Netflix (DVD Delivery Discussion Only)

[Numero Trois]

Yeah, I got similiar recommendations after watching "Paisan." You know, that famous Rossellini chick flick.

Why can't they emulate Amazon's recommendation system which really does seem to be pretty accurate? But of course Amazon does have several tons more customer feedback to draw from than Netflix.

[oldsheperd]

Hey! Step Up is excellent!!!!! ](*,)

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Heh, they might as well just tell you to sign off their site, shut down your computer and go to the nearest Red Box kiosk, with suggestions like that.

[zedz]

Have you seen Valley of the Bees yet, swo? There's a great meet-cute when one of the knights get his chainmail caught in the elevator door and the mousy secretary he's never noticed before has to use her nail clippers to free him. It's just before the temps get disembowelled.

[swo17]

I know, it's like, how did Netflix know that that was my favorite part of the movie?

Seriously though, it was a really good film.

[Svevan]

Seriously though, it was a really good film.

Netflix is unaware of this.

[Foam]

All the films from Criterion's Cassavetes box cept the recut of Bookie are now streaming in HD. So far I've watched Woman and I absolutely cannot believe my eyes at how good it looks.

The Red Balloon also looks magnificent in HD.

[dgunning]

Netflix has reached a deal with EFlix for streaming content, see here. I wonder if EFlix has any movies that might be of interest to members of this forum? I'm not very excited about seeing Iron Man...

[Lemmy Caution]

Netflix stock took a big 6% bounce on news they've locked in films for early streaming content.

Netflix to Stream Films From Paramount, Lions Gate, MGM
By BRIAN STELTER

In a sign that online streaming is coming to the forefront in Hollywood, films from Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate and MGM will appear on Netflix’s streaming service just three months after they appear on pay television.

In a deal announced Tuesday, Netflix will have the streaming rights to feature films like “Iron Man 2″ far earlier than it does now. It is a costly win for Netflix, which has been locking up the rights to films for its “Watch Instantly” service, which allows customers to stream content via the Internet rather than wait for a DVD to arrive in the mail.

And if you wonder why Netflix is moving away from mailings, take a look at this article which deals with shipping costs, postal increases, and even has an interactive feature so you can adjust the cost of packing and shipping a dvd and get the expected stock share price.

https://www.trefis.com/company?article=20369#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Perkins Cobb]

I was hoping this might mean that some of the OOP Paramount stuff would resurface through this deal ("hoping" in that defeated sort of way that involves accepting streaming rather than DVD, that is) ... but I searched Seconds and No Way to Treat a Lady on the Epix site and it came back with "This Is Not an Epix Movie." So, eff it.

[nsps]

Why can't they emulate Amazon's recommendation system which really does seem to be pretty accurate?

It's hard to argue with the system that tried to sell me candy bars after I bought Buñuel's The Milky Way.

[nsps]

Netflix has reached a deal with EFlix for streaming content, see here. I wonder if EFlix has any movies that might be of interest to members of this forum? I'm not very excited about seeing Iron Man...

Their lineup is quite the mixed bag, but does include catalogue titles that'll intrigue some folks here. Various old titles, some Altman, some Woody Allen films are on here, but not all the ones that received HD transfers recently. Hopefully more of them will show up (and Netflix will offer them in HD).

[Feego]

There's a lot of crap in that lineup, but there are also some interesting titles in there that are not available on DVD, including Jean Renoir's Diary of a Chambermaid, Budd Boetticher's Bullfighter and the Lady, and Frank Tashlin/Jerry Lewis' Who's Minding the Store.

[Zumpano]

Is it just me(my internet connection), but is this streaming thing like watching a third-generation VHS tape? I tried watching some movies/shows using the PS3 disc through my wifi; not only was it VHS-styled grainy (it brought me back), but wouldn't play beyond five minutes or so without a pause/break/loss of connection.

I know my internet connection sucks, but didn't think it was this bad...

[Roger Ryan]

Is it just me(my internet connection), but is this streaming thing like watching a third-generation VHS tape? I tried watching some movies/shows using the PS3 disc through my wifi; not only was it VHS-styled grainy (it brought me back), but wouldn't play beyond five minutes or so without a pause/break/loss of connection.

I know my internet connection sucks, but didn't think it was this bad...

