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Online DVD rentals

Sandgnat Apr 16 2007 10:45 AM

Just trying to get people's opinions on Blockbuster and Netflix since I just got a new DVD player and I am ready to enter the fray. Been without a DVD player for months now. Does anyone use either of the 2? What plan do you have? Likes/dislikes? It seems to me that if all things are equal, Blockbuster would be the better choice simply because if you want to watch a movie today and you didn't return you online rental yet to get one to watch, you always can go to the store and do it, but I don't know if all things are equal....whaddya think?

Edgy DC Apr 16 2007 11:11 AM

We've been members of both. The marketing psychological warfare is maddening. You get hysterical e-mails from them saying, "Your queue is empty! Pick some fucking movies!" Next thing I know, we're watching five shit DVDs a week while my personal life slips further and further away from me. We got Westworld, for God's sake. Price and convenience are all good. But time is the greater commodity and I can't believe the time I've wasted watching crap I don't really want to see because it's cheap and convenient.

Yancy Street Gang Apr 16 2007 11:21 AM

That's why I never rent movies. If I really want to see a movie I'll find a way to see it in the theater. For those I had an interest in but didn't get around to seeing, I'll catch it if it comes on HBO. Otherwise, I'll get through life without having seen it.

Sandgnat Apr 16 2007 11:23 AM

You can't really go to the theatre here in Savannah. It is a waste of money. A majority of the people in the place spend the entire time on their cell phone or talking to each other. Why someone would pay $10 to do that is beyond me. So it is DVD's or bust at this point.

sharpie Apr 16 2007 11:53 AM

I go to the local snarky video store. The store is manned by film geeks who've recommended a number of worthwhile things when I can't find anything that leaps out at me. I know these stores are a dying breed so I like to support them while I still can. Just like I patronize the local CD store.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 16 2007 12:02 PM

Same here, local indy video renter, some films arranged by director, large foreign section, crammed into too little space, music or TV always way too loud. Hope you get a nod of approval with each selection.

Edgy DC Apr 16 2007 12:11 PM

The funny thing about our stop-and-snark video store is that the manager is such a sweet guy. We never tell him what a bunch of smelly-but-elitist assholes his staff is, but they are. It's fun to watch them drool around women, though. Better to fight them subversively. If "Jared" is being an unhelpful asshole, I move I Am Curious (Yellow) and Short Circuit II to the "Jared Recommends" shelf.

sharpie Apr 16 2007 12:21 PM

For some reason, the guys at my local store are always often or eating Chinese food when I'm in there. Good idea, Edgy, about retaliatory subverting the "recommends" shelf.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 16 2007 12:26 PM

A merchant near you may host a Redbox vending machine -- no Jared, no rent, no nothing, complete Jetsons style, and also has an online component. [url]http://www.redbox.com/index.aspx[/url] I also saw an iPod vending machine recently.

Edgy DC Apr 16 2007 12:28 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 16 2007 02:05 PM

The first RedBox in the country went up right across the street from my local Jared and Jared Video. Rather than taking it as a wake-up call, they just saw in it something new to snark about. They seem to have survived, though.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 16 2007 12:31 PM

I believe Redbox & McDonald's are in bed together somehow.

sharpie Apr 16 2007 12:40 PM

The Redbox near my work has already closed.

Frayed Knot Apr 16 2007 01:27 PM

I don't rent movies all that often and when I do it's because there's something I want to catch but didn't originally rather than to just kill a night so I've never really looked into one of those subscription type places. On the other hand, most of the indy places are gone and I really hate Blockbuster and similar type joints (more screaming kids & adults per sq ft than even malls). So I've taken to checking the stock at local public libraries. The downside is that they don't get the new stuff as quick or in the same quantities so if you're the type who needs to see something the day it's out you're S.O.L. But when I just want to catch up and stuff I missed they're easier, closer and less expensive than BB and sometimes have an even greater selection aside from the pop culture new-release stuff.

Willets Point Apr 16 2007 02:04 PM

I was just about to write a response to this thread but Frayed Knot already wrote it for me. My local public library has an awesome selection of DVD's and is networked with about 35 other libraries in the metro-Boston area so I can usually get anything I want to see if I request it.

seawolf17 Apr 16 2007 02:12 PM

I was about to pimp RedBox and the library. Both get huge thumbs-up from me. There are a million RedBoxes near us, so we can always get what we need, and for a buck a day, that's pretty good. I guess it depends on how much of a movie freak you are; I think we've watched five movies in the past year and a half, so maybe we're not the target demographic, but I like having the convenience of movies either being free (library) or where I already am (the grocery store).

Methead Apr 16 2007 10:17 PM

I've had Netflix for about a year now, and I couldn't be happier with it. I figured it would be a good way to pass the time during my commute. But I've also seen a lot of films the local Blockbuster would never have stocked... all kinds of old foreign films, documentaries, you name it. My "queue" is over 250 movies long at this point. Netflix gets the Methead seal of approval, definitely.

Batty31 Apr 19 2007 11:52 AM

Willets Point wrote: I was just about to write a response to this thread but Frayed Knot already wrote it for me. My local public library has an awesome selection of DVD's and is networked with about 35 other libraries in the metro-Boston area so I can usually get anything I want to see if I request it. Yup..I do the same thing. And most movies are either free or a buck to rent. They are starting to know me at the counter of my library as "the one who requests the weird movies from other libraries". Everytime I walk in they automatically assume I'm there to pick up a movie or a Brit tv show.