How To Get The Most Out Of Your Netflix Account AKA Dartflix Edition #1

I was what you can call an early adopter of Netflix back in 2002, during that time I’ve found ways to get the most out of my Netflix account even when it’s slow and there are few new releases coming out. First off, you have to realize that there are a staggering number of good movies out there that aren’t shown on cable and didn’t make it to theatres. Next, there are a wide assortment of great international films that American studios are pretty much jacking (they call them remakes) that are so much better in their original forms (Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, Dark Water, Infernal Affairs, etc). Finally, there are several independent movies that flew under the radar that make for excellent viewing as well as classic flicks that just now became available on DVD. Let’s break it down.

I get started early. As soon as I see a movie trailer that seems interesting (whether it be on TV, online or shown as a preview trailer at the beginning of another movie) I search to see if that movie is listed on Netflix yet. As soon as it shows up, I put it on my queue. If you put them on your queue early, you have a better chance of recieving the Tuesday it comes out for rental. This works best if you receive 3 or more movies at a time, though. You build up your queue until you have 25 or more movies on it to ensure you have a steady infux of new releases and add in some multi disc series to fill up the queue when it gets slow or the movie you want to see isn’t available yet. Sometimes it’s important to hold movies for a few days and not to mail them until the movie you want is available.

Once you get it so that you’re receiving the releases you want on Tuesday, you check the next week and see how many new releases you have on your queue becoming available. Take those new releases and move them all to the top of your queue. If it’s two, hold two movies and don’t mail them off until late that Friday night or early Saturday morning. Netflix movies take a day or two to reach a mail center by mail and another to hold and process so those Tuesday releases will be mailed to you that Monday. This will ensure you that your new releases should be in your mailbox on Tuesday. Now, what the hell do you rent? I got you covered.

Top Three Trailers Of The Week (1/1/07-1/7/07):
Smokin’ Aces
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475394/trailers-screenplay-E30575-10-2
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/smokinaces/

Children Of Men
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/trailers-screenplay-E30461-10-2
http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/childrenofmen/

Curse Of The Golden Flower
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473444/trailers-screenplay-E28843-10-2
http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/curseofthegoldenflower/


Slept on movies available for rent on Netflix (Subtitle Edition):

Banlieue 13 AKA District B13 (Action/International)
Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (Martial Arts/Action/International)
Musa The Warrior (Martial Arts/International)
New Police Story (Crime Drama/Martial Arts/International)
Pusher (Crime Drama/International)
Essex Boys (Crime Drama/International)
Equilibrium (Action/Sci Fi)
Hard Luck (Action)
Amores Perros (Drama/International)
Dog Soldiers (Action/Sci Fi/Horror/International)
The Devil’s Backbone (Drama/Horror/International)
11:14 (Crime Drama/Mystery)
Carlito’s Way: Rise To Power (Crime Drama)
Downtown Torpedoes (Crime Drama/International)
Brick (Crime Drama/Mystery)
Bullet In The Head (Crime Drama/International)
Layer Cake (Crime Drama/International)
Code 46 (Drama/Sci Fi)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Crime Drama/Mystery/Comedy)
Hard Candy (Drama/Horror)
Tsotsi (Crime Drama/International)
The Libertine (History/Drama)
Cronicas (Crime Drama/Mystery)
Friend (Crime Drama/International)
The Tenants (Drama)
Brother (Beat Takeshi) (Crime Drama)
Intermission (Drama/International)
Suspect Zero (Thriller/Mystery/Drama)
Gangster #1 (Crime Drama/International)
Unstoppable (Action)
Bang Rajan (History/International)
The Proposition (Western/Drama)
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (Crime Drama/International)
Oldboy (Crime Drama/Mystery/International)
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Crime Drama/International)

Dart’s Picks/Series:
Wars Without Honor (5 Discs): This series tells the completely true story of the rise of the Japanese Yakuza in the aftermath of World War 2 and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This series is considered the Japanese version of the Godfather and it was aired on national televison for everyone to see. It was made in the 70’s with ill music, gruesome violence and excellent direction and acting. It was conceived as a deterrent for the youth to keep them away from gangs/organized crime...It instead ended up making it look cool to be a gangster and spawned a new legion of Japanese directors that saw it as kids and teens.

City Of Men (3 Discs): The directors and cast of the international cult film about Rio’s favelas, City Of God star in a series about the same favela in present times. The series opens in 2002/3 with two new main characters Laranjina (the kid who played Steak in City Of God) and Acerola (the kid who played Lil’ Dice) as they grow up in the Ciudad de Deus outside of Rio De Janeiro and encounter all types of hood shit like racism, poverty, gangs, girls, crime, guns and sex. Best thing to come out of Brazil since them chicks in Snoop’s “Beautiful” video.

Dart’s WTF? Awards/Watch This Bullshit At Your Own Risk:
The Purifiers- Loved “The Warriors”? Well this is a weird knockoff that has Scottish/Britsh/Irish Kung Fu gangs (?) fighting for control of Glasgow (there are Asians in Scotland?) in a bleak not too distant future...What the fuck? They filmed the fight scenes in dark environments with trick lighting and show them in slow motion to try to trick the viewer that they saw something ill...It didn’t work. I laughed hard as hell watching this shit. The trailer tricked me into thinking this could possibly be good...Hell to the naw!

The Last Second- This is another film that I was compelled to watch because of the trailer. In the end, I was pissed off because I had no answers to the mounting questions in my head as the credits rolled. I was trying to figure out if the DVD skipped chapters on me or not on some “Did I miss something important or did I fall asleep?” shit. Nothing pisses me off more than a frustrating ass movie (if you’re wondering why I haven’t provided any details about this movie or it’s plot, it’s so none of y’all get tempted to actually watch it. There are NO subtitles, and this film desperately NEEDS some..even though it’s all in English).

Duck Season- This overrated international (it's from Mexico, which usually produces great films) movie was about 80 minutes too long...and it only runs about 85+ minutes. Nothing happens. Not a goddamn thing. I’m a damn film snob and this movie had no redeeming qualities...I’d rather watch YouTube videos of kids doing the Wu Tang dance, walking it out or doing the Chicken Noodle Soup. I harbor nothing but intense hatred for this type of “film”.

Junebug- There were so many problems and plot holes in this movie I don’t even know where to begin to talk about what I hated about it most. The story, premise, plot, and characters did not draw me in at all so I didn’t give a damn about anyone except for the pregnant wife (who won an IFC Independent Spirit Award for her work). The crazy ass racist painter will pretty much keep most people with melanin from watching this movie all the way to the end. I stuck it out just to post a long ass negative review of it on www.imdb.com. All I know is that if MY brother hit me in the face with a wrench, I’m not just gonna stand there looking stupid (Please, don’t ask).

Next Thursday’s edition I’ll write about the 25 most influential films to Hip Hop Culture. Look for it in next weeks Dartflix edition.

One.