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Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

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Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#501

Post by pmoriarty »

fluidcruft wrote: post #469
pmoriarty wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days." Netflix's DVD service still exists.[1] They have a fantastic selection, compared to their streaming service. [1] - https://dvd.netflix.com/

We stopped DVD service because we moved. After the move 4/5 disks came unplayably scratched. And it somehow took two weeks for the next disk to come in the mail. So you can imagine we found we were getting zero value for our subscription fee.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but my Netflix history shows I've watched close to 100 DVDs, and only one of them was unplayable for me. For that one, they shipped me a replacement right away and it worked fine.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#502

Post by thoth »

jackfrodo wrote: post #314
bcrescimanno wrote: post #304

TL;DR: A former Netflix employee isn't surprised because films very little business sense for Netflix. Former Netflix employee here--though I left in late 2013. I remember sitting at a company meeting and Reed Hastings explaining that AAA film content was never going to be the bread-and-butter for Netflix for several reasons. Most importantly: Between traditional, "linear" television and Netflix, the experience that…

What is the definition of "binge-watching"? For me, that would be three episodes of Bojack Horseman, or about 75 minutes of content. On the other hand, I would happily watch a Tarantino film, say 140 minutes, in one sitting. I guess it doesn't count as a "binge" but it keeps me in front of Netflix longer than a television show.

To me, "binge-watching" is along the lines of watching a season of a TV show over a weekend.

I don't think of watching several movies in a row as binging them, I'd call that a "movie marathon" especially if they were a series (e.g. watching a trilogy like Lord of the Rings one after another).

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#503

Post by pmoriarty »

wtetzner wrote: post #491
oldmanjay wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not really a flaw of netflix, is it? If you believe it is, I'd love to understand your reasoning.

I'm not the OP, but I'll give it a shot :) The value Netflix provides is primarily convenience. There are other ways to watch movies and TV shows, the reason to use Netflix is that it's more convenient than the alternatives. Having to deal with physical media (and wait for them to be delivered) is less convenient than other alternatives to Netflix. Therefore, it's a flaw of Netflix.

Streaming is definitely more convenient, but since Netflix's streaming selection is atrocious, it's not worth my time or money.

I'd much rather put up with the minimal hassle and a bit of a wait to get a great selection of DVDs.

The "hassle" amounts to me opening up an envelope, putting the DVD in to my DVD player, putting it back in to the envelope when I'm done and throwing it in to a mailbox on my way to work.

Sure, it's not as easy as hitting play in a streaming app, but not really a big deal, either.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#504

Post by pmoriarty »

blakeyrat wrote: post #475
pmoriarty wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days." Netflix's DVD service still exists.[1] They have a fantastic selection, compared to their streaming service. [1] - https://dvd.netflix.com/

I'm nostalgic for Blockbuster's disk-by-mail service, which had a much better selection than Netflix's ever did. (Ironically; considering how poor the selection in actual Blockbuster retail stores was.) Whenever I wanted some mega-obscure Japanese or Thai movie, Netflix never had it and Blockbuster always did. Oh well.

There was a company called GreenCine which had the same business model as Netflix, but focusing more on independent and rare films.

I meant to give it a try once I ran out of interesting movies to watch on Netflix. But I guess I waited too long, because now they're out of business.

Despite Netflix not having absolutely everything, I think Netflix still has a really good DVD selection, with plenty of relatively obscure films (along with tons of mainstream ones).

It could definitely be better (on selection, and also wish they offered more letterboxed and full-length films instead of shortened ones), and I wish there was more competition in this field. But overall I'm pretty satisfied and would recommend their DVD service to others.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#505

Post by wildmusings »

user5994461 wrote: post #439
bcrescimanno wrote: post #304

TL;DR: A former Netflix employee isn't surprised because films very little business sense for Netflix. Former Netflix employee here--though I left in late 2013. I remember sitting at a company meeting and Reed Hastings explaining that AAA film content was never going to be the bread-and-butter for Netflix for several reasons. Most importantly: Between traditional, "linear" television and Netflix, the experience that…

> the ability to watch as many episodes of a show as you want to watch whenever you want to watch them is VASTLY superior. Only true for shows that are not in the top 250 shows. Netflix: Offering cheap & unlimited access for everytone to shows that noone wants to watch.

