I was once a movie junkie, but I’ve reformed...

 

I'll never forget how it all started: it was June 1999, I was eating lunch at my desk and happily exploring the “world wide web” (the internet was still a newfangled thing to most of us).  I stumbled across an advertisement for “Rent movies—thru the mail!” 

Whaaat?

It was from a website called Netflix and—aha!  It was dvds, not videotapes.

I recently bought a dvd player, but they were newfangled too—I only owned one DVD, “Galaxy Quest”.  

So that night, I get online--find the site--it sounds great.  For a set monthly fee, they'll send you 3 movies at a time--& as soon as you send one back, they'll replace it with another from your "wishlist".  So if you only watch 3 movies that month--good for them!   But if you can get & send back 30...good for you.

The very first Netflix rental I received, "Run Lola Run"; nearly 2000 films later, it remains in my Top Favorites

At first I was doing pretty good with the site--I loaded up my "queue" with all the mainstream Hollywood films I'd been missing out on for the last few years, and watched 'em at a healthy pace.  But after awhile, I began thinking "I should join the '4 Rental' deal..."  And then 5.  And then 6.  

Soon I joined the "Ultimate Program": 8 movies out at a time.  I was watching 40 movies a month, easy!

 

Films I rated 5 stars; I rarely give movies my highest ranking!

Looking back, I think "Forty a month? How was that possible??"  but Netflix had an excellent recommendation program (based on your prior viewing history & how many stars, 1-5, that you gave to movies you've seen.   The more you rate, the better they can suggest other titles).  

      

Here are 3 films I loved so much, I ran out & bought after renting.  I don't own a large collection--I only buy 3 movies a year at most.

But still, there's only so many films out there...right?  Wrong.  I soon discovered documentaries & independent films, and my real favorite--foreign movies.  Korean, French, Spanish--they put Hollywood to shame.

Oldboy (2003) a terrific example of Korean excellence in filmmaking; and the most incredible tale of revenge I've ever seen!  This guy gets kidnapped & is locked in a hotel room with nothing but a tv for 15 YEARS.  Why?   

This went on for years--and finally, around April of 2006, I quit.  I didn't go thru any "withdrawl symptoms", in fact it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders!  (Actually, I requested a 'leave of absence'.)

Okay, okay--this summer I did a 30 day trial with Blockbuster, and watched 5 good films--"Notes on a Scandal", "Letters from Iwo Jima”, "Apocolypto", "Half Nelson".  

But that was it, I swear to God!

And now here I am, 18 months later--& I just received an email from Netflix informing me I’ve been missed, and would I like to reactivate my account.   Tentatively, I went to the site (which felt strange, like coming home) and was surprised to see all the movies from my ‘wishlist’ queue now in my 'Available to rent' queue.  (Y'see, with Netflix--you have 2 queues.  You can fill up one with titles that aren't released to DVD yet, movies just hitting the theaters or even movies currently being filmed.  And when/if they DO get released to DVD, they automatically move to your 'Available Now' list.)

I signed back up.

 

Welcome back, Douglas!  We're shipping these out today!

When I quit Netflix in April 2006, I had 2 movies left in my 'Available Now' list.  There's now 57 out there.   Doesn’t matter, I went with the minimum '3 at a time' plan.

I just hope it STAYS that way!