Everybody’s heard of six degrees of separation, the theory that you can connect anyone on the planet to anyone else in six simple moves, 1 knows 2, 2 is related to 3 etc. A fun little premise which became a fun little party game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, whereby you’re given a celebrity name and have to connect them to prolific actor Kevin Bacon.
…and now there’s Six Degrees of Netflix Recommendations, for all those times you don’t know what to watch. First step is to pick a film you’ve not seen, and once you’ve watched it give it five stars or a thumbs-up depending on the viewing format, despite what you actually thought of the movie.
Then when Netflix gives you a ‘Because you watched…’ recommendation you watch the first movie from that list which you've not already seen.
Here are the first six degrees of Loosetooth’s journey….
Degree One: The Woodsman (2004)
Kevin Bacon stars as a convicted paedophile who returns home following his release from prison, and attempts to get his life on track, while trying to fight his unnatural urges. Bacon does a magnificent job of making you feel for a sex offend, and rooting for him not to revert to his old ways.
…and the first recommendations is…
Degree Two: The Interrogation of Michael Crowe (2002)
The Crowe family awake to find middle child Stephanie stabbed to death. The Family are then taken individually to be questioned. Fourteen-year-old Michael confesses after a barrage of questions, threats, lies and coercion, with no legal counsel or his parent’s knowledge. A true-life TV movie starring Ally Sheedy as Michael’s mother.
Which leads us on to…
Degree Three: Evidence of Love (1990)
Barbara Hershey and Brian Dennehy star in this TV movie, which also goes by the name A Killing in a Small Town. Hershey plays a housewife accused of brutally murdering a fellow housewife, but claims self-defence, while Dennehy plays her defence attorney.
Degree Four: Suspect (1987)
Cher plays a public defence attorney defending a deaf mute homeless veteran (played by Liam Neeson) of murdering a Judge and his secretary. She teams up with Dennis Quaid’s jury member to prove Neeson’s innocence
Degree Five: Criminal Law (1988)
If we were playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon we’d be done already. Gary Oldman, with the largest mane of slicked back hair the world has ever seen, plays a defence attorney who successfully defends Kevin Bacon of murder. But when someone else is killed in the same way Oldman realises he helped Bacon kill again.
Degree Six: The Killing Time (1987)
Kiefer Sutherland plays a murderous sociopath who assumes the identity of his latest victim, a newly appointed deputy of a small town. The town’s Sheriff (Beau Bridges) is also up to no good, planning to murder his lover’s husband, and place the blame on the new deputy…who he doesn’t know has been murdered having never met him in person.
The first six degrees have been filled with murder, crooked cops, and defence attorneys, but will the next six degrees reveal? Maybe something more cheerful? Who Knows? But it’ll be fun finding out.
Next up: The Brotherhood of Justice (1986)
Have you seen any of the movies on the list? What did you think? and will you be giving Six Degrees of Netflix Recommendations a try?