For years I didn’t watch many films but recently the habit has returned.
Blood and Gold I am used to watching English or French films about the First and Second World War but recently I watched Blood and Gold, in German, with English subtitles. It’s interesting to watch a German film rather than a European one, for a different perspective of the war.
The film is set right at the end of the War, days before the Allies liberate Germany.
For a few days I have been watching a few documentary series on Netflix. Big Timber is one of them. Usually I like nature that is untouched. I like to see trees that are standing tall and proud, not on their sides, ready to be chopped up into wood for housing.
It is because I like to see living trees that I started watching the series, and then gave up.
Now that I know that I can treat Netflix as an international film festival I do. Last night I watched the first episode of Crash Landing on You. A South Korean film about a woman CEO who goes for a parapente flight, gets caught in a storm, and dropped in North Korea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXMjTXL2Vks
The premise of this television show is interesting because it’s based on a true incident with a South Korean celebrity, but also because this is something we think about much less, especially in Europe, since most borders ceased to be watched.
Recently Netflix added a Browse by Language option which means that you can browse for content by original language. Yesterday I saw that I can browse for content in French, Italian, Polish,, Korean, German and many more languages. I could list more but that’s dull. Instead I want to focus on the opportunities it opens up. With YouTube, Apple Films and other platforms you can search for films but they are either in French, German or Italian in Switzerland and it’s hard to find content that is in its original language.
The Issue For a while Facebook was the network to keep in contact with university friends after we all graduated and then it was the network to keep in contact with colleagues. Eventually it became the network where people shared news without engaging with others. It has become a network where you scroll through dozens of irrelevant posts in the hope of finding something personal, and failing.
Instagram used to be the network where we could share images with friends and see what they were sharing.
Recently Netflix Switzerland made Mythbusters available on their service. As I watched episode after episode I noticed the camaraderie between those who participate in the show. We see that Adam and Jamie occasionally argue but that overall they are having a lot of fun. We see them laugh, joke, tease each other, and collaborate.
Their show is a science show where fun myths are challenged. They have two goals with each myth, establish whether it is confirmed, plausible, or busted.
The selection of Netflix Switzerland just became a little more interesting. They have added eight seasons of House for us to enjoy. If they could add a few more series this would be most welcome.
Dear deceptive content distributors, When I have wanted to watch a number of documentaries the subtitles have been in German on english commentary documentaries. As a paying customer I expect English language versions to have English titles, English subtitles and English location information. If you do nothing to resolve this problem I will stop paying monthly for your content as you are not delivering what I am paying for. Do not cut corners.