You may have noticed there is now a banner at the top of my page for Netflix. Well, I get $9 buck for everyone who signs up for a free trial. That's great, because, before, I had been telling people how much I like Netflix for free. The idea is you keep a queue of movies online, and, for $20 a month, they send you the first three of your list. You can keep them as long as you want, and, as soon as you send one back (using the postage paid envelope it comes with), they then send you the next DVD on your list. I've found it usually takes less than a week between sending one out and receiving a new movie. If you watch movies as soon as you get them and then send them right back, you could easily see more than a dozen in a week. If you like movies even more, they offer other plans where you can keep more than three at once.
Now the great thing is their selection. Now, I'm an American, and I love government certified blockbusters as much as the next guy, but occasionally I like to seem some old artsy film or a foreign film (don't tell Buck), and I've had trouble finding them at the local Blockbuster. My only recourse was to buy them if I want to see them (you should see my Aikira Kurosawa collection). Well, with Netflix, if it's on DVD, they have it. Currently I'm watching the Zatoichi series through them, interspersed with a mix of comedy's, blockbuster's I missed, and old classics I've always mean to see. Anytime I think of some movie I want to see, I can just head to my Netflix page and add it to my queue.
If you own a DVD player and like movies (why do you have a DVD player if you don't like moves?), you need to give Netflix a try. You get it for two weeks free, and they make it easy to cancel if you don't like it. And, if you go more than two weeks and think better of it, you only pay month to month and can stop anytime.
So, go to my banner, click on it, and give them a try. If you want some move recommendations (they'll let you rate movies you've already seen and give you recommendations based on that, but I'm smarter than them) see Equilibrium - it's an awesome movie with some very inventive action. Also, The Hunted with Christopher Lambert (not to be confused by the more recent one with Tommy Lee Jones) is great if you like seeing samurais fight ninjas (and who doesn't?). Also, everyone must see The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in widescreen. It is my favorite movie and has the most perfect ending of pretty much any movie I've ever seen.
I'm sure you’ll want to thank me later for pointing you to Netflix, but, if you join through my banner, you won't have to, because I'll get nine bucks. And nine bucks is thanks enough.
Posted by Frank J. at July 27, 2003 12:17 PM | TrackBackSELL OUT! SELL OUT!!
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Do they happen to have made-for-TV movies as well as cinematic ones?
What sort of genres?
Posted by: The False God on July 27, 2003 02:15 PMI am a very satified Netflix customer.
In the past year, I have rented about 180 movies for only $20 a month. If I had rented these films at my local video store, it would have cost close to $900.
That's a savings of $660!
Plus, I don't have to wait in line and I can rent indie and foreign films that the video stores NEVER have.
You can keep the movies for as long as you want -- no late fees. And, I get the new DVD about two days after I mail the the one I've just watched back to Netflix.
I can tell I'm an old fart compared to the youngsters who hang out here. We did NetFlix for about 3 months. It's a good service--don't get me wrong. But we were too lazy and decrepit to keep up and eventually we just joined Columbia House so we could BUY the DVDs we want.
I remember one rather obscure film we rented from NetFlix--a documentary about Ella Fitzgerald. About two hours long. Just terrific. Lots of original footage of her singing live, etc.
Posted by: SallyVee on July 27, 2003 03:44 PMFrank,
Can I borrow 9 bucks?
Damn, didn't think so...oh well, I'll just keep stealing from old people.
Posted by: Tim E on July 27, 2003 04:47 PMMy favorite in the blind masseur Zatoichi series are definitely "Zatoichi on Patrol", "Master Zatoichi Renegotiates His Home Equity Loan", "What's Master Zatoichi Doing in the Tomato Plants?", and, of course, "Prime Minister Zatoichi's Pajama Party".
Posted by: Norbizness on July 27, 2003 09:56 PMOh yeah, love Netflix. And I love Equilibrium! "Not without incident." That one's going back on the queue!
I wish only that my love affair with Netflix could have netted you nine bucks! Good luck with the ad.
Posted by: Beatnik Joe on July 28, 2003 01:12 AMI have had netflix for going on two years, and I must say it is the best service around for movies, unless you are an instant fix kind of person. The beautiful thing is that it allows you to update your rentals with movies that are not even on DVD yet. It saves it in the upcoming section and automatically puts it in line when the movie is released.
I am very satisfied with Netflix. That reminds me, I gotta return my movies THANKS FRANK for the reminder
Posted by: Don on July 28, 2003 03:14 AMOh yeah, one more thing. The video stores are still good for something. Sometimes I go in with pen and paper, and write down what i want to see. Then i come home and add it to the list =)
Posted by: Don on July 28, 2003 11:35 AMI dunno! If they only have a bit over 13,000 titles, then they probably have nothing I have not seen already twice or more.* Hmmm, I wonder if they clean the returned disks better than my local store does. I get so tired of wasting all my expensive eyeglass cleaner cleaning some stupid DVD some stpid idiot's child smeared with jelly. I hardly ever see that damn banner anyway, because most of my visits are from following permalinks in Susie's posts, anyway.
*Unless, of course, it starred Adam Sandler, was a sequel to American Pie, or was ratd "G." Mostly I like movies with scantily clad teenage [looking] cheerleaders with Valley Girl dialogue.
Posted by: Tiger on July 28, 2003 07:33 PMDoes it work outside the states? I live in europa, but.. Netfix sounds good.. o_O
Posted by: Boo. on August 4, 2003 05:57 AMI have been a Netflix member for over a year, according to the system I have rented 180 films and rated 411 movies. I started as an unlimitted member, but due to funds getting tight switched over to a smaller plan that lets me check out only 4 movies a month. I still enjoy the service very much compared to Blockbuster.
Posted by: John Hilla on August 7, 2003 12:59 PMWhether native or not, this is obviously one of the first steps on your way to OS X. Keep in mind that often, the functionality of your code has a lot to do with how your interface is designed. How many developers have come up with great functional ideas from working with their interface or looking at their competitors'? Start working on your Aqua compliance from day one. Don't wait until the last minute.
Posted by: Archilai on January 12, 2004 09:36 AMFrank, I hope you enjoy your $9. I signed up through IMAO and immediately put 70+ movies in my rental queue. I love that I can rent UK DVDs that no one else has (The Young Ones, Touching Evil 3, The Office). And no more late fees? Hot diggity!
Posted by: Curtis the Former Marine on February 17, 2004 07:16 PMThe world is a beautiful book for those who can read it.