I recommend using speakeasy.net to test the download speed to your modem. To get a decent stream from Netflix's standard def encodes, you should probably be getting at least 5 or 6 Mbps coming into your system; probably 6 to 9 Mbps for HD encodes. My broadband connection hits close to 7 Mbps and, most of the time, the standard def stuff looks almost as good as DVD while the HD material looks better than DVD (although not as good as Blu-ray). Of course, this depends on how the film is encoded to begin with. Some simply look atrocious (watch out for the STARZ transfers) with widescreen films chopped to 4:3 pan-and-scans and some where the image is distorted or stretched. I should mention that I view Netflix streams hard-wired through a Blu-ray player (via a Power Line adapter), so I'm not watching through wi-fi. By comparison, my brother-in-law set up his Netflix account through an Xbox but is only getting 2.88 Mbps through his "Pro" (!) AT&T U-Verse account; the result is a fuzzy image with lots of visible compression artifacts.

It could be that my system's 7 Mbps is not enough to handle certain streams as well, but I've had freezing/loss of connection problems with lesser-known titles in SD, too (although, when returning to the same films a few days later, I've often been able to get through the whole thing without problems). This never seems to happen to high profile titles which makes me think it has something to do with server space on Netflix's end.

[AtlantaFella]

I have a 6Mpbs connection, wireless router, and Roku box. Playback is almost always uninterrupted and flawless. Picture quality varies depending upon the source, but my experience is that anything marked HD is at least DVD quality.

[nsps]

I always watch my streaming hardwired—I figure every thing I can do to increase the bandwidth helps. I do have a pretty speedy connection. Both my Tivo and my Blu-ray offer streaming, but my Insignia BD player has a much more versatile interface. (Tivo only lets me play from my queue, while the BD player lets me explore recommendations, etc.)

The source material definitely matters, as does connection speed. Some HD stuff played out of synch a while ago, but I haven't noticed anything recently. Any of the Starz shit is basically unwatchable, but if you have a good connection a lot of the stuff looks really good. Watched NIGHT AND THE CITY with a friend the other day and I was quite happy with the quality.

[Minkin]

Fellini's Satyricon will be streaming in the near future. Perhaps this will act as further soothsaying to a Criterion release.
Also Manhattan, which will be streaming soon

[nsps]

Fellini's Satyricon will be streaming in the near future. Perhaps this will act as further soothsaying to a Criterion release.
Also Manhattan, which will be streaming soon

These might be part of the EPIX deal. HD transfers of both films have already aired on MGM HD.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Well, isn't this nice: Black Narcissus is suddenly listed as "unavailable." As is the entire Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series. Not that they're comparable, but both were in my queue, and now both are gone without warning. Guess I'll have to rent one of their ten-thousand exercise videos instead. Keep it classy, Netflix.

[Perkins Cobb]

See, stuff like the above makes me worry that Netflix is ceasing to replace catalog titles that get stolen or damaged, and that we'll soon be seeing huge swaths of their inventory become unavailable. My worst nightmare, basically.

An unexpected, pleasant surprise though: They seem to have stocked the new Universal catalog releases from August 3 (The Greek Tycoon, Cross My Heart, etc.) including the widescreen reissue of The Great Waldo Pepper. Even though they never used to get widescreen reissues.

Also added as of next week: the Django Blu-ray (released in May). And Ozu's The Only Son ... but not There Was a Father. How is that even possible? Sigh....

[aox]

Even more puzzling is an example of the Shimizu Eclipse set. They have Japanese Girls at the Harbor available, but the other three films are not. I doubt Criterion sold them just that one film and I am sure Netflix had to purchase the entire box.

[Perkins Cobb]

Even more puzzling is an example of the Shimizu Eclipse set. They have Japanese Girls at the Harbor available, but the other three films are not. I doubt Criterion sold them just that one film and I am sure Netflix had to purchase the entire box.

In that case, I'm pretty sure they had all four of them for a brief time, and then they dropped into "Save." Not certain how that happens, unless Neflix ordered an insultingly anemic number of copies, which have since been stoled or wrecked. Fortunately (for me), the NYC public library has taken to ordering a zillion copies of the Eclipse sets.

[filmnoir1]

Does anyone know why they have one of the new Ozu Criterion discs but not the other for rent?

[Roger Ryan]

Well, isn't this nice: Black Narcissus is suddenly listed as "unavailable." As is the entire Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series. Not that they're comparable, but both were in my queue, and now both are gone without warning. Guess I'll have to rent one of their ten-thousand exercise vidos instead. Keep it classy, Netflix.

I was worried by your post considering I had BLACK NARCISSUS in my queue as well, but was able to view it just fine Sunday night. Would Netflix only allow a certain number of subscribers to have a particular film in their queue at one time? There couldn't be that many wanting to view BLACK NARCISSUS this month, right? Or BUCK ROGERS for that matter.