Uncritical Netflix

My favorite movie review writer, Leonard Maltin, used to have a page on Netflix.com at http://www.netflix.com/MaltinPicks, like Roger Ebert, TV Guide, etc., but Netflix has done away with critics recommendations, and replaced it with a "taste preference" for "critically-acclaimed" genres. Therefore, I read Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide on my iPhone to get his take on the movies.

I don't rely on Netflix.com for movie recommendations any more. I'm interested in the star ratings they predict I'll give a movie, but it's not the biggest influence on what I watch. I'd say it's about a 30% influence. The biggest influence on me is my friends/family. Next is the the Flixster app on my iPhone, which I use to check out the new releases. I go to the movies almost weekly, so I have to keep up with the buzz.

Leonard Maltin's app on sale

The Leonard Maltin iPhone/iPod Touch app I posted about is on sale at the iTunes store for $2.99, down from $4.99. It's based on his paperback movie guide. I reckon the price drop is because of how slow the search feature is. Also, you can't find things by keyword. You have to know the exact title or name, or at least the beginning letters. If you search for movie titles containing the word "Henry", you'll get Henry V, but not The Private Life of Henry VIII.

Even with these problems, I still love and recommend the app. Get it while it's on sale, and you'll get free updates when they fix these problems.

Best Movie guide on the iPhone and iPod Touch

I am thrilled to learn from a comment left here by Ken, that Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide is now available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. I bought mine from the App Store for $4.99, which is a third of what the book costs.

The advantages of it over other applications is that you don't have to be connected to the Internet to look up movie details. You get plot summaries, star ratings, cast and director. You can search the database by title, cast, or director to get filmographies. I do this all the time when I'm out with friends. We'll be talking about movies and they ask me what other movies has an actor been in? What other movies has someone directed? They think I'm the movie expert, and I keep them impressed by using Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide.

Another advantage is that you can create your own custom lists or add to Favorites or Movies to See which you can backup online. There's also a button to add movies to your Netflix queue (requires an Internet connection).

I've been waiting for this ever since I gave up my Palm T|X. A good movie guide was the only thing I missed about that Palm. I left a note on Leonard Maltin's Web site, asking that they make an app for the iPhone. I reckon I wasn't the only one who wanted it. Now my iPod Touch is complete.

If you don't have iTunes or an iPhone, check out the developer's Web site for screenshots and more info.

P.S. No one paid me or gave me anything to write this review.

Another viewing milestone: 801 out of 1001

The greatest thing about Netflix is their enormously wide selection. They have something like 60,000 titles in their catalog. This big selection of movies gives me the opportunity to do something I could never otherwise have attempted: I am trying to watch ALL of the movies in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die at least once. As of today, I have seen 801 of them! In February 2006, I posted that I had seen 704 of them, so I've seen 97 in the last four months. A year ago, in May 2005, I posted that I had seen 501 of them, so I've seen 300 in the last 13 months.

Here are some of my other viewing statistics:

• I have seen all of Leonard Maltin's 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century
  
• I have seen all of the The AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies
  
• I have seen 243 theatrical movies this year
  
• I have seen 77 movies from Netflix this year
  
• I have 166 movies in my queue, 9 of which are in the Saved section
  
• I have rated 2,042 titles on Netflix, and Netflix has 140 recommendations for me.

What are your statistics? How many movies have you rented from Netflix this year? How many have you rated? How many recommendations does Netflix have for you?