Netflix (DVD Delivery Discussion Only)

[Grand Wazoo]

I just finished watching Tetro on instant. Only it ends mid sentence. This not being a Bret Easton Ellis novel, I became suspicious. It seems Netflix claims the running time is 87 minutes, despite, you know, it being over 2 hours. I had to go find a low quality video source online to finish my viewing. Has this happened before to anybody? Is Netflix's quality control becoming so bad that they fail to even put complete films online? I've put up with pixelated pictures and cropping, but this is my first time experiencing a problem this bad.

[Borgnine]

They just deleted Red Shoes, Black Orpheus and Black Narcissus on Blu-ray from my saved, saying they won't be available on that format.

No Red Shoes on Blu-Ray is an affront to humanity. That's a weird one too because they have the new print up on streaming, but from what I understand they have the old print on DVD, but with the new cover art just to make it extra confusing. Not that I would ever realistically expect Netflix to buy a new DVD of the exact same movie just because there's a new print, I don't even think they know what a print is, but still. I wanted to recommend it to my parents but all they have is a DVD player so I guess they're out of luck.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Comcast is putting some pressure on Netflix.

[jsteffe]

Comcast is putting some pressure on Netflix.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to write to the FCC about net neutrality. I'm not fan of Netflix, but still...

[Perkins Cobb]

Yeah, see, I'll feel a whole lot better about this whole streaming thing if Netflix would fight that battle with the ISPs before they throw out all the DVDs.

[Feego]

I don't think it's been mentioned here, but Peter Brook's Marat/Sade is available for streaming. I have never seen the film, and I only skimmed it a little on Netflix, but it appears to be a huge improvement over MGM's OOP DVD. The reviews I've read indicate that the DVD had terrible audio and a fairly dull, non-anamorphic image. The print on Netflix looks very nice, and the audio sounds fine to my ears.

[Mr. Ned]

Looking for Mr. Goodbar available on Instant.

[Perkins Cobb]

Looking for Mr. Goodbar available on Instant.

Nice, like The Keep, a rare Paramount film in the right aspect ratio.

[Dylan]

I've been told that Richard Brooks's 1969 film The Happy Ending is streaming on Netflix. I love this movie, my personal pick for the greatest film of 1969, so I can't recommend it enough.

[Markson]

Hot damn: the SNL archive has now been expanded from the mid-eighties to season 20, covering my favorite era of the show, with the dynamite writing of Conan, Odenkirk, Smigel, and Handey to boot. Season 20, the transitional year before the Great Cast Dump, will be bizarre to revisit. It's hard to believe that Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo, Michael McKean, Mark McKinney, and Laura Kightlinger were ever on the program period, let alone together.

[James]

I Am Cuba is streaming in HD. This means I'll probably have to give it a watch.

[Noiradelic]

I never got why streaming is so much more popular than DVDs with the casual movie fan when there are so few popular Hollywood movies and TV shows -- particularly recent ones -- available. Now it becomes a little clearer where Netflix got the brass to shift fees around in January to favor streaming. A blockbuster slate of Warner films will be available on the first of the year, including:

2001
Clockwork Orange
Eyes Wide Shut
Mean Streets
Goodfellas
Wizard of Oz
Dog Day Afternoon
Network
Bonnie & Clyde
Blazing Saddles
Performance
JFK
Rio Bravo
Giant
Asphalt Jungle
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof
Dial M For Murder
Doctor Zhivago

[loachparty]

Yowsa. Did anyone notice Cronos pop up?

I tried to watch it maybe two nights ago and it was a huge mess, it stuttered like every other frame (or more) had been removed.

Has this come up?

edit: RE: SNL, it infuriates me that most (all?) of these aren't the complete episodes w/ musical guests, etc. etc.

I know, rights, etc. but...

[AtlantaFella]

Yes, Cronos definitely has jerk/motion issues. You can report issues with a streaming title by clicking the "Your Account & Help" link at the top right of the Netflix web page, and then scrolling to a link near the bottom of the next page called "Report a quality problem watching instantly".

I tried to report this, but the title isn't showing up in my watched list yet. I will check again later -- meanwhile it might be helpful if anyone else who is so inclined would report the issue as well.

** Update: I just reported the issue, but the process is multiple-choice only and does not allow for a text description of the issue. I checked the "picture is missing or unwatchable" option. I imagine the quality people will start the movie, see a picture, and dismiss the complaint. Or maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Time will tell.

[swo17]

Yes, Cronos definitely has jerk/motion issues. You can report issues with a streaming title by clicking the "Your Account & Help" link at the top right of the Netflix web page, and then scrolling to a link near the bottom of the next page called "Report a quality problem watching instantly".

