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February 9, 2004
I'm in the Mood for...
Trainspotting, at least according to the What to Rent algorithm, which bases movie rental suggestions on personality and mood. The film suggestion generator even prescribes that I watch my suggested film in the letterboxed edition for maximum pleasure (dude, I know that already).
On subsequent logins, the generator prompts you to find out how satisfied you were with the recommendation. I think the mood questions are a bit broad (Do you want to see something similar to your usual tastes? Do you want a popcorn or a "red wine" flick?) to really be useful, but then I've seen way too many films.
Posted by chuck at February 9, 2004 10:14 AM
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Comments
It recommended 25th Hour for me... I still haven't seen that, and I've wanted to check it out. Glad it reminded me.
Posted by: Chris at February 9, 2004 8:40 PM
You probably know that I really like 25th Hour. It may be Lee's best film.
I just found the generator to be kind of goofy, but it can certainly be helpful. It did remind me that I haven't seen "Igby Goes Down," which I'd like to watch at some point.
Posted by: chuck at February 9, 2004 11:32 PM
well, it's certainly not the only source that has recommended "secretary" to me, and now that i have validation from a machine, i'll have to check it out.
thanks for the good wishes, by the way!
Posted by: silvergirl at February 10, 2004 1:40 AM
I had some mixed feelings about Secretary. It's a beautiful film--the performances and Amy Danger's art direction are amazing. But I recall feeling a little uncomfortable with the film's treatment of S&M. If you do see it, let me know what you think.
Posted by: chuck at February 10, 2004 1:52 AM
I'd be very interested to hear more on your impressions of Secretary. I found myself intrigued by the performances and especially by the s&m parts and yet the ending wasn't what I had expected (or hoped for). I should see it again to formulate a more thoughtful opinion, I suppose. What made you uncomfortable about the s&m aspects?
And thanks for the What to Rent link! Fascinating.
Posted by: Rachael at February 10, 2004 4:27 PM
Here is my original review:
http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/000449.html
I don't really like that reading very much anymore in that I think it reads the film too tightly on a "representational" level (i.e. "good" and "bad" images of men and women), but I can't quite shake my discomfort at the ways in which Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) becomes so explicitly identified with a passive position. It's certainly one of the most complicated films I've seen in a while.
Posted by: chuck at February 10, 2004 5:10 PM
First it referred me to *Almost Famous* which indeed would be a good film, but renting it would be stupid, since I own it. It then sent me on to *Secretary* as well, which is up soon on my Netflix queue, and should get a viewing within a month. Not bad, Not bad.
Posted by: Ryan at February 10, 2004 8:28 PM
Sounds like the "What to Rent" database is really pushing "Secretary." It was one of the films recommended to me that I had already seen.
Posted by: chuck at February 13, 2004 12:25 AM