RadishFlix 2022: Time and Place

Today we dive into time and place, and it’s kind of surprising. I think of myself as thoughtfully sophisticated–I am conversant with Fassbinder!!!–but the hard data indicates I’m just a lazy slob.

First up, films by decade. I guess it tracks with my finding of “99% talkies”, but I don’t like those tall bars on the right at all.

Next, country of origin. I only track the first country listed on IMDB to avoid confusing myself, so the Soviet Union doesn’t show up. There were some nice surprises in the English-language films, but the list is still overwhelmingly American. Not sorry. I’ve already explained myself.

I have also spent some time on source. For 2023, I want to break down “Cable” into the individual stations (I have theories to test), but for 2022 this data was unavailable. All the weird abbreviations you may not understand are German (or Austrian, or French-German) tax-funded TV channels.

Also do note that–for the second year in a row!–we saw a new release in a theater, surrounded by other people.

The Netflix wedge was bigger than I expected. I don’t feel I’m getting $16/mo out of it when we watch so much stuff on the government channels we’re forced to pay $19/mo for (here combined as ÖRR), but for movies they come out relatively even. I still want to dump it and try out any other service for half the money, but Mr Radish keeps finding episodic shows he wants to see.

I am also chagrinned that I used no physical media in 2022. The three Christmas DVDs I brought home from the library? Days, I had to share the TV with Mr R’s new video game; nights he didn’t want to watch Christmas movies. Maybe this year? Maybe July.

But mostly because the lack of physical media indicates the lack of intention. Sometimes a movie I have been wanting to see for awhile pops up (I waited months for Costner’s Robin Hood), but generally I’m just flipping through what’s available. I don’t like this about myself.

The saddest part is “television” indicates I was sitting with my ass on the couch, because we only have the one unit. “Streaming” is often conducted in the kitchen, sewing room, or balcony on a mobile device.

This year, I’d like to do a deeper dive into genres/directors/stars/themes, but that’s going to take some time to develop.