Netflix (DVD Delivery Discussion Only)

[Numero Trois]

Netflix streaming finally coming to Canada this fall. But then again, I'm not so sure if that's such a good thing. A lot of the NF streaming movies I've seen lately are terrible transfers. It's funny how so many bootlegged movies on youtube are better quality than what NF has been offering.

[Perkins Cobb]

Wow, Netflix doesn't carry Fat Girl. Remind me, are there any other Criterions they're still stonewalling on?

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Like three dozen titles, yeah

[Perkins Cobb]

Really? Other than OOP ones? Obviously I haven't gone looking for any of those. I was thinking that most of the ones that were missing for a long time (like the Dreyer set) had finally been acquired.

[Numero Trois]

Wow, Netflix doesn't carry Fat Girl.

They used to. What's weird is its not even showing up on the Catherine Breillat page.

[domino harvey]

Yeah, that's how I saw and thank God it wasn't a blind buy

[buskeat]

The Only Son and There Was A Father aren't there either, and availability is listed as "Unknown."

[swo17]

If it's a new title like that, Netflix is going to drag its heels until enough people put it in their queues. Make sure it's in your queue, and while you're at it, create several other profiles and add it to each of those queues as well.

[Perkins Cobb]

Swo is correct, please add the Ozu's to your queue if you have a NF account. Three of the four Hiroshi Shimizu Eclipse discs are now unavailable, although I think they were all (briefly) on there at one point. Those can be queue-saved as well. I'm not sure how feasible it is to bring something "back from the dead" on Netflix, although to my surprise the Lionsgate Bunuel set (Gran Casino and The Young One) did go from Unavailable back to Short Wait in my queue last week.

I can kind of understand Netflix blowing off Code Red or VCI, but Criterion? This is terrifying and enraging. I feel like I have to watch basically every movie released on DVD now, before Netflix shuts down physical shipments, or else the only way I'll be able to get my hands on them will be paying OOP prices.

And I used to assume that any new DVD release I logged into my spreadsheet would be available any time I got around to it ... so naive.

[Matt]

Criswell predicts: This is how they're going to go streaming-only: by sheer attrition of titles. They won't add new niche titles, they won't replace damaged ones. Pretty soon the only discs you will be able to get from them will be the top 20 new releases.

MARK MY WORDS!

[domino harvey]

No one likes unpopular predictions, no matter how true

[MyNameCriterionForum]

For God's sake, everyone add By Brakhage V. 2 to "Save"... even my local library hasn't picked that one up yet.

Oh, and is there a "Blow me" app for Netflix? Cause I'm tired of this shite.

[Perkins Cobb]

Oh, and is there a "Blow me" app for Netflix?

Catalog title budget was diverted to develop that, actually.

[Matt]

Just curious, has anyone recently gotten an extra DVD shipped because the top titles in your queue were on long wait/short wait? This used to happen fairly regularly, but it must be at least a year since it's happened to me. I wouldn't be surprised if they discontinued that with their new penny-pinching when it comes to actual DVDs.

Side note: my "saved" queue, which is mostly DVDs that have been released that they refuse to carry, is now as long as my actual DVD queue.

[Hopscotch]

Just curious, has anyone recently gotten an extra DVD shipped because the top titles in your queue were on long wait/short wait?

Yes, a few weeks ago. They Made Me a Fugitive was on "short wait," so they shipped the next title in my queue. They also still ship replacement discs asap upon report of a defective DVD, as I learned recently when Touchez pas au grisbi froze on me at the halfway mark. God help us if they stop doing that as well.

[Matt]

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post, I think you misunderstood mine. I'm asking if anyone has gotten shipped an extra (additional) DVD from their queue because of titles at the top of the queue being on long wait/short wait. Netflix used to do this to make up for what you want not being available, but I don't think they do it anymore (at least not for me).

[Hopscotch]

Unless I'm misunderstanding your post, I think you misunderstood mine. I'm asking if anyone has gotten shipped an extra (additional) DVD from their queue because of titles at the top of the queue being on long wait/short wait.

