Did anyone notice that Netflix turned "made-for-TV-movies" cool again?

Something magical has happened.

The made-for-TV-movie is cool, and Netflix made it happen.

Today I was sick as a dog, and since I shared my plague with the wife a few days ago, the two of us called in sick and sat in bed watching Netflix together.

We had just finished Altered Carbon, which is crazy fun and gratuitous(though not always good.)

Then came...

This movie came out of nowhere, with JJ Abrams company behind it, the mysterious Cloverfield moniker, and damn fine production values. It was so good that after it was over we finally said "fuck it," and watched BRIGHT, which had been sitting in the queue for months.

Despite all the haters, Bright was totally watchable as well, but then I got a sinking feeling...

Watching all this cool CGI, high production values, and even Will Smith as the lead in a movie make you forget what "Netflix Original Content" means. It's a damn made-for-TV-movie, and somehow we all love it now.

HBO spent years trying to improve the quality of serialized TV, until Game of Thrones became a worldwide phenomenon, then other cable companies and networks followed suit. Now everything is a big budget event, which I do appreciate.

But choosing to launch a Will Smith movie, or a JJ Abrams Cloverfield movie on Netflix rather than in theaters is very interesting. You have to guess that trying to launch in a theater vs dozens Disney/Marvel/Star Wars movies each year is kind of shitty.

This is just a random thought that crept in as I was writing my introduceyourself post, and probably won't be read by anyone, but it seems interesting that the game has changed to make these straight-to-video flicks into something grander. Well done, Netflix.