Top Five Movies of Amanda Peet

Do you ever wonder how the taste algorithms work on movie sites? When I turn on Netflix to watch something in my queue, before I select my movie I?ll often scroll through the various categories like ?Top 10 for Jason? or ?Because you watched ?The Endless Summer?? and I rarely see something that piques my interest. I just looked at IMDB?s recommendations for the movies of Amanda Peet and on a few of them, I couldn?t figure out how they?re related, but I think I?ve begun to find the main reasons for the selections.

1) A list of the catalog of the streaming service.

This is really true for Amazon Instant Video. If I look in the recommendations for Drama, Comedy and Sci-Fi, sometimes I?ll find the same movie or TV show in all three places.

2) Same creative people.

So, you watched ?National Lampoon?s Vacation,? well have you tried ?Memoirs of an Invisible Man?? They both have Chevy Chase and you seem to love him because you watched one of his movies. Admittedly, sometimes this works because if you like ?Star Wars? you?ll probably like ?Empire Strikes Back? and if you like Woody Allen?s ?Bullets Over Broadway,? you?ll probably like ?The Purple Rose of Cairo.? However, my problem is why not just say, ?Movies with Chevy Chase? or ?Movies with Harrison Ford? or ?Movies directed by Woody Allen? instead of trying to make a broader more tenuous connection and throw in things like ?The Ice Pirates? or ?Super 8.?

3) Same location.

You like movies set where?s it?s cold? Here?s a few more then. I can?t wait to see ?Feeling Minnesota? and ?Grumpy Old Men? as recommendations after watching ?Fargo? to prove this hypothesis to myself.

4) Genres

I?m sorry, but if ?Cabin in the Woods? has anything in common with ?Rec 2,? I?ll eat my bloody hatchet.

In other words, stop recommending me to watch crap. Now, on to Amanda?s movies which all have the wonderful link of Amanda. Whether or not that?s a meaningful link for you will have to be seen, I just know it is meaningful for me.

5. Melinda and Melinda

Yes, I thought of Woody Allen as an example above because I knew ?Melinda and Melinda? would be on my list below. Because I like Woody Allen films and I like Amanda, I will recommend this one to myself.

4. Identity

Will I say that ?Identity? is as good of a movie as ?Girl, Interrupted?? No, but James Mangold directed both and they are both worth watching. Plus, John Hawkes, John Cusack, Alfred Molina and John C. McGinley as well as some other fine actors join Amanda in this one. Recommended under all actor and the director categories.

3. Igby Goes Down

I wonder if recommendations ever extend to relatives? You like ?Igby Goes Down? with Kieran Culkin have you considered ?Richie Rich? with his brother Macaulay? You liked ?Wizard of Oz? with Judy Garland, have you tried ?Sex and the City 2? with her daughter Liza Minnelli?

2. Please Give

If I like ?Please Give? because of my interest in HYPERLINK “http://www.tsbmag.com/2012/10/23/top-five-movies-of-catherine-keener/” Catherine Keener and HYPERLINK “http://www.tsbmag.com/2011/05/31/top-five-movies-of-rebecca-hall/” Rebecca Hall, then I surely like it for Amanda as well.

1. Whole Nine Yards

Do I like seeing boobs? Yes, yes I do. Then, my recommendation to myself would be to check out the internet.

Agree? Disagree? Which movies would make your Amanda Peet top five?