[HN Gopher] Show HN: I made a movie recommendation app based on ...
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       Show HN: I made a movie recommendation app based on your mood
        
       Author : marclou
       Score  : 118 points
       Date   : 2021-11-27 13:24 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.mood2movie.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.mood2movie.com)
        
       | tomovo wrote:
       | Would it work the other way round too? I feel like watching John
       | Wick again, tell me how I feel...
        
       | abetusk wrote:
       | Surprisingly decent, for what it is.
       | 
       | It would be great to have something to give feedback on whether
       | it actually picked a movie that lines up with the mood I've
       | picked.
        
         | marclou wrote:
         | Crowd-sourcing, I love it! Thanks for sharing, I'll work in it
        
       | arkj wrote:
       | clicking for each title recommendation is a bit tedious maybe
       | have more suggestions per page?
        
       | winternett wrote:
       | As someone who is working on a YT-driven playlist for music
       | myself, I absolutely -HATE- how YT handles deleted and
       | unpublished videos. They strip all information from the player
       | and it can break applications that rely on them.
       | 
       | Applications that leverage YouTube go far in helping Google to
       | maintain it's market dominance, they should help reliant apps to
       | operate smoothly because it greatly supports the company, but if
       | the service is faulty or unreliable over a long period of time
       | without any fixes available, it's probably just a willful
       | handicap to drive people back to YT as a platform rather than
       | truly enabling content sharing.
       | 
       | I understand that there are often valid reasons behind removing
       | videos from display, but YT should at least allow for the title
       | to remain, or a link back to the poster's channel, after a video
       | is no longer available so it doesn't just display a "Video Not
       | Available".
       | 
       | If someone publishes a video, but then needs to edit out parts,
       | the video still exists, but all prior links to it are suddenly
       | broken. That makes using YT for embedded video difficult even
       | though they're the #1 video content platform.
       | 
       | App developers can't simply stand up a "bootleg" streaming
       | service of their own with the level of diverse content that YT
       | has, therefore YT has a bigger responsibility to fix the
       | stability of the content they provide, possibly by allowing
       | creators to replace videos instead of having to completely re-
       | upload them with a new content ID. We're really not able to
       | properly innovate unless we're truly solving traditional and not
       | letting long-standing problems persist.
        
         | milkers wrote:
         | I have similar feelings for an app that I am developing. But YT
         | is like a shark which don't even cares about the small fishes.
        
       | trwhite wrote:
       | https://www.mood2movie.com/movies/horny
        
         | tailspin2019 wrote:
         | Spoiler, the above page doesn't exist, but it happens to be the
         | top requested page at the time of writing:
         | 
         | https://plausible.io/mood2movie.com
        
           | TuringTest wrote:
           | It makes sense. It's the only one that makes you wonder what
           | kind of commercial mainstream films it will recommend? All
           | others clicks will be distributed randomly among all the
           | other buttons.
        
             | markozivanovic wrote:
             | But, based on the fact that the author offers 'happy'
             | movies if you're feeling sad, he would probably provide
             | some movies that would try to stop you from being horny. :)
             | Now, the question is - what kind of movies can make you
             | stop being horny? :)
        
         | fbelzile wrote:
         | This should be a legitimate category. I just want something
         | with an easy plot to watch during a 'netflix and chill' date!
        
           | FalconSensei wrote:
           | I honestly clicked it thinking it would have some of those
           | 70s/80s comedy like Lampoon or Fast Times
        
       | duiker101 wrote:
       | It gave me "Parasite" as a first suggestion for "Humorous".
       | 
       | The suggestion did make me laugh, so I guess the task failed
       | successfully?
        
         | playpause wrote:
         | Parasite is usually described as a black comedy thriller. It's
         | humorous, among other things.
        
       | MrGilbert wrote:
       | I think it would be great if you could make a distinction,
       | whether I want to get out of a mood, or intensify this mood.
       | 
       | E.g., if I'm feeling sad, I'd like to get distracted to get out
       | of this mood. Or I want to amplify this mood, so I might need
       | another movie.
        
