Netflix: Should I or Shouldn't I?

Started by pookiethecat, October 08, 2003, 02:40:05 PM

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Stefen

I just download everything and stream it from my computer to my xbox to my tv.

About to watch Bad Lieutant and Tron.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

cinemanarchist

Netflix now officially on Xbox Live!! Go get that update now and let the movie watching begin.
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RegularKarate

Quote from: cinemanarchist on November 19, 2008, 11:40:48 AM
Netflix now officially on Xbox Live!! Go get that update now and let the movie watching begin.

Supposedly they're limiting new accounts... don't know if it's a bug or what.

Xbox doesn't have the Sony titles (assuming Sony wanted no part of the exclusive console deal with MS) that Roku and the other streamers do, however; they get a few titles in HD.

Roku will have HD by the end of the year with lower bandwidth needs than Xbox and Roku is going to announce new capabilities soon as well.  I'm hoping it's HULU streaming or something similar.

Stefen

I hope this doesn't screw with streaming things from my conputer to my xbox.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

modage

you can FINALLY watch netflix on your mac.  yay!
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

RegularKarate

Quote from: modage on December 09, 2008, 02:42:45 PM
you can FINALLY watch netflix on your mac.  yay!

Yeah, I beta-tested it... it looks pretty nice... you have to have an Intel Mac though... can't be an older power PC.

Ravi

I just signed up for Netflix.  I had a free trial in 1999 when I got a DVD player but I never renewed it.  I figure if I have Netflix I will buy fewer DVDs.  My current queue:

Mongol
Ashik Kerib
Alice (Jan Svankmajer)
Wings (Shepitko)
Burn After Reading
A Life Apart: Hasidim in America
Purple Noon
La Ronde
Wool 100%
Brain Dead
American Gigolo
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
The Man with the Movie Camera
Woyzeck (can watch on computer)

last days of gerry the elephant

Quote from: Ravi on December 24, 2008, 12:58:36 PM
I figure if I have Netflix I will buy fewer DVDs.

Not true. Especially if you're watching as much as you are. You'll realize how many good films are out there that you don't own and eventually, find a way to put them on your "wish" list.

cinemanarchist

Quote from: omuy on December 24, 2008, 07:46:09 PM
Quote from: Ravi on December 24, 2008, 12:58:36 PM
I figure if I have Netflix I will buy fewer DVDs.

Not true. Especially if you're watching as much as you are. You'll realize how many good films are out there that you don't own and eventually, find a way to put them on your "wish" list.

It did lead me to ripping lots of DVDs but it's never quite the same and as much as I don't want to be addicted to packaging, I am. Now that I've moved onto Blu-Ray I've got that insatiable urge to buy again and Netflix will/does not curb that appetite.
My assholeness knows no bounds.

©brad

I have long wondered why Crash holds the #1 rated spot on Netflix's top 100 list. NY Mag is on the case..

Is Crash the First of Many Search-Engine-Optimized Movies?

Why has the loathsome Crash clung to the top of Netflix's top 100 chart like some preachy fungus? And why won't it go away? Crazy bloggers are saying it has to do with quality or audience preference. We refuse to believe that this could possibly be true. Clearly, Crash has gamed Netflix's search engine in four despicable (if unintentional) ways.

1. Timeliness.
Crash's success is distorted due to historic accident: It won Best Picture in 2006, just as Netflix's user base was exploding. It was likely one of the first films new users added to their queues. If Netflix had existed for twenty years, films made before 2004 might actually crack the top 10, thanks to long histories of user reviews and recommendations — but it hasn't, and old movies haven't.

2. Awards.
Despite the fact that Oscar ratings are plummeting and people seem to care less about award shows than ever before, awards seriously skew Netflix recommendations away from films people actually like and toward films that associations praise. Thanks to its confounding awards haul, Crash is linked to every other award-winning film in the database and sucks up referrals.

3. Keywords.
In the Gladwellian sense, Crash is a connector. Thanks to its massive cast of actors from disparate genres — most of whom have absolutely nothing to do with one another — it's linked to hundreds and hundreds of other films. Via keywords like "Sandra Bullock" or "Don Cheadle," it's a single degree of separation from Miss Congeniality and Hotel Rwanda. (This is probably why it won the Oscar: Every voter in the Academy knew somebody in the film.) Yes, there are other films with large casts — but few are loaded with such an odd grab bag of talent, and such a perfect storm of factors.

4. The Bradley Effect.
Clearly, it doesn't hurt that Crash has a nearly inexplicable four-out-of-five star rating based on 2.8 million user reviews. The only rational explanation for such positive reviews is a film-crit Bradley Effect, a self-flattering bias in the star ratings that pairs nicely with Haggis's middlebrow self-righteousness (so what if you're a teensy bit racist, it's not like racism is an institutional problem, and, according to Crash, you're no more racist than the next guy and, best of all, there's nothing to be done about it ... ). Yes, the Bradley Effect was supposedly discredited in the last election — but can you really think of a more plausible explanation?

The implications of Crash's Netflix dominance are scary. For decades, producers have been compiling crass and tidy charts of stars' global worth (box-office numbers broken down by country and region). This is one of the reasons bad Brits and Aussies often get good American parts, regardless of their talent for dialects (see: Jude Law in Cold Mountain and All the King's Men). Now that search engines are driving sales of video and movie tickets, will the casts get bigger and the roles smaller? Is this slew of ensemble films (we're looking at you, He's Just Not That Into You) a result of search-engine gaming? Is this why people keep casting 50 Cent, despite any evident talent? (See: the Crash-like ensemble drama Home of the Brave.) Is this why the similar, tastefully maudlin feel-bad message movie Babel is also perched at No. 13?

Could the problem with the vaunted Netflix recommendation engine be that it's best at serving up search-engine-friendly films, instead of films we might really like? Do the number of name actors, number of awards, maudlin message, and timeliness steer users toward Crash instead of better movies? If so, maybe the competitors in the million-dollar Netflix Prize contest would improve their algorithms by penalizing films for having big casts, preachy messages, recent production dates, and truckloads of statues.

It's worth a try. Crash must be dethroned.

Stefen

Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

polkablues

Someone needs to start a campaign to get everyone to add a certain movie to their queues to try and knock Crash off the top.  I propose that film be...

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SiliasRuby

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