Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Singular is Netflick


My Netflix particulars:
Member since July, 2002
3 at-a-Time (Unlimited) Program
509 movies rented
Average 9.4 movies/month
Average rating of 3.34 stars

A word about my star ratings, I don't like Netflix's definitions:

1: hated
2: didn't like
3: liked
4: really liked
5: loved

Specifically, 3 stars = "liked." That doesn't seem to be the proper middle point between "really liked" and "didn't like." Three stars should mean something like "it'll do," four stars "liked," and five stars "loved." So I think of the stars as letter grades. A three-star movie is a C student. He'll get by, but don't expect much more from him than managing a pizzeria. Nothing wrong with managing a pizzeria. I love a good pie, pizza or otherwise, but it's a workaday accomplishment. Full disclosure: my girlfriend shot down my idea of moving away and opening a pizzeria.

Here’s a small sample of my 5 star movies over the past 4 years:
Match Point, 2005 Who knew Woody Allen had the nuts?
Grizzly Man, 2005 My 1st Herzog. This movie has the metaphysical power of literature. Life and death is right there.
Nine Queens, 2000 A good solid long con. See also House of Games.
Spartan, 2004 Speaking of Mamet, this movie is all tight scripting that requires the audience to keep up. Michael Mann’s done the same thing with his Collateral and Miami Vice screenplays. Try watching them with the subtitles on and you’ll find how much you’d been missing.
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring, 2004 What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Tender Mercies, 1983
Pelle the Conqueror, 1987

And here are some of my 1 star movies:
Martin & Orloff, 2003 I know it’s heresy to criticize the UCB, but you can find my comment on IMDb, posted as unreal1945. Don’t bother to write, the address is dead.
Grateful Dawg, 2000 Man I hate hippies.
Chicago (2002) Are you kidding? 13 Oscar nominations, 6 wins? Catherine Zeta-Jones? Kill me.
Serendipity (2001) Disliking this movie doesn’t require that I apply any intellectual rigor, or anti-hippie bias. I only mention it because it was my very first Netflick. I can't blame it on catering to my then-girlfriend. I just wanted to spend some time with Kate Beckinsale. An inauspicious beginning.

1 comment:

Will Meekin said...

UCofD, I think you're TP, in which case I don't get the pen name. Please explain. If you're not TP, here goes anyway.

The odds that Smokin' Aces is going to be terrible are running pretty high: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/smokin_aces/

"They're going to pour boxes of bad reviews, and mixed metaphors, into Israel."

Neologism on demand: Scarlett Faux-hansson, noun. Usage: "The Scarlett Faux-hansson I met on match.com turned out to be a Photoshop wiz." Not to be confused w/ a Bro-hansson, used in the event your date (insert your own joke here).

I thought Piven's monologue was great. I filed AFI under My Chemical Romance. Next.