I tried to report this, but the title isn't showing up in my watched list yet. I will check again later -- meanwhile it might be helpful if anyone else who is so inclined would report the issue as well.

** Update: I just reported the issue, but the process is multiple-choice only and does not allow for a text description of the issue. I checked the "picture is missing or unwatchable" option. I imagine the quality people will start the movie, see a picture, and dismiss the complaint. Or maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Time will tell.

So I guess even though Netflix only cares about instant viewing anymore, they don't actually even care about instant viewing.

[Roger Ryan]

** Update: I just reported the issue, but the process is multiple-choice only and does not allow for a text description of the issue. I checked the "picture is missing or unwatchable" option. I imagine the quality people will start the movie, see a picture, and dismiss the complaint. Or maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Time will tell.

So I guess even though Netflix only cares about instant viewing anymore, they don't actually even care about instant viewing.

Yes, this is also frustrating when I cue up a film and it shows up encoded in a squashed aspect ratio. I would like to explain to Netflix exactly what is wrong with the image, but I'm left checking the box for "Picture Is Unacceptable".

On the other hand, over the past week or so, I've actually been able to view four complete films in their correct aspect ratios with no stutters or stops. Given that I've not been able to have that kind of success rate in over six months suggests that Netflix has upgraded their servers somewhat or corrected some malfunctions.

[jbeall]

I put Withnail and I in my queue b/c it wasn't available on instant, and the day it arrives, it's now available for instant viewing. Go figure.

[Perkins Cobb]

More new stuff for auteurist (and noir) completists added to NF instant this month: DeMille's The Buccaneer (1938), Siodmak's The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945), Renoir's Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), Allan Dwan's Driftwood (1947), Martin Gabel's The Lost Moment (1947), Richard Fleischer's So This Is New York (1948), Cy Endfield's The Sound of Fury (1950), and Leisen's Darling, How Could You! (1951).

Mostly from the Paramount / Epix pipe, and note that these include some (mediocre-looking, but mostly better than what's out there) nuggets from the long-buried Republic catalog. If Ophuls's The Exile pops up, maybe I'll stop ragging on Netflix for a day or two.

[d_dets]

A whole slew of titles showed up today (mostly Warner, some returning after a brief disappearance), among them (as I keep typing, they keep popping up

Goodfellas
Dog Day Afternoon
A Little Princess
Poltergeist
The Outsiders
Ocean's 11 (1960)
Insomnia (2002)
Femme Fatale
Howards End
The Bostonians
Naked Lunch
subUrbia
The Good German
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
Mars Attacks!
Blackboard Jungle
The Bad Seed
A Very Long Engagement
The Hudsucker Proxy
A Dirty Shame
Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser 2
For Your Consideration
ABBA: The Movie
Blazing Saddles
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Eyes Wide Shut
Giant
The Gauntlet
Mean Streets
2001: A Space Odyssey
2010
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same
Dangerous Liaisons
Dial M For Murder
Chariots of Fire
Eros
Afraid of the Dark
Disclosure
A Clockwork Orange
Chisum
Rio Bravo
A Wedding
The Fountain
Big Wednesday
Asphalt Jungle
Bonnie and Clyde
Performance
Straight Time
Ode to Billy Joe
The New Age
Equinox

And on the TV side, the complete run of The Kids in The Hall, some more "seasons" of Saturday Night Live, a slew of George Carlin specials and the first four seasons of The Larry Sanders Show.

[Perkins Cobb]

Ode to Billy Joe
The New Age
Equinox

All of which are not on DVD, and seem to be in the right aspect ratio here. As is Running on Empty, which was full-frame only on disc.

Depressing to think of people watching so many of the Blu-ray-available titles above via streaming, though.

[Elmyr]

Many of these titles are available in HD (including Performance \:D/) so it's not too depressing.

[aox]

The restored Metropolis is now streamable! \:D/

[jackson_browne]

Ode to Billy Joe
The New Age
Equinox

All of which are not on DVD, and seem to be in the right aspect ratio here. As is Running on Empty, which was full-frame only on disc.

Depressing to think of people watching so many of the Blu-ray-available titles above via streaming, though.

Also, don't forget Linklater's long unavailable SubUrbia.

[aox]

all 36 Seasons of SNL are up.

I am loving Seasons 2-4 and 15-17.

[Perkins Cobb]

This is more of a technical question, but ... Dexter Season 2 appears squished horizontally into a roughly 2.35 shape on my plasma screen when I stream it via my Sony Blu-ray player. However, it plays properly, unsqueezed, in the 16x9 Netflix window on my laptop. How is that discrepancy possible? So far that one season of Dexter is the only thing I've watched that does this. I can't correct for it by adjusting any TV or player settings.