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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

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last weekend my wife and I wanted to watch the movie Goat. It was pretty recently in theaters, so we didn't expect it to be on Netflix. We searched HBO Now, Hulu, Starz, and all of the other video streaming services that we have (and pay money for!). We found two options - rent it on Google Play Movies, or rent it through Amazon Prime. Now, we wanted to Chromecast it, and Amazon (to the best of my knowledge) does not…

That's funny as my wife and I have probably streamed hundreds of items with our Chromecast from various sources including the Play Store and have never had the slightest issue. We do have quality issues with Netflix sometimes, but its pretty rare and seems to be related to choppy wifi connections due to interference (since moving to 5ghz wifi we haven't had issues - which may be coincidental). Online services have is…

Listen mate. I am not playing up an edge case here and even if I were, you are very much doing the same thing.

When I pay for a service, travel frequently, and cannot use that service because of licensing restrictions due to ads, that is a problem. That tells me these streaming services put more stock into my viewing ads than accessing content I am already paying for. I am not pro-pirate. Nor is your car analogy relevant. You are comparing apples and oranges (the business models aren't remotely the same and the value propositions are completely different, to me, that is disingenuous.

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

#412
post #243
post #28

It sucks that Netflix is pushing their own content as a solution. Don't get me wrong, some of their own content is great, but I don't want to subscribe to 10 different streaming services that all have their own original content, I want to subscribe to one. Netflix--and others, like Amazon Prime--are becoming less and less worthwhile, and piracy is becoming more and more convenient again.

I think the Netflix content is fantastic - more than enough to pay their pretty cheap monthly streaming price for. And in addition, they have a massive catalog of other content. Who cares how many IMDB top 250 they have. It's similar to an HBO but half the price. We pay $20/month or so for Netflix and Hulu, plus Amazon comes with prime which I pay for more for the shipping than the streaming. This isn't a lot - compa…

Netflix is similar to HBO but cheaper much the way the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are similar to the New York Yankees.

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

#413
post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the case, that leaves the problem (from the consumer's point of view) of where to get access to a complete(ish) catalog of films. Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days. So we're actually moving backwards. I'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary.

I'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary. It's not necessary if you accept the cost that the makers of these films want to charge you.

This assumes the product can still be purchased or is for sale in the country.

Not every country has a licence to sell certain movies. Literally can't pay the money the makers of the films what they want to charge me because they don't want to charge me. This also applies to music and other products (though other products can't necessarily be pirated).

My options are:

    a) Pirate the movie at no cost to the creator
    b) Do not watch the movie at no cost to the creator
Morally - I don't see the difference. Financially - there is no difference. Culturally? There is a huge difference. Many people fail to realize how much culture is shared/discussed around movies/music (esp. American movies/music).

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

#414
post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, it's a classic capitalism vs. communism argument. Economically: Many channels will die, which would lower production costs, which in a competitive market lowers consumer costs. More importantly, channels will actually need to fight for consumers. Which means they are not going to soft ball ultra cheap reality TV that most of their core demographic hate. cough syfy

I can't tell if you're arguing for or against bundling, but bundling is what can allow some channels to be given a chance. If I remember correctly Disney/ABC, Viacom, Time Warner, etc use bundles as a way to introduce new channels. They negotiate a price down on a popular channel, say ESPN, provided the service carries a newer station like Comedy Central or Viceland.

Disney could just subsidize 'the puppy channel' or whatever with their own money and have a free 3 month trial to get people hooked.

Really, it's just a question of what they get from all their channels (X + Y + ...). If Y = 0billion and X = 10billion that's the same as Y=1billion and X = 9billion.

PS: Ok, their might be some accounting magic so it's useful for channel Y not to be profitable.

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

#415
post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're referring to topsites, they are archaic, their rules are outdated, and they optimize for speed over quality of releases. In terms of breadth and quality of content, private torrent trackers are far and away the best download method.

Usenet

Unless you're using private NZB sites with encrypted/obfuscated files, usenet is nowhere near as good as it used to be.

Even then, private torrent trackers are better for choice.

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

#416

I'm glad for Netflix original content. It's been high in quality, and I've already seen all the top 250 IMDB movies I want to see. What Netflix could do to prove its love of movies, and which would probably make good business sense, is unearth movies that have never been shown on TV, or never been digitized to DVD or even transferred to VHS. There are websites devoted to those lost treasures, and movie lovers who wou…

Yeah but most people don't care about unearthing movies. All I want are the hits and popular escapist fare which Netflix is not willing to spend on.

>> which Netflix is not willing to spend on.

Or, just maybe, the license holder isn't willing to make a deal with Netflix because they want to start their own streaming service.

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

#417
TIL Netflix has a lot of great movies I'd like to see.

But my viewing time is already overfilled with all the Arrow, Flash, iZombie, and other shows I'm binge watching. And 80% of the time I'm more interested in seeing some "weird" Indian/Turkish/European movie than same Hollywood drivel.

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

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

License dealings are often per-country, and there are different exclusive deals in different countries which prevent anyone else from offering some film or show on their streaming platform. There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately.

>"There's a lot of legal overhead per country, unfortunately." // Which it's worth remembering is entirely self-imposed by the industry. Why, if Netflix comes along and says "we want to give you more money by showing this media to Swedes too" do the media conglomerates not fallover themselves to make it happen. It needs a couple of checkboxes on a form somewhere.

I'm not arguing in favour of the status quo, but merely trying to explain it. I completely agree that the current situation isn't very good---neither for consumers nor (probably) content right holders.

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

#419
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made that argument myself, but agree that the current video streaming situation is just dumb. Could you explain me why that analogy is wrong? I understand there is no damage done as in, they don't have less money than they had before, but they still have less money than they would have if i bought/rented the video.

That is why the analogy is wrong. If you're in a situation where you're definitely not going to buy it (because nobody will take your money and give you the product, for example) then there's no difference to them if you watch it or not. Imagine I really want your car, so I take it. Or imagine I really want your car, so I use a magic wand to make an exact duplicate of it. Are those two scenarios at all comparable?

> (because nobody will take your money and give you the product, for example)

This argument fall apart in many of the examples cited in this thread because most of the time, those movies are available digitally for a price. The fact is that most people just don't want to pay that price so they use other means to watch the movie.

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

#420
post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the case, that leaves the problem (from the consumer's point of view) of where to get access to a complete(ish) catalog of films. Netflix actually achieved this back in the disc-by-mail days. So we're actually moving backwards. I'm not particularly ashamed to say I turn to unlicensed torrents for this purpose, but I would prefer if it weren't necessary.

Well, there's iTunes (a PPV service, of course). I'd like to know how big of a catalog iTunes have in terms of % of the 1,000 most popular movies they have.

Not all movies on iTunes are rentable. Been waiting for the third Hobbit movie forever.
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