netflix redux 



I decided to give Netflix another try. I liked the service when I was using it before but ended up dropping it for a couple reasons. Having gone all out with the "8 DVD's out at a time" plan, I found that I couldn't keep up. To make Netflix cost effective, you really have to watch the maximum amount of DVD's you're allowed to have at home EACH WEEK (this brings the cost down to under $1.50 per disc). I just couldn't watch 8 discs per week, no matter how I tried. Also, some of the delays I was experiencing for certain DVD's were getting too long, especially when I knew I could probably pick up a copy of a particular selection at my local Vietnamese-owned video store. But since Blockbuster started its insane "no late fees" policy (resulting in many people not returning videos for days), the convenience of Netflix can't be beat. Another thing I love about NF is the unsurpassed selection of foreign movies and hard-to-find videos. If it has been released on DVD, chances are Netflix has it. That means I can always get my fix of Chinese, Hong Kong and Japanese movies. Awesome.

This last weekend I watched Lady Snowblood. As a major influence behind Quentin Terantino's Kill Bill, I've been wanting to see this Japanese blood-fest for a long time. I had only been able to find a UK Region 2 DVD on HKFlix. But, lo and behold, Netflix had it. Now I know where Q.T. got his spraying blood fascination. But seriously, I would like to smack the idiotic make-up artist who invented the gooey, orange-colored fake blood that was used gratuitously in countless 70's horror flicks. I have yet to see a person actually bleed orange blood. Not even on Star Trek, so what gives? Thank goodness someone in the movie biz finally got it right. Anyway, Lady Snowblood is worth seeing. I was really impressed that it was made way back in 1973.

Thanks to Netflix I was also able to view a kick-ass anime DVD called Samurai Champloo (Volume 1). I'm not sure what "champloo" is supposed to mean, but, evidently, it's by the same person who did Cowboy Beebop, which I liked. In my opinion, though, Samurai Champloo blows Beebop away. Set in the Japanese "Edo" period, it's about a couple of bad-ass samurai (actually, more like "ronin") who are searching for "the samurai who smells like sunflowers" at the request of their tagalong female companion. I'm not sure what the "samurai who smells..." thing is supposed to be about, but the adventures they get into along the way are interesting (the two ronin are constantly trying to kill each other), and the animation is first rate. I highly recommend it. Volume 2 comes out at the end of March, and it's already on my Netflix queue.

The final Neflix selection I watched this last weekend was a Zhang Ziyi (oh, yes) movie called Purple Butterfly. The film centers on the Japanese invasion of China and the Chinese resistance in Shanghai. Sounds interesting, right? But, honestly, this is one of the slowest, dullest and most disjointed films I've ever seen. I guess it was alright, but I think it could have been done better than it was. Man, what I could do with a film budget and Zhang Ziyi as my star. The possibilities are limitless. 

Posted: Wed - March 16, 2005 at 01:34 PM           |

©