November 2003

Can’t Find a Title We Reviewed? Netflix to the Rescue!

Though many people find it hard to believe, there is more to the world of cinema than the latest blockbuster mega-flop or cheesy '80s horror. As a Home Theater & Sound reader, you know there are highly entertaining art films, thought-provoking documentaries, complex dramas that never found a wide release, and dozens, hundreds, thousands of other forms and ideas that you won't find at your local theater or video store.

If you want to see Darren Aronofsky's incredibly powerful Requiem for a Dream, don't expect to find it on the shelves at Blockbuster. Due to its frank depictions of the effects of drug use, the MPAA gave Requiem an NC-17 rating. Some stores do stock the truncated R version, which removes "objectionable" content.

In fact, there was a plan a few years ago to have Blockbuster-specific video releases, with different editing, redubbed lines, and other steps taken to make the films "safe." Most locally owned rental shops certainly can't compete with a large chain's selection, and certainly are not likely to put obscure films on their shelves.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to understocked, overprotective video stores: Rent DVDs online from Netflix, the premiere online movie rental service.

Begun in 1999, Netflix has a film catalog of more than 15,000 titles -- the average local video store has 3000. For a monthly fee, subscribers get unlimited rentals with no late charges. Movies are sent directly to your door; watch them at your leisure, then seal them in the included prepaid postage envelope and drop them in the mail. It's very simple and efficient.

When you join Netflix, you begin building your rental queue: the list of movies you want to see, in the order you would like to receive them. Your queue can be re-ordered at any time, so that you can get whatever film you like. Basic subscribers can have three films out at one time, though there are payment plans that allow up to eight. When Netflix receives your returned DVD, they immediately ship out the next one on your list. There are 20 shipping centers nationwide, each handling between 5000 and 30,000 transactions daily, so most Netflix subscribers get their films the next day.

Think you'd have trouble building a queue? Not sure of what you might like to watch next? Netflix can make recommendations based on what you've rented before and how you liked the film. Netflix customers have provided more than 150 million ratings of the films they've seen -- each month, nearly 97% of the titles in the entire Netflix DVD library receive a rating. The service uses those ratings in conjunction with your own to determine which movies you might like. Members select approximately 60% of their movies based on the resulting recommendations, so the system seems to work.

If you're not sure that Netflix is for you, you can try the service free for two weeks. If you cancel at the end of that period, you will not be charged anything, but by then you might be hooked.

There are a few other online DVD rental stores, but none with the history, backing, or acumen of Netflix. Wal-Mart has tried to get in on the online rental action, but if it brings its typical form of enforced homogeny to the process, it won't last long. While it might have lower prices than Netflix, it offers less for your money.

Thanks to the Internet, consumers no longer need to limit themselves to the selection at their local video store. Thanks to Netflix, you can easily rent out-of-the-way titles that are reviewed on Home Theater & Sound.

 ...Josh Barber
joshb@hometheatersound.com

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