Netflix Watch Instantly Recommendation Thread

freedom of choice is what you've got
freedom from choice is what you want

indeed.

ive got a running list/note on my phone of things i want to check out and i try to never open any of the streaming services unless i know where i want to go in it. they all create the worst user experiences for perusing.

and they always recommend the same things to you anyway, the tip of the iceberg but the tip is not necessarily the best.

but yes that interface is terrible. looking for "newly added" things on Netflix, for example, doesn't actually show you things that have recently been added.

oh, they have changed it. It does kind of do that now. a definite improvement.

agree that every streaming platform menus/interface suck, but even moreso they're *algorithms* for recommending things to me suck and I wish they just didn't even bother. Just sort shit into categories by genre or year produced or director just ... anything else. Very true that they aren't worth looking at unless you know what you want to watch and just have to go find it.

I just google the new/upocoming releases every once in a while I so I have a specific thing to watch and don't get sucked into the choice-making vortex, it's overwhelming

I'd like a "do not show/recommend again" option so I don't have to, for example, think about the fact that Don't fk wi Cats exists or that someone made a film about Morrissey as a teenager.

YES

The film about Morrissey as a teenager is really good though.

difficult to believe but I'll never know for sure.

"Aren't the good shows on those channels on netflix?"

sometimes, sometimes not, and never at the same time

and only temporarily

The film about Morrissey as a teenager is really good though.

I should really have said that it may be but it's not the point, I'd prefer not to think about it every time I look at the app.

Yes, I know what you mean and I agree. It's not just paralysis is choice. It's about an experience that's stuck in a rut, versus the flowing river of live TV.

An interesting thought, Alba!

Is = of

(I sounded like Pinefox there!)

I want to know more ways people have found to navigate or tweak these apps to find good recommendations.

For example, sometimes searches in Netflix bring up unexpected results.

I hate the flowing river of live tv. I feel like I end up trapped watching something just because it's on instead of doing something not tv related. This is probably a byproduct of growing up in a family where the tv was constantly on as a source of comfort.

I program my netflix on my computer as opposed to the tv. I find it faster to navigate. I also don't have the above issues with the recommendations. My only annoyance is with volume balances.

Prime has the least annoying interface for me - they front load the lists with real movies, recently added actually equals recently added, they don't play clips from their originals when you're scrolling through. I don't do the endless scroll on there, usually I see a movie or documentary worth trying on the first or second page.

And you can run specific searches on your computer like this:


https://www.amazon.com/Movies-1960-1969-TV/s?i=movies-tv&bbn=2649512011&rh=n%3A2649512011%2Cp_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A2651260011%7C2651261011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_theme_browse-bin%3A2650372011&dc&qid=1578617093&rnid=2650362011&ref=is_r_p_n_theme_browse-bin_8

Spending hours doing that to add films I'll never watch to my watchlist is one of my favourite hobbies.

alba, how is prime in the US compared to UK? I got rid of it because it had fuck all available for my country and also wasn't happy with my VPNs and then also bezos guilt.

Different catalogues but roughly similar in quality I'd say? I'm liking that in the US you can watch some old HBO shows I never watched the first around, like The Sopranos and Deadwood. All that stuff is only on Sky in the UK.

Amazing how much more crap is pushed at you on the Fire Stick, though: it's a much cleaner experience in the UK. Kind of in line with crap being pushed at you left right and centre generally here.

I just got irate earlier about the prime interface not making it obvious how to continue watching a series

My in-laws and a brother in law have the tv on all the time and it’s kind of how I grew up but feels unpleasant to be around now. Anything I watch is discrete episodes of specific shows

hulu is the fucking worst for that, at least on appletv. we added some shows to 'my stuff'. but we're several seasons in, not at the beginning. it does not make it easy to continue watching from the last place you watched, they keep defaulting to the beginning of the series because we didn't watch those on hulu. they also provide no way to make things as 'watched' so it stops doing that.

also, I'll admit it: i thought Gervais' 'Humanity' special was mostly very funny.

medical police funny stuff

Yeah, Medical Police is a good diversion between The Circle, which idk if I like, but am addicted to now

Need the final four episodes stat

Hulu has a weird thing on my Apple TV where it marks shows as mostly-watched - so when I started rewatching You're The Worst, it would continue each episode on at the last minute unless I backed out and said to start from the beginning.

I got about 10 minutes into medical police before I switched it off and decided stabbing myself repeatedly with a fork would be more pleasurable

Hulu has a weird thing on my Apple TV where it marks shows as mostly-watched - so when I started rewatching You're The Worst, it would continue each episode on at the last minute unless I backed out and said to start from the beginning.

first episode of the new david chang is unwatchable due to stoned seth rogen and his v.annoying reflex laugh

― be goose, do crimes (||||||||), Saturday, October 26, 2019 11:45 AM (two months ago) bookmarkflaglink

this was the most watchable episode of this show. just a show full of platitudes and cringeworthy as hell (cambodia ep with kate mckinnon when the both of them just keep talking about how amazing the spirit of the cambodian people is to overcome their painful history and how lucky they are over and over was excruciating to me)

I got about 10 minutes into medical police before I switched it off and decided stabbing myself repeatedly with a fork would be more pleasurable

btw ten minutes in it is still pretending to be Children's Hospital season 8, but literally leaves the hospital and becomes something different (but with a similar tone and by the same people) after that

aw now i miss children's hospital

Bourdain wishing a painful death on Kissinger was the only possible good celebrity take on Cambodia.

bourdain otm

Cheer was pretty great! Competition-level cheerleading is a fricken meat grinder!

I watched the first episode of Schitt's Creek and did not laugh once.

cause you forgot your paddle

Cheer is indeed good

The first episode (Schitts), the entire set up is non memorable. Try to keep watching. It's soooooo good. It took me awhile to warm up to the characters and the whole premise but now it is definitely in my top sitcom of all time list.

I've tried with schitt's creek but can never get into it

Schitt's Creek is one of a long line of sitcoms that takes a while (at least a season) to truly find its footing.

Tried three eps and tapped out

xpost I would agree about the one season to get its footing. I think I like it better than Arrested Development now (similar themes). AD just kind of blew its entire legacy with the new netflix episodes. Also I think I like all the actors and characters more in SC.

Nobody else is watching Cheer? Y'all are missing out!

I have Cheer and Spinning Out (effy from Skins) on my queue. But I finally started Watchmen.