Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Movies You'll Love?

I have such a love affair with Netflix! Really! I've been a member since 2003. I don't think I've belonged to anything that long! Because of its vast inventory, I always rate the movies or TV shows I've watched - either at the movies or at home - just to see what kind of recommendations I'll get. The site says I've rated nearly 5,000 movies. That seems like a lot.

There are a few tabs at the top of the page.
So, I checked the "Movies You'll Love" tab. Check out these random recommendations.
I actually love the original The Office. I must not have rated it here. But look at the three movies I enjoyed. Only Office Space is slightly similar to the series. Pulp Fiction and Memento could not be further from The Office.
Netflix gets it right again. I really like Aziz Ansari. I actually might want to watch his stand up on DVD. But two out of the three other similar recommendations don't even belong in the category! I get the connection to 30 Rock- that show ALWAYS makes me laugh. But the other two? I mean, I might laugh every now and then at moment in an episode of Damages or Mad Men, but those are really dramas. And when I say "drama," I mean dirty, gritty and definitely not meant for children.
I assume this movie starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Torro belongs in the drama category. But I no longer want to see Halle play a widow who hooks up with the wrong guy. Note to Halle: Just because you won an Oscar for that one time does not mean you need to pursue these scripts ad nauseam. I can only think the fact that I gave Monster's Ball a "like" that this movie popped up. I have already clicked "not interested."

I'm kind of surprised that my love for violent, dark, twisted movies combined with silly TV series and the occasional comedy, that Netflix hasn't figured me out completely. I don't know what software is doing the random recommendations, but it needs tweaking. I add more movies to my queue based on who stars in the film, who wrote it, who directed it and how well it's done at festivals than on this recommendation system. Still, I'll keep checking it out, willing it to find me a winner.

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