February 29, 2012
One again it is time to take a look at Netflix, whose squirrel-based algorithms always manage to come up with suggestions for movies which I might not want to see but will probably get a laugh out of their reasoning.
For example, this was the very first thing they suggested today:
If you have never seen Downfall, trust me, you have seen Downfall. Go to YouTube and search for “Hitler” and you will get a million videos just like this one below:
But getting back to Netflix, why would they think I’d watch a film about Hitler because I enjoyed Curb your Enthusiasm? What is the connection? I think it is obvious. Hitler. Larry David. The Jews. Thanks a lot Netflix, you anti-Semitic bastards.
What the what now? Does this make any sense to you? Maybe Netflix can provide some clarification.
Clearly Netflix is just recommending things at random. Want more proof?
A Shot in the Dark is a hysterical Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau film. The others are not comedies. A Shot in the Dark takes place in France.Casablanca has a flashback set in France. Chinatown features a detective. Peter Sellers plays a detective in A Shot in the Dark. The Birds is a Hitchcock film about birds attacking humans. A Shot in the Dark may feature some pigeons in an outdoor shot. Is this the best you can do, Netflix?
Duck Soup is a classic Marx Brothers comedy. The other films are not comedies, not even close. So what is the only possible reason for this recommendation?
Seriously, I want you to tell me, what is the only possible reason for this recommendation? ‘Cause I have no idea.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
I think Netflix borrowed the algorithms the banks were using to decide who should get a mortgage a few years ago.
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HA!
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There are some things that Humans just weren’t meant to comprehend –
Where elephants go to die,
If a tree makes a sound when it falls, & no one is there to hear it,
The sound of 1 hand clapping,
Why the sky is blue,
& what process Netflix uses to make recommendations.
When I go on Youtube, f’rinstance, & I click the ” like ” button on a video, I can at least get recommendations that have logical connections 80 – 95 % of the time.
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Recently Netflix recommended City of Life and Death to me, a film about the Nanking Massacre, one of the most horrifying events of World War II. It based this recommendation on the fact that I liked Party Down, a sitcom about wannabe actors working for a catering company.
Remember the Netflix Prize, their one million dollar contest to find an improved algorithm? Money well spent, guys.
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Hmmmm….. Substitute ” an improved algorithm ” with ” guy in a small side office tossing darts at notes on a cork – board ” & I somehow think that’s closer to the mark…..
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