Netflix Commeth
This is my first "Netflix rules" entry. During my four years at the Canadian Film Centre and Worldwide Short Film Festival, I was immersed in fresh content, new forms of communication and technology, which inspired me and magnified my lack of patience for second rate storytelling and messy cable service.
About one year into my time at the CFC and WSFF, I cancelled my cable. I had over 100 channels. You would think out of 100 channels I would find something entertaining, insightful or educational to watch. Negative. It would take me 20 minutes to find something decent, and by then, the show would be half over. Around this time, full TV series DVD sets were on the shelves. Any consumer could rent a whole season, get exactly what they wanted and lose the commercials. The current cable offering was irrelevant to me and I let the Rogers customer service rep know that the last time they called trying to sell me a "bundle package".
So I rent. And I rent and rent and rent. I don't get a torrent and try and keep my bandwidth clear of "Free TV sites". I hear about Hulu. I want it. I know about Canada's ZIP which started years ago in the same fashion Netflix did. So much promise for Zip. When I knew Netflix was coming into Canada hard, which Zip probably knew eons before me I called them. I said" I love stories. I love technology. I love what Zip has the potential of being and would love to help as your agency." I got a "thank you, but we do our own marketing". I was bummed to hear about that and am currently bummed they are getting their asses handed to them by Netflix. So I let Netflix settle into Canada. Give them time to get cozy with the CRTC and more content starts to become available. I sign up. I connect it through my WII and Boom….I am in heaven.
In my first two weeks I cover some serious ground. I watch new movies, old movies, documentaries and full seasons of shows I had never heard of. That's the golden beauty to Netflix. "Stuff I haven't heard of". After I took a chance on a few shows I hadn't heard of I became the the lucky recipient of a very well curated selection list of movies, documentaries and TV shows that has had a 90% success rate so far. Similar to Itunes, but better, I have been really happy with their reccos. I don't always have the time to search for the gem. Now I have a kick ass service that knows my tastes and puts the reccos right in front of me. When I say Geek is the new Rock star, I truly believe it. The awesome people who came with the programming for the new Netflix should be immortalized in a plaque!
What shows have entertained you the most on Netflix so Far Rachel? Well, I will tell you. Here are a few that, had I not had Netflix, never would have made it to my screen.
RUNNING WILDE Will Arnett and Keri Russell keep the scarcams going strong post Arrested Development. I honestly could watch this guy order Take-out and laugh my ass off. Check out a few episodes, it's pretty funny…And got cancelled just like Development did.
GOOD DICK Marianna Palka and Jason Ritter star in a low budget romcom with a side of drama. Marianna plays a quiet and creepy girl who's a big fan of porn. She gets her porn fix from the local shop Ritters' character works at. He is taken by her and spends almost the whole movie courting her, awkwardly romancing her and earning her trust. Her character is really damaged and lashes out to protect her space. It's a slow journey, and one worth taking. Bryce Dallas Howard and Tom Arnold join the flick for a hot second catching you off guard. I'm going to guess Ritter went to a local LA acting school and called in some favours. I've seen Ritter in a few movies lately, and hope to see him in more.
BLOODS & CRIPS: Made in America A look at the birth and rise of the Bloods and Crips gang culture. A well made doc that takes the story to decades long before gang culture existed. Decades that document the end of segregation, the unrest it caused, and the distance people of a certain culture and color felt from the world they lived in. This gave context to why a generation of disenfranchised and angry kids needed to band together to form a feeling of safety and solidarity. It look a an anthropological and humanistic perspective, giving more weight to working on a solution and ways to break the cycle as oppose to just passively documenting the gangs as a part of culture. I know what it feels like to be a alone and vulnerable to the seeder side of like. Many people have felt that way. The gangs didn't form to prey on those vulnerable people. They formed to protect themselves from becoming one, and in doing that because the victimizer as oppose to the victim. A documentary like this will hopefully motivate people to help effect change in their own backyards. Reach a hand out and let someone who is a little lost know you are there for them. There to listen, advise and provide safety is a scary world.