6 ms·

I don't approach Netflix as "I want to see this movie so I go here," so much as "I want to watch something, so I'll pick from here." I'm never lacking a choice

I don't approach Netflix as "I want to see this movie so I go here," so much as "I want to watch something, so I'll pick from here." I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. If I know exactly what I want to watch (and don't get lucky enough to find it on Amazon/Netflix/Hulu) I pay for PPV. I don't expect magic for <$10/mo, especially when the going rate for a one-off viewing is nearly half that.

imh 11y ago
You sure used to be able to go there for specific movies. I understand why it's not the case anymore, but I miss what it was.
- geoelectric 11y ago
  I honestly don't remember a time when that was true, and I'm pretty sure I joined the service sometime near rollout. They've had a handful of times where bigger-name movies burst in based on some deal or the other (Starz being the original big one, but there've been others since) but by and large Netflix has always been indie + back catalog as far as I've experienced it in the US.
  - binxbolling 11y ago
    I would agree. I've been on since day 1 of streaming and I'm skeptical the movie catalog has gotten significantly better or worse. Movies come and go, but overall my queue has consistently had hundreds of unwatched movies in it at any given time.
- svachalek 11y ago
  Are you comparing the DVD service to streaming? It's unfortunately apples and oranges; the licensing is completely different for DVD and streaming, and even different between unlimited streaming like Netflix vs. pay-per-view streaming you can get from multiple other sources.
  - imh 11y ago
    No, I never had streaming. Maybe it's my shifting preferences, but I remember being able to say "I'll just wait for it to come out on netflix" for the majority of things I was interested in. Not everything, but still more often than not.
    - __david__ 11y ago
      The DVD service is still that way. That's why I still keep up my DVD subscription. They have everything, in the way the streaming service can only dream of. You have to be patient, but most of the movies I saw in 2015 were at home from the Netflix DVD service.
    - geoelectric 11y ago
      Oh, OK. I (and almost everyone else here) was talking in terms of streaming only. As mentioned elsewhere, the DVD service still works like it always did, and has a wide range of movies.
      - imh 11y ago
        Derp. I meant to say I never had the DVD service. I only ever had streaming! That screwed the entire meaning of my response and it's too late to edit! oops :-\
ansible 11y ago
I don't approach Netflix as "I want to see this movie so I go here," so much as "I want to watch something, so I'll pick from here." I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. Yeah. My main beef with Netflix is that I'd like to just sort content based on the 5-star rating. I'll rarely want to watch something that is less than a 2.0. And I'll consider just about anything that is 4.5 and above.
- enraged_camel 11y ago
  Same here. I also want Steam to let me see the average reviews of games that it shows me on the main screen. I only buy games that are "Mostly Positive" and above, and it's very grating to have to click every title to see that information.
- usrusr 11y ago
  My previous flatrate streaming plan had exactly that and just browsing the far end of "order by rating" was more interesting than watching the moderately dated mainstream movies that scored highest. "Might" be a matter of taste i guess ;)
- aidenn0 11y ago
  Have you seen http://instantwatcher.com/ http://instantwatcher.com/
- geoelectric 11y ago
  At least they now let you view movies by basic category in the embedded clients, as opposed to whichever dynamic lists they decided to promote that day. Baby steps, I guess. I'm with you that I'd like to sort/filter by rating, though I also recognize that tends to cause a snowball effect where you're either popular early or never watched at all.
- fastball 11y ago
  But you can filter Netflix content by rating, at least on desktop. Just select a genre from the top left, and then select "HIGHEST RATED" from the "Sort by" dropdown on the right. Or is that not what you are looking for?
rconti 11y ago
Right, I agree. I was referring to the parent mentioning "the Netflix you all talk about". That Netflix is changing every day. I used to use Netflix to ship me DVDs, then I protested the Qwikster move by switching to streaming-only, which was great for movies (for awhile) but has been shifting to TV content. To be honest, I don't use Netflix much, but the value I get is still worth the $8/mo. Some months I don't use it at all, other months I binge-watch The Man in the High Castle. When I want to watch a movie, I first hit Netflix (hey, free streaming!) to search for it... then I check Amazon Prime on my Fire Stick, because some titles are free. If it's available for rental, I'll pay the $4. If available for purchase only (or unavailable), then I'll hop over to the iTunes store on the AppleTV and hope it's available for rental. Or I just go to canistream.it, which was about my only original invention ever, until I found out someone had already done it.
- geoelectric 11y ago
  canistream.it is you? Or you mean you reimplemented it? I do use that site quite a bit. It's very useful.
  - rconti 11y ago
    No, I didn't bother since someone else did it first :)
- Mithaldu 11y ago
  That site looked almost useful, until i found it doesn't allow me to search i.e. Netflix/Amazon Germany, as opposed to Netflix/Amazon USA.
  - rconti 11y ago
    Ironically, not useful in Italy!
  - theli 11y ago
    It doesn't really work for Amazon US either (well, works for DVD/BD only)
vehementi 11y ago
This guy had some good observations on that netflix effect http://www.vox.com/2015/11/20/9757186/netflix-video-rental-store http://www.vox.com/2015/11/20/9757186/netflix-video-rental-s...
thirdsun 11y ago
> I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. Do you mean that you get that content on Netflix? Or where do you watch? At this point I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to find any movie from the list of things I'm interested in on Netflix. On Amazon maybe a few, for separate payment, which would be fine but half of their films don't offer the original audio track and instead force my local language. I absolutely don't want to see a dubbed version though. So, all things considered I think it's a mess if you have specific things to watch in mind.
- geoelectric 11y ago
  I mean it's pretty rare I wander into Netflix with the intention of spending time on watching something (not a specific show/movie) and don't find anything I want to watch. I agree that if you have something specific in mind and don't already know it's on Netflix, you more likely than not won't find it. But I knew that going in, and never expected that to be the case in the first place.
rplnt 11y ago
It's really expensive when you approach it like this.
craigds 11y ago
> I pay for PPV If only this were an option. I'd gladly pay a few bucks to stream a movie. But outside of the US and Canada I don't think PPV even exists at all. Amazon prime isnt available in my country. I dont know of any other online PPV sites (anyone?) If I can't stream it from one of these netflix-type sites (and as everyone else has pointed out, the selection is crap) my only options are drive to a DVD rental shop or visit thepiratebay. And they wonder why piracy is rampant.
- Inflatablewoman 11y ago
  iTunes?
  - craigds 11y ago
    On iTunes you can buy movies. As in, to watch multiple times whenever you want. For instance, for NZ$18.99 I can buy Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. That's ludicrously expensive if you just want to watch it once.
- andrewaylett 11y ago
  Google Play? I've successfully watched a couple of relatively recent films from the UK.

