
FlickSurfer – a way to find Netflix gems - trashymctrash
http://flicksurfer.com/
======
duncanawoods
My experience of UK netflix is that UI is designed expressly to disguise the
fact that beyond a thin crust of popular films, there is a desperate lack of
content and barely any change week to week.

There is no - "what's new in netflix" \- because it would reveal there is only
one or two new films a month. Instead you get "popular", "trending",
"blockbusters", "highly rated" that let them display the same content in a
slightly different order multiple times.

I just feel their only game to overcome the lack of content is to offer you
the same film enough times with different forms of social pressure until you
finally surrender and watch an Adam Sandler film you have been evading for
years...

~~~
Ntrails
Not only that, but it's always amusing how the top _thrillers_ overlap with
the top _action_ and the top _drama_ films.

I remember when last.fm used to just scrobble (?) my listening habits and
offer music suggestions from people who have listened to similar things. One
of the key advantages of that approach was that it wasn't constrained by
availability of things it wanted to sell me, and the necessity of offering an
answer no matter how valid. I'd be interested in using a similar service for
films, which could THEN interact with netflix/prime etc and suggest things I
might like.

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robert_tweed
Looks good, but I wish the authors of Netflix apps would include a region
selector: there are huge variations in the catalogue depending on where you
are.

As a UK resident, this is currently useless to me. It includes stuff that
isn't available in the UK (e.g. The X-Files) and excludes stuff that isn't
available in the US (e.g., the Shield, the Hobbit, Up). There is overlap, but
most of the best content is region-specific.

~~~
brownbat
It's frustrating how much a VPN improves Netflix.

~~~
chime
And they've started to lock it down:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2r88cu/netflix_c...](http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2r88cu/netflix_cracks_down_on_vpn_and_proxy_pirates/)

~~~
beernutz
No, they really are not.

[http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/03/netflix-clamps-down-on-
vp...](http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/03/netflix-clamps-down-on-vpns)

Netflix tells us that there's been "no change" in the way it handles VPNs, so
you shouldn't have to worry about the company getting tough any time soon.
With that said, these blocking errors started showing up in the past few
weeks, so it's not clear what would have prompted them.

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pmoriarty
There used to be a site called YMDB, I believe, which let you list your top 20
favorite movies, and then would let you see the lists of, and interact with
others who had many of the same movies on their lists.

I was often amazed at how some people who loved many of the same movies I
loved also loved some movies I hated. So it wasn't a perfect means of finding
enjoyable movies, but it did suggest some interesting possiblities.

Anyone know whatever happened to YMDB and whether there's any other sites like
it?

~~~
brownbat
Jinni is a pretty good recommendation engine. It's historically pulled from
your Netflix ratings and listed where you can watch something on or off line,
but that's varied based on APIs. (I think the current status is that they
don't have access to any Netflix ratings data anymore.)

Even so, I like a ratings service that's separate from a content platform. I
worry about the conflicts of interest Netflix faces (they already tend to
underrate movies they only carry in DVD for me).

[http://www.jinni.com/](http://www.jinni.com/)

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a_bonobo
I feel like there's a problem with the data - it shows that, for example,
Mystic River has an RT rating of 37% [1], while the actual page has 87% [2],
and the IMDB link [3] is broken since the correct URL is [4]

[1] [http://imgur.com/M8xYf1G](http://imgur.com/M8xYf1G) [2]
[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mystic_river/](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mystic_river/)
[3]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2427555/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2427555/)
[4]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/)

Edit: After reload I got the correct data. Weird!

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aik
Cool. I still don't know of a good website that does this well (RT comes
close, except some of their filters are broken).

For some constructive feedback, after using it for a few min, my thoughts were
that this would only become useful to me if I had these additional filters:

1\. Filter by how recent a movie is (e.g. I may not be in the mood for a sci-
fi movie from 1950).

2\. Filter by rating (e.g. best RT rating).

3\. Exclude certain genres (e.g. not in the mood for Crime).

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unclebucknasty
I'd just love a service that can tell me where something I want to watch is
available, particularly among the services to which I'm already subscribed
(netflix, prime, directv, hbogo, maxgo, showtimeanytime, etc.).

For instance, I got the urge to watch Funny Farm a couple days ago and
couldn't easily check availability without pulling up each app.

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nacs
I thought the public Netflix API was completely shut down now? Is this using
scraping for its content?

~~~
nattaylor
I found a comment [1] from the author on a reddit thread [2]. So yes, it seems
like the data is already stale and getting staler :(

    
    
      [–]WedgeTalon 7 points 5 months ago 
      Interesting, but won't this be a pretty short-lived site since the Netflix API will be shut down November 14? Or are you doing this without using their API?
        [–]n1te1337[S] 2 points 5 months ago* 
        It should work pass that date as the site doesn't rely on the API. I can't promise it though as at the end of the day they own the content no matter how you get it.
    

1 -
[http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/2ckxhm/netflix_catal...](http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/2ckxhm/netflix_catalogue_organized_by_genre_searchable/cjh2mpf)
2 -
[http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/2ckxhm/netflix_catal...](http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/2ckxhm/netflix_catalogue_organized_by_genre_searchable/)

~~~
n1te1337
Hi, I can confirm that the data is updated daily

~~~
ams6110
I entered John Wayne in the search box and it found nothing. But I know there
are at least one or two of his movies on NetFlix.

~~~
n1te1337
Yeah that's weird. When you search for "true grit" it finds the movie and John
Wayne is correctly listed and one of the cast members. I'll sort it out when I
get home, it's probably just a case of adjusting the querying algorithm.
Thanks for letting me know.

