What People are Netflix-ing Might Surprise You

So I stumbled upon an article recently about how Crash is still the number one most rented movie on Netflix. I thought that was kind of surprising, since Crash is an older film. I suppose you have to factor in the fact that it’s a popular choice for teachers to show in sociology and social studies classes, due to the racial matter, so that’s another demographic that’s renting. But still. It got me thinking, so I looked up what the top ten most rented movies are on Netflix. I was thinking there’d be some new releases on there, but was surprised to find a list of films a couple of years or so old, seeing that it takes a while for the entire country to catch on and get to see buzzed about films.

1. Crash

2. The Departed

3. The Bucket List

4. The Pursuit of Happyness

5. No Country for Old Men

6. Casino Royale

7. Little Miss Sunshine

8. Blood Diamond

9. The Notebook

10. The Devil Wears Prada

This list raises the question: are these the new classics? It seems that even the way we define our classic movies has evolved with our new technologies. With a new, super convenient, do-it-from-home, universal rental site, we can easily gauge what our country’s most popular movies are. A classic should be defined by what is most widely beloved by its audience as well as what lives on and proves to be timeless. Look at the top ten and you’ll realize some of America’s favorite stars appear in these films. They are some of the most buzzed about films, there are some underdogs on there that really came from nowhere and no money to become acclaimed hits. And even with new releases hitting Netflix every week, these are the films people are most excited to get their hands on. Academies and experts used to decide what made a classic. But this is the age of user control and content. This is the era of social networking news. So isn’t it fitting that we the audience deem what we will always want to watch again and again, and what should be considered one damn good film? Take a look at the list and see what you haven’t seen. It seems that whatever movies you’re missing are worth checking out, according to the Netflix customer base.

July 2nd, 2009 by Courtney Iseman | Posted in General | (0)