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It’s almost the end of the month, which means you’ve likely given up on at least three of your New Year’s resolutions. But there’s still hope for you yet. After all, you know what they say: new year, new… queue? (They don’t say that, but they will. Soon.)
If you’re like me, you probably dump a lot of movies into your Netflix queue and never once consider watching them. You know what I’m talking about: documentaries about natural phenomenon, four-hour foreign dramas, multi-season TV shows about mean lawyers or family men turned to meth cooking. Who has the time to really get through a queue of movies and TV series, especially when Netflix is constantly adding new titles every week?
There are so many options, and it’s easy to feel lost and overwhelmed by all the service has to offer. Of course, that’s where we at Decider come in. We’re not just here to tell you what you should watch; we’re also here to tell you how to manage your to-watch list.
I started this cleaning system with 177 titles in my queue. By the time I had finished, I was down to 88. It worked for me, and it can work for you!
Get rid of anything with a "best guess" rating of less than three stars.
Netflix knows what you like because, well, you tell them what you like. The more movies you rate on a scale of one to five stars, the more Netflix can figure out what you’re into. As someone who loves to externalize my always-correct and complicated opinions onto a one-to-five scale, I can say that I’ve rated a lot of movies. Like, every single movie I’ve seen. This is not a brag. I am obsessive about this sort of thing.
Because, at this point, I only have time to watch THE BEST STUFF — i.e. things that Netflix will think I’ll really enjoy — there seems to be no excuse to keep movie titles that Netflix things I will not like in my queue. So for the first queue cleansing step? Getting rid of all of the movies with a rating less than three whole stars.
I was able to remove 24 immediately, including titles like Lawless, As I Lay Dying, Liberal Arts, The Machinist, and Red Dawn — not the original Red Dawn, but the remake of Red Dawn. (I do not know why I once thought I might actually watch the remake of Red Dawn.)
Change the view to "Netflix Suggests," scroll down, and delete the bottom four rows of movies.
When you look at your queue the old-school way — in list form, which allows you to drag and drop titles into various spots — Netflix gives you the option to view the queue organized by what Netflix thinks you’ll dig the most. It’s more visually appealing, giving you the chance to see the film’s cover art as if you were on the main page scrolling through the service’s most popular titles or the super specific genres curtailed to your own taste preferences.
Based solely on the fact that four rows’ worth of titles was the most I could fit into a screenshot, I scrolled down and removed the 24 titles at the bottom of my list. Oh, sorry, Priest. I guess I’ll continue never wanting to watch you.
(Are you learning more and more about my personality by glimpsing at the movies that have parked themselves in my Netflix queue for literally years without budging?)
If you can't figure out what a movie is based on its title alone, get rid of it.
This should be obvious. And seriously, I had no idea what the movie Water is, what it is about, who’s in it, when I put it on my queue, or why I put it on my queue. What I do know: I don’t have to have it on my queue. Bye, Water.
(There was no way I was actually going to watch this movie.)
Delete any movie that came out before you were born.
This might be the most controversial suggestion, but I stand by it. I was born in September 1983, meaning I’ve had a whole 31+ years to watch Das Boot, Cleopatra, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Charade. Guess what? There are probably a lot of reasons why I haven’t watched them yet. I will have plenty of time to watch them sometime in the distant future! But not tonight. And if I don’t feel like watching it tonight, why is it on my queue?
Be honest with yourself.
Look at your queue. Are you going to watch Farewell My Concubine? A Room With a View? Croupier? (LOL, Croupier.) Enchanted April?!?! Come on. No one wants to come home, pop a bag of popcorn, sit back and ease into Enchanted fucking April. I’m sure it’s lovely. I’m sure it’s really well made. And I’m sure it doesn’t belong on my queue. And, frankly, neither does Lonesome Dove. That’s hours and hours of sleep I could be getting instead, to be quite honest.
By the time I ended my queue cleanse? I was down to 89 movies. I could have probably tossed more out, as the feeling of being able to control my queue rather than the other way around was very liberating. And, of course, there’s the freedom that comes with the realization that just because a movie is in my queue doesn’t mean I have to watch it, just as I don’t have to watch only movies in my queue. I’m a grown-ass man! I do what I want! Just as you, dear reader, can do what you want.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your queue, know you’re not alone. And know that you can tame that beast any way you want. You have the power. You have the strength. Go home and show that queue who’s boss.
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