~~~
timdierks
I searched for [Steve Martin] and my sole result is "iSteve", which, as far as
I can tell, doesn't have the token "Martin" in it at all. This is despite five
Steve Martin films currently streaming on Netflix US.

~~~
n1te1337
It should be fixed, thanks!

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tach4n
Looks cool, but it's not clear to me how it's better than just browsing
Netflix. I clicked on "comedies" and Black Mirror came up, which is not quite
what I had in mind...along with Postcards from Buster, which is a children's
show.

------
o_____________o
Everybody but Netflix has a good Netflix browser

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brentvatne
Nice work! I did something like this recently in Ionic framework, released it
open source and deployed it to the Google Play Store:
[https://github.com/brentvatne/flix](https://github.com/brentvatne/flix) \-
essentially it allows you to flick through movies as you would people on
Tinder, and shows the IMDB rating and a description along with each one. It
also allows you to filter by IMDB rating and genre etc.

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cpeterso
My frustration with Netflix's current recommendation system is that it
includes films that it _knows_ I've already seen or rated.

~~~
jaredsohn
If you are in a browser, you can fade them out or hide them via browser
extensions.

I am building Flix Plus by Lifehacker ([http://lifehacker.com/flix-plus-
customizes-netflix-to-your-h...](http://lifehacker.com/flix-plus-customizes-
netflix-to-your-hearts-desire-1640968001)) right now which does this within
Chrome.

~~~
cpeterso
Thanks. Flix Plus looks good, though I use Firefox, not Chrome.

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verelo
Shame, looks useful but i think this is US Netflix and you cannot filter by
country (I'm in Canada)

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imaginenore
You really need to filter out the IMDB entries with under 1000 reviews, or you
end up with garbage like this among the true masterpieces:

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3524124/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3524124/)

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mrmondo
Love it, Well done. One thing: You can't (officially) get Netflix in Australia
- I'm wondering how easy it would be to extend this to all films and then
maybe make it call Couchpotato to add them to your Usenet search list?

~~~
joshschreuder
Couchpotato has a bookmarklet that can run on RT / IMDB pages to add movies
easily, it's in the settings pages somewhere.

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nimz
Been looking for something exactly like this. Great job, and thanks for
sharing. A small request: expose the number of votes, especially on IMDB.
Without knowing this, the rating doesn't have as much value. Thanks!

~~~
n1te1337
Hi, when you click on the movie poster you'll get more detailed information in
a modal.

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scottmcdot
Awesome! Does clicking on "RT" mean 'sort by RT rating'?

~~~
trashymctrash
I am not the owner, but I think this sorts by the "Rotten Tomatoes" score

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mandeepj
I am looking for recommendations something like if I like Social Network movie
then what are other similar movies that I can watch?

Not sure if there is a site that does this already

~~~
dsl
Netflix itself will do that if you rate movies.

A third party site would have an incredibly difficult time providing better
recommendations than Netflix itself. They offered extremely large cash prizes
to anyone who could come up with better results, and the winners were only
able to eek out ~10% improvements (which Netflix then adopted).
[http://www.netflixprize.com/leaderboard](http://www.netflixprize.com/leaderboard)

~~~
jaredsohn
You don't need to rate movies or even have a Netflix account to get this data.
For this particular example, go here (found by googling 'the social network
netflix'):

[http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Social-
Network/70132721](http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Social-Network/70132721)

You'll see they suggest {Beyond the Sea, Into the Wild, The Blind Side, Good
Will Hunting, and Prefontaine}.

~~~
mandeepj
This is the problem I am facing. Their recommendations are not even remotely
related with Social Network movie and that is just one example. If they
recommended Steve jobs movie or Black hat or Sword fish then it is
understandable.

Thanks for your comment though.

~~~
derefr
Presumably they're not related by _movie subject_ ; they're related by _viewer
preference_. That is, Netflix is effectively saying that _stereotypical person
who watches and enjoys_ [movie A] will also tend to watch-and-enjoy movies X,
Y, and Z.

This is the same algorithm broadcast networks enact when they try to figure
out what shows to pick up: "who does our audience consist of? What would they
watch if it were offered? Air things like that." This is why, for example, the
History channel shows Ancient Aliens documentaries—they have nothing to do
with History; they have everything to do with the particular people who tend
to watch the History channel.

You can usually figure out pretty explicitly what cluster you're being assumed
to be in, and what it's like, by watching the advertising attached to a TV
show or movie. Why do they play SUV ads at Disney/Pixar movies? Because the
people in the theatre _with money to spend_ tend to be parents-of-five-year-
olds, who often are considering purchasing a new car. Thus, if you told
Netflix you had watched a Disney/Pixar movie, it would probably recommend you
other media that people in your cluster—people who might buy an SUV soon, to
put it one way—would watch.

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EToS
API seems pretty responsive.. what is the technology stack?

~~~
nattaylor
I was curious about this too; I didn't see anything from the author on the
reddit thread. The client is in AgularJS and uses bootstrap. The headers don't
tell us much, but suggest PHP behind nginx... maybe Laravel?

    
    
      Connection:keep-alive
      Content-Type:application/hal+json
      Date:Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:44:29 GMT
      Server:nginx/1.4.6 (Ubuntu)
      Transfer-Encoding:chunked
      X-Powered-By:PHP/5.5.9-1ubuntu4.2

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product50
Check out [http://flixfindr.com](http://flixfindr.com) as well.

It supports Amazon Prime and Hulu as well with a better UI.

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somberi
I like the UI a lot. Content-wise, it lists "Enough" and "Murder by Numbers"
as gems. Hmm.

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ajford
I wish there was a to filter by things like the number of episodes or seasons.

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axit
Looks good, Is there something like this for Amazon Prime Video?

