So what are you watching? What have you seen? What do you have coming up? Uncovered any weird gems lately? Why are you watching that?
So one of my favorite timewasters when I’ve got a web browser open and I’m procrastinating is to look through my friends’ queues on Netflix. I’ve found plenty of great movies, and even more lousy movies this way. Who wants in on this action?
If you haven’t used Netflix’s Friends option, it’s pretty cool for the way it assigns a compatibility rating to your friends based on how they’re rated various movies. I’m pleasantly surprised with how well that seems to work.
You got nothin’ on me. And isn’t guilt-free bad movie watching about 80% of having a Netflix account?
BTW, because of you goofballs and your wacky forum names, I have no idea who most of you are on my friends list. Furthermore, with the exception of one person (Hi Gary, whoever you are! 78%, dude! w00t!), you’ll all well below 70% compatibility with me. Freaks. But I’m going through finding all sorts of intriguing possibilities. Not sure what to make of Derek Meister 5-starring something from 1975 called Super Inframan.
Finally, Roger Wong, you big dork, you’re supposed to rate the movies you watch.
Funny things happen with Netflix’s rating based on numbers of movies watched. For instance, you’re only 70% correct…er, compatible, that is, from where I sit.
Not sure what to make of Derek Meister 5-starring something from 1975 called Super Inframan.
What I make of it is that the machinations of Princess Dragon Mom kept me from learning it was on DVD!
I’m the one who rated The Day After Tomorrow 5 stars.
What’s everyone’s take on the ratings? I figure I should be rating how much I enjoyed the movie, not how good I thought the movie was. Not that the ratings matter anyway, but I try to apply them consistently.
So say I have the insatiable Chong tripletes over and have a good time watching a bad movie, you’re saying I should give the bad movie a high rating? Won’t the Chong sisters feel slighted?
Tom has no use for my Netflix queue because it contains many movies that were made prior to 20 years ago, which is to say, in the Devonian age.
Your loss, Tom!
As far as hidden gems, well, I just watched Becket, starring Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton. A medieval drama made in the early '60s about the relationship between King Henry II and his friend Thomas Becket, who becomes Archbishop of Canterbury and winds up in direct conflict with his old buddy the King. There is some very fine dialogue and I have to admire the energy that O’Toole puts into his performance. He overacts, unquestionably; he screams and pouts and rants; he chews the scenery. But there are certain actors who can get away with overacting sometimes. I really enjoyed his performance. Burton is a bit less interesting – he plays the straight man and is mostly quiet and reserved in all his scenes – but he provides a strong foil to O’Toole’s antics.
I’m currently watching “The Lion in Winter,” which makes an interesting followup to “Becket,” as it features O’Toole again playing the same historical figure. (But not the same role!) The conception of Henry II in this film is quite different than it was in “Becket.” But it is also an older and more mature Henry that O’Toole plays this time around. So far as I can tell, “The Lion in Winter” is sort of a medieval version of those “crazy-family-gets-together-for-a-Holiday” ensemble movies like Home for the Holidays or the Family Stone. Instead of arguing about who slept with whose girlfriend or which kid was really the talented one, the siblings and parents in “Lion in Winter” endlessly snipe at each other over which prince gets to be King and who gets what 10,000-acre parcel of land.
