I don't know anything about anime, but supposedly that GreenCine.com that was mentioned in the first response is very good with that sort of thing. You might check them out, too.
Anyone else notice that Blockbuster now has a huge section of DVD TV series? Its about time. "Firefly" was BRILLIANT!!!!!!
I watched the first episode, and I wasn't really impressed. Okay, but not anywhere near deserving of the praise the show had received. But I went ahead and watched the second two episodes since I had the disc there and all, and it got better. If the show was still on, I'd probably become a regular watcher, though probably not be as passionate about it as I was with Buffy or Angel. It really doesn't help that it combines two of my least favorite genres - science fiction and westerns. I'll finish watching the series, though, and I'll likely check out the movie when it comes around.
Actually, the first episode was sorta slow, which led to Fox not showing until Dec....which led to its demise. Two was a little better, the train robbery. From three onward, I really got a feel for it, and my wife and I watched the whole series in a week. Its no "Farscape" but its good stuff.
Greencine definitely has more anime than Netflix. It's no contest. However the last I looked, the distribution *point* is in San Francisco.
I did a test today with new releases with both Blockbuster and Netflix. I put a DVD that was coming out today at the top of each list. Since I mailed back DVDs to each of the companies yesterday, I had at least one slot opening up for a new rental to be sent out. Blockbuster sent the new release that was at the top of that list after receiving one of the discs I returned. Netflix skipped over the new release and sent the next discs on my list. The new release is listed as "short wait" on the Netflix site. So, while the vast majority of my Netflix queue is still listed as availalbe now, all the releases that came out today are "short wait" Speaking of the wait status, I had again a movie that was listed on Blockbuster as having a wait be shipped out to me. Their wait status is not always very accurate. I've had twice with them now that a movie listed as having a "long wait" or "very long wait" get shipped to me while still in that status.
I imagine Kill Bill, Vol. 2 was more requested than Purple Rain, too. I don't expect there to be much of a wait. I just thought it interesting that Blockbuster sent the new release I had at the top of my Blockbuster queue (which was "The Girl Next Door") today.
the best episodes are Out of Gas, Ariel and War Stories (all on disc 3) they are very lite on the western aspect.
I'm very curious about Greencine. I had Netflix a few years ago, and they just ran outta movies I wanted to see. I'm sure it's better now, but Greencine seems to have MANY more movies I'd wanna check out. Anyone here use that?
I've been tempted to try out Greencine, but I've got so many movies coming from Blockbuster and Netflix, I don't think I'd have the time to watch anything else for a while. Speaking of Netflix, they shipped my Purple Rain today, so it was only a day wait after release. And since we've had some reviews on the thread, I will mention that The Specials is not worth the time and effort it takes to watch it and Lover Come Back is not nearly as good as Send Me No Flowers if you're into the whole Rock Hudson/Doris Day/Tony Randall thing. I watched the first season of The Office last night. Found 2/3rd of it to be very funny (especially episode 4).
Netflix/Blockbuster, a great opportunity to watch TV and movies I never would have gotten around to. After I got past hating some of the characters in The Office, I loved it. I thought it was consistently good in the subsequent seasons. Started looking forward to the non sequiturs from the lead character and his *veteran* sidekick. Also watched Freaks and Geeks, it was really good. Then again, there are some movie bombs I wished I hadn't watched...
I thought I would update my first paid month with each of the services. Netflix works about like expected. I am starting to get delays of one day every once in a while on movies shipping out. My understanding is that this is caused specifically by the movies being next in my queue not being available at my regular shipping center, so it takes an extra day to ship the movie from another service center. Not a big deal at all as I'm still getting plenty of bang for my buck even with the slight delays on a few movies. There are a few movies here and there that are listed as "short wait" and a set that is listed as "Very Long Wait". But the vast majority of everything is listed as "available now" (I've had things listed as "short wait" before and those went to "available now" within a matter of a couple of days, and actually the couple that were listed as "short wait" on Tuesday are listed as "available now" today, I noticed). Blockbuster, however, has gone completely nuts. They are shipping movies out every time they receive one, but their method for selecting the "next" movie in the queue is strange. For example, today they shipped the DVD listed 35th in my queue despite the fact that 17 movies before it were listed as "available now". And several movies are listed as having waits in the Blockbuster queue (17 of the 118 movies in my queue compared to 4 out of 466 movies on Netflix). So, Netflix is definitely still winning the race for my continued business. And speaking of Freaks & Geeks, I've got the first couple of discs and I'm going to check them out tonight.
Thanks for the updates. As for Netflix, everything I get is always in queue order. What I usually do is stack my long and short waits at the top of the queue, every once in a while I will get lucky and one will free up on the day that my returns reach the distribution center. Started watching Monk. The pilot was pretty good but the next two episodes were somewhat Agatha Christie-ish in terms of detective story, a little predictable but still OK.
Same here with Netflix. Always in queue order (skipping any that have a wait status, of course). What I usually do is stack my long and short waits at the top of the queue, every once in a while I will get lucky and one will free up on the day that my returns reach the distribution center. That's a good idea I hadn't thought of. Since I've got so few waits at present (since I'm still a new customer, I suppose. Plus, I don't know how many others are trying to rent "North Avenue Irregulars"), wait times have not been a concern yet. But I imagine they could be in the near future. Started watching Monk. The pilot was pretty good but the next two episodes were somewhat Agatha Christie-ish in terms of detective story, a little predictable but still OK. I got the Monk: Season 1 set, too. I enjoyed it a good deal. I had seen some of them on cable before. It's a show I really like overall. I did think the 2nd and 3rd episodes were weaker than a lot of the rest of the season (and the series). The Earthquake one (episode 10) and the Asylum one (episode 5) were probably my favorites for the season.
