Netflix Challenge: The Final Countdown

It's been nearly 10 months since I first accepted the Netflix Challenge (Aug. 10, 2010) and I'm proud to say we're down to the final film.

At least I want it to be the final film. I'm not sure what the rule book says about this, but a few films that were initially on the 73-deep queue when the challenge was first issued (Goya's Ghosts, Manhattan Murder Mystery)but then disappeared, have now magically reappeared, while a couple of films that were in the DVD queue (Cold Souls, Tetro) have now popped up in the Instant Queue. Crap.

So, while we wait to convene a bipartisan panel to rule on whether or not the queue is down to one (Steven Soderbergh's four-hour Che) three, or five, here's the breakdown of what we've recently eliminated:

The White Ribbon
Just like director Michael Haneke's previous entry on the Netflix Challenge, Funny Games, The White Ribbon is physically draining to watch. It's also painfully German.



Chop Shop/Man Push Cart
Two great American immigrant stories from Ramin Bahrani.






Broken Embraces
It's hard to go wrong when you get to spend two hours with Penelope Cruz, including a few seconds of bare-chested Penelope Cruz, but this one definitely falls into the Pedro Almodovar-Is-Overrated category. Just not that entertaining.




The Beaches of Agnes
An autobiographical documentary by the really interesting Agnes Varda. I didn't fall asleep once!




A Nos Amours
French awesomeness from the early '80s about a young girl from a dysfunctional family blossoming into womanhood with promiscuous sex. Not sure how the French get away with filming a 16-year-old girl all naked, but they do. It's art.

Here's the trailer in French. It's more fun without the subtitles:




Hounddog
Dakota Fanning in a dark Southern tale featuring Elvis and rape. Why do we put ourselves through this shit?



Just one, three or five to go!

Woody + Owen

Two of my favorites in a movie set in Paris.



If there's one actor that I could stand performing the Woody role in a Woody Allen movie, it would be Owen Wilson.

Doesn't look like it's scheduled to hit Greenville anytime soon.

Raphael Saadiq's Stone Rollin'

While I was a little worried he was just going to retread the Motown sounds of his last awesome album, the new one is so good and a lot more rock 'n' roll than a lot of rock 'n' roll. It's like Saadiq does The Rolling Stones. But again, just like on The Way I See It, Saadiq doesn't just imitate the influences. He uses them as inspiration. And that's why it's awesome. Everybody agrees.



I listened to the album for free all the way to Nashville and back on NPR Music's great album preview feature. Catch it while you can.

Daytrotter has a good live session for free.