Netflix News Too

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

I was just looking at Netflix to see if any of my few friends there (my one social networking venture) had rated a film I just watched, and I discovered that Netflix closed down the friends feature about two months ago. The reason for the closure was low usage (confirmed in my case by the fact I had not looked at it for two months), and also the desire to shift Netflix resources from the friends feature to the growing streaming business. I also suspect Netflix found the hassle of maintaining the friends feature was something they did not need in order to keep their business growing.

Netflix reports business is indeed booming and subscriber views by streaming are expected to exceed DVD mailings by the end of the year. It has been obvious for a while that streaming is going to replace DVD rentals, especially now that the streaming video quality has improved and the streaming library is growing. A Netflix price increase starting with January (more than 17% for my 3 in the mail program) appears to be designed to wean us off mailings. For example, if I am willing to cut back to 2 mailings, I can actually have a price reduction of about 12%. [I think Red Box kiosks fill a niche for people who don’t have Netflix or a similar subscription, but they hold no attraction for me. Kiosk fees are expected to increase soon also].

I have been slow to embrace Netflix streaming, even though I can watch streams on my home theater setup and they look and sound good (though the best sound quality I can stream seems to be DTS, rather than Dolby Digital). I get 17 mailings average per month on my 3 DVD subscription, but I have only been watching about 5 streams a month, even though there is no limit. The reasons for my reluctance to stream more movies include the novelty, lingering doubts about sound quality, fewer new releases, the lack of my own methodology for deciding what to stream, and the unusually ease of bailing out of a film early at no cost. My own experience and improvements by Netflix should make these reasons fade over time.

Until 7 months ago, I used to get about 20 movies a month from the library in addition to my Netflix mailings. That was too many movies and often I felt burdened to watch them and get them back to the library on time. Without the library movies, I increased the speed of my Netflix mailings to take up some of the slack. Now, as I embrace Netflix streaming more, and as Netflix expands the streaming choices (my instant queue has already been running about twice the size of my mailing queue), I may find that I can reduce my mail subscription from 3 to 2, and gradually transition away from mail altogether, just as Netflix has planned.

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale – 2009. (3.5) Lasse Hallstrom makes movies that have a professional finish and often an appealing charm. This one, based on a true story from Japan, stars an Akita dog, whose life we follow from puppyhood to death, and who experiences and shows a full range of emotions with an Academy Award caliber performance. Of course the dog is in fact several animals being led through the motions (and emotions) by its trainer, but the script, human actor interaction, direction and editing make us want to believe. Such is the magic of movies. There is a message in this very touching G rated movie, but it is not preached. In spite of the rating, because of the theme, this is probably not something you would want your younger kids to watch. Macho men should watch this alone, lest their cover be blown. Netflix way underestimated my rating for this film, probably because of lack of comparables, for it is an unfortunate fact that there are so few movies like this being made in America these days.

The Street – 2006. (3.4) There are only six episodes (two discs) of this BBC anthology series about the families who live on a contemporary London street. Each episode concentrates on one family, but there is some intertwining with the stories of the other families. I thought this would be the ususal TV fare, mixing humor with serious content, the overworked “dramedy”, but was pleased to find that it is just good, solid drama, well written, acted and directed, with interesting plot and excellent character development. I particularly liked the episodes on the first disk and would give them a 3.7, whereas two of the episodes on the second disk, one about a young footballer who gets trapped into involvement with drug pushers, amd one about spousal abuse, seemed to have more violence and less overall story value, perhaps a 3.1. Following seasons apparently have not yet made it to DVD.

The Narrow Margin – 1952. (3.2) If you want a quick look at a well-made and interesting film noir story that will hold your attention and keep you on your toes, check out this 72 minute movie. No major actors and a capable but not spectacular director still yield a very good film when the attention stays on the efficiently told story. There are some nice filmic devices used here to keep things moving rather than just to call attention to themselves.

Fatal Love – 1992. (3.0) An early Aids awareness TV film, in which Molly Ringwald plays an unlikely victim coping with her anger and fear, the anguish of her parents and the confusion and awkwardness of her friends, this movie does a fairly good job, until it necessarily ends up in the air, because that is where life stood for the real person on whom the story was based.

Mary and Max – 2008. (2.9) Australian clay animation here, with a lonely, unpopular, young Australian girl randomly picking for a pen pal an obese, atheistic New York City Jew with Asperger’s. Quirky as expected, but with a tenderness too.

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge – 1999. (2.8) The first African-American actress to be nominated for an Oscar in a lead role had beauty, talent and courage, but they were not enough to protect her from prejudice and the tragedies that life too often brings. Halle Berry produced and starred in this HBO TV movie which, like Halle, did a competent job of telling the story, but never quite grabbed the attention of the audience. Biopics like this have lots of ground to cover and we are often left feeling we want to see more of what is left out and less of what is included.

Dance With Me – 1998. (2.8). The romance and drama here is a bit shallow, but still fairly appealing, but the best thing about the film is the Latin ballroom dancing and Afro-Cuban music. Vanessa L. Williams had the female lead and her dancing looked great to me. Though she has a fairly long filmography, this is the first time I have seen her act and I thought she was alright, but I don’t see anything else of interest in her filmography. The male lead was Chayanne, an incredibly handsome man whom I do not know, though he is a famous Latin singer. He has acting talent, which he has failed to develop because of conflict with his movie career. I selected this movie from the filmography of the director, Randa Haines, who has made only a few films over a span of thirty years, but I have liked them all.

Emily Dickinson: A Certain Slant of Light – 1977. (2.7) This very short documentary was filmed (with a crew including Ken Burns) in the outdoors of Amherst and in the two Dickinson houses, which is about the only reason for watching it. The limited biographical information and quotes from some of her poems show that it was intended as a film for use in schools.

Something to Talk About – 1995. (2.4) Streamed. A good cast and fine director cannot make a poor script of an uninteresting story worth much, which is what happened with this Lasse Hallstrom film about a contemporary southern horse farm family with marital fidelity issues.

Gates of Heaven – 1978.  (2.4)  Streamed. An Erroll Morris documentary supposedly about pet cemeteries, this polyester time capsule of interviews with Californians does not tell much about the subject but includes many ego centric interviewees, a few of whom are sadly humorous.

The Lightkeepers – 2009. (1.4) A ludicrous New England accent by Richard Dreyfuss, in a boring story that takes way too long to even get started, corny music, amateurish technical work and the squandering of Cape Cod beauty make this a loser all around. I suffered through the first 20 minutes of banal set up dialogue before the two male characters, static at one location, were finally augmented with the female players, only to confirm the women did not make this any more tolerable. Love that super fast forward button so I could zip through the rest, just going through the motions – like this movie did.