and the show's second season will be available sometime in September. Pound for pound, "New Girl" was the funniest show on television last year.

Tyler Wilson can be reached at [email protected]