Netflix: Should I or Shouldn't I?

[Drenk]

Netflix is apparently using a number of fake accounts (with stolen profile photos) in an attempt to create viral memes for Bird Box...

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Bird Box btw is the very definition of a passable but forgettable Netflix movie. And I hate to say this, but Sandra Bullock's plastic surgery (extensive use of botox, they say) has removed most expression from her face and dulls her performance to a crippling degree.

We should appreciate Nicole Kidman's surgeon. He managed not to ruin her ability for acting.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Fully agree. Kidman's performance in Big Little Lies is one of the best of her career and was really not hindered by the work she's had done. What happened with Sandra Bullock is really a shame though. We could be having a legit Sandrassance right now.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Two very important Bird Box stories:

1081643829420265473[/tweet]]Straining for allegory (although sure, I buy it)

And the inevitable:

[Jeremy Blackman]

Kumail Nanjiani:

"Netflix would rather have five things that people kind of like than one thing people really love."

[polkablues]

Fair, but for every blandly mediocre Bird Box there's a polarizing masterpiece of batshittery like The Perfection. I think it's less that they want every thing they make to appeal to every viewer and more that they want to make so many wildly different things that every viewer can find something that appeals to them. It's essentially the opposite of the boutique approach taken by something like HBO, but I think just as valid.

[Sleepless]

Fair, but for every blandly mediocre Bird Box there's a polarizing masterpiece of batshittery like The Perfection. I think it's less that they want every thing they make to appeal to every viewer and more that they want to make so many wildly different things that every viewer can find something that appeals to them. It's essentially the opposite of the boutique approach taken by something like HBO, but I think just as valid.

*fixed.

I wonder when/if this strategy is going to come back and bite them? There's an occasional Netflix Original which is legit good and does "breakthrough." Think Haunting of Hill House, Roma, and it's hard to imagine The Irishman won't too. But for the most part when I see that something is a Netflix Original, I automatically think it'll be mediocre to passable and skip over it. I certainly don't actively seek out Netflix Originals - and the fact that the service is now so saturated in this crap, I really do resent the fact I still pay for it every month (but hey, the kids enjoy whatever shows they watch on there, and I do indulge in guilty pleasures like The Crown of Legends of Tomorrow.)

Of course, I don't think Netflix cares that the "Netflix Original" brand has become synonymous with substandard productions (and production values). The Netflix strategy seems to be just keep people watching. That's why they always cut away from the closing credits and autoplay the next episode or something else entirely. They just want you to keep watching. Churning out cheap Netflix Originals is a way to ensure there's always more content, no matter whether it's good or bad, so long as you keep watching. Which is weird, because they're pushing so hard to be seen as a major awards player. But Roma is not representative of the Netflix brand. They desperately want to be seen as a bastion of awards-calibre entertainment, but even a cursory glance through their homepage shows that's not the experience their customers receive. They want to be everything to everyone, and the result is no one truly loves them. But we keep watching.

Maybe that's all just part of trying to attract new filmmakers to the service? They'll splash big cash to get headlines at festivals, but there does seem to be a limit... Their contracts are seemingly designed to appeal to showrunners to get them in the door, for example, but because the costs rise season-on-season we're now seeing a bunch of shows being cancelled after season 3 because they've now gotten to expensive thanks to Netflix's contract strategy (e.g. Santa Clarita Diet, Bloodline).

Compare Netflix with Amazon, which seems to produce much, much less original content; yet Amazon seems to have a better hit-for-miss ratio, and with the executive shakeup that's taken place over there over the past year or so, it seems like they're going to be doing a much better job of having more steady shows/films with broader appeal. There's still churn, but as they move to things like the Lord of the Rings show, I think we'll get a much better idea of how the Amazon brand wants to be seen. Meanwhile, Netflix just keeps on putting out more and more stuff to try and create a fear that if you're not watching, you're missing out.

It makes me kinda sad. I used to LOVE Netflix - they made it so easy to watch so much great stuff. They're the reason no-one ever buys DVD boxsets anymore. But when they decided to focus on producing masses of cheap originals the service went sharply downhill. I'm still a paying customer, but I'm rooting against them.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I revived Netflix for one month to catch up on a few things, and after a week or so I feel like I've already run out of worthwhile things to watch. The state of the service is not good.

I did find one gem: The Sinner (Season 1). It's from USA, not a Netflix original. Highly recommended if you like a twisty murder show. Worth it for the Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman performances. Do not read a synopsis; what happens in the first ep is best left a surprise.