         | bryanrasmussen wrote:
         | "My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory
         | depression," Iran said.
         | 
         | "What? Why did you schedule that?" It defeated the whole
         | purpose of the mood organ. "I didn't even know you could set it
         | for that," he said gloomily.
         | 
         | -- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick
        
         | comeonseriously wrote:
         | Couldn't you select for what mood you want to be in?
        
         | climech wrote:
         | It's interesting to see how different people deal with
         | different feelings. Personally, when I'm feeling sad, I want to
         | stay with the feeling -- not wallow in it, but let it "flow",
         | so it eventually gets out of my system. Movies can be quite
         | cathartic that way.
        
           | Wowfunhappy wrote:
           | It depends on the circumstance, which I believe was the GP's
           | point. Sometimes I do want to explore the sadness for a bit,
           | but other times I want to be cheered up.
        
           | kungito wrote:
           | This is very interesting. I'm trying more to become a person
           | like that. It's way healthier to accept emotions than try to
           | always run away from them
        
           | netizen-936824 wrote:
           | Recommends mortal combat for thoughtful?
           | 
           | ??
        
             | kingcharles wrote:
             | It recommended it for me for being SLEEPY.
        
               | imachine1980_ wrote:
               | it recommend it for weird, i think them can a like this
               | movie
        
         | musingsole wrote:
         | I wish I could make this distinction for myself
        
       | fender256 wrote:
       | Nice, I like it and can see myself using it. It would be even
       | better if there was always a link to IMDB.
        
         | flycaliguy wrote:
         | Reflecting on past experiences, does anybody else find that
         | first checking IMDB for a score has ultimately been a flop of a
         | habit? Also, IMDB, it's not what it used to be am I right?
        
         | marclou wrote:
         | Data are being fetched from IMDb. What's missing on the app
         | that you'd like to see on IMDb?
        
           | fender256 wrote:
           | I think the app and the data it contains is good as it is. I
           | would just occasionally like to check data from IMDb such as
           | actors, directors, similar movies and all the stuff one can
           | find on IMDb. A mere link to IMDb could provide more info to
           | those who want it, without polluting your already great site
           | with more data.
        
       | wizzzzzy wrote:
       | Please add a hungover category
        
       | marclou wrote:
       | Hey,
       | 
       | I used to spend hours researching for a movie to watch, looking
       | at reviews on IDMd, genres, actors, trailers...
       | 
       | Ironically, I feel like the abundance of movies is making it
       | harder to pick one.
       | 
       | I've noticed I tend to watch movies based on how feel so I tried
       | to mimic this behavior with Mood2Movie.
       | 
       | 1/ It maps your feeling to movie genres you might be interested
       | in. I.e. if you're sleepy you might want to watch an action movie
       | or a comedy
       | 
       | 2/ It only fetches great movies with a rating > 6.7 on IMDb
       | 
       | If you're also picky about which movie to watch, give Mood2Movie
       | and try, and hopefully, it'll work for you too.
       | 
       | Enjoy the show!
        
         | martincmartin wrote:
         | _Ironically, I feel like the abundance of movies is making it
         | harder to pick one._
         | 
         | This sounds like the difference between Optimizing and
         | Satisficing personality traits.
         | 
         | An optimizer wants to find the best choice. The more choices,
         | the harder that is.
         | 
         | The Satisficer just wants to find one that's good enough.
         | Having more choices generally makes that easier, if it comes
         | with a directory or some way to search.
        
         | reaperducer wrote:
         | I think you've taken your personal preferences and tried to
         | apply them to everyone else.
         | 
         |  _if you 're sleepy you might want to watch an action movie or
         | a comedy_
         | 
         | If I'm sleepy, I want to watch a calming movie, or something
         | thoughtful because I'm going to sleep soon. Watching an action
         | movie when I'm sleepy might be good for you, or maybe a long-
         | haul trucker. But not for everyone.
         | 
         | This is where every recommendation engine from Netflix to
         | Facebook to Apple Music falls down. People are messy. And
         | there's too many of them to generalize.
         | 
         |  _It only fetches great movies with a rating > 6.7 on IMDb_
         | 
         | Using online ratings services is a bad idea. They've become
         | polluted. Movies that are enormously important or entertaining
         | or just plain good are losing more and more ratings points
         | because they're being re-rated by non-experts and people who
         | don't understand the context or history. The movies haven't
         | changed. The people rating then have. So what you end up with
         | is the lowest common denominator films getting the highest
         | ratings.
        
