The Convenience Trap: What the changes at Netflix reveal about an insidious trend.
posted by hermitosis on Aug 5, 2011 - 121 comments

The Professor is Dead. Long Live Netflix! As Netflix rebrands itself as a cable TV alternative rather than a by-mail video rental service, it's killing off its user community and anonymizing reviews. Top reviewer The Professor is philosophical about the change (see main link), others less so.
posted by Scram on Jun 28, 2011 - 106 comments

Is Netflix Streaming Its Way Towards Disaster? In the wake of last month's price hike, Edward Epstein (author of The Big Picture and The Hollywood Economist) explores a few issues with Netflix's turn toward streaming video. The licensing deals Netflix cobbled together before studios fully grokked the value of streaming are expiring in the next year or two, outlets like Amazon and HBO are starting their own streaming services, and the right of first sale, which allows Netflix to buy DVDs and then rent them over and over, doesn't apply to streamed content. Via this post from Slashfilm, which adds more links and info. [more inside]
posted by mediareport on Dec 9, 2010 - 126 comments

The Netflix Rolling Roadshow, "Imagine watching 'Jaws' from a raft in the ocean just off the Martha's Vineyard beach where it was filmed . . . or watching 'Escape from Alcatraz' in the cell block where Frank Morris, played by Clint Eastwood, was locked up...This August, the Netflix Rolling Roadshow celebrates classic American movies by screening them at the locations they made famous. Each screening is an interactive special event (think scavenger hunts, road rallies, a high school prom, even spending the night on Alcatraz Island). Some screenings will also include cast reunions and question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers." My favorite: Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. That is going to be a surreal experience.
posted by JPowers on Jun 8, 2006 - 38 comments

What to Rent Computers now recommending movie rentals to people.
posted by AVandalay on Feb 8, 2004 - 25 comments

Netflix may be driving me crazy with popup ads but I love their service. Where else can you rent L'Avventura, The Seventh Seal, Run Lola Run and Rashomon?

It encourages me to explore more movies, which has led me to several "greatest movies ever" lists. I'm thoroughly hooked and my film snob rating is slowly rising. Is this a good thing? I can't even stand to watch drivel like Signs anymore, and my family is tired of subtitles and refuses to watch No Man's Land with me. Anyone else in this predicament? By the way... has anyone seen a good book about the greatest directors?
posted by kevin123 on Sep 6, 2002 - 57 comments