As you may recall, we haven’t paid for cable/satellite in two years. The television antenna we use only brings in our local ABC channel reliably; other than that we stream movies and shows. (Yay Netflix!)
We’re always keeping an eye out for new releases on Netflix; for example, I just jumped for joy this morning when I found out that Jennifer Aniston’s movie “Cake” is available (Action: I put it on my viewing list immediately). New releases rock.
That said, did you know you can be a very successful treasure hunter on Netflix? One of the many things my husband is good at is finding the Obscure. His viewing list (because all four of us have our own, thanks to Netflix’s allowance of individual users on an account!) includes all kinds of things I have never heard of. This is a guy who reads Wikipedia for fun (and read Encyclopedia Britannica for fun as a kid, of course!): he randomly chooses an article and then follows the links within down the rabbit hole until he’s not reading about anything remotely close to where he began.
I’m pretty sure that’s how his viewing list on Netflix ended up with so much randomness; he follows the “recommended title” links and reads all of them.
The other night, we were trying to decide what to watch and he queued up “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon”. I had never heard of this (even though it was released only last year!), but was up for it when he told me it was a documentary produced by Mike Myers of “Saturday Night Live” and “Austin Powers” fame about his friend, the legendary manager of Alice Cooper. (Fun fact: they met on the set of “Wayne’s World”.)
This documentary was FASCINATING. And FUNNY. I absolutely loved it and will likely watch it again soon because there was so much in it, I’m certain I missed some things.
Here are just a few totally random facts about Shep Gordon:
1. He has a close friendship with the Dalai Lama and is a “JewBu”, a Jew who also practices Buddhism.
2. Another famous client of Shep’s was Canadian folk singer Anne Murray, who he once strategically placed in a picture with John Lennon, Alice Cooper, Micky Dolenz (the Monkees), and Harry Nilsson in order to give her career a boost (it worked).
3. He dated Sharon Stone.
4. He adopted the four grandchildren of a former lover when they were orphaned.
5. He is one of the main people responsible for “celebrity chefs” in the post-Julia Child era, as well as the Food Network’s growth in popularity.
Just based on that short list, don’t you want to watch this movie?? (Say yes. You won’t regret it!)
My husband inspired me to find some obscure titles for my own list. Treasures I found that I’ll watch in the near future include: “Inside LEGO” (yes, the building bricks that we’ve all stepped on), “American Masters: Johnny Carson: King of Late Night”, and “Eminem AKA”. Oh, and “Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon” because now that it’s on my own list, it’s only a click away!
Have you found any treasures on Netflix? Tell me in comments so I can add them to my list!
