The Netflix Thread

[Dukefrukem]

If you guys had to rank the top 5 things on Netflix. What would they be?

[Irish]

I think about it every time I open the app. So much stuff on there is mediocre. But:

1. Happy Valley (2014)
2. Nannette
3. The Crown
4. Mindhunters
5. Bojack Horseman

HM: "American Vandal" was good all the way through and made a risky artistic choice at the end, but it fit well with the show's theme. "Alias Grace" had a great set-up but a bad pay-off. Likewise "The End of the F***ing World."

I don't think I've seen a great, original movie from Netflix (but I haven't seen "Roma" yet.)

[Skitch]

Netflix has produced too much great content to list. So many risky things that no studio would touch. I'll take that over films by committee all day.

[Dukefrukem]

So much stuff on there is mediocre.

This.....

[Irish]

So many risky things that no studio would touch.

How do you define risk? Could you elaborate on this a bit?

(I'm frustrated that Netflix has no personality; most of its content could have been produced anywhere, from network to Amazon.)

I'll take that over films by committee all day.

I'll take a committee over an algorithm.

[Peng]

Films

1. Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
2. The Other Side of the Wind + They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
3. Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids (Jonathan Demme's last film)
4. Roma
5. Private Life

A rewatch of Buster Scruggs might bump it up among there.

Series

1. Bojack Horseman
2. GLOW
3. American Vandal
4. Black Mirror (having "San Junipero" among the Netflix run help this ranking significantly, although I love some others too)
5. Dear White People

Shoutouts to the underrated Santa Clarita Diet, with Timothy Olyphant at his unexpectedly comedic best, and Errol Morris' engrossing doc hybrid Wormwood too.

[Philip J. Fry]

Besides the ones already mentioned, I'd give a shotout to Making a Murderer and The Keepers.

And they have some very good animated content beyond BoJack, like Voltron: Legendary Defender, the new She-Rah show and Devilman Crybaby.

[Ezee E]

-Mindhunter
-Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
-Roma
-Dave Chappelle's specials
-Haunting of Hill House

[transmogrifier]

So many risky things that no studio would touch.

You say risky, I say mediocre to shitty.

A mediocre Coens movie? Check.
A medicore Baumbach movie? Check.
Bong Joon Ho's worst movie? Check.
Jeremy Saulnier's worst movie? Check.
Duncan Jones' worst movie (apparently)? Check.
Adam Wingard's worst movie? Check.
A bunch of shitty Adam Sandler movies? Check.

[Dukefrukem]

Whoa, Duncan Jones did a Netflix movie? It cannot be worse than Source Code. Now I have to watch it. How was this not discussed here?

And I'd argue Death Note is slightly less crappy than the Blair Witch remake.

[Ezee E]

I forgot to rate the Saulnier. Wow that was bad, but with terrific mood.

[Watashi]

If you just limit to what Netflix offers on its "What's Trending" page or whatever big director they grab for their next original movie, you'll be missing a lot of great stuff.

Just their documentary section alone has made Netflix worth it.

[Irish]

Whoa, Duncan Jones did a Netflix movie? It cannot be worse than Source Code. Now I have to watch it. How was this not discussed here?

It was, very briefly.

"Mute" was not only Jones' worst film, it was one of the worst films of the year.

[Milky Joe]

Besides the ones already mentioned, I'd give a shotout to Making a Murderer and The Keepers.

+Evil Genius, Wild Wild Country

[Skitch]

By risky I meant premises that studios generally shy from. A movie where proof of afterlife causes mass suicide? Or a commentary on the beef industry via a korean space cow? Or a group of diverse people psychically connected who have mental orgies? I didn't say great (edit: I did say great, but I didn't mean all the stuff I consider risky is great, but that theres some stuff that is), but I'll take movies that take a chance on a new idea over film-by-committee.

ARQ, The Discovery, Okja, Gerald's Game, Wheelman, TAU...all enjoyable, to name a few. The idea that all Netflix makes is garbage is so boring. Do you hold a studio to task for putting out dozens of shitty movies? I've never heard of someone going after Paramount or Universal because they had a bad year or something, when they all have.

[Skitch]

It was, very briefly.

"Mute" was not only Jones' worst film, it was one of the worst films of the year.

Yeah I didn't get that one at all. It was a weird movie with no sane tone, logic, or reason. See instead, Altered Carbon.

[Philip J. Fry]

Also, a shoutout to Beasts of No Nation, Annihilation and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond

[Irish]

Do you hold a studio to task for putting out dozens of shitty movies?

Have we met? I've been bitching about studio films for years.

[transmogrifier]

. Do you hold a studio to task for putting out dozens of shitty movies?

Those studios are not getting an automatic $12 a month from me.

[Skitch]

Those studios are not getting an automatic $12 a month from me.

I can't help you, trans. If you're so dissatisfied with the quality, cancel. No one is obligated to have it.

[Ezee E]

I can't help you, trans. If you're so dissatisfied with the quality, cancel. No one is obligated to have it.

lol.

[Dukefrukem]

Well I just literally played about 8 straight outs of Battlefield V. And now I hate myself. And this was supposed to be in the video game thread.

[transmogrifier]

I can't help you, trans. If you're so dissatisfied with the quality, cancel. No one is obligated to have it.

I'm just explaining to you why I don't hold other studios to task. It's just like I don't hold Libre Office to task for its UI but I do for Microsoft Word. You asked the question, I just answered it.

[Skitch]

I'm just explaining to you why I don't hold other studios to task. It's just like I don't hold Libre Office to task for its UI but I do for Microsoft Word. You asked the question, I just answered it.

But your response was essentially that you vote with your money, right? I'm saying you have the same option with Netflix. You seem wholly unsatisfied with it.

[transmogrifier]

But your response was essentially that you vote with your money, right? I'm saying you have the same option with Netflix. You seem wholly unsatisfied with it.

With their Netflix original movies? Sure. They are almost always shit. But on my 1 hour long commute each way I’ve watched 3 Scorsese films recently on my iPad.

And to be honest I pay to feel a bit better about pirating all those movies that I cannot get hold of in Korea any other way.