Want to know what has your roommate glued to the DVD player on his laptop? The New York Times compiled a list of the most rented Netflix movies per neighborhood and created this nifty color-coded map. So if your roomie's taste matches that of most 02138 residents, he's probably watching one of the following.
1. Milk
2. Rachel Getting Married
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Doubt
5. Burn After Reading
6. Vicky Christina Barcelona
7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
8. Revolutionary Road
9. The Wrestler
10. "Mad Men" Season 1, Disc 1
Besides basic rental information, the tool is bound to give you somewhat of an ego boost as well. The Times also organizes the films by scores from MetaCritic.com, and the top rentals in Cambridge were all well-rated by reviewers. Burn After Reading had the lowest score at a well-placed 63. The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married, Slumdog Millionaire, and Milk all garnered scores well into the 80s.
Of course, the tool has its limits. Because it only shows Netflix rentals, we don't know what movies your roommate would pay a hefty $11 to see at Boston Common (or what he might watch illegally online), just those he would have delivered to his mailbox via Netflix.
Still, the map raises some interesting (if not really important) questions. Why, for instance, was there a complete absence of sci-fi flicks in the top 10 for 02139 (where our MIT neighbors live)? Are you surprised that, in the Boston area, "Mad Men" was rented more in Harvard Square than anywhere else? Or that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the most rented film in all of America? Just some J-Term food for thought.