           | marclou wrote:
           | *Using online ratings services is a bad idea.*
           | 
           | While some viewers might change their ratings, I believe the
           | crowd will surface the truth at the end
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | It hasn't happened yet. And this has been going on for
             | years.
             | 
             | That's why some web sites show separate ratings based on
             | who's rating them. They tally the ratings of professional
             | film critics separately from those of the hoi polloi.
        
         | dubcanada wrote:
         | I quite like it, I am not sure if I'm the popular opinion but I
         | feel like you should remove the back button/history update for
         | every movie. There is no reason it needs to add a new history
         | entry for every carousel change.
        
           | FalconSensei wrote:
           | I think it would actually be better not to have the carousel
           | at all, but paginated with like, 5-10 per page?
        
         | lillesvin wrote:
         | > It only fetches great movies with a rating > 6.7 on IMDb
         | 
         | I personally find that I'm sometimes in the mood for a
         | hilariously shitty B-movie, like The VelociPastor
         | (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843303/) or Cat-Women of the
         | Moon (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045609/), I feel like they
         | could be included in certain moods, e.g. "weird" or "playful".
        
         | besnn00 wrote:
         | Question: how does the app decide which movie corresponds to a
         | certain mood?
        
           | marclou wrote:
           | @reaperducer got it right, it's based on my personal
           | preferences and it will hopefully match with yours
        
       | spzb wrote:
       | I chose sleepy mood and got recommended Tenet. Not the easiest
       | movie to follow when you're half asleep.
        
       | jcims wrote:
       | Great idea. Anything that helps winnow down to a decidable list
       | of movies is a good thing.
       | 
       | Just a quick note, something's wrong with the movie
       | 'Retfaerdighedens ryttere', gets a 404 and doesn't load the
       | youtube preview.
        
       | sweetbitter wrote:
       | Why does it recommend happy titles if I choose 'lonely' or
       | 'gloomy'? Don't I want to augment those emotions when I feel
       | them? There should be a NOT operator.
        
       | matt3D wrote:
       | I like that this seems to trend towards newer movies, a lot of
       | other recommendation platforms seem to ignore year of release.
        
       | fender256 wrote:
       | How does your site generate movies? Does it pick random ones from
       | IMDb? If so, more movies would probably come up, even the ones
       | less known. Or did you (developer) make a conscious selection? If
       | so, what is your selection based on?
        
       | madrox wrote:
       | We experimented with this idea at Disney in 2012 with short form
       | content. We learned a few things by building basically this exact
       | experience.
       | 
       | First, it's not really different from Netflix-style sliders,
       | except it's hiding more things behind clicks. Second, finding a
       | good recommendation isn't the hard problem...it's getting people
       | to hit play on what's being recommended. I don't know how many
       | times I get recommended Vanilla Sky, I can't seem to work up the
       | fortitude of committing a couple hours to watching Tom Cruise.
       | 
       | This is why clips and auto-play experiences are so big these
       | days. It takes away the need to hit play and the investment is
       | low. It's why Netflix is rolling out the Play Something
       | experience.
        
         | PakistaniDenzel wrote:
         | Maybe the recommendations just aren't that good in that case?
         | If they were good wouldn't people hit play?
        
           | vlovich123 wrote:
           | I think it's a paradox of choice and, in a family setting,
           | trouble finding something that fits the taste/mood of a few
           | people.
        
           | bredren wrote:
           | I suspect there is a sense of commitment and potentially
           | subtle signals of self criticism in actually "choosing" to
           | watch a recommended film.
        
