Ryan McNeil
In anticipation of Arrested Development tomorrow, I got Netflix up and running on my Wii.
Many of you might know this already – and if you don’t this might come as something of a surprise – but I actually don’t usually subscribe to Netflix. In Canada, Netlix is streaming-only, and when it launched two years ago, we approached the idea logically. What we thought about at the time is how much money we already spend on film between going as often as we do, the annual jaunt to TIFF, our membership to Lightbox, and the occasional rental of a title on-demand. Above all of those, there’s also a really great independent rental shop up the street from us.
Now sure, a Netflix Canada subscription comes to just $96 a year…”Two movies a month and it’s paid for itself”. For us though, it was another $96 a year on movies, and it just seemed like something had to give. That’s why we don’t subscribe.
However, in browsing around it during this week’s Arrested Development run-up, I was given one more bit of validation as to why we don’t subscribe. You see, I’m the sort who more often than not is “actively watching”, as opposed to “passively watching”.
When I actively watch, it’s because I recently saw one title and it reminded me of something older I still haven’t seen – or better yet, I heard one of you fine folks discussing a movie and realized I’m yet to see it. Of course, with all of the content I create on this space and its accompanying podcast, I’m often watching with the intention of sharing my reaction. Like I said, “actively watching”. “Passively watching” is putting something on to kill time, or to chill out. Something where I’m less invested. I see it as the equivalent of channel surfing – just watching something because it’s on.
Back to Netflix, my thoughts that it was “one more thing” was justified this week when I went specifically looking for a handful of catalogue titles I’d been meaning to see (for the record: THE HUDSCUCKER PROXY, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE GOLDEN CHILD, and BARTON FINK). Of the four, only FINK was available.
Someone more familiar with Netflix spelled out to me the whole situation – how Netflix acquires and loses licenses through weeks and months and the way things come and go. To me though, that seems counter intuitive to someone who wants to watch something specific at a specific moment. It’s a lot like when you used to go to a video store and the film you’d want to watch was out…but it’s worse, because in this case it’s out for months (if it’s ever even coming back).
So while you peruse my very busy week of watching – a week where none of these titles were watched via Netflix – do tell Netflix users: Do you think you’re getting your money’s worth? Are you finding what you want more often than not, making my experiment an exception rather than a rule? Or are you just taking advantage of a large offering of titles, and passively choosing what looks interesting after a few minutes of browsing?
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
THE INTERNSHIP – Not sure how much I’m allowed to say about this yet.
MUD – Totally worth the wait.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE – Every once in a while, I kick myself for not having seen a classic sooner.
LADY VENGEANCE – I might take flak for this, but it’s my least favorite of the trilogy.
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES – Brian J. Roan owes me two hours of my life back.
POINT BLANK – Gritty New Hollywood neo-noir. Thanks Filmspotting.
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER – Much better than I’d anticipated!
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
PAPRIKA – And to think, just recently I was hesitant about anime!
THE COLOR OF MONEY – Lesser Scorsese, but so marvellously shot!
OCEAN’S THIRTEEN – I had to finish out the series,
EASY A – For podcasting purposes.
Boxscore for The Year
96 First-Timers, 93 Re-Watched
35 Screenings
189 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?
I use Netflix Latin America/Caribbean and it doesn’t have anywhere near the selection of the US version. Initially I found lots to watch, but at the moment they haven’t been updating that regularly, so I’m mostly using it for tv shows.
The US version (which I used in college and have access to when I visit) is a completely different situation though. I always feel like a kid in candy store, to the point where I’m overwhelmed by all the great options.
I sometimes wonder if I should cancel Netflix Caribbean….but then I just remember that it’s really quite cheap so I just stick with it. Netflix USA is definitely more than worth it in my experience.
Thanks for reminding me, as I forgot to mention Netflix’s TV selection. In that respect, the Canadian service is pretty badass. There’s no HBO (obviously), but everything else a person could want to feast on is there – and a wide variety of origins. There are a lot of broadcast shows, a lot of cable shows, a lot of imported shows, and that’s not even mentioning the site-specific content like Arrested Development and House of Cards.
If I ever decided to cut my cable subscription, I could easily put what I was saving towards Netflix. ‘Course it might leave me rally missing out on watching sports.
PS – What’d you watch last week?
Last week I watched: Predator, Fantasia, The Great Gatsby and re-watched Pulp Fiction and Anna Karenina
In all honesty, Netflix is a cheaper replacement for cable. It’s also the only way I can catch up on titles not in theaters, now that I’m out of college. All of the video stores in our area have closed up shop.
