Films on Netflix in NZ (as of Jan 2019)

Netflix at least in NZ has all but abandoned the whole history of cinema. The only pre-1970 films currently streamable (apart from a few WW2 propaganda two-reelers connected with its Five Came Back doc. series) are Welles's The Stranger and the (arguably superceded) theatrical version of Touch of Evil. As recently as 6 months ago Netflix NZ still streamed a few pre-1970 ultra-classics (e.g., Psycho, 12 Angry Men, It's A Wonderful Life, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) as well as a few essential period charmers (e.g., Breakfast at Tiffany's, Barefoot in the Park, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). Now the whole history of film is reduced to a couple of half-assed footnotes to Netflix's own Welles/Other Side of the Wind project. Woebetide, then, any young NZ-er who's inclined to reason that if a film isn't on Netflix then it probably isn't important.

The situation does't get much better if we include 1970-and-after films. Consider my (quite standard, not at all eccentric) list of the roughly 600 best and most important films from 1920-2017. Only 32 films from my list are currently streamable from Netflix in NZ:

• Touch of Evil (wrong version)
• Dirty Harry
• American Graffiti
• Jaws
• Barry Lyndon
• Close Encounters
• All That Jazz
• Apocalypse Now (wrong version)
• Life of Brian
• The Shining
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• E.T.
• The King of Comedy
• Back To The Future
• Goodfellas
• Trainspotting
• Cast Away
• Mulholland Dr.
• Master and Commander: Far Side of the World
• Children of Men
• Zodiac
• Synecdoche NY
• The Dark Knight
• Inglourious Basterds
• Fantastic Mr Fox
• How To Train Your Dragon
• Life of Pi
• The Lobster
• The Handmaiden
• Nocturama
• Good Time
• Mudbound

Thus only about 5% of my (quite standard, not at all eccentric) list of the most important films ever made are currently available on Netflix in NZ. And, with the best will in the world, much of that 5% is almost comically macho and stereotypically boy-centric.

Or look at things the other way around: according to this website Netflix NZ currently has 3490 films in its library; so more than 99% of that library is, by my very conventional lights, something other than best in class. Thus, not only is it absolutely wrong to conclude that if a film isn't on Netflix NZ then it probably isn't important, it is almost certainly right to conclude that if a film is on Netflix NZ then, very probably, it's not that good or important.