I apologize for not being clear. Netflix shipped me They Made Me a Fugitive and the next title in my queue, so I had three dvds that week, as opposed to the usual two.

[Feego]

Matt, I think I know what you mean. I have the next-to-cheapest Netflix plan, which is one DVD at a time, unlimited DVDs per month. When my top choice was on a "Short Wait," they would send me the next film, and then send me my first choice when it became available. So I had two out, even though my plan was only for one at a time. I would have to return both before receiving my next one.

Yeah, I noticed they stopped doing that a while ago too. As a result, I just started moving "Short Wait" or "Long Wait" titles down in my queue, so I don't know if they've ever started again (doubt it).


EDIT: Well, obviously it worked for Hopscotch recently, so I should try it again.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Just curious, has anyone recently gotten an extra DVD shipped because the top titles in your queue were on long wait/short wait? This used to happen fairly regularly, but it must be at least a year since it's happened to me. I wouldn't be surprised if they discontinued that with their new penny-pinching when it comes to actual DVDs.

Side note: my "saved" queue, which is mostly DVDs that have been released that they refuse to carry, is now as long as my actual DVD queue.

Have You Received a Complimentary Netflix DVD?

My extra discs have slowed down as well, despite having about two dozen short/long/very long-wait titles at the top of my queue. And yes, my "saved" titles number about 150, they need to get their act together.

[Perkins Cobb]

Just curious, has anyone recently gotten an extra DVD shipped because the top titles in your queue were on long wait/short wait? This used to happen fairly regularly, but it must be at least a year since it's happened to me. I wouldn't be surprised if they discontinued that with their new penny-pinching when it comes to actual DVDs.

Side note: my "saved" queue, which is mostly DVDs that have been released that they refuse to carry, is now as long as my actual DVD queue.

Same here, on both points. It's been a while since I've deliberately tried to prod loose an extra DVD by parking some Short Wait titles at the top of my queue. However, I agree: on the few occasions a Short Wait has hit the top during the last six months or so, they haven't shipped an extra.

I've noticed, though, that it's more common now for a Short Wait or even a Long Wait to ship without delay. My theory is that they've devised a more conservative way of reporting (i.e., they've upped the number of available discs that trigger a "Now" to slip to a "Short Wait") or else some way to ship the Short Waits more efficiently, and used that as an internal excuse to discontinue or reduce the extra disc policy. Possibly because a small number of people were persistently gaming the system to get a whole bunch of extra discs -- maybe more people than you'd think, because the allure of free stuff makes people crazy.

[Numero Trois]

Just curious, has anyone recently gotten an extra DVD shipped because the top titles in your queue were on long wait/short wait?

They've done that with my account about two to three times in the past few months.

[Matt]

So it sounds like Netflix just doesn't like me, then. Of those of you who have gotten the extra discs, how many use the streaming service?

[Props55]

My friend with the home theatre ("Thanks for the use of the hall.") and Netflix account used to get an additional disc (for a total of 4 at a time) but I'm not sure he was aware this was predicated on titles stacking up in his queue. He was on the 3 at a pop unlimited # per month (for I think $9.00) plan but is now set up for streaming video. When I asked how much this was going to cost he said he wasn't sure as the whole set-up was engineered by one of his techies (he's a partner in an alarm business) and he hoped he wouldn't faint when he got the bill. When it finally came due the new monthly charge was $16.00 but he still isn't sure if this is a fixed amount or predicated on the number of downloads. He's been having a Wilder festival and the Kino BILLY WILDER SPEAKS disc arrived with a crack from the hub to the outer edge. I feared he'd never get it replaced but after complaining was promised another copy. We'll see.

BTW I think we got that same TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI disc last year!

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Wow, talk about digressive non sequiturs! What was the question?

[MyNameCriterionForum]

Has anyone rented Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers from Netflix lately, and if so can you verify that it is the newer (presumably anamorphic) disc? They list a separate bonus disc as available, which leads me to believe they're carrying the new 2-disc rerelease... but their disc description actually still seems to be for the earlier edition.