Using Netflix to tidy up

Unclutterer is the blog about getting and staying organized. The Unclutterer blog noticed back in 2007 that Netflix is a great way to cut down on household clutter. Instead of buying movies, you can keep a virtual collection by subscribing to Netflix, and having access to thousands. I love that I can use Netflix to keep track of what I've seen and whether I liked it. In case folks ever ask. After I joined Netflix, I dumped all my VHS tapes. The only DVDs I own are the ones I bought before they became available from Netflix.

Criterion on Netflix

Criterion Cast, "The Podcast Dedicated To Important Classic And Contemporary Films," has posted a list of Criterion films available on Netflix, with links.

P.S. I've seen about half of the films.

Bye, Bye Blockbuster.

I was really sad to learn that Blockbuster has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. It's kind of hard to believe. But, as a Netflix fan, I am happy to see Netflix survive.

I am first and foremost a movie fan. I don't really care whose name is on the package my movies arrive in. I am not wedded to the Netflix brand. I love Netflix because it brings me my movies. If Blockbuster could have brought me my movies the way Netflix does, this might be called the Blockbuster Fan blog. But it aint.

Many folks predicted that Blockbuster would prevail. I could gloat, but I do not enjoy seeing any company fail. Still, I believe the market knows best. This is a perfect example of market forces creating efficiencies. We customers made this happen. We voted with our dollars.

Netflix as Christmas gift

Netflix has been around for 12 years. I can hardly believe it was already seven years old when I joined in 2004. However, there are still folks out there who have never joined. I was at the doctor's office a few weeks ago, and was shocked that my nurse didn't know how Netflix worked. I reckon alot of you never considered trying Netflix until someone gave you a gift subscription. So, if you got Netflix for Christmas, and you are a total newbie, please leave a comment. I'd love to meet you. Tell us what you think.

Netflix recommends I watch Wings of Desire (1987), and predicts that I will give it 3.9 stars, based on my feelings for Nosferatu the Vampyre (with Bruno Ganz), Downfall (a great movie also starring Bruno Ganz) and Big(!). The problem is I've already seen it. I rented it from Netflix in 2006 and rated it 3 stars. I guess it went out of print and then a new edition was made, but the rating I gave it in 2006 didn't transfer from that edition to this. I don't remember exactly why I gave it a lower rating. Should I re-rate it 3 stars, in total disagreement with what Netflix knows about me? Or trust Netflix? I feel bad for disagreeing with the Netflix prediction of my rating, because they spent a million dollars to improve their recommendations.

Two things of note: I love Bruno Ganz, as an actor, and I rate every movie I've seen on Netflix.com.

One Month free trial cards from Netflix--May 2009 edition

It's time again for the ONE MONTH FREE TRIAL CARDS from Netflix. Act fast, because these single-use codes are available on a first-come basis. They expire JUNE 15, 2009. Go to Netflix.com/tellafriend and enter one of these codes:

M11577892195
M21577892035
M71547892055
M81597892325

You are welcome to post your unused codes in the comments.

Fine print says: Cannot be combined with any other offer. Current and previous members and their households are ineligible. Netflix will bill you at the completion of the free trial unless you cancel prior to the end of the free trial. Netflix is a month-to-month subscription that you can cancel at any time. No refunds or credits for partial monthly subscription periods. Please visit Netflix.com/TermsOfUse for complete fine print. Netflix reserves the right to change terms and conditions any time they feel like it, and since I don't work for Netflix, nor do I represent them, I have no right to speak for them, and you're at your own risk. You should check out their site and not take my word for it.

Get Satisfaction from Netflix

You can Get Satisfaction from Netflix by asking a question and getting help from hundreds of Netflix users registered at GetSatisfaction.com, a message board or forum for various products and services. It's also a great place to find frequently answered questions for new users, perhaps stuff you think Netflix would never tell you. Not an official Netflix service, and no Netflix employees are involved.

The site requires registration, or you can use your OpenID or Windows Live ID.

Snow Day, and no Netflix

I'm bummed. We are having a rare snow day in North Carolina, and the office is closed, but I have run out of Netflix DVDs to watch. Worse yet, my Apple Airport Express died, so I can't watch instantly on my TV. OK, so I should be grateful I can watch instantly on my Mac, but it's awkward, since my desktop is not a comfortable place to watch a movie.

Should I risk my neck to venture out into the cold, to find a video store or movie theatre where poor, minimum-wage-slaves have risked their necks to get to work?

Or should I read a book?

How many movies did you see in 2008?

Without even trying hard, I saw more movies in 2008 than in 2007. I saw 263 movies in 2007.

194 from Netflix (36 of those were Watched Instantly)
56 in a theatre
14 from Classicflix
12 from various other sources: TV, a friend, or eBay
6 from Video Review, a bricks and mortar video store
4 from SilverScreenArchive
1 from the Greensboro Public Library

For a total of 287.


You can see all the titles, categorized by source, on my Listology list of Movies Seen in 2008

One month free Netflix

For new members only. Try this link. Expires 06/15/08.

I got it in an email. This time, there's no promo code or coupon code, just a button to click in the email. I've tried to extract what I think is the relevant information from the URL. Let me know in the comments if it doesn't work. When I click it, it redirects me to my home page, since I'm already a member. You might have to delete your Netflix cookie to see it.

How many movies did you get from Netflix in 2007?

I saw only 263 movies in 2007. It was a slow year. The year before, I saw 473. This is how 2007 breaks down:

Netflix sent me 106 movies,

SilverScreenArchive sent me 65,

Classicflix sent me 2,

I saw 67 in a theatre, on the big screen,

and 23 from other sources, like eBay, Amazon, a dollar store, or Redbox, Video Review.

