Knowledge Problem

Netflix Recommendations: Deep or Random?

Michael Giberson

I know that Netflix’s recommendation engine has some serious computation behind it, and it often offers up interesting and useful suggestions. But occasionally it puzzles me, and I wonder if it is incredibly deep in its analysis or simply somewhat random.

Case in point:

Suggested: American Experience: Into the Deep


Because you enjoyed:

It Might Get Loud

Yojimbo

The Last Picture Show

 

So let’s get this straight, because I enjoyed a documentary about rock guitarists from different generations, and a classic Kurwasowa movie about a masterless samurai, and a black-and-white period piece about growing up in a small town in Texas, the artificial genius of Netflix thinks I’d enjoy a riveting documentary on the history of whaling in the United States?

Well, actually, it does sound kind of interesting …

Also, if they have any films about a rock-and-roll samurai sushi chef coming to a small town in Texas, I’d want to see that too.