Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

LockAndLoad wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

...so that new season of Walking Dead is pretty good, right you guys? :(

Do what my wife and I do, grab it on Amazon Instant the Monday after it airs.

What he said. I did the math a year ago and figured to watch all my shows on Amazon Instant it would cost me between $20-$40 per month, depending on how many are on in a given month. Much better than the $140/month I was paying DirecTV before. I don't miss my satellite at all!

Serengeti wrote:
LockAndLoad wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

...so that new season of Walking Dead is pretty good, right you guys? :(

Do what my wife and I do, grab it on Amazon Instant the Monday after it airs.

What he said. I did the math a year ago and figured to watch all my shows on Amazon Instant it would cost me between $20-$40 per month, depending on how many are on in a given month. Much better than the $140/month I was paying DirecTV before. I don't miss my satellite at all!

This was pretty much my math, and why I decided to take DirecTV up on their offer last summer. Sure I was paying more, but I am already saving on Walking Dead, American Horror Story, and The Killing, which I was paying for instead of waiting for. Of course, all three have been going to Netflix eventually.

I wish Justified would get there. I missed the 2nd and 3rd season. That's what I should have been paying for.

I don't buy the argument that the movie selection for Netflix Instant is crap. It just depends on what you want, and most people seem to want movies from the past handful of years. But I've found a lot of great excellent films that I missed out on when I was younger or, y'know, not born, simply by exploring a few different items. There's a lot of classics on there.

I guess the issue is they rarely fall under "generic blockbuster" camp.

ccesarano wrote:

I guess the issue is they rarely fall under "generic blockbuster" camp.

It's got those, too. The last two Missions Impossible, Thor, Captain America, and Transformers 3 are all available right now.

Likewise, I've never found the assertion that Netflix has no movies compelling. For one, we have a 191 page thread full of recommendations saying otherwise.

I have more movies in my Netflix queue that I have time to watch them, so I'd say they're doing just fine.

I agree that there are plenty of superb movies on Netflix. You just have to be able to dig a little bit which is the point of this thread.

Stilgar Black wrote:
boogle wrote:
Stilgar Black wrote:
boogle wrote:

4 episodes in on House of Cards.
It is fantastic.

I made the mistake of starting it last night. The "mistake" being that I had to function at work the next day, and thus couldn't consume all the greatness I wanted. So good.

It might be a WFH afternoon.
Need more Kevin Spacey as a satrap congressman from South Carolina.

Now I just need a rib place that servers at 7 in the morning and my life will be complete(ly ruined).

a) absolutely. Every major metropolis needs a 7.00am rib place. I'll also take Cochinita Pibil tacos as a close second because they're awesome.

b) should we start a House of Cards Catch all? The internets seems ablaze because the show is awesome and because Netflix released the entire season making the discussions about spoilers pale in comparison to our own forums.

The House of Cards discussion is here.

Yep, my local cable co (Time Warner) can take a flying leap. I have one OTA antenna feeding all my TVs, with WMC for recording, plus Netflix IW & Amazon streaming. That's a ton of great content for a fraction of the cost of what we used to spend on cable. I still have to rely on TWC for internet service, but I'm signed up to have Google Fiber installed this summer.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

I agree that there are plenty of superb movies on Netflix. You just have to be able to dig a little bit which is the point of this thread.

Yeah, considering the fact that it's $8 a month for all-you-can-watch, if anything I have been shocked how good the selection is.

And I think the biggest reason why their selection isn't even better has been revealed in this thread. Most of the media conglomerates who own the licenses to movies and television also own the cable companies and the television stations. As long as the majority of people are paying the outrageous costs of traditional media that charges you for everything you don't watch, they are probably going to be extremely stingy with what they are willing to give to streaming services. I mean, technically Netflix is their most threatening competition in ages.

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

LobsterMobster wrote:

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

It's teh filmmakers submitting their work to Netflix. Not the other way around.