I managed to avoid Blockbuster and Hollywood Video entirely.

Thank you, Netflix!

Holiday presents opportunity for thief

I forgot that yesterday was a Federal holiday, and that the USPS wouldn't be picking up my mail. In the morning, I left an envelope in the box destined for Silverscreenarchive, my choice for movies which Netflix doesn't have. When I returned home in the afternoon, the flag was still up, but the DVD was gone. I suspect that the combination of idle children out of school, and my forgetfulness, created an opportunity for a thief. Too bad the film won't be of any interest to a typical child of today. It's a Frank Sinatra/Debbie Reynolds romantic comedy from 1955.

Progress report on the 1001 Movies

It's been three months since I last reported on my quest to see all of the titles in Stephen Jay Schneider's book, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, the 2002 edition. I started in 2004, having seen about 200 of them, and now I have seen 978.

Netflix sent me 595 of them.

Of the 23 remaining, eight are in my Netflix Queue. I have three from Netflix at home. I bought two on eBay. One I have to rent at the video store. One I have to watch at the UNC Chapel Hill library. The final eight are unavailable on home video, or if available, in a foreign language without English subtitles.

I'm going through the book in chronological order, and I just finished the decade of the Nineties.

If you're working on the same list, please let me know how far along you are. I haven't heard of anyone who has completed the list yet. You can track, share, and compare your progress on the fourth edition (2006) of the book at Lists of bests.

Summer blockbuster cartoons

I love the summer time, when I can see a new Hollywood blockbuster every week, especially the plethora of animated films with which we've been blessed. Last week, I gasped in wonder at the beauty of Ratatouille. Last night, I laughed out loud at Live Free or Die Hard.

I wonder if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will allow 20th Century Fox to enter Die Hard in the animated category for the Oscars. According to their definition of an animated film, I think it qualifies: "animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time."

AFI 100 Years...100 Movies...10th Anniversary Edition

The American Film Institute has come out with an updated list of the greatest American movies of the last 100 years, for the tenth anniversary of the first list, and I've already seen all of them! It's a very good list, better than the one they did in 1996. I recommend it as a minimum for every Netflix member. Netflix has a link to the AFI list, but it's broken at the moment; perhaps because they are working on the new list. :)

UPDATE - the link is working again, and the Netflix site has been updated with the latest AFI 100 Great Movies. Four on the list are not available on DVD.

Listology is looking for a site-admin

One of my favorite Web sites in the WHOLE WORLD was created by a really nice guy who, after running it himself for a few years, wants to find "an active administrator, someone who will respond to feature requests, strive to keep the site up-to-date, give it a shiny new web 2.0 look, etc"

Listology is a repository of user-generated lists. Right now, the site is pretty plain-text, which is one of its appeals. It loads fast and is easy to update. It's also very Netflix-friendly. It's the home of the Netflix Tracker, where I keep track of all the movies I get from Netflix and what distribution center they come from. Listology is also where I share my Netflix Queue with the world. Listology is a great place to go if you are looking for ideas for your queue.

Unredeemed gift cards

Did you know you can check your Netflix account to see if the gift subscriptions you have given away have been redeemed? I gave one to a family member at Christmas, and they only just now redeemed it. I was afraid he would never activate it. What could I do if he didn't? One possibility is that I could use it myself. Netflix lets me know the code number for every gift subscription I buy.

I wonder how many subscriptions never get used, or end up on eBay?

My family member was able to use his gift subscription in conjunction with the one month trial card I gave him, so it will be months before he has to decide whether to pay for the service. He signed up for the trial period first, of course, and then added the gift later. He already has 5 profiles for himself and his family.

Netflix one month trial cards--UPDATED

Instead of just emailing me with a special code for a one month trial, to share with my friends and family, I received a snail-mail from Netflix yesterday, which contains two one month trial cards to give out. The mailer looks like a regular red Netflix envelope, except a bit smaller, and made of card stock. Each trial card has a unique identification number, and is made of laminated cardstock. If you got one of these in the mail, could you send me a scan, so I can post it here? (My scanner is on loan to a friend, so I can't bring you a photo of this.)

UPDATE: HackingNetflix has posted a photo. Thanks Mike!

I beat Ebert!!

As of June 12, 2005 Roger Ebert has seen 943 of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

As of April 24, 2007, I have seen 944.

In other news, Roger Ebert's 9th Annual Overlooked Film Festival (aka Ebertfest) started in Champaign, Illinois today, and I'm sad that I can't be there. Ebert is being a trooper and showing up, despite his health problems.


P.S. I couldn't have done it without Netflix. I have 39 left in my Netflix queue.

P.P.S. I am using only the 2002 edition of the book.

Netflix brings movies out of obscurity

First, I noticed a new movie called Numb on the Netflix new releases page, in the Sci-Fi & Fantasy genre. I like Sci-Fi very much, so clicked through. No one on Netflix has reviewed it yet, and it's been rated only 26 times. That's an obscure movie. I decided to check Numb on IMDB to see if I could learn more. (Can you believe there have been five movies in the last six years named "Numb"?). I scrolled down. Didn't recognize any of the cast or crew. It's done zero at the boxoffice. There's only two user reviews. But at the bottom, a teaser for the Moviemeter (tm) showed that this movie is climbing rapidly out of obscurity at a rate of 37% since last week.

Wanna know why?

I think it's because it's on Netflix's New Releases page. Since the movie was released on DVD a year ago, on April 2, 2006, its highest rank on IMDB was 39,429 on April 23, 2006. It went down to 74259 on Jan 7, 2007. This year, its average rank was 55,269, until this week. Since Netflix has offered the title, its rank has risen to 33,144.

What do you think?