Netflix Braces for Amazon Publication Date: 10/16/2004 Source: Newsbytes In just five years, Netflix Inc. shot out of nowhere to create a new segment in the movie rental business with a simple business model that allows people to rent popular DVDs online and have the flicks arrive pronto in the mail, all for a monthly fee. Netflix's success spawned competitors, but few so far have been able to chip away at its 95 percent share of the market. But that may soon change. Netflix warned investors this week that it is taking drastic steps to prepare for a new era of competition from Amazon.com Inc. Netflix executives told analysts during a conference call Thursday that the company will cut monthly fees by 18 percent and postpone its plans to expand in Europe so it can focus on meeting the threat from Amazon. The news sent shares of Netflix down $7.13 to close at $10.30. Netflix executives said they picked up rumors about the development several weeks ago and have been able to confirm them from several sources. Amazon has declined to comment on any plans to enter the DVD rental business. "Our customers have encouraged us to offer low price online DVD rentals but we have no announcement to make at this time," said Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith. If Amazon enters the rental market, it could create a showdown between two survivors of the Internet bubble that collapsed in 2000. While Amazon has become the Wal-Mart of the online world, Netflix has remained focused on the DVD rental business. Through Netflix, customers can pick from more than 25,000 titles online and can keep rented movies as long as they want. When they return one film, another is sent. Netflix's "no late fee" model has proved popular and played a significant part in the company's ability to sign up 2 million subscribers. The company is planning to report $500 million in revenue this year, up 80 percent from last year. Netflix already has new competition in the form of Blockbuster Inc., the nation's largest movie rental retailer. Earlier this year, Netflix increased its monthly fees to $22 despite Blockbuster's entry into the market with an offer of $19.99 a month. Netflix reversed course on Thursday and said it would cut the fee to $18 a month in response to the possible arrival of Amazon. Blockbuster soon followed suit and said yesterday it would cut its monthly fee from $19.99 to $17.49. During a conference call with analysts, Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings said he never viewed Blockbuster as a significant threat, but he said he has long been concerned about potential competition from Amazon. The Internet retailer "was the only company that had the e-commerce ethic, understood the customer base and that was a credible and significant threat," Hastings told the analysts. Hastings said in an interview yesterday that the growing competition shows the potential of the online rental market. "Blockbuster and Amazon have realized it is not a niche market and online DVD rental is very mainstream behavior. Both are now scrambling to get a piece of the market." As a result of cutting its fee, Netflix also reduced its annual profit estimate from 50 cents per share to 27 cents per share. Hastings told analysts that the company planned to break even in 2005 as it increases spending on marketing and expanding its operations. Netflix currently has 29 distribution hubs around the country, allowing it to provide next-day service in all but the largest cities. The company is planning to double its subscriber base from its current 2 million customers to 4 million in 2005, Hastings said. But even as it defends against new competitors, Netflix is preparing to open a new front in the online movie rental business. Earlier this year, Netflix signed a deal that will allow it to deliver digital copies of movies over the Internet to TiVo Inc.'s 1.5 million subscribers. Subscribers would be able to download the movie onto the TiVo digital recorder and replay it, just as they do with television programming that has been stored on the device's hard drive. Cable and satellite companies are already delivering similar video-on-demand services. In many cases, cable companies give customers up to 48 hours to view the movie with all the same features as a VCR, including the ability to fast forward, rewind and pause a program. But Hastings said it is likely to be several years, possibly decades, before the movie rental business moves completely online. "DVDs will be the dominant medium for movies for perhaps as long as the gasoline engine," he said. http://www.dhl-usa.com/sbc/SmBizNewsDetail.asp?nav=sb/nw
Thanks for the update! I just finished watching 24 (the second season sucked compared to the first) and am looking for a new series ... going to try out The Shield & Alias. Nice to be saving an extra $3 a month.
I have been very happy with this since I found a machine at the HEB on Bay Area in Clear Lake. Since I can't afford the $23 for Netflix anymore, as long as I don't rent more than 20 movies a month, I end up saving money. So far, I haven't looked for a movie and been unable to get it at the machine, but I can see that if you were looking for something uncommon or old, they probably don't have it. For new releases, though, it seems like a great deal. The only thing I don't like is that you have to use the same credit card to check in that you use to check out. While this would be OK for a single person, my wife rented a movie this weekend (Man on Fire, it was OK, but a bit slow) and when I went ot return it, snapped that I needed to go get her credit card so I could.
screw both theres a new thing opening up in grocery stores like they used to have 1 dollar rentals!!! 1 dollar per day that is..that is still good...if u keep a movie for 2 days its only 2 dollars, say good bye to block buster hollywood video netflix blah blah
Are you talking about the Hollywood video subscription plan? Because I think it's even better. $15 a month for 3 rentals at a time. The only drawback is that you have to wait about a month/month a half for the really big new releases. But my store still has plenty of movies/tv shows that I've been meaning to watch regardless. I don't have it yet, but in the summer when I have more time on my hands, I'll probably get it and go down once every three days and grab three movies. And then watch and return them at an average rate of 1 movie per day.
