Netflix Challenge: The Final Breakdown

It's all over. Che is done and I even knocked off a few re-adds and automatically added films -- Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun, the awful Goya's Ghosts and the totally awesome Oceans for good measure. I highly recommend Oceans.

I started the Netflix Instant Queue Elimination Challenge back on Aug. 10, 2010, as a way to clean out all the films I was hoarding on the queue, but not actually watching. I vowed to not add any new titles until the backlog was cleared.

Exactly one year and four days later, on Aug. 14, 2010, I was done.

A lot has happened since then, including one very nasty price increase, and I'm glad it's finally all over. Here's a little breakdown of the experience

Total Films: 54

Average Watch Rate: One movie every 6.8 days

First Film: Wonderful World with Matthew Broderick

Last Film: Che was the official end, but Goya's Ghosts was the last to be watched after it somehow sneaked back onto the queue.

Best Film I Hadn't Seen Before: Based on my Netflix ratings, I guess it's got to be Mary and Max, since it was the only one to get the hard-to-come-by 5-star "Loved It" rating. I don't just hand those out, unlike my wife who gives five stars to entire seasons of Roseanne.

Worst Film: I'll Believe You. This was horrible. The only Netflix Challenge film I couldn't finish, despite it featuring Chris Elliott.

Surprise Film: All of the Ramin Bahrani's U.S. immigrant story movies: Goodbye Solo, Chop Shop and Man Push Cart. I had never heard of this guy before, but I'll be sure not to miss any of his movies in the future. No wonder Ebert called him "Director of the decade."