imh 11y ago

You sure used to be able to go there for specific movies. I understand why it's not the case anymore, but I miss what it was.

geoelectric 11y ago
I honestly don't remember a time when that was true, and I'm pretty sure I joined the service sometime near rollout. They've had a handful of times where bigger-name movies burst in based on some deal or the other (Starz being the original big one, but there've been others since) but by and large Netflix has always been indie + back catalog as far as I've experienced it in the US.
- binxbolling 11y ago
  I would agree. I've been on since day 1 of streaming and I'm skeptical the movie catalog has gotten significantly better or worse. Movies come and go, but overall my queue has consistently had hundreds of unwatched movies in it at any given time.
svachalek 11y ago
Are you comparing the DVD service to streaming? It's unfortunately apples and oranges; the licensing is completely different for DVD and streaming, and even different between unlimited streaming like Netflix vs. pay-per-view streaming you can get from multiple other sources.
- imh 11y ago
  No, I never had streaming. Maybe it's my shifting preferences, but I remember being able to say "I'll just wait for it to come out on netflix" for the majority of things I was interested in. Not everything, but still more often than not.
  - __david__ 11y ago
    The DVD service is still that way. That's why I still keep up my DVD subscription. They have everything, in the way the streaming service can only dream of. You have to be patient, but most of the movies I saw in 2015 were at home from the Netflix DVD service.
  - geoelectric 11y ago
    Oh, OK. I (and almost everyone else here) was talking in terms of streaming only. As mentioned elsewhere, the DVD service still works like it always did, and has a wide range of movies.
    - imh 11y ago
      Derp. I meant to say I never had the DVD service. I only ever had streaming! That screwed the entire meaning of my response and it's too late to edit! oops :-\

ansible 11y ago

I don't approach Netflix as "I want to see this movie so I go here," so much as "I want to watch something, so I'll pick from here." I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. Yeah. My main beef with Netflix is that I'd like to just sort content based on the 5-star rating. I'll rarely want to watch something that is less than a 2.0. And I'll consider just about anything that is 4.5 and above.

