Netflix, Do it

Last week I finally signed up for Netflix and already I think it's one of the greatest decisions that I've ever made. If you don't already have an account do yourself a favor and get one as soon as possible.

In the past few weeks two of my best friends have all but praised Netflix, so I finally took their advice and signed up. Honestly, I don't know why a self proclaimed movie buff like myself didn't have an account sooner. Maybe it was my loyalty to the Blockbuster brand that held me off for this long. Last summer renting movies from Blockbuster was the method to my movie watching madness. My parents paid $20 a month and we got to rent two movies at a time. I went there so often that I was practically on a first name basis with the guy that worked there. By that I mean I knew that his name was Chris because he wore a name tag. He never asked me for my name, but it was clear that he recognized me based on my regular business.

That being said, Blockbuster is the past and Netflix is the future. For only $8.99 a month I can rent as many movies as time will allow. The number of movies I end up renting per month will be based on how quickly I watch the movies once I get them and how quickly the United States Postal Service sends them to and fro the Netflix warehouse closest to my apartment. Think about this for a minute. If you see a movie in theaters you're usually paying anywhere from $9-$11.50 (for yourself) and if you rent 2 movies from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video it usually costs about $8-$10. I figure that if I rent 3 movies from Netflix per month (I think I'll probably end up renting 7-8) I'll be saving money/getting a deal.

Now not only is Netflix convenient because I don't have to leave my apartment to rent movies, but they take care of all the shipping costs and there are no late fees. They send you a movie in the mail. You watch it and then send it back. Then they send you whatever movie you have selected next on your queue.

Which brings us to the online Netflix experience. Once you sign up for Netflix you get an online account/username what have you. On your account you create your queue, which is a list of the movies that you want to see. Like I said before, once you send Netflix a movie back in the mail they send you whatever you have next on your queue. Also on your account they have you rate movies that you've already seen and based on your ratings they offer suggestions (which are fairly accurate) of movies that you might like. The more movies that you rate the more accurate the suggestions.

As if Netflix couldn't get any better they offer hundreds of movies that you can view instantly online. Watching movies instantly does not affect your queue whatsoever.So far I've seen one movie that Netflix has sent me (and they've emailed me to tell me that another one is on the way) and three instantly online, which I'll breakdown right now.


1.) Casablanca (1942)



I've long heard that Casablanca (which I believe is Spanish for white house) is one of the greatest movies of all time, so it's been on my radar for a while. Sure it's in black and white, but it won the Oscar for Best Picture and it's routinely referenced on Jeopardy. Based on those two facts I needed to see it.

Even with these lofty expectations, I still thoroughly enjoyed the film. Humphrey Bogart is the absolute man. He's got that Don Draper cocky, cool, and confident quality to him. Also there's something about Ingrid Bergman. She must have been the lure of every man back in the '40's because she's still good looking even by today's standards.

Not only is the entire plot/conflict intriguing, but I could tell why a 23-year-old like me living in 2009 has seen/heard of the film's most memorable lines. For example, Bogart says, "Here's looking at you, kid" to Bergman a few times in the film and to me it was reminiscent of the late Patrick Swayze saying "ditto" (a word I despise by the way) to Demi Moore in Ghost (1990). Also the French Police Chief says, "Round up the usual suspects," which I must assume was the inspiration for the title of the 1995 film The Usual Suspects.


2.) Risky Business (1983)



In the film that helped launch his career into super stardom Tom Cruise plays a high schooler who's parents leave him alone in their house for a week. The entire movie is textbook '80's. In fact, it reminded me a little bit of another '80's cult favorite Weird Science (1985). In the film Cruise's character not only needs to find a boatload of cash to pay for the restoration of his father's Porsche (which ends up in the bottom of a lake), but he also gets into a sticky situation with the pimp of a hooker that he gets involved with. Somehow, someway he gets out of it all by running a brothel in his parent's house the night before they get back. Overall I didn't think too much of the movie, but if you like cheesy '80's plots then give it a whirl.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the movie is when Cruise's character sings Bob Segar's "Old Time Rock and Roll" while wearing tighty whities, socks, and a button up/down shirt. A quick aside- isn't it interesting that shirts of that nature can be called both button ups and button downs even though the words up and down are opposites? Quite frankly, I'm going to call them button downs from here on out because that is how I button them (from the top down). This scene has recently been reinvented with college basketball coaches and now Playboy Playmates in advertisements for Guitar Hero; however this is not what I find to be the scene's most egregious representation.





This outfit has become the default last minute Halloween/Party costume for both guys and girls alike. It's more played out than guys that dress up as Doug Funnie's alter ego Quail Man. While we're on the subject, it should be noted that a former roommate of mine once suggested that we throw a Tom Cruise theme party. This was back when theme parties were the cool thing to do (and maybe they still are, I don't know, I'm getting old). The idea was that people would come to the party dressed as their favorite Tom Cruise character (or favorite character from a Tom Cruise movie). Even though it was a great idea we never had the party, although if we ever did I knew exactly what I would have worn.







3.) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)



The film swept the 1980 Academy Awards winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Writing for a Screenplay based on material from another medium, so I basically knew that I would have to see it eventually. The movie pitted Dustin Hoffman against Meryl Streep in a custody battle over their 7 year old son. Now if you want to see the movie (and I assume most of you don't) here's your spoiler alert.

Dustin Hoffman's character Ted works in advertising and when he comes home from work one day his wife, Meryl Streep's character, Joanna tells him that she's leaving him. At one point in the conversation, Ted asks her, "What about Billy (their son)?" and Joanna replies by saying that she's not fit to raise him at the moment. Ted holds out hope that Joanna is going to come back, but once weeks turn into months he starts to accept the fact that she isn't.

As the next year and a half go by we see Ted and Billy grow together as father and son. Naturally there are some rocky moments, but Ted makes the best of the situation and always puts Billy ahead of work/social life.

Then, out of nowhere, Joanna shows up and says that she wants Billy back. We find out that she went to California and "found a really good physciatrist" that helped her get her head on straight. She sues for custody and as you can tell by the name of the film it goes to court.

In the heat of the coutroom Ted's lawyer grills Joanna and makes her admit that 1.) she's been a failure in every relationship that she's ever had and 2.) Ted never hit her, cheated on her, drank alcohol in excess, or failed to provide for her or Billy.

Sure enough the judge rules in favor of Joanna which made me furrrrious. This broad packs up and leaves her husband for no good reason. She walks away from her 6 year old son without thinking twice. She goes to California to "find herself". Sees a physchiatrist. Comes back a year and a half later and demands to have custody of the very son that she walked out on? She's clearly not mentally stable, but the judge still rules in her favor? Are we serious??