[WorldForgot]

I did find one gem: The Sinner (Season 1). It's from USA, not a Netflix original. Highly recommended if you like a twisty murder show. Worth it for the Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman performances. Do not read a synopsis; what happens in the first ep is best left a surprise.

Just finished watching season one of The Sinner, on the basis that Carrie Coon is playing a major part in season two, so it must be a worthwhile show. And... it is! Pretty familiar modern psychological crime thriller plotting, but the story holds together well, it stays compelling all the way through, and it's given me a newfound respect for the acting talents of both Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman (no small feat on the latter). It's a great example of a show in which character and plotting are inextricably woven into each other, which I consider a hallmark of good writing.

Watching (and for the most part enjoying) this show due to this post.  Loved Carrie in "The Leftovers", so had to check it out.  Thanks for the recommendation!

So I fucked up and started watching season 2, I blame netflix since they sent me directly to S2 instead of 1, and when Carrie Coon appeared I remembered reading this post, so, is it mandatory to watch S1 first?

seemz like a xixax fav!

[polkablues]

For the most part, I don’t think the criticisms you can levy at the state of Netflix’s original movies really apply to their series. They have a ton of great ones: American Vandal, Love, Sex Education, GLOW, Russian Doll, 3%, Bodyguard, Money Heist, Big Mouth, Bojack Horseman, The Society, Black Summer, I Think You Should Leave, Orange is the New Black, Dark, Crashing, Mindhunter, The Haunting of Hill House, The End of the Fucking World, Lovesick, House of Cards, Queer Eye, Master of None, Narcos, Elite, The Rain, Dear White People... there is no television network in history that’s carried this many quality series all at once. Some haven’t carried this many in their entire history (looking at you, CBS).

[Sleepless]

The fact that he can easily list every movie that proves his point kinda disproves his point.

[polkablues]

First, how dare you. Second, my list was much longer and therefore it’s a totally different situation.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I didn't realize people had already seen and opined on The Sinner here. Nice! In that case, I shall boldy reiterate my recommendation. Will seek out Season 2.

Polka is right that Netflix's TV content is a whole lot better than their movies, which seem to be a Hollywood dumping ground. (Black Summer is good?)

[polkablues]

Black Summer has also been previously opined on:

BLACK SUMMER

There are a lot of reasons to be skeptical of this one. It's yet another zombie thing. It's a ostensible prequel to Z Nation, the show that was seemingly based on the pitch, "The Walking Dead, but intentionally bad." It's produced by The Asylum, the company behind such masterpieces as the Sharknado hexalogy and the Pacific Rim ripoff titled... *deep sigh*... "Atlantic Rim." There's no reason to expect this to be good.

EXCEPT IT IS. It eschews the bloat and soap opera melodrama of The Walking Dead in favor of a sparse, starkly minimalist, intensely focused narrative. There's a single story being told here: people are trying to get to a place and there are obstacles making it hard for them to do so. Characters drop in and out of the story organically, characters die abruptly and typically with little fanfare, and notably -- unlike The Walking Dead, where the human characters almost always seem to outmatch the zombies and are only in danger when they really fuck up somehow -- the stakes feel truly life and death at almost any given moment. Dialogue is scarce, and there are long sections where we're just following a character or characters, the tension building the whole time, and when that tension breaks it goes off like a pipe bomb. There are only a few points across eight episodes where it feels like it goes too over the top and you're reminded of the show's provenance, but it does so much right that it was easy for me to forgive those moments.

[Sleepless]

Netflix Teams Robert Towne And David Fincher for ‘Chinatown’ Prequel Series Pilot Script

Netflix has closed deals with Robert Towne and David Fincher to work up a pilot script for a prequel to the 1974 classic film Chinatown, sources tell Deadline. Towne won an Oscar for scripting a drama that mixed fact and fiction to tell the story of a private eye hired to expose an adulterer who instead uncovers far more unsavory things.

Fincher will be executive producer along with Towne and Josh Donen. The idea behind the prequel series would be to focus on a young Jake Gittes (played in the film by Jack Nicholson) as he plies his business in a town where the wealthy and corruption involves areas like land, oil and gangs. The hope is that Fincher might direct the pilot, but that is not part of the deal which at this point covers a pilot script. Roman Polanski directed the original film and the late Robert Evans produced it.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Huge:

Some people find this feature helpful. Others not so much.

We’ve heard the feedback loud and clear — members can now control whether or not they see autoplay previews on Netflix. Here's how: https://t.co/6V2TjEW6HD https://t.co/zbz4E8fVab

— Netflix (@netflix) February 6, 2020

Nevertheless, my Netflix break shall continue.