         | formerly_proven wrote:
         | If you don't feel like watching Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky
         | you're quite lucky, because you can just watch Open Your Eyes
         | instead.
        
         | bredren wrote:
         | I believe this, because of how successful TT was w infinite
         | scroll, auto-play.
         | 
         | RE: Vanilla Sky
         | 
         | There are interesting moments to that film, (like the
         | holographic jazz player at the fancy party) but it isn't worth
         | sitting for to see Cruise if you haven't already seen Top Gun,
         | Mission Impossible, Day After Tomorrow and Minority Report.
        
         | baby wrote:
         | You have to watch Vanilla sky! I think most people's problem is
         | that they want something easy to watch, and recent. This is
         | because we're lazy, and we are attracted by novelty (and
         | novelty fades away quickly).
        
         | verve_rat wrote:
         | The thing that stops me from watching movies/shows when
         | recommended by some automated system is the lack of
         | information. All of these systems either start playing the
         | video or have a one line blurb "You will like this because you
         | watched some other show."
         | 
         | Just give me a proper blurb about the show/movie. Just because
         | I'm in an app to watch things doesn't mean you don't still have
         | to sell me on watching something. Hell, personalising a text
         | blurb to my tastes and mood could be really powerful. Even
         | showing me the trailer rather than starting the movie would be
         | an improvement.
         | 
         | This sort of stuff, plus the complete disrespect for the
         | emotional downtime needed at the end of some episodes* makes me
         | think the people in charge of these places don't even fucking
         | watch TV.
         | 
         | * The show makers get this, the episode smash cuts to black and
         | the credits roll with a slow, quiet song while you decompress.
         | Then BAM next episode, no moment to think about and enjoy the
         | experience you just had.
        
         | bradknowles wrote:
         | I hate, loathe, and despise auto-play solutions. I finally
         | figured out how to kill that feature of Netflix, so that I can
         | enjoy watching it a lot more.
         | 
         | If they bring back enforced auto-play, then I'm deleting the
         | fucking account.
        
           | shbooms wrote:
           | it completely ruins my experience as well. When I finish
           | watching something, I want to take time to digest and reflect
           | on what I just saw, to relish in the mood or feeling that I
           | was put in by the show/film, not get mindlessly forced into
           | something new.
           | 
           | I can't stand this whole "engagement" agenda that
           | media/entertainment tech companies are pushing so damn hard
           | down our throats more and more everyday.
        
             | verve_rat wrote:
             | And I really don't get it. The more we "engage" the more
             | content we will burn through per unit time. So without auto
             | play horse shit I might watch an episode or two a night and
             | really marinate in it. But the auto play is always pushing
             | my to watch more, so maybe I won't marinate, maybe I watch
             | 4 or 5 episodes tonight.
             | 
             | Now the good show I was watching is over... now what? Watch
             | something else? Maybe I ran out of good things. Do I really
             | need to keep paying for this service? I've already watched
             | all the good stuff.
        
       | zuj wrote:
       | You are asking me "how are you feeling now" and suggesting movies
       | based on it. If I am feeling melancholy you are suggesting more
       | sad movies to me ?
       | 
       | Don't you mean, movie2mood.com ? Ask, "how do you want to feel"
       | and gimme movies which makes me feel so. ?
       | 
       | Simple lovely website and beautiful execution. Good-luck on the
       | launch!
        
       | DonaldFisk wrote:
       | This doesn't take into account differences in personal
       | preferences, as it doesn't know what movies I prefer, and so
       | can't compare my preferences to other people's. Not everyone has
       | the same tastes, and personal preferences matter.
       | 
       | You could improve your system's recommendations by combining your
       | approach with a collaborative filtering algorithm. Mine's very
       | accurate on small data sets, and a detailed description of it can
       | be found here: fmjlang.co.uk/morse/MORSE.html
        
       | godmode2019 wrote:
       | I always waned to makes a recommendation system based on
       | personality type, or even better movies where two people would
       | enjoy based on their personality type.
        
       | johnsillings wrote:
       | Neat! I just shared with my girlfriend - and I expect we'll use
       | it :)
       | 
       | Also, a very, ~very~ minor gripe but the little flashing, color-
       | changing heart keeps catching my eye and is a little distracting.
       | One man's opinion!
        
       | _def wrote:
       | Heh I clicked through a few recommended titles and then the app
       | reported "Feeling undefined" :D
        
       | 3dfan wrote:
       | I am a huge movie fan. And always lost in thoughts. So I guess I
       | will go through the whole "reflective" list and see if there is a
       | movie I don't know yet.
       | 
       | Lists of "popular movies" on Netflix etc never click with me.
       | Most stuff out there is too kitchy for me.
       | 
       | One tool that works for me is Gnovies, which finds a mix of 3
       | movies you put in:
       | 
       | https://www.gnovies.com
        
         | potatosalad1 wrote:
         | This didn't work for me at all. Of 8 or so recommendations it
         | included "Red" "Blue" and "White". Huh? It's also pretty
         | useless without including a year or link to an imbd page.
        
         | marclou wrote:
         | Just went through the GNOD services, it's incredible. Have you
         | used the movie map? https://www.movie-map.com/
        
           | 3dfan wrote:
           | Oh yes, I use the map too sometimes.
           | 
           | The reason I mostly use Gnovies is that I often watch
           | together with my girlfriend. So we each put one movie into
           | Gnovies "enter 3 movies you like" form and after some
           | experimentation we usually find a new one we both enjoy.
        
           | vort3 wrote:
           | As always, the real gold is always in comments section. GNOD
           | is exactly what I was looking for.
           | 
           | I wonder why I never stumbled upon it...
        
       | urbandw311er wrote:
       | I was a bit alarmed that, when I said I was feeling gloomy, it
       | recommended Midsommar! Don't really think that's going to help
       | lift my spirits.... Perhaps the UI is confusing me and I've
       | missed something.
        
       | _august wrote:
       | This is awesome! We (mostly my dad) and I made a very similar
       | website as well: https://flickseeker.com/
        
         | pdenton wrote:
         | Oh this is good! Thank you and your dad!
        
       | newbie578 wrote:
       | The app seems neat, I do wonder how did you get the IMDB ratings?
       | Did you hard code it or did you find an api which gets their
       | rating?
        
       | cube00 wrote:
       | Author tweeted[1] their open traffic, interesting if you've ever
       | wondered what a "Show HN" looks like from the other side
       | https://plausible.io/mood2movie.com
       | 
       | [1] https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1464606400638640143
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | superasn wrote:
         | Love that the top page after homepage is /moveis/horny :D Felix
         | Dennis was so right!
         | 
         | Anyway, love everything about this whole open startups(1)
         | thing. Really amazing to see what happens behind the scenes!
         | 
         | (1) https://baremetrics.com/open-startups
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | trulyme wrote:
       | Interesting concept, but I prefer movielens myself. Having good
       | grades by people who like similar movies is imo a better
       | predictor if I will be enjoying the movie or not. How I'm feeling
       | is of course important, but if I can see the short description of
       | the movie I can decide for myself... Still, movielens dataset is
       | available, maybe combination of the two approaches would be even
       | better?
        
       | irrational wrote:
       | There should be a way to choose more than one tag, or exclude a
       | tag:
       | 
       | + Romantic and - Drama
       | 
       | Or
       | 
       | + Romantic and + Comedy
       | 
       | Also, I love the Horny gag.
        
       | climech wrote:
       | I chose "idyllic", expecting titles like Kiki's Delivery Service,
       | but all the recommendations were either fighting or sports-
       | related movies (Raging Bull, Southpaw, Rocky, etc). Sometimes
       | there's also an issue where the same page loads inside the video
       | frame.
       | 
       | Good idea, just needs a little more polish.
        
       | LordAtlas wrote:
       | "Parasite" for feeling lonely? Ummm...
       | 
       | The entire set of recommendations for that is rather eyebrow-
       | raising.
        
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       (page generated 2021-11-27 23:01 UTC)