My roommate has a Netflix account. About once a week we get some new BluRay in the mail. He's kind of uncreative when it comes to movies; we've got 'Transformers 2' and 'We Own the Night' right now. I figure he just requests whatever's in the 'top ten' for that day. And that's probably how most people use these services, it's boring as heck to choose a movie for January in the middle of November. For me at least, it's a mood thing- sometimes I want to see a stoner flick, sometimes I really wanna watch a Safari documentary(ok, I guess those are both stoner flicks, but who's counting) .
About a year ago I had a similar deal with Blockbuster. You know the type, go online and pick the movies you want to see, wait a few days- and poof! In your mailbox. No late fees, no runs to the Blockbuster store, just effortless entertainment. Additionally, you could actually just go to the store and swap them out for a new movie. That was cool, but on my $10.99 plan I could only swap five times a month and only have 3 movies at any one time. After a while I just got tired of going online and seaching for something watchable. After all, if wanted to look real hard for something to do- I'd probably be able to find a more engaging activity than wait for movies in the mail.
Along comes Netflix streaming. Just pop the disc into your Playstation3 (there's other ways to run it, but they don't matter, just buy a PS3!) and boom! You've got literally hundreds of movies and TV series' at your fingertips. Only catch is that you've got to have your PS3 online, but really, is there anyone who doesn't have cable modem? See that? Targeting my audience, because duh, this blog is online.
And the selection of streaming movies is awesome. They've got 'Howard the Duck' and 'Cocktail', just what any late '80s-bomb lover desires. Only catch: not everything is avaliable, sure they give you two seasons of 'Grey's Anatomy', but for season three you have to request it in the mail. I'm not sure why, probably has to do with royalty fees or continuing sales, but I can live with that. There's really plenty on offer with the Netflix program, but they'll never be able to replace Blockbuster's franchise model because even in a life-or-death-cliffhanger situation ('Heroes', I'm lookin' at you), you have to wait for the mail to come to see those later seasons.
Despite the lack of a full library, Netflix streaming has plenty on offer, leading my roommate to say, and I quote, "Dude, I don't even wanna watch TV anymore." Indeed, Todd, indeed. But let's set the TiVO to record 'Shark Week' just in case.
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I enjoyed reading your blog entries, especially the last one about the holidays. It’s very “stream of consciousness” on the reasons behind your gift-giving philosophy. There’s no doubt you are passionate about the movies and about the PlayStation 3, and your commentary would encourage interaction with your blog readers. I’m wondering if Blockbuster is going to last much longer. The store near my home seems to always be busy, but with the convenience of video streaming, it seems like more people will go that route.
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