Here’s what I’d like them to fix:

• Shared queues. This is a great feature that was spared the chopping block in the past year. It’s the thing that ensures that Helen and I share our account and that everyone gets their picks. Historically, Helen’s gotten two discs and I got one; she’d burn through seasons of TV while I slogged through art house flicks. It’s pretty great, right? It’d be even better if Netflix could tell us which titles were on streaming for both queues, instead of just selecting my queue and leaving it at that.
• New releases. I get it. This is an embarrassment that Netflix wants you to forget by bringing you more streaming content. I’m not convinced. Even if we can’t have new releases for 28 days plus however long it takes to get them to us, could we at least see what new stuff is out there, even if it’s just to pointlessly update our queue. Is that so much to ask?
• Social features. These were horrible when they had them, but they might’ve improved them rather than wiping them out outright. I know social features aren’t easy to do. It’s hard to know what people want. But I can’t think of any other online movie service that people love more than Netflix. I’m guessing the community could’ve made helpful suggestions. It wouldn’t have had to involve much work probably. At this point they could probably get away with some degree of Facebook integration and let that platform do the heavy lifting.

Now, I’m thrilled that they’re leveraging their streaming content to the max. Putting that stuff on any screen is great. I’ve heard plenty of people say there’s nothing good in the streaming library, but that’s just because they’re not really into the art house content. I love it! I can’t wait until I can watch an episode of 30 Rock on my iPhone as I ride the train. I just think that these tweaks will go a long way to improving the service for the long haul.

So, go ahead and surprise me, Netflix!

Very happy to finally see Inception, my first movie in the theater since Charlie was born. Far cry from the last movie I saw in the theater, which was Adventureland, if memory serves.

Great, big movie. It’s the sort of stuff that makes you want to shake anyone who tells you art should conform to the new financial realities brought to us by piracy. I love small movies, but if everything were shot on handhelds I think film art would just die altogether. What would be left to do? If the world were only filled with amateur Cassavetes, we’d be a pretty dour bunch, wouldn’t we? I mean, is there even a point to getting into the thought puzzle at the core (?) of the film? I feel like I’m still absorbing the movie.

Did anyone see The Prestige, Nolan’s stopover flick between Batman Returns and The Dark Knight? Guess not, because if they had I think more people would think of him as the M. Knight Shymalan you don’t laugh at…yet.

Speaking of Shymalan, the crowd burst into laughter once his name was mentioned in the trailer for Devil. Dude’s not hitting his way out of this slump, unless he intended to be the new Ed Wood.

Conversely, how stupid do I feel for having ever bought Equinox, which I watched exactly one time? I think I’d hasten to add a follow-up to Pullquote’s post: how many DVDs do you own that sit on a shelf or in a drawer that are untouched? I confess to more than my fair share of these.

I feel sheepish even taking part in conversations like this now. I used to eagerly await regular emails from Criterion about their latest titles and then make notes in priority order about which I’d buy when they went on sale. Now that I’m less bullish on buying any sort of physical media, they’re hardly a blip on my radar. I will admit that I nearly jumped for joy when I read that they were releasing Red Desert, which is possibly my favorite Antonioni movie, even though I always say it’s L’Avventura.

Wondered if it was possible for anyone to actually make a film that captures the soul-crushing hopelessness of war without delivering a hamfisted message that turns people off. The Hurt Locker did that for me. Granted, it hasn’t changed the fact that we’re still heavily engaged in both Iraq and Afghanistan, despite electing a President who promised to change all that.

Work harder, Obama.

Watched An Education recently. Wondered what Band of Outsiders would’ve been like with a happy ending.

My friend Eric tweeted late last night,” ‘Up in the Air’: politely misguided liberal fantasy, or egregiously clueless and downright offensive in parts Piece Of Shit?”

It made me think of the clip above. I watched Up in the Air earlier this week and wondered what the fuss was about. It tries to do a lot, but I’m not sure it accomplishes very much. It’s boilerplate romance-gone-wrong fare, freighted with a message about how our priorities are wrong and somehow the horrible economy will help us figure out what’s important. Sorry, Mr. Reitman, but the notion of making lemonade doesn’t work when you can’t afford the lemons in the first place.

For people who’ve never been laid off, it seems like the stuff dreams are made of. You’re freed from a job you probably hated anyway; you get some severance, or at least unemployment; and you can reevaluate things and move on. Which is the logic that informs this amazingly hilarious Onion article I read way back in October 2003, when I was about six months into what would be a 2+ year underemployment bid.

I felt that the testimonials that came at the end of the movie from folks who’d lost their jobs in the recent downturn echoed the hope the Obama campaign gave them. Their optimism and their reliance on family to support them in their time of need were both very poignant, but Reitman conveniently leaves out all the stories from the past few years about folks who’ve lost their jobs and have then gone on to violent attacks on their workplaces and communities.

Is Reitman the new W.D. Howells, that is, someone who puts a smiley face on realism? There’s but one “dead end” in the movie, the woman who follows through on her threat to commit suicide. Everyone else just goes on their merry way, for better or worse. Whether it’s finding a new job, or having an affair, or just running away from it all thanks to a nearly infinite supply of frequent flier miles, everyone can find an escape from the humdrum, if not outright happiness.

I think it’s that that people dislike about Reitman’s movies. The simple-mindedness. The breezy dialogue. The beautiful people. The whole ‘resiliency of the human spirit’ trope, which sometimes just seems a little more realistic than the way it’s presented here. Reitman’s youthful, privileged worldview makes it difficult to see things differently than he does, that is, through a lens of infinite possibility. The problem is that Reitman’s skies, like those in Up in the Air, are sunny and cloudless.

I’m sorry, but a Sam Peckinpah film with a happy ending is hardly a Sam Peckinpah film.

I know I’m late to the party, but what a fun documentary! I wish I could catch their show at the TLA next weekend.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil reminded me a bit of American Splendor, except Harvey Pekar’s tendency to accentuate the negative aspects of publicity are 180 degrees out of phase with Lips’ outlook. Who knows how far they’ll take it, but it’s great to see that they’re capitalizing on the film’s success and getting out on the road. It should be a great show!

Kent MacKenzie’s film The Exiles is like watching Germany Year Zero set in L.A. The film tells the story of a handful of Native Americans who’ve moved to Los Angeles. Like Charles Burnett’s Killer of Sheep, also released by Milestone Films, it shows another Los Angeles, stripped of the glitz and glamor.

Think Cassavetes’ Shadows starring a cast of Native Americans who are struggling to find a way to fit into a society that’s locked them out. This isn’t a bunch of beatniks who feel themselves apart from the mainstream; this is a film about people who live parallel lives.

It’s amazing to see movies from this period shot in a neorealist style. Not only do you get a great sense of the characters in context, you get to see the city as it is. The streetscapes are as gritty as anything in a Hollywood noir. It’s an amazing glimpse into a world almost completely ignored in film. Definitely worth checking out.

Want a surefire way to bum yourself out on New Year’s Eve? Watch Food Inc.

I’ve scaled back the number of mind-numbingly depressing documentaries I’ve watched in the past few years. Too many of them tread the same territory, preach to the choir, and fall far short of informing the broader public of the issues at hand. Food Inc. isn’t one of them.

This is a great documentary for anyone who wants to get a basic understanding of what’s happening in American food policy. Let me put it this way: if Upton Sinclair wouldn’t have words to describe the state of the food industry. It’s that bad. I definitely recommend this flick. It’ll make you think twice about how and what you eat.