BURIED IN THE QUEUE This winter break, it might be time to give those Netflix items at the bottom of your watch list a little love Olivia Thirlby in “Dredd.” Photo courtesy of Lionsgate Publicity
Okay, so it might be somewhat contradictory to suggest Netflix selections after talking about how you shouldn’t put things on your queue suggested by other people. But these are just some relatively new movies and television shows that may be at the bottom of your Netflix list (and should not be) simply because of pressure to watch other recently popular shows.
Dredd (2012)
PATRICK BOGANS MANAGING EDITOR
The idea of “binge-watching” has created a whole new type of entertainment for our generation. Television marathons are one thing, but being able to choose what to marathon is a wonderful thing. Finally, once the stress of exams and this devastatingly long and grueling fall semester is over, there will finally be some free time to veg out and catch up on your Netflix list, the only to-do list you actually want to accomplish. But odds are, the Netflix list is packed with movies and television shows your peers have pressured you into watching all semester. “Oh girl, you have to catch up on ‘Orange is the New Black’”! “Wait, you’ve never seen any of ‘Doctor Who’”? “Dude, you have to watch ‘Breaking Bad’”! (This is usually followed by an expletive in reference to Aaron Paul’s character). And, as the good friend you are, you promise them it will be the first thing you will watch once you have the time. This is either because you
NINERONLINE.COM
actually want to watch the show or movie, but it’s more likely because you want them to stop talking about it before they spoil it. Yes, “Breaking Bad” is an extremely gratifying series anyone with a mischievous side should experience. I have nothing against the series whatsoever; personally, I’m currently in the third season of the show and it is fantastic. “Orange is the New Black” is also an innovation in the binge-watchable drama. Yet, hearing the same, empty positive suggestion from everyone over and over really spoils the experience. Personally, my Netflix list is full of suggestions from other people. I’m not sure if I will ever sit down and watch the entirety of “Doctor Who,” but I will make sure my Whovian friends know it’s “on my list” of things to watch. I am definitely not trying to put anyone down who is either the source or the receiver of this process. It has become a natural thing for this generation to share. Whether it’s what we are doing today, what
we are eating (unfortunately) and inevitably what we are watching. When someone mentions a TV show or a movie I have seen and enjoyed, it’s compulsive for me to suggest to them to watch it. But it’s another thing to suggest to someone a TV show or a movie they’ve probably already been pressured to see already. I get it; after seeing post after post on BuzzFeed about the series finale of “Breaking Bad” or the 50th anniversary of “Doctor Who,” it would be nice to know what people are talking about. But when watching a show starts to feel like a chore instead of a purely gratifying and relaxing source of entertainment, the saturation has gone a little too far. Isn’t the whole point of Netflix is to watch what you want when you want to? The next time you have a free afternoon, make sure you’re watching what you want to watch - not exactly what is going to give you brownie points with your friends.
DEC. 3, 2013 - JAN. 13, 2014
This new take on the Judge Dredd character was the most underrated action film of 2012. Anyone looking for a no-holdsbarred intelligent shoot-em-up movie should not look past “Dredd.”
Safety Not Guaranteed
Charming and relatively unknown, this comedy follows a few journalists who go to find the creator of an classified ad in a local paper, which asks for someone to join him in a time traveling adventure.
Weeds
For fans of “Breaking Bad,” this drug-motivated family drama is more comical, but just as enthralling.
Friday Night Lights
NBC brought the slow-burning, intriguing drama to mainstream audiences in primetime; if only the network treated it right, the word-of-mouth for this Texas football drama would definitely be much stronger now.
27