Netflix is sharing some interesting information about customer interest in the best picture winner, Crash:
Crash had 16 times the queue adds normally seen in a comparable 5 hour time span on a Sunday night. Starting at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday, queue adds began coming in at 10 times the normal rate on a minute to minute basis. The peak of queue adds came at exactly 8:25; this point was roughly 150 to 250 times the queue adds typically seen by Crash in a 1 minute time span.
While the competition was worthy of being nominated, I've seen Crash and I recommend it (especially if you've been close to racism).
I haven't seen Crash, so I can't comment as to whether or not it is a good movie. However, the Netflix stats above do show what tools people are. Just because Hollywoods says that Crash is a good movie, the sheep go along with that assumption and feed into the media directed consumption frenzy. I do wonder how you can name a movie Crash when there was another movie called Crash just a few years back. I wonder how many people inadvertently added the 'other' Crash into their queue in their haste to be the first lemming to watch it. Finally, remember that some people haven't even been able to rent 40 Year Old Virgin yet! Maybe they'll be able to watch by Christmas?
Posted by: sykoboy | March 08, 2006 at 09:44 AM
the post "anything but this" sums up my feelings about crash far more eloquently than i could. 'twas truly horrid and an insult to the intelligence of its audience. no html allowed apparently, so the url is http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2006/02/anything-but-this.html
Posted by: xaotica | March 08, 2006 at 11:12 AM
I guess that's why I don't do movie reviews.
- Mike K
Posted by: mikek | March 08, 2006 at 12:09 PM
I thought Crash and the other nominees looked dumb, just based on the short snippets they showed during the program. The Academy Awards are a sham. They're safe and boring and based on politics and economics more than artistic excellence or integrity. Awards are as meaningless as box office figures. Crash and the other winners won't even be remembered in a few years, if not a few months. Hollywood is irrelevant and dull. The most acclaimed movie of all time, CK, got *1* award (script) out of 9 nominations. It has been "all down-hill" since 1941.
Posted by: NetflixShill | March 08, 2006 at 01:32 PM
Capote should have been the best pic of the year (since Grizzly Man was ignored by the Academy). But who wants to give the Oscar to a movie where a gay man discovers that some people on death row need to be executed?
there was a strange backlash against Brokeback Mountain from gay filmmakers since none of the major players in the film (director, writers & actors) were gay. At least John Schlesinger, the director of Midnight Cowboy was really gay.
Posted by: corey3rd | March 08, 2006 at 02:04 PM
I was one of those who added Crash to my queue as soon as I found out it got the Oscar. But I left it at the bottom of my queue, meaning that I may download it sometime in the distant future if I'm in the mood and have nothing better to rent. But I probably won't. In other words, queue statistics, while interesting, are no guarantee of future rentals.
Posted by: tvindy | March 09, 2006 at 12:49 AM
And by "download" I meant to say "rent". (I guess my brain wasn't entirely in gear when I typed that.)
Posted by: tvindy | March 09, 2006 at 09:52 PM