LobsterMobster wrote:

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

They probably pay in bulk for a company's holdings and then just post them...you never know: someone may like them!

firesloth wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

They probably pay in bulk for a company's holdings and then just post them...you never know: someone may like them!

Nope. No one does. I checked.

By the way, thank you to the person (or persons) that recommended Archer in the distant recesses of this thread. I came across it while browsing the "What's Popular" section yesterday, and the name tripped an association in my head that must come back to this thread somehow.

At any rate, I'm hooked...thanks!

LobsterMobster wrote:

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

A fair number of those movies are made by Asylum Entertainment, a company that specializes in producing knock-offs of popular movies to be released on video and cable at the same time the bigger product is released in theaters. They're the people that stuck Transmorphers on store shelves the day that Transfomers came out and countered Paranormal Activity with Paranormal Entity. I'm not sure what their costs are, but every store has them. Blockbuster and Hollywood Video carried them back when they were viable options; Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes have them now. I remember that the Hollywood Video near me used to have all the new releases displayed along the walls; the top two-thirds were the blockbusters, the bottom third were the Asylum versions.

My guess is that it's incredibly inexpensive to get the rights for these kinds of movies, and people probably watch them more than you'd think. Part of the reason they might seem more prominent on Netflix than on other services is that Netflix doesn't have the new releases, only the knock-offs. So, Transmorphers but no Transformers. Netflix also hasn't done as good of a job—although they're getting better—of shuffling those movies under the rug in favor of more popular ones. These kinds of movies should never be headliners in the New Releases area, but for awhile that's exactly what Netflix was doing.

firesloth wrote:

By the way, thank you to the person (or persons) that recommended Archer in the distant recesses of this thread. I came across it while browsing the "What's Popular" section yesterday, and the name tripped an association in my head that must come back to this thread somehow.

At any rate, I'm hooked...thanks!

I just like to laugh at all of the crazy knock off films. Better there than taking advantage of a grandmother or parent who thinks Jazzy Penguin is the same as that Happy Feet DVD their kid wanted.

FWIW, Paranormal Entity actually wasn't half bad. I have no first-hand knowledge of Transmorphers, but I suspect the real value of these movies comes when you watch them while drinking with your buddies.

LobsterMobster wrote:

My biggest problem with Netflix is that it has so many knock-offs of popular movies. These are things no one would ever want to watch, ever. They aren't so-bad-they're-good, they're just plain bad. It's obvious they were made to trick people who aren't paying enough attention to what they're getting, so why even catalog them? Is Netflix actually paying money to license them? It's not like Netflix doesn't know what's up, since most of them will say, "this is not the good one" in the description.

Unless you are a big content provider like Disney where they sign a multi-year contract, the amount of royalty money a license holder makes on Netflix is usually related to how many people are actually watching it each month. If you never watch Transmorphers, you probably aren't supporting the company that is making it that much with your subscription fee.

And that's why a lot of older content dissapears during the most opportune times, like how Groundhog Day always expires 2 days before the actual day on Netflix and then eventually returns. During most of the year, they are glad to get the 2 cents from every person watching it. But during the time period where people are most likely to impulse purchase the DVD in the big Walmart bin or pay $3 to rent it from some on-demand service, they pull it.

Stop the f***ing presses. The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam are now on Netflix Instant. The best way to describe the two is that they're space-western musicals filled with delightful amounts of camp. I absolutely recommend The American Astronaut, and Stingray Sam is worth a watch if you like what you see.

The gf and I watched Safety Not Guaranteed last night and we both really liked it.

SuperDave wrote:

Stop the f***ing presses. The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam are now on Netflix Instant. The best way to describe the two is that they're space-western musicals filled with delightful amounts of camp. I absolutely recommend The American Astronaut, and Stingray Sam is worth a watch if you like what you see.

The gf and I watched Safety Not Guaranteed last night and we both really liked it.

