Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Netflix knows me better than my own mother

So I was chatting on the phone with my mom the other day, and she said to me, "Oh! We watched the funniest movie last night. You HAVE to get it. You will LOVE it! SO FUNNY!"

Great, I love funny movies. "Which one?" I asked.

"Write this down, honey...GRUMPY OLD MEN! IT'S HILARIOUS! HA!"

Huh. I pretended to write it down, what with her excitement and all, but...really, Mom? Grumpy Old Men sounds like something I'd LOVE? I'm thinking no. I mean, no offense to people who like men who are old and grumpy. As far as I know, I've been missing out on something amazing. But wow, I could not be less interested. I'll cut my mom a break, though, since I've done the same thing to her, several times. I was emphatic about recommending Slumdog Millionaire and she just has No. Interest.

I logged on to Netflix to fill my queue (not with Grumpy Old Men, mind you) and lo! I found that most everything on my home page was something I'd enjoy! The categories that apparently describe my tastes are:

Dramatic Movies Featuring a Strong Female Lead
Dark, Independent Dramas
Visually-striking Suspenseful Films
Critically-acclaimed Satires
Movies Starring Ewan McGregor

That last one made me laugh. But hey! Lots of stuff I'd watch, right there. How do they know me so well? I feel like we could be friends.

How about you? Describe your movie categories.

17 comments:

Amna said...

Dark comedy.
Romantic comedies.
Cute Indie flicks.
Anything with Hugh Dancy

Tamika: said...

Hi Wendy, I'm glad I stumbled across your blog.

My mother is an avid customer of Netflix. I haven't joined the ranks yet, but it sounds like a good investment.

Happy writing!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Wish I had more time...I'd get set up with Netflix. Everyone I know who uses it is happy.

Kinda spooky how "it" knows your tastes, huh?

ChristaCarol Jones said...

I'm not sure without Netflix able to help me, but I'd say we have at least one of those in common (if not more) being Ewan McGregor :P

ChristaCarol Jones said...

Hahaha, my verification word was shemate she-mate, she mate *giggles*

WendyCinNYC said...

Amna--I like dark comedy too.

Welcome, Tamika! Hope you'll stay a while.

Angie--Hmm, upon re-reading, I DO sound like a commercial for Netflix, don't I? Huh. I haven't received any goods or services from them (HEAR THAT, FTC?) But I'm not opposed to freebies (HEAR THAT, NETFLIX?)

Brian said...

Ink-black comedies.
Eclectic documentaries.
Obscure film noir.
And the Marx Brothers.

Lisa said...

Hmmmm...I almost stopped dead in my tracks with this! I've had a similar reaction when someone asks me to pick my favorite book genre.

But if I had to choose, I suppose I would say the academy award winners, as I suppose I like dramas best.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I don't do Netflix, but I'd say I'm in a rut of light and fluffy romantic comedies. LOL
But I do take the occasional plain comedies, too.
Wow, I really am in a rut.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

I think my tastes are similar to yours. My husband taught me to appreciate more foreign films, which I'm grateful for.

And I love Ewan McGregor.

That said, Grump Old Men IS kinda funny.

Anonymous said...

What's an Ewan McGregor?

And you haven't seen Grumpy Old Men? Jack Lemmon? Walter Matthau. They both fall for Ann-Margret.

It's a chick flick! I thought you'd like it. :D

*runs off*

*slinks back*

I had to give up my Netflix when I lost my job. Soon as I'm employed again that's the first thing I resubscribe to.

WendyCinNYC said...

Christa--He's a hottie. I also love James McEvoy, and they have kind of the same look.

Brian--"Obscure film noir," interesting!

Lisa--Academy Award winners are generally a good choice.

Jennifer--I got in a rut of Dark and Depressing Dramas, until my husband said "Ack! Please no more! I can't take it!"

Melanie--Ha! I *knew* someone was going to pipe up in favor of Grumpy Old Men! I'm sure it's funny, I just found it an odd reco from my mom.

Ferret--Grumpy Old Men a chick flick? Doesn't a chick flick have to have some chicks in it? Or at least some eye candy and Walter Matthau does NOT qualify.

Ewan McGregor was in Trainspotting, which was disturbingly awesome, and was also the hot guy in Moulin Rouge. Although you might know him as the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's like a romantic comedy with old people.

*shakes his head, shakes his head, hears Star Wars* Oh, ok. :D

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Romantic comedies, baby! And, fortunately, my honey likes them, too. ;-)

Janna Leadbetter said...

I'm with Angie. I'd love to try Netflix, but bummer if I don't have enough time to devote to movies.

And, Grumpy Old Men has to be at least ten years old...

Unknown said...

Hey Wendy - I love this and I LOVE Netflix... however I do share it with my husband and kids, grudgingly, and in all fairness I rate movies that they watch too. So sometimes blood spurting war movies are also recommended.

But for me? Romantic comedies, strong female leads, good dramas that evoke some emotion along the lines of crying or laughing and almost anything with, I confess, Vince Vaughn in it.

Allie said...

I'm on a TV binge on Netflix right now - just started watching Friday Night Lights - I don't give two figs about football, but it's a damn good show. I haven't had the patience for watching movies for awhile - which is funny, because I can watch 3 hours of tv shows. But when I am up for watching movies, I tend to like indie/dark humor stuff and then anything I liked to watch when I was 16.