So, I started playing around with this site yesterday. Its run by the Computer Science department at the University of Minnesota, where they study algorithms, collaborative filtering, and all kinds of other high-tech mumbo jumbo. Basically, you get a log in, then it gives you a list movies to either rate or tell it you haven't seen -- it keeps giving them to you until you have rated fifteen of them. After that it starts recommending movies that you might like, based on your ratings. You then continue to rate movies, and the more you rate (theoretically) the better its recommendations will be. I still don't know how useful it really is, but it is interesting. Plus its kind of fun to go through and rate movies.
One nice thing about it is that the more people that participate, the more accurate and useful their research will be. I like that it isn't a commercial thing. Its also entertaining to check out the "most rated movies" link, once you get into the program.
These are the movies it gave me to rate at the very beginning before it made any other recommendations. If you try this out, let me know if it gave you the same movies, or different ones. I wonder if these movies are like the litmus test of all movie recommendations, or if it just picked the films at random...
City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
Die Hard 2 (1990)
French Kiss (1995)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
North by Northwest (1959)
Postino, Il (The Postman) (1994)
Ransom (1996)
Rob Roy (1995)
Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Scream (1996)
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Election (1999)
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
Nell (1994)
Rear Window (1954)
Sling Blade (1996)
Specialist, The (1994)
Superman (1978)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Chicken Run (2000)
Chinatown (1974)
Crying Game, The (1992)
Desperado (1995)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
MASH (M*A*S*H) (1970)
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)
Nine Months (1995)
Romancing the Stone (1984)
5 comments:
I checked the site out and it gave me the same movies to rate. I think that those movies just happen to be the first page of their list. I love that City Slickers II is the first movie that you must rate.
And who wouldn't love Curley and his crazy, legendary gold. They probably just put that one in to make sure you actually know what movies are. If you answer "not seen" they kick you off and your computer punches you in the nose.
Hey, I've never seen City Slickers II! I was too angry that they would compromise the artistic integrity of the filmic masterpiece that is the original (for there shall be no others like it in all of cinema history).
Wow, I just logged on to it, and my first movie is Apocalypse Now. They're onto me! They know I haven't seen Curley's Gold! What do I do?
i checked the site and got a list of completely different movies... no city slickers II at all! and btw, the computer didn't punch me in the nose when i put in "not seen." you can't fool me, kristy!
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