If'n You Loves You Some Movies

I watch movies. A lot. I own over 250 DVDs and Blu-Rays. I've spent more money throughout my life at Blockbuster than I care to think about.

Well, I've been saying for a while that Netflix is going to put Blockbuster out of business. Netflix launched their website and started sending DVDs to people's homes through good old fashioned Snail Mail a few years back, and Blockbuster ignored it.

Then people stopped going to Blockbuster.

Way too late in the game, Blockbuster decided to start renting off their website. They did have one advantage over Netflix: you could return movies directly to the stores instead of dropping it in the mail and waiting for it to hit Netflix before they'd send you the next one.

That advantage would very quickly be overshadowed, however. Netflix had been working out licensing with the movie and television studios for sometime. Finally, with a modest library on their servers, Netflix launched their streaming service, and threw it in for free on existing accounts. And it's unlimited. And it's available in HD when they have the content. No matter what plan you subscribe to.

Blockbuster Video is getting their asses handed to them on a 12cm platter, and services like redbox are not helping their cause at all. Well, here's one more nail in their coffin. Netflix offers a free 2-week trial for their services. I finally signed up recently. By the end of the first weekend, there was no question I would likely never grace the doors of Blockbuster Video again. I have only received my first movie in the mail. More importantly, at the same time I received the disc for streaming Netflix movies via PlayStation 3. I have, since this past Saturday, probably watched 8 different movies. I finally saw Pan's Labyrinth (awesome movie), I watched The Big Lebowski in HD (also awesome), and I'm about halfway into A Clockwork Orange for the first time (looks to be an awesome movie). The Little Girl saw Labyrinth for the first time. The list goes on. Right now, she's finally finishing up Batman Returns.

I am a full-fledged endorser of Netflix. I you love to watch movies, you owe it to yourself to try it out. And if you don't own a PS3, it's okay. You can stream Netflix through several available Blu-Ray players as long as they're connected to the internet. You can buy a stand-alone streaming device. They're about to ship a disc to allow streaming through the Nintendo Wii. How awesome is that?!?



tweaker