Netflix - Not bad! Qwikster - uh, never mind...

I just signed up. With any luck I will never have to deal with the surly clerks at Kim's again.

So far, two of the three movies in my initial Nicheflix shipment arrived two days after being mailed -- they were mailed the day after I joined, though, not the day I joined. Not a big thing, but Netflix had my initial movies shipped within an hour.

Two days for 2 out of 3 (and I assume the 3rd probably went out later in the day and will be here tomorrow or that it's a postal twitch) is pretty damn good for what I assume is a recently begun company (at least more recently than Netflix); I don't know if it's that I'm near their major distribution center, or if they have multiple ones a la Netflix.

I just got my first 3 movies in the mail today--and they come in such tiny sliver packages--slim enough to fit into NYC apartment mailboxes. Sex and the City + Curb Your Enthusiasm = Yay TV.

any uk types use webflix.co.uk?

seriously tempted by it as the rip off dvd rental place near me is 3 pounds a night!

There's some Canadian versions, yay:

http://www.moviesforme.ca/?REFERER=affiliate238
http://www.nrexpress.ca
www.dvdflix.ca

I'm assuming the selections aren't going to be as good, though

Nicheflix update:

Two more movies arrived today, again with only a two-day delay. Their main base of operations is in Indiana, as it turns out, so that's helpful.

Orgazmo also arrived today, after, what, nine days -- it was shipped with the initial movies, and judging from the packaging it was mishandled somehow; it's re-stamped "correction," with a March 29th postmark on top of the March 23rd one.

Queued up for my lonely weekend of temporary bachelordom:

Blade
Decasia
Beyond The Mat

And I'll try and make it to see Hellboy and The Return at the theater.

Nicheflix update again: unlike Netflix, they process and ship on Saturdays; but they have twice (out of six discs) lost a disc while mailing it to me, apparently because of mislabeling, which results in it being returned to them and then re-shipped (and in the meantime, I'm somewhat "paying" for the movie, by it taking up a slot in my queue).

But they're so fast otherwise that it seems worth it until I run out of region 1 movies I want to watch.

One of the unexpectedly nice things about them is that they have a lot of the Disney discs of shorts that Netflix doesn't or that are out of print -- the Complete Goofy, Mickey Mouse in Black and White, etc.

i wish they'd spell it "the compleat goofy"!

I tried five rental thingies -- Netflix, Nicheflix, Greencine, Yudoo, and Wal-Mart -- and compared them over the course of a month. It's inexact (and location has a different effect on each service), but since Netflix is raising their prices in a couple weeks, I thought it might be useful to see how they all measure up.

what is the generally accepted protocol for going into the family rental queue and removing your spouse's selections? I simply cannot accept the presence of Girl, Interrupted and Whale Rider in our list.

divorce.

I rule over our list. She's going to hate me when we finally get Bring It On Again in the mail.

oooh, I want to see that one! Bree Turner from Deuce Bigelow (the aquarium girl) is in it!

I'll let you know how it stands up.

I just upped my membership to 5 movies at a time, but there is no end in sight for my queue. I wonder how long it will take me to watch all the movies I want to see.

How much did that cost you, mary?

Blockbuster is doing a no late fees program now.

I can't remember, $30something?

i miss netflix

Once I am done with the Whats Happening discs, I am kicking Netflix to THA CURB.

This is why we never see Mary.

Mary, you need to queue Cruel Intentions 3 - one of the stars is Jack from Dawson's Creek.

I signed up and have 80 films in my queue (including everything by Bergman). Now what??

Just wait. You are about to be hit by a cinematic tsunami.

Sweet! I wish I had more free time.

Me too. :(

ME THREEES ;(

i wish i had more cream

Question for a kindly Netflix user - do they have any of the "Treasures from American Film Archives" discs?

NFLX was $35 not even 4 months ago... today <$10. analysts are saying it won't see half that for a long time with dwindling profits and increased competition.

analysts!

In today's email:

Since our price increase in June, some of our members have expressed concerns about the new pricing. We've listened to this feedback and are pleased to inform you that we're lowering the price of your Netflix 3-at-a-time program from $21.99 per month to 17.99 per month.

Sounds like trouble a-brewin'.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

And Blockbuster is lowering to $17.49/mo. in response...

Amazon's service will be launching in a week or two.

What of Nicheflix or Greencine? What of the little guy?

Amazon is going to have one too, oh my...

Buying into the video-on-demand thing was a mistake I'm afraid.
Amazon's service will be something to see I'm sure.
Poor Netflix. I like them. They'll be around for a while longer I hope.

