Curating Netflix

There is just too much on television (a word that seems outdated now). I can't keep up. I would rather watch a movie than a TV show, but my wife prefers 30 and 60 minute doses of content.

With Amazon and Netflix and others providing even more content, I feel like I need some content curation help. Yes, I do make lists of things I want to watch. I joke about the fact that my Netflix queue has about 400 films. there is no way I can die yet. Too much to watch.

I read that Netflix actually has fewer movies than a few years ago, but if so I haven't noticed a lack. You may know that these services not only add but remove content every month. One way I filter is looking at Thrillist's lists of their takes on the best shows and movies and the best documentaries and the newest content each month. 

But if you're on the Netflix site itself, you might not know how many categories and genres they use. Of course, there is Comedy, Action, Kids and such but there are actually thousands of sub-genres.

You can find digital Venn diagrams of overlapping categories to get things like Campy Crime Comedies or Suspenseful Movies starring Michael Caine.

I found the website whatsonnetflix.com that lists Netflix code numbers. If you add the numerical code to the end of Netflix's URL, you'll see all the shows and movies currently available in that category. It seems that these codes also change regularly, because some of them work and some don't. I'm looking now at the DVD section of Netflix (which is sure to disappear soon) where I can find Quirky-Comedies-Movies-TV and Independent Satires, and my beloved Film Noir.

Netflix and other providers have gotten a lot better at providing their own sophisticated search. For example, the screenshot below shows a dropdown menu of Classic subgenres.