Why this exists

I built the first version of Movies You Like about thirteen years ago. Even then, I was tired of the picks, the algorithms, the endless recommendations. I wanted to make something that pointed you toward movies actually worth your time.

Recommendations are way better, but again they're still mostly pointed towards wherever you're at. If you're on Netflix, they're pointing towards other Netflix movies. If you're on Max, the same. There are just so many different streaming platforms that it's less about finding a movie you'd really like based on the one you've just seen and more about just keeping you on their platform.

What I miss is the video store. You would walk in and the person behind the counter would say, "Oh, you liked that one? Then you should take this." You would rent it, bring it back, and they would ask if you liked it and hand you the next one. That human thing, the part an algorithm can't predict, one person's taste meeting another's. That is what Movies You Like is.

Part of it is 100% nostalgia. I am a nostalgic son of a bitch, and I'm not afraid to admit that. The other part of it is cornier, and I'm also corny, and I think that movies can make the world a little bit better. I hope that, even if they don't make the world as a whole better, they can make your life better. Movies have changed my life, and recommendations from friends and people, maybe even strangers, have kind of changed my life too.

Again, I've said it already, but movies have shaped my life in more ways than I can count. They've gotten me through some of the hardest parts of my life. My hope is small and a little bit stubborn, but my hope is that we can put a little bit of humanity back into how we find the next one.