11/30/04 12/10/04 Days of Being Wild (1991)
11/30/04 12/07/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 4: Vol. 2 (1994)
11/30/04 12/07/04 The Work of Director Spike Jonze (2003)
11/24/04 11/30/04 Ordinary People (1980)
11/23/04 11/30/04 Persona (1967)
11/22/04 11/30/04 Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
11/18/04 11/24/04 California Split (1974)
11/16/04 11/23/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 4: Vol. 1 (1994)
11/16/04 11/22/04 The Birds (1963)
11/12/04 11/18/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 6 (1994)
11/11/04 11/16/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 5 (1994)
11/02/04 11/16/04 Shanghai Triad (1995)
11/09/04 11/12/04 Suture (1993)
11/05/04 11/11/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 4 (1994)
10/26/04 11/09/04 Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
11/01/04 11/05/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 4 (1994)
10/20/04 11/02/04 The Man in the White Suit (1951)
10/26/04 11/01/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 3 (1994)
10/19/04 10/26/04 L.I.E. (2001)
10/19/04 10/26/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 2 (1994)
10/13/04 10/20/04 Imitation of Life: Double Feature (1934, 1959) (1934)
08/03/04 10/19/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Season 3: Vol. 1 (1994)
10/14/04 10/19/04 Hell House (2001)
10/12/04 10/14/04 Imitation of Life: Double Feature (1934, 1959) (1934)
10/07/04 10/13/04 Liberty Heights (1999)
10/07/04 10/12/04 Darkman (1990)
09/17/04 10/07/04 What Time is It There? (2001)
08/02/04 10/07/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Seasons 1 & 2: Vol. 4 (1994)
08/05/04 09/17/04 Runaway Jury (2003)
07/27/04 08/05/04 Sling Blade (1996)
07/27/04 08/03/04 Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
07/26/04 08/02/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Seasons 1 & 2: Vol. 3 (1993)
07/23/04 07/27/04 Law & Order: Season 1: Disc 1: Episodes 1-2 (1990)
06/10/04 07/27/04 Beau Travail (1999)
07/13/04 07/26/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Seasons 1 & 2: Vol. 2 (1993)
07/20/04 07/23/04 Love Actually (2003)
06/22/04 07/20/04 Law & Order: Criminal Intent: The First Year: Disc 1 (2001)
06/16/04 07/13/04 Homicide: Life on the Street: Seasons 1 & 2: Vol. 1 (1993)
06/10/04 06/22/04 Blade 2 (2002)
06/10/04 06/16/04 Comedian (2002)
06/04/04 06/10/04 Oz: Season 1: Disc 3 (1997)
05/25/04 06/10/04 Oz: Season 1: Disc 1 (1997)
05/26/04 06/10/04 Oz: Season 1: Disc 2 (1997)
05/24/04 06/04/04 Pickup on South Street (1953)
05/03/04 05/26/04 The Lost Weekend (1945)
05/04/04 05/25/04 In This World (2003)
05/18/04 05/24/04 Cinemania (2002)
05/11/04 05/18/04 The Last Seduction (1994)
04/16/04 05/11/04 The Magdalene Sisters (2002)
04/15/04 05/04/04 The Ring (2002)
04/26/04 05/03/04 The School of Rock (2003)
04/15/04 04/26/04 Experiment in Terror (1962)
04/05/04 04/16/04 Blade (1998)
04/05/04 04/15/04 Decasia: The State of Decay (2004)
04/06/04 04/15/04 Beyond the Mat (2000)
03/29/04 04/06/04 Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002)
04/01/04 04/05/04 Purple Rain (1984)
03/23/04 04/05/04 Dummy (2003)
03/17/04 04/01/04 My Life Without Me (2003)
03/23/04 03/29/04 Moonlight Mile (2002)
03/16/04 03/23/04 The Shield: Season 2: Disc 4: Episode 13 & Bonus Features (2003)
03/16/04 03/23/04 The Shield: Season 2: Disc 3: Episodes 9-12 (2003)
03/01/04 03/17/04 Man on the Train (2002)
03/09/04 03/16/04 The Shield: Season 2: Disc 1: Episodes 1-4 (2003)
03/11/04 03/16/04 The Shield: Season 2: Disc 2: Episodes 5-8 (2003)
03/01/04 03/11/04 Thirteen (2003)
03/01/04 03/09/04 S.W.A.T. (2003)

You only rent Chiklis? I thought you embraced him to your bosom and never let him go.

Somehow my list is less impressive than I imagined it might be.

Also many rentals, including the execrable Ordinary People and Dummy, were not my choices.

Oh fine, blame it on your wife. Stand up and ADMIT IT LIKE A MAN.

okay

ORDINARY PEOPLE MADE ME CRY LIKE A BABY IN ONIONLAND

Vidalias?

i gotta get on the cdn version of this. every video store in town has me marked for death.

you had eyes like onions watching 'ordinary people'.

I'm using LoveFilm in the Uk, If anyone wants recommending, for 4 weeks free rentals for both of us, drop us a line.

I just finally joined NF a few weeks ago. I'm so hooked. It excites me just to go look at my queue and anticipate everything that will be coming. And it lets me actually watch the things I rent (something I don't always do when I rent things at the store and then have to rush them back to avoid late fees). Marvy.