Over the years, I've watched all of Daredevil, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise.

They have all of: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The West Wing, Cosmos, Planet Earth, Sherlock, House, Friends, The Office, Parks and Recreation, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and more.

Plus tons of their in-house and supposedly top-quality shows: House of Cards, Daredevil, Narcos, Orange is the New Black, Making a Murderer, and more.

Netflix is a steal for $10 a month.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#506

Post by prakashk »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #257
goostavos wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which has always seemed like a _gross_ misunderstanding of what people enjoyed about Netflix from the very beginning. If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have? My Netflix hours per month has dropped to well under 10 hours per month these days. There's just not much content on there that interests me. I see mor…

"If Netflix launched with Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, and Daredevil, would they have even a tiny fraction of the user base they currently have?" I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question. More people have signed up for Netflix since the release of House of Cards in Feb 2013 than signed up before then. IIRC that it's right around that time that the Netflix movie cat…

    I think there's fairly strong evidence that the answer would be "yes" to that question.
I doubt that. Netflix didn't start with original content. They had to spend many years acquiring their substantial member-base before they started experimenting with the original content. If the company literally launched with House of Cards with no existing members to speak of, it would have been much tougher for them to convince people to pay them money and watch their as yet unproven original content.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#507

Post by phamilton »

pmoriarty wrote: post #503
wtetzner wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not the OP, but I'll give it a shot :) The value Netflix provides is primarily convenience. There are other ways to watch movies and TV shows, the reason to use Netflix is that it's more convenient than the alternatives. Having to deal with physical media (and wait for them to be delivered) is less convenient than other alternatives to Netflix. Therefore, it's a flaw of Netflix.

Streaming is definitely more convenient, but since Netflix's streaming selection is atrocious, it's not worth my time or money. I'd much rather put up with the minimal hassle and a bit of a wait to get a great selection of DVDs. The "hassle" amounts to me opening up an envelope, putting the DVD in to my DVD player, putting it back in to the envelope when I'm done and throwing it in to a mailbox on my way to work. Sur…

The hassle involves the latency of wanting to watch something and it being in the envelope in your home.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#508

Post by ArkyBeagle »

dimino wrote: post #360
ArkyBeagle wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Bread and butter" - there's no differential income stream from anything on Netflix. It's just two bits' worth - streaming yes/no, DVD yes/no. I'd be hard pressed to find the link to support this, but my understanding is that DVD/BluRay sales are the mechanism by which the "last mile" of movie finance is accomplished. My wife and I recently made the decision to stop Netflix. We'd kept a tally and Amazon Video was use…

It's $10/month, peanuts considering what you're getting. Your careful analysis of a purchase that's doable using the literal change falling out of your pocket is not representative of the folks who purchase Netflix (not representative of any purchasing group, really). They're not catering to the folks like yourself.

> They're not catering to the folks like yourself.

Obviously :) We didn't miss the $10/M for a couple of years before we summoned the energy to unsubscribe.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#509

Post by pmoriarty »

phamilton wrote: post #507
pmoriarty wrote: post #503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Streaming is definitely more convenient, but since Netflix's streaming selection is atrocious, it's not worth my time or money. I'd much rather put up with the minimal hassle and a bit of a wait to get a great selection of DVDs. The "hassle" amounts to me opening up an envelope, putting the DVD in to my DVD player, putting it back in to the envelope when I'm done and throwing it in to a mailbox on my way to work. Sur…

The hassle involves the latency of wanting to watch something and it being in the envelope in your home.

I'd rather wait a bit for something good than stream garbage.

Re: Netflix Now Only Has 31 Movies from IMDB's Top 250 List

#510

Post by caleblloyd »

oldmanjay wrote: post #483
caleblloyd wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their DVD service may still exist, but my DVD player does not.

That's not really a flaw of netflix, is it? If you believe it is, I'd love to understand your reasoning.

I used to love going to blockbuster to rent a flick, because I could do it on a whim (near-instant gratification). Because of streaming services like Netflix, blockbuster went out of business.

I don't plan for movie night days in advance. I'm not going to rent that shit in the mail. So after a few years of not touching my DVD player, I threw it out.

The content owners are the real ones losing out here. I'd pay $4 to stream any movie, there's just no service I'm aware of that offers them all digitally at that price.

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