Netflix Roulette
The fun thing about Netflix is that they have the Instant streaming feature, where a lot of movies/shows are available to stream to different devices, be it a computer or something else, without having to rent the disc or pay extra. Once I discovered I could stream these things to my TV through my Xbox 360, I was all like, “Whoo! So long social life!”
Now, the quality of the selection varies wildly, and near as I can tell, there’s no particular rhyme or reason as to what ends up available for instant streaming, or why. Well, new movies don’t end up on there, and that much I can understand, but other than that? Seems pretty scattershot.
The great thing about this, though, is that you can check out a wide variety of stuff without much of any commitment (like waiting a day or two for a disc to arrive. Yay instant gratification!). Though on the flipside is that same problem I used to have with my DVD collection before getting rid of a lot of it: too much to choose from = spending way too much time making a choice.
But it’s great not having to commit more than a few minutes to the real bombs. So far I’ve come across a few things, particularly some really awful anime, with which I didn’t make it past the 5 minute mark. And then there’s some movies on there I’m tempted to watch, specifically because I know they’re supposed to be really awful. For example, Howard the Duck recently ended up on there. I vaguely remember seeing bits and pieces when I was young, but really never cared much about it one way or the other. But now that I’ve heard all the rumors/jokes/etc, I’m kind of tempted to watch just to see how bad it really is… dare I?
And speaking of bad movies, I don’t think I need to say what a glorious, glorious day it was when they started adding MST3K episodes to the instant lineup. Some of them aren’t that great, and most of the instant ones are from towards the end of the series, but I absolutely LOVE the “Future War” episode. Not only were the jokes great but the movie itself was one of those awesome-bad/entertaining things (bad JCVD clone and his wannabe-nun sidekick vs. fat cyborgs with dinosaur pets? That’s almost too much awesome).
It’s also proven a good way to see spiffy independent flicks, like the fairly good horror flick My Little Eye or the charming 50′s sci-fi throwback Alien Trespass. It’s allowed me to reconnect to half-remembered flicks from my youth – Karate Kid was somehow both better AND worse now that I’m all growed up – and watch lots of sweet, sweet Kari Byron… err, I mean, Mythbusters episodes.
Anyway, I don’t think I was really going anywhere with this. I just wanted to point out that sometimes, technology kicks ass and is a beautiful, beautiful timewaster.
