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Netflix: What to Rent; How to Rent

Oct 10, 2005 10:30 AM
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update I registered with josephgrossberg at the mail that is "hot" and a dot-com, if you want to be my Netflix "friend". If you're too dumb to undertstand what I mean by that, I don't want to be your friend anyway.

First things first: Netflix Queue Manager kicks ass. It's a Greasemonkey script that adds drag-and-drop to the clunky Netflix queue UI. If you use Netflix and Firefox, it's a must-have.

That said, I recently joined Netflix and am enjoying it greatly. The majority of my rentals so far have been Six Feet Under episodes (I don't have HBO), and a few movies I've wanted to watch but never got around to seeing, e.g. "The Life Aquatic ..." and "Donnie Darko".

So, beloved readers, my question goes out to you: What are some movies that you highly recommend checking out?

It's too tedious to list every single movie I have seen, so just give me a few suggestions (with a one-sentence summary and a sentence about why it's worth checking out) and I'll look into them. Again, don't worry if I've already seen it.

Example:

American Movie: Documentary about an idiosyncratic midwesterner, his and family, as they attempt to scrape together a low-budget horror flick. You like documentaries and weirdos; this one has both.


Comments: Netflix: What to Rent; How to Rent

LOOK AT ME, French drama/comedy...deals with relationship between famous Parisian writer (a real bastard of a guy), his homely daughter, his beautiful young trophy wife, his own twisted ego, and a struggling writer who kisses his ass to no end. Makes interesting points about nepotism, self-image, etc. etc. Oh, and nice scenery of French countryside.

Posted by: S on October 10, 2005 12:17 PM | permalink

*A Tale of Two Sisters (excellent Korean horror movie)
*All Black Adder series
*Japanese horror movies (Ringu, Ju-On, Premonition, etc)
*Various TNG and DS9 episodes
*Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later (best zombie movies ever)
*The four 70s Planet of the Apes movies
*Sci-Fi movies from the 70s and 80s (Soylent Green, Omega Man, Rollerball, Blade Runner, etc.)
*Foreign films not mentioned above!

And, like you said, I've been renting lots of stuff I missed when they originally came out. I recently saw "The Sixth Sense," so now I am caught up with all of the 1999 "I see dead people" jokes.

Posted by: O'dell on October 10, 2005 1:54 PM | permalink

Oh yeah, "Run Lola, Run," if you haven't seen it yet.

Posted by: O'dell on October 10, 2005 2:21 PM | permalink

I'll second "A Tale of Two Sisters".

Spellbound - Spelling Bee Documentary. Nerdy kids and insane parents.

American Splendor - Half drama, half documentary, all interesting. (cheesy line, I should do this for a living)

The Man Who Wasn't There - an underappreciated Coen Brothers movie.

Sin City - I can't explain why this movie was so captivating, but it was. A comic book come to life.

The Cable Guy - because you mentioned you hadn't seen it.

Hard Eight - aka Sydney. Paul Thomas Anderson's first movie. Since you love Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love, you have to at least see this one if you haven't.

SubUrbia - Kids hanging out in front of a 7-11. Not great, actually, but worth a watch. Comparable to Clerks, not as good, but anything with Nikky Katt is worth watching.

Welcome To The Dollhouse - You must have seen this at some point. Out of everyone on Earth, seems like you would be this movie's biggest fan.

The Matrix Revolutions - because I'm a funny guy.

Posted by: ChuckJerry on October 10, 2005 6:30 PM | permalink

What about "Never Say Never to Rocco Siffredi"? I hear it's wonderful...

Posted by: Nicardo Autobahn on October 11, 2005 12:26 AM | permalink

I believe NSN2R got a "fully erect" from Hustler (or maybe that was AVN?) calling it the best facial movie of all time. Of course, that pre-dates the American Bukkake series ...

Posted by: Joe Grossberg on October 11, 2005 6:16 AM | permalink

CHAGIGA B'SNOOKER, Israeli goofy comedy-- revolves around biliards, loaded with idiocy. Alluded to constantly among young, slacker type Israeli kids. Think something of an Israeli Caddyshack/Airplane.

Posted by: S on October 11, 2005 9:48 AM | permalink

Boondock Saints - Twin Irish immigrants seek to singlehandedly end the mob in Boston

Swingers - Because it's money, baby

Napolean Dynamite - A must-see for all "geeks"

Posted by: Doug on October 11, 2005 11:47 AM | permalink

No more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.