I donât use Netflix, butâŚ
Why are these codes secret?
And, if they are secret, how are they known?
It looks like in this case âsecretâ == ânot openly publishedâ but these are the same categories the mobile versions of NF uses. Quite possible someone was watching the wire when using a mobile version (Google/Apple) and saw these URLâs being requested. Once you knew one, a quick enumeration script could find the rest.
If that is indeed how they were found, it would violate strict interpretation of the CFAA - even tho it bloody well shouldnât.
Itâs interesting how many of the categories have no movies in them. If you look at a category where Netflix doesnât have a lot of films, e.g British horror movies, all the sub-categories are empty. It really shows how Netflix is sorely lacking in many areas. Although itâs not entirely their fault - a lot of older movies that came out on VHS never made it to any sort of disk media, much less streaming.
Netflix is almost completely worthless for streaming films. Presumably the film distributors prefer to have their films unavailable and getting nothing instead of making them available and getting whatever Netflix is prepared to pay them. I am really surprised as to how few well known âclassicâ films are available. I canât imagine their rental revenues are so high as to need protection.
I just end up borrowing everything from the library instead and nobody gets any money.
Whatâs the code for âShitty Reality TV Shows from the 90âs Featuring D-List Celebritiesâ?
âTVâ I think.
I was thinking of joining, and a friend said the very same thing. Luckily, my son is a wizard at finding free streaming movies, completely legal, he assures me.
âillegalâ is such an extreme term: not necessarily licensed I much prefer.
Netflix? Meh. But since itâs included in my TV package this list is printed and will rest under the remote in the hopes that it will save me time searching through that clunky interface.
You should also realize that using these shortcuts will help Netflix categorize and then monetize your demography and idiosyncratic profile.
//Puts tinfoil back on head.
Am I the only one who wants to see these values converted to hex, to reverse-engineer even more cool categories? There must be fields with values that are combined in interesting ways. It canât just be a random map of numbers.
Awright, Iâll screen-scrape the page and see what comes up.
Basically, Netflix is taking the road HBO (It meant âHome Box Officeâ originally, as it originally showed mostly movies) did a decade ago â downplaying the movie angle in favor of their original programming. And some of it is pretty decent. Besides the things that get all the press like âHouse of Cardsâ and âOrange is the New Blackâ, things like âBojack Horsemanâ are quite brillant actually.
I should try watching those, but I really just donât like TV series as a format. Itâs just about okay if itâs an HBO style short season and I manage to stay on top of it. Once I look at something and see thereâs 20+ episodes to watch, I just give up and go find a film or read a book.
I tried to watch Arrested Development a couple of years ago, but faced with 50+ episodes I gave up after 4 or 5.
For streaming, I think so. To be fair, if youâre looking for a movie, theyâll tell you (without fail) that itâs available on disc. I watch FAR more movies on disc on Netflix; my wife and I only maintain the streaming service because we share it with both sets of our parents.
YMMV. I just finished Stephen Chowâs âJourney to the Westâ which I didnât even know existed until this weekend. Embarrassing, given is the top-grossing movie of all time in China (having beaten out Avatar). Also, you know, Stephen Chow!
â50+ episodesâ?!?
Beware of Doctor WhoâŚ
In my regional version of Netflix (donât get me started) there is not a single Bogart film. What they have instead are eleven (!) Adam frickinâ Sandler âmoviesâ.
But their series are really very good. I just started watching Fargo yesterday⌠and finished the whole first season in one sitting. Itâs like a movie that can take all the time in the world to tell its story and let you into the atmosphere, with the added ability to see it in hour-long chunks, if you so desire. Give them another try!
Okay, thatâs legitimately worth knowing about. Adding to my watchlist right now.
They donât have many of them on DVD, either (often because the films have simply never ben released on DVD or Blu-Ray). They have a fair number of deficiencies in their DVD and streaming line-up but for a lot of things, they probably canât get streaming rights. For a lot of classic movies, TCM is the only place they appear, but TCM seems to somehow get rights to things that are totally unavailable otherwise.
So many Stephen Chow movies I have yet to watch on NetflixâŚ
According to Wikipedia, Monster Hunt is currently the highest grossing Chinese release within China. After suffering through The Monkey King, also once the highest grossing Chinese film (and also, coincidentally, based on Journey to the West), I find it hard to give a shit about the Chinese box office. (Or the American for that matter.)
