Netflix

As my friends and family will attest, I am a reserved and humble man who rarely makes boisterous claims about the quality of service provided by businesses I willingly (or otherwise) involve myself with.

Ha.

Let's start over.

NETFLIX IS THE SINGLE GREATEST CONSUMER SERVICE EVER OFFERED IN CANADA.

$7.99/month.

Genuinely caring customer service.

My Shaw bill (which I'm never quite sure why I pay) is close to $130/month for a bunch of channels I hate 95% of the time, and absolute shit internet service.  Yet, I have to pay the evil telecommunications oligopoly, as without them I cannot engage in their own destruction.

I've had Netflix for over a year now.  I signed up for my initial free month after the launch on September 22, 2010.  Since then, my credit card has been billed 11 times for a total of $87.89, or roughly 6% of what Shaw has made off of me over the same timeframe.

Yes, in the beginning content was somewhat limited, but it has been an exponential triumph of win since then, with new titles coming out weekly. And besides, most of the complaints were from the type of people who thought movies like Transformers were the pinnacle of cinema.

If you come to terms with the fact that Netflix isn't the place for watching the latest sequel to the third remake of a film that was, in fact, shitty when it came out 25 years ago in the first place, it's quite possible to discover some amazing pieces of cinema that would otherwise escape the average Bit Torren--I mean internet user.

I'm honestly speaking when I say that the greatest films I have seen in my lifetime have all been things I've watched in the last year on Netflix.

There's no way to run statistics (yet, come on guys) but Netflix does keep a record of everything you've ever watched.

A quick tally of this page says that I've watched (in full, ignoring things I've started and not finished, and yes, Netflix always remembers where you left off) 156 things since October 1, 2010.  $87.89/156 = $0.56/item.

That's pretty hard to beat.  Didn't it cost like $5 to rent back when Blockbuster hadn't failed, plus the time, cost of gas, and risk of death to get there and the horrible return trip?

Almost all of my favorite films now are various independent ones that Netflix has an abundance of.

Below is a shortlist of my favorites in no particular order, and I suggest them to anyone who walks upright:

Keith

Holly

Dakota Skye

Gardens of the Night

Primer

Ip Man

Paths of Glory

Music Within

Mao's Last Dancer

Frozen River

The Visitor

Saving Face

Shattered Glass

Trade

Little Children

Lust, Caution

I will warn the squeamish that quite a few of these films are disturbing, dark dramas, and none of them are suitable for children.  Netflix does have a kids category, though.  Also, some of these films may no longer be available (like Primer).

I won't be making any comments on finance and current events, as my forecast from a couple months back hasn't changed in the slightest.

Good evening!