Netflix On Demand Gems

[BvBPL]

I've got the Netflix streaming service, but every time I fire it up I have difficulty finding stuff worth watching. So I figured I'd set up a thread where folks can recommend their favorite stuff so the rest of us can look for it.

TV Series:
Twin Peaks: Season one is one of the greatest bunch of TV episodes ever put together. It kind of drags in the middle of season two, but the weirdness ratchets up a notch to appropriate Lynchian levels towards the end of season two. If you have never seen you should at least try it out. And it has pie, damn good pie.

Star Trek: Last I checked, every TV episode and many Star Trek movies (including Wrath of Khan!) were available on demand. If you've never seen it is worth checking out Star Trek Next Generation. The rest of us can enjoy rewatching old favorites or catching those we missed.

Doc Martin: Fantastic British show about a misanthropic doctor in a small market town in England. Worth a look.

Heroes: Well, the first season is good.

Kingdom: Another British show about a professional in a market town, this one starring an amenable solicitor. Very funny and great scenery porn. I mean, seriously, you'll watch this just for the shots of the landscape and you'll love it.

30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, the Office: Some funny tv shows. 30 Rock is very sitcom, the Office is pretty dead pan, and Parks hits a sweet spot between the two.

Torchwood: A quasi-governmental agencies fights aliens in Cardiff, Wales. Think the X-Files with more humor, sex, and action. I think the last season trails off a bit, but otherwise very good. I guess this is a Dr. Who spin off.

House of Cards: Absolutely brilliant, and scary, political BBC miniseries about one man's drive to be at the top of the political ladder. I guess they are making an America version soon as well.

Mad Men, Lost, Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Dr. Who: Never got too much into these, but a lot of people say good things about them.


Movies:
James Bond Movies: Just noticed a bunch of them are available. Not necessarily the best ones, but there are a few diamonds in the rough. From Russia With Love is my personal favorite of the lot.

Bubba Hotep: Elvis and JFK fight a mummy in a nursing home.

Little Shop of Horrors: Incredible musical.

Monty Python's Meaning of Life: Funny.

Fearless, Ip Man: Great kung fu movies.

Documentaries:
Resurrect Dead: Documentary about these guys trying to solve an urban mystery right under their feet. Really compelling.

Street Thief: In-depth look at a thief.

I'm Not There: Bizarre look at celebrity.

Others?

 

[Glassfan]

Agreement. I've been working through Lost, Downton Abby and Walking Dead.

Highly recommend My Way: fine war movie.

Have you noticed, however, that a lot of really crappy "straight-to-DVD movies have really excellent cover art - to suck you in.

 

[Zelig]

Star Trek: Last I checked, every TV episode

Doc Martin: Fantastic British show about a misanthropic doctor in a small market town in England. Worth a look.

Heroes: Well, the first season is good.

Kingdom: Another British show about a professional in a market town, this one starring an amenable solicitor. Very funny and great scenery porn. I mean, seriously, you'll watch this just for the shots of the landscape and you'll love it.

30 Rock, Parks and Recreation: Some funny tv shows. 30 Rock is very sitcom, the Office is pretty dead pan, and Parks hits a sweet spot between the two.

Dr. Who: Never got too much into these, but a lot of people say good things about them.


Movies:
James Bond Movies: Just noticed a bunch of them are available. Not necessarily the best ones, but there are a few diamonds in the rough. From Russia With Love is my personal favorite of the lot.

Bubba Hotep: Elvis and JFK fight a mummy in a nursing home.

Little Shop of Horrors: Incredible musical.


Documentaries:
Resurrect Dead: Documentary about these guys trying to solve an urban mystery right under their feet. Really compelling.

Street Thief: In-depth look at a thief.

I'm Not There: Bizarre look at celebrity.

Others?

Not in Canada.

 

[Glassfan]

 

[Disgustipated]

Breaking Bad (my reason for getting the streaming service in the first place)

Arrested Development.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Here's a guide to all the movies.

I subscribed to it for a few months. I finally went back to the regular Netflix due to a dearth of good quality flicks.

 

[Plotinus]

Presumably these are all US-only, right?

It's surprisingly hard to browse the Netflix catalogue without actually signing up to it. But the last time I managed it, there was pretty much only one series I really wanted to watch, namely Breaking Bad. They may have added more since then - the service had only just come to the UK - but still, we are very badly served for TV streaming here. 4OD is the only service that has any archives to speak of - BBC iPlayer is current stuff only.

 

[Zelig]

Presumably these are all US-only, right?

It's surprisingly hard to browse the Netflix catalogue without actually signing up to it. But the last time I managed it, there was pretty much only one series I really wanted to watch, namely Breaking Bad. They may have added more since then - the service had only just come to the UK - but still, we are very badly served for TV streaming here. 4OD is the only service that has any archives to speak of - BBC iPlayer is current stuff only.

Lists of available things by country, updated daily:

Canada (2625 movies/shows): http://netflixcanadacompletelist.blogspot.ca/
USA (10524 movies/shows): http://netflixusacompletelist.blogspot.ca/
UK (2242 movies/shows): http://netflixukcompletelist.blogspot.ca/

 

[dutchfire]

Rumor is, Netflix is coming to the Netherlands soon.

 

[Glassfan]

Here's a guide to all the movies.

I subscribed to it for a few months. I finally went back to the regular Netflix due to a dearth of good quality flicks.

By regular Netflix do you mean, mail at home or streaming? It seemed to me that the snail/mail Netflix had a much wider selection of movies, but of course now costs double.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Nope. It is actually the same price for one DVD at a time.

 

[Plotinus]

Lists of available things by country, updated daily:

Canada (2625 movies/shows): http://netflixcanadacompletelist.blogspot.ca/
USA (10524 movies/shows): http://netflixusacompletelist.blogspot.ca/
UK (2242 movies/shows): http://netflixukcompletelist.blogspot.ca/

Brilliant! Thank you!

 

[Glassfan]

Nope. It is actually the same price for one DVD at a time.

Not understanding. You can rent mail-at-home DVD without paying for the streaming?

 

[Disgustipated]

Yes you can, I was doing it. And if you get the 2 movies a month (1 at a time), it's only $5 a month.

I was doing that for a long time, until I heard how good Breaking Bad was, and finally relented and got the streaming. I'm still doing the 2 movies a month for $5 as well for movies that aren't on streaming.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Not understanding. You can rent mail-at-home DVD without paying for the streaming?

I'm the one who apparently doesn't understand. What does their basic service, which costs $8 per month for one-at-a-time DVDs sent to you via mail, have to do with streaming video?

 

[Glassfan]

OK, I just looked it up. There have been repeated plan changes. When I signed up, one had to get the basic streaming for $7.99, and DVD-by-mail was an additional fee, starting at $7.99. So to rent DVDs by mail was a minimum $15.98 charge. I see now (from our conversation) that the