enraged_camel 11y ago
Same here. I also want Steam to let me see the average reviews of games that it shows me on the main screen. I only buy games that are "Mostly Positive" and above, and it's very grating to have to click every title to see that information.
usrusr 11y ago
My previous flatrate streaming plan had exactly that and just browsing the far end of "order by rating" was more interesting than watching the moderately dated mainstream movies that scored highest. "Might" be a matter of taste i guess ;)
aidenn0 11y ago
Have you seen http://instantwatcher.com/ http://instantwatcher.com/
geoelectric 11y ago
At least they now let you view movies by basic category in the embedded clients, as opposed to whichever dynamic lists they decided to promote that day. Baby steps, I guess. I'm with you that I'd like to sort/filter by rating, though I also recognize that tends to cause a snowball effect where you're either popular early or never watched at all.
fastball 11y ago
But you can filter Netflix content by rating, at least on desktop. Just select a genre from the top left, and then select "HIGHEST RATED" from the "Sort by" dropdown on the right. Or is that not what you are looking for?

rconti 11y ago

Right, I agree. I was referring to the parent mentioning "the Netflix you all talk about". That Netflix is changing every day. I used to use Netflix to ship me DVDs, then I protested the Qwikster move by switching to streaming-only, which was great for movies (for awhile) but has been shifting to TV content. To be honest, I don't use Netflix much, but the value I get is still worth the $8/mo. Some months I don't use it at all, other months I binge-watch The Man in the High Castle. When I want to watch a movie, I first hit Netflix (hey, free streaming!) to search for it... then I check Amazon Prime on my Fire Stick, because some titles are free. If it's available for rental, I'll pay the $4. If available for purchase only (or unavailable), then I'll hop over to the iTunes store on the AppleTV and hope it's available for rental. Or I just go to canistream.it, which was about my only original invention ever, until I found out someone had already done it.

geoelectric 11y ago
canistream.it is you? Or you mean you reimplemented it? I do use that site quite a bit. It's very useful.
- rconti 11y ago
  No, I didn't bother since someone else did it first :)
Mithaldu 11y ago
That site looked almost useful, until i found it doesn't allow me to search i.e. Netflix/Amazon Germany, as opposed to Netflix/Amazon USA.
- rconti 11y ago
  Ironically, not useful in Italy!
- theli 11y ago
  It doesn't really work for Amazon US either (well, works for DVD/BD only)

vehementi 11y ago

This guy had some good observations on that netflix effect http://www.vox.com/2015/11/20/9757186/netflix-video-rental-store http://www.vox.com/2015/11/20/9757186/netflix-video-rental-s...

thirdsun 11y ago

> I'm never lacking a choice to watch, even with fairly specific criteria in mind. Do you mean that you get that content on Netflix? Or where do you watch? At this point I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to find any movie from the list of things I'm interested in on Netflix. On Amazon maybe a few, for separate payment, which would be fine but half of their films don't offer the original audio track and instead force my local language. I absolutely don't want to see a dubbed version though. So, all things considered I think it's a mess if you have specific things to watch in mind.

geoelectric 11y ago
I mean it's pretty rare I wander into Netflix with the intention of spending time on watching something (not a specific show/movie) and don't find anything I want to watch. I agree that if you have something specific in mind and don't already know it's on Netflix, you more likely than not won't find it. But I knew that going in, and never expected that to be the case in the first place.

rplnt 11y ago

It's really expensive when you approach it like this.

craigds 11y ago

> I pay for PPV If only this were an option. I'd gladly pay a few bucks to stream a movie. But outside of the US and Canada I don't think PPV even exists at all. Amazon prime isnt available in my country. I dont know of any other online PPV sites (anyone?) If I can't stream it from one of these netflix-type sites (and as everyone else has pointed out, the selection is crap) my only options are drive to a DVD rental shop or visit thepiratebay. And they wonder why piracy is rampant.

Inflatablewoman 11y ago
iTunes?
- craigds 11y ago
  On iTunes you can buy movies. As in, to watch multiple times whenever you want. For instance, for NZ$18.99 I can buy Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. That's ludicrously expensive if you just want to watch it once.
andrewaylett 11y ago
Google Play? I've successfully watched a couple of relatively recent films from the UK.