Anyone today who hasn’t heard of Netflix might just live in a cave. As of 2011, the website is the largest source of online traffic in North America, with 33 percent of bandwidth share, according to networking company Sandvine. Ironically enough, users have a cave of their own — their homes — that serve as the most popular access point and area of use for the movie website. So long as erosion doesn’t knock out the modem signal, coursework can wait.

Initially a DVD-by-mail service, Netflix introduced the “Watch Instantly” feature in early 2008, which allows subscribers to stream movies directly to their computer or other digital devices. Streaming took off for the company at a much higher rate than the DVD rentals, and Netflix decided to split the rental and streaming services in 2011 just after a hefty price increase.

The result was a disaster. Over 800,000 members cancelled their Netflix subscription with flocks of complaints against the change, citing video quality issues and faulty displays with the streaming feature. In addition to customer frustration, the library of movies for streaming was only a fraction compared to the ones available on DVD or Blu-Ray. Nasdaq reported a 75 percent loss of revenue by the end of 2011.

Since then, Netflix has gone back to offering both streaming and renting movies under one account, although for separate prices. The number of movies available to stream has increased over time on top of changes to incorrect aspect ratios and shabby prints that initially plagued streaming. Several devices, such as video game consoles and smart phones, grants users access to their account. The use of these devices has expanded users viewing options of movies.

Netflix may have started its recovery. Against many expectations, the company posted a surprising fourth-quarter profit after a surge in streaming customers that led to $8 million. Although issues still may exist for select users and Netflix’s recent business has yet to really turn heads, a future may be on the horizon that satisfies both ends.

In the meantime, students who do stream Netflix can treat themselves to nearly unnoticed choices that have a unique hook. Several gritty B-flicks show a strong influence to Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” and three documentaries nominated for the Oscars next month are only a click away. If the Art Theater or That’s Rentertainment are too far of a trek, Friday night can still be movie night.

Navajo Joe

An American Indian played by a young Burt Reynolds, of all people, hunts an outlaw’s gang after they brutally massacred Joe’s tribe. Sound familiar? Tarantino has openly referred to Spaghetti Western maestro Sergio Leone, director of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” and “Once Upon a Time in the West,” as his biggest influence, but “Navajo Joe” director Sergio Corbucci may show a bigger imprint. Great vengeance is struck down upon the outlaws with great anger and lots o’ blood in its quick, clumsy 92 minutes.

The Mercenary

Corbucci shines through Tarantino again. In the film, a hired gunman decides to help a rebel and his revolutionaries during the Mexican Revolution, but his motives are far from noble. The team-up is much like the partnership between slave Django and bounty hunter Dr. Schultz in “Unchained,” and students can get a better sense of who played the curious Italian who lost to DiCaprio’s character in Mandingo gambling. The actor, Franco Nero, stars as the hired gun and played the original “Django” in the 1966 feature as well.

Drum

Sharing “Unchained’s” small patience for sensitivity, a daring slave in the antebellum South fights his way through pit brawls that catch the attention of his loathsome masters. And with the master’s girl, in more ways than one! Much of “Drum’s” settings and plot share parallels with events that unfold in “Unchained,” and DiCaprio’s Calvin Candie owes much to Warren Beatty’s performance as the villain slave owner.

The Invisible War

This investigative documentary explores the conflict of rape in the U.S. military, considered the nation’s best-kept secret crisis by several of the film’s subjects. Its most startling fact: female soldiers are more likely to face assault from an ally than be killed in action. Director Kirby Dick received his second Oscar nomination for “The Invisible War” after 2005’s “Twist of Faith.”

How to Survive a Plague

Archive footage reveals the gay community’s reaction to the AIDS epidemic that led to the ACT UP and TAG advocacy efforts to spread awareness of the disease and find a cure. Interviews collected decades after the movements highlight several important perspectives of the time period, particularly the pain and anger of the activists. The Art Theater in downtown Champaign is scheduled to show “How to Survive a Plague” on Feb. 8 as well.

5 Broken Cameras

In response to Israel building a large barrier in the West Bank that separated them from their crops, villagers protested with the support of several international peace activists. Filmmakers Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi documented the protests for over four years, revealing the resulting violence in his village and constant family struggles. Much more is at stake for Burnat and his family than the risk of broken technology.

Adlai is a freshman in Media and can be reached at [email protected].