Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Gaming Netflix Ratings?

Posted by kdawson on from the stadium-seated-astroturf dept.

Nom du Keyboard writes "Not for the first time, I've noticed a new film that hasn't yet even reached the theaters, yet has hundreds of positive votes and/or reviews recorded on Netflix. This time the movie is Inkheart. For a movie that doesn't even hit the theaters until January 23, it already has 428 votes and a rating of 4.3 (out of 5) on Netflix. Seems more than a bit fraudulent to me. Also, it has a review that doesn't even review the movie, but instead says the books are great, therefore the movie should be too. Does the word 'shills' come to mind? With millions spent to promote a movie, are a few hundred of that going to phony voters? Or have that many people actually seen the film and just can't wait to rush home and log onto Netflix to vote? Just what is Netflix's responsibility here to provide honest ratings?"

7 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. Not released? by Seriph · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe not released yet in the US, but there is a world beyond the US borders and the film has been released places there. It's actually quite a good film based on an interesting idea.

    1. Re:Not released? by aitikin · · Score: 5, Informative

      Seriph brings up a perfect point. IMDB seems to back that information up fairly well.

      --
      "Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
    2. Re:Not released? by retyurecvb · · Score: 5, Informative

      Doesn't Netflix only service the U.S. though?

    3. Re:Not released? by Monsieur_F · · Score: 5, Informative

      From imdb
      Release dates for Inkheart (2008)
      Country : Date
      Germany : 11 December 2008
      UK : 12 December 2008
      Brazil : 25 December 2008
      Iceland : 26 December 2008

      --
      McCartney fans pay bus tickets. [...] Lennon fans too, with discretion.
  2. already out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    kdawson is a drama queen.

    Release:
    Germany 11 December 2008
    UK 12 December 2008
    Brazil 25 December 2008
    Iceland 26 December 2008

  3. Not only that, but... by hummassa · · Score: 5, Informative

    Inkheart is in the theatres here in Brasil for the last three weeks.
    Maybe it just didn't hit the theatres in the OP's city/state/country??

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  4. Re:behold by corsec67 · · Score: 5, Informative

    dd/mm/yy

    That is the worst way to write dates. You can't tell 2010 and 1910 apart, and if you try to sort a bunch of files named by date, in your scheme the dates are all mixed up.

    You want big-endian, and 4 digit years:

    YYYY/MM/DD.

    The ISO agrees

    --
    If I have nothing to hide, don't search me