The most popular Netflix film in the US is the Whitney Houston biography, which both reviewers and viewers like
Here’s another reminder that the Netflix app’s Top 10 rankings should be seen less as a “Here are the 10 greatest” movie and TV program list and more as an indicator of the most popular recent releases on Netflix. I Want to Dance with Someone, the recently added Whitney Houston movie, serves as an illustration. It is now surpassing more well-known films like Seven Kings Must Die since it is the most popular Netflix movie in the US as of the time of this writing.
I Want to Dance with Someone is now the most popular Netflix film in the US, yet contrary to what I just said, it’s not the finest film the service currently has to offer. IMDb, for instance, allows us to see that the movie from director Kasi Lemmons has a 6.6/10, while the critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes currently stands at a dismal 44% (based on 131 reviews at present).
The movie ends up feeling like “the SparkNotes of [Houston’s] existence, a sprinkling of gathered moments that feel empty,” writes a reviewer for the Austin Chronicle. By way of Rotten Tomatoes, another reviewer adds: “This persistently conventional picture tries to capture even a fraction of the electric glitter of Houston at the height of her powers.”
Another example of how the Top 10 lists in the app are a greater indicator of recentness than quality is the fact that I Wanna Dance With Someone just arrived on Netflix two days ago. By the way, this also makes me think of something I said in a different post a week ago. The Snowman, a Michael Fassbender failure that utterly failed at the box office after supposedly receiving negative reviews, has changed its course.
Days after being released to the streaming service, the movie also soared to the top of the charts on Netflix. Despite the fact that both reviewers and supporters believe it to be a terrible movie. Despite having a 6% critics’ score and an 18% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is now the third most popular Netflix movie in the US. Well, right.