Thanks! Your description is full of things that I enjoy:

Space-western: check!
Musical: check!
Camp: check!

After my wife and I finish the latest Futurama season (and I run out of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil episodes), we'll have to check it out.

SuperDave wrote:

Stop the f***ing presses. The American Astronaut and Stingray Sam are now on Netflix Instant. The best way to describe the two is that they're space-western musicals filled with delightful amounts of camp. I absolutely recommend The American Astronaut, and Stingray Sam is worth a watch if you like what you see.

Ah, ya beat me to it!

I watched The American Astronaut last night and really enjoyed it. I had absolutely no idea what the movie was about other than Netflix said I'd like it and I was hunkering for something scifi and it had "astronaut" in the title.

I knew from the opening shots that it wasn't going to be a "normal" movie, but the bathroom scene just a few minutes in totally hooked me. After that, I just had to see where it went.

I guess I'd describe the movie as early David Lynch weirdness mixed with some danged good rockabilly numbers and surprisingly well executed for having a budget of about a buck ninety-nine.

In the mood for something deeply dispiriting and unpleasant, and infuriating to watch? Compliance, which got more than a few walk-outs at Sundance, is available now. It's a dramatization of a depraved prank call that goes way, way too far, based on true events, and like Irreversible and Requiem for a Dream, it shows where Netflix's star rating system really fails, because while the film is well-made and whatnot, I'm not terribly comfortable clicking "Loved It!"

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

In the mood for something deeply dispiriting and unpleasant, and infuriating to watch? Compliance, which got more than a few walk-outs at Sundance, is available now. It's a dramatization of a depraved prank call that goes way, way too far, based on true events, and like Irreversible and Requiem for a Dream, it shows where Netflix's star rating system really fails, because while the film is well-made and whatnot, I'm not terribly comfortable clicking "Loved It!"

If you want to watch a less intense version of that story, there was an episode of Special Victims Unit starring Robin Williams, based on the same events. Season 9, episode 17, also on Netflix Instant Watch.

This is creepy One Hour Photo Robin Williams, not zany Mrs. Doubtfire Robin Williams.

I forgot how creepy Robin Williams was in One Hour photo.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

In the mood for something deeply dispiriting and unpleasant, and infuriating to watch? Compliance, which got more than a few walk-outs at Sundance, is available now. It's a dramatization of a depraved prank call that goes way, way too far, based on true events, and like Irreversible and Requiem for a Dream, it shows where Netflix's star rating system really fails, because while the film is well-made and whatnot, I'm not terribly comfortable clicking "Loved It!"

The prank went exactly as far as the prank caller wanted it to go. I watched the original, I believe it was Dateline, episode where they reported on this. I was just stewing in righteous fury the whole time. I tried to watch it, but once I realized that the victim was played by Dreama Walker I turned it off. I've already seen what really happened and I'd like to continue to enjoy Don't Trust the B in Apt 23.

Grenn wrote:

The prank went exactly as far as the prank caller wanted it to go.

Which is, of course, way, way too far. That's what makes it so infuriating, and is also why I don't think the film would work if you didn't know it was a dramatization of real events--too many times when no one asks the right questions.

BadKen wrote:

If you want to watch a less intense version of that story, there was an episode of Special Victims Unit starring Robin Williams, based on the same events. Season 9, episode 17, also on Netflix Instant Watch.

I dunno, while I've been given to understand L&O is the more tasteful of the network procedural shows, I can't help but think the inevitable sanitization required is a bit disrespectful. This shouldn't be easier to watch.

Thank God I devoted my DVD queue to catching up on the Fasts and Furiouses. Some delightful trash really hit the spot.

I'm sure it's old news.. but my wife and I have been loving MI-5 or Spooks. Really love how the british do television, they don't treat the viewer like a dummy.

MI-5 is really amazing. I have seen few shows as intelligently written and brutally intense as that one.