So many of them have worldwide, right? One of the permanent effects of digital services like Netflix and on-demand. The fact that there’s still a good one open up my street is a rarity and a luxury.
PS – What’d you watch last week?
Just one movie this week! The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari for this month’s Blind Spot.
Netflix is what it is, and it won’t satisfy those that want to watch something specific at any given moment. That’s why, for me, Netflix is pointless without the DVD by Mail component. The streaming started as an extra feature for subscribers, and so I have always viewed it as such, even though now it carries a price of its own. I use the streaming whenever I can, but because I do watch specific things, that not all that regularly. I use it more to watch Kids in the Hall when I have a free 20 minutes than to watch movies. And it has never bothered me that things expire, because no matter what there’s always something on there to watch that I haven’t seen. You just gotta roll with it. I love the service and have been a subscriber since their first year in business.
Back when I used to listen to /Filmcast, I remember hearing them squawk about the various business changes that Netflix were assigning to their mail and on-demand services. At the time I could only shrug and say “wtf”, but now it makes a little more sense.
Canada never got the mail system (a company called ZIP has a monopoly on that), and if they did I might think about pulling the trigger.
My friend Andrew watched Caligari for his Blindspot back in February – can’t wait to read your thoughts on it!
I’ve recently just acquainted myself with Netflix over the last week. I was able to cross several movies off my to-watch list. Mostly I wound up watching tv shows I was curious about like House of Cards and Terriers.
Never Seen
The Conversation
The Loneliest Planet
Holy Motors
I’ve watched a season and a half of Archer – lordy do 22 minute shows ever turn into a time-suck!
Where did you come down on HOLY MOTORS?
I enjoyed the sheer lunacy of it, like with The Skin I Live In, it had a few issues, but I loved not knowing where it was going.
Well, I pretty much am on my final leg of the Cannes Marathon as the first-timers competition is finished w/ one more film to watch to end the marathon which will be a re-watch.
Here are the first-timers I saw this week: Police, Adjective, Somersault, Happy Together, Farewell My Concubine, Lenny, Certified Copy, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, El Norte, Le Fils, and earlier today, Enter the Void.
The only rewatch I saw this week was Moonrise Kingdom.
Lightbox is hosting a screening of FAREWELL, MY CONCUBINE a week from Thursday. Should I get myself a ticket?
If you’re into near-3 hour epic stories about two Peking opera actors dealing with changing times in the course of China’s history as it’s definitely a great film by Chen Kaige and worthy of the Palme d’Or.
Ryan, I used to love Netflix when they were focused on DVDs by mail because I could plan out what I watched and get pretty much anything. When they stopped keeping up with DVDs and focused more on streaming, I lost interest and cancelled my membership. They also made their website less user-friendly, removed community features, and had bad customer service. I’m able to watch everything I’d like to see by using my local library and supplementing it with VOD and even the local video store. It sounds like we’re on the same page.
Here’s what I’ve been watching:
Six-String Samurai: Offbeat post-apocalyptic film that’s original yet also pretty forgettable
Mr. Brooks: Costner and William Hurt have a lot of fun with this serial-killer story. The downside is the excessive plotting.
Wreck-it Ralph: Finally saw this for the first time with my daughter. Loved the references to old video games, but the second half was a bit disappointing.
Dawn of the Dead: This was my first time seeing this classic horror film, and it did not disappoint. Romero’s satire of the consumerist culture still works today, even if the effects seem a bit silly.
The Avengers: Re-watched the giant blockbuster on Blu-ray and still really enjoyed it. Whedon’s achievements in making this work are remarkable.
Part of me thinks that we’re both lucky to live in larger markets that still have these sorts of spoils.
BTW, you have no idea how curious you have me with MR. BROOKS. Is it Tuesday yet?
Ryan, I’ve been surprised to hear that even some markets as big as St. Louis have zero video stores. There still are some holdouts here that are nearby. Also, I may be spoiled with two really good library systems, plus I have access to the impressive collection at the university near my house since I went to grad school there. It’s definitely not a bad place to live.
I’m glad to hear that you’re intrigued by the Mr. Brooks post. It’s actually going up tomorrow; I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts!
The positive responses to MUD make me very happy. Luckily we live near one of only two cinemas showing it in Australia next month. I’ll be there on opening day.
Highlight of my week was ONLY GOD FORGIVES. Hard to top the feeling of finally seeing a film you’ve been looking forward to for so long.
I subscribe to Netflix and I find I get my monies worth, because there are films on here I just wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.