The 29 Most Rewatchable Films in My Collection: Part 29

Netflix Vacation

I'm one of the few people in the world who has almost no experience with Netflix. Since I have a collection of over 1500 films on blu-ray alone, i don't usually feel the need to spend a monthly fee to have access to more films. It's hard enough to find time to watch the ones i own. I'm also not a huge fan of streaming. I like to own a physical copy of something. Some of the physical copies of films in my collection are gorgeous works if art, even before you put the disc in the player. I also don't want my film collection to change based on the whims of a company and it's licensing rights. Not to mention if i was going to go down the streaming road, I'd be a Hulu guy, since they have over 800 films streaming from The Criterion Collection.

So I'm not a Netflix guy.

But I'm on vacation, and our Air B&B on the lake here in Ithaca doesn't have cable, but *does* have usable Netflix. I'm still not a fan, especially of it's choices or search functionality. Actually maybe it's choices are excellent, but i just can't tell because i can't find any of the good stuff. We did find a few things to watch however.

First up was the documentary The Search For General Tso. We spend most of our vacations seeking out good food, so it makes sense that when it came time to watch a documentary, it was one about food. The Search For General Tso is just what it sounds like, a quest to find out the roots of America's most popular Chinese Restaurant menu item. A fun journey if you like food and ever wondered if General Tso was a real person, and if so, how much did he like chicken.

Next up was Hector and The Search For Happiness, the film adaptation of the book above. It's a generally feel good movie about a psychiatrist's journey to try and find out what makes people (and himself) happy. I enjoyed it, and was glad that it was a R-rated film. It would have felt a little too hokey and feel good for my tastes without the slight edge the rating provided. It also stars Simon Pegg, who's a bit of a guilty pleasure actor for me.

I still won't be getting Netflix anytime soon, even if it *is* currently offering Hirokazu Koreeda's Nobody Knows to stream.

One Last TIFF 40

I finished off my last day at TIFF on Thursday with a double feature. I originally had a ticket for a film today (Naomi Kawase's An), but since we leave for vacation today i traded in that ticket for another film on Thursday. The main draw for Thursday's trip was an advanced 3D screening of Ridley Scott's The Martian. The film plays out like something of a mash up of Interstellar, Gravity, and Cast Away. The elements all fit together well, with a surprising amount of humor blended in. It's nice to see that Science Fiction seems to be making a bit of a come back lately after so many years of 'science fiction that can't avoid also being horror' that seemed to have been so popular lately. An entertaining film that's worth catching in the theatre if you get a chance, with decently executed 3D.

The 2nd film of the double feature ended up being Sergei Loznitsa's documentary, The Event. The Event was created using found footage that had been filmed during a failed Coup d'etat in The Soviet Union in 1991. All the footage comes from 4 days of filming in Leningrad, and is presented without any real commentary. Thankfully, like so many TIFF screenings, the director was present for an introduction, as well as some Q&A after the film. Of the 5 films i saw at TIFF, The Martian was the only one where the director was not present and available for questions. It's a great way to explore films, but it does make going to regular theatres feel a little less robust afterwards.