The Onus of the Queue

I'm a relatively new Netflix subscriber. I'll admit it, up until recently I still got a thrill from going to Blockbuster and picking out a movie I was in the mood for that exact instant. Life ain't so easy anymore. Last year when I moved back to the US I was shocked and saddened to find out during my first drive back through my hometown that all of the Blockbusters had been boarded up and it was now necessary to order your movies online. 

I held off from doing so for as long as possible. Once I moved to New York I even rented movies from Two Boots, a pizza place with a struggling side movie business. But their selection was lacking, and my computer is on its last leg and refuses to stream even a 30 second youtube video, so downloading was out of the question. I would have to order from Netflix! 

It's not that I have a problem with Netflix itself, the company runs like a well oiled machine. My movies always arrive when they say they're going to arrive and in mint condition. It's even bizarrely skillful at picking out films it thinks I'll enjoy (god computers are so damn smart). Where I take issue is the pressure that comes from picking movies a full two days before you want to see them. 

All of a sudden I have this persistent feeling in my gut that I should choose these movies which I've been told I should see, with references that have gone over my head my whole life, which are important, "classic" films of our generation, of my parents generation, of ALL generations! Rather than movies I want to see. The pressure is just too much. I end up looking at my queue and it's not familiar to me at all, it's like seeing a stranger staring back from the mirror. It's chock-full of foreign films, romantic comedies from the 60's, too many Woody Allen's and not enough mind-numbing movies purely for entertainment's sake. 

I can't lie and say I haven't seen some great things over the past few months, I have (and if there's one I'll recommend right now it's City of God, seriously add that to your queue stat). But a tremendous wave of despair washed over me yesterday evening when I checked my mailbox and found The Godfather sitting there in that bright red envelope. I know, I must see it and it's in every guy's top 5 list, but I just wasn't in the mood. It's long, I have a feeling it's not incredibly laughter inducing, and it felt more like a homework assignment than a relaxing night in at that moment. 

I yearn for the simpler movie store days. Sighhhhh, I suppose like anything else, in time I'll adjust.