Thanks to Digg I just came across a post on Newsweek that lists the ten most rented movies on Netflix. While a few of the movies (Iron Man, Crash, The Proposal) came as no surprise a couple of the movies really did make me appreciate the regular movie going audience. I have been called a bit of a snob when it comes to movies in the past and I don’t think it is because of my taste in movies. I believe it is more in my distaste in what I see regular movie going audiences doing. So many times I walk into a theatre and see herds of people with no clue what they are going to. I know that if they only put a modicum of thought into choosing movies they would get so much more. I guess that it why I am somewhat happy to see The Departed and No Country for Old Men on the list. Yes they are both very much hyped movies but they are also not the standard summer action block busters, oscar bait or paint by number romantic comedy. Perhaps there is still hope out there yet.
- Crash (2005)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- The Bucket List (2007)
- The Departed (2006)
- Iron Man (2008)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
- The Proposal (2009)
- Gran Torino (2008)
- Casino Royale (2006)
Of course here is one of the Netflix reviews for No Country for Old Men which just reaffirms my dislike of general movie goers….
“This is by far the worst movie we have ever seen. It makes you sit for two hours following several different characters and then just when you think something is about to happen its over. I don’t care about the flaws of humanity, the darkness in man, the descent of society, and how we are helpless to prevent our own downfall; that is what real life is about. Why make a movie about real life when all a person has to do to see this is to open their eyes and look around. Its insight into humanity it nothing new and does not even give an accurate portrayal of how far people are really willing to go for the love of money. It is quite easy to predict how certain scenes will turn out while some leave you shaking your head wondering why that was even in the movie.” —TS 763751
I look at Netflix as a way for casual movie goers to catch highly hyped films that they didn’t bother with in the theatre. Something like Avatar (which was a theatrical phenomenon) wouldn’t do quite the crazy business that something like Crash, The Departed or The Hurt Locker would which won Best Picture, but were not $400M at the Box Office.
Casino Royale and Iron Man are the two big surprises, as these were massive hits at the Box Office, and people are going back for more on DVD.
Funny that Terrence Howard, Sandra Bullock, and Jack Nicholson all have a pair of films on that top 10.
I guess I look at DVD the same way I look at theatrical releases at least when it comes to renting. Of course I also have a tendency to re-watch movies I’ve already seen and I just make the false assumption that everyone else does also.
I think you’ve got a good point Kurt, because I first saw the list and thought what the hell is Crash doing at number one, but it makes sense I guess. The Bucket List and The Pursuit of Happyness are anomalies though, they didn’t get much critical attention and I can’t remember them being all that big at the box office.
CRASh for me is a strange beast. I like it – hell I own it – but its win for Best Picture that year leaves a bad taste in my mouth for all things CRASH. So that said, seeing it at the top of this list saddens me a little.
Then there’s that NO COUNTRY comment which saddens me a lot!
I think Blockbuster.com’s list is pretty similar. I remember Crash being at the top of that list forever and I finally wrote to BB asking if that was correct. They said that the list is the top ten rentals of all time. So it isn’t just through the last few months or whatever. So it makes sense that Crash is up there. But if you took the top ten titles rented over the past two or even three years, I bet Crash wouldn’t even crack the top 50.
PS – yes, Crash is a pretty decent movie:
http://www.rowthree.com/2009/02/13/rewatched-and-reconsidered-crash/
Here is the current Netflix top 10 rentals:
http://www.netflix.com/Top100
Here is the current Blockbuster top 100 rentals:
http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/collections/topOnlineRentals
Here is the current Redbox top 20 rentals:
http://www.redbox.com/content.mvc/top20rentals
David: I think for Pursuit of Happyness and The Bucket list, these are big in the non-cinephile word of mouth circles and have very recognizable stars front and centre in reasonably easy to describe films (i.e. plot in a sentence or two to a coworker). That’s be my guess on them.
another question, how many folks have accidental ended up with David Cronenberg’s Crash because they weren’t paying too close attention when browsing Netflix? That’s kind of awesome in a way!
Does Netflix still show the breakdowns by location? Like, what’s popular wherever you are? Moving from middle-of-nowhere Texas to Los Angeles made a huge difference in that list, as I recall – people in LA have much better taste.
Yeah, here we go. Popular in LA right now are The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Coco Before Chanel, A Single Man, and Volver. Popular in Waco, TX – Into the West, Erin Brockovich, Surviving Crooked Lake (?), and The Other Sister. That seems really random. Last time I checked it was all mainstream romcoms and stuff like that.
Are you guys doing a podcast this week?
Indeed we are, Matt’s moving, Andrew’s Cottaging and My trip to Fantasia put the kybosh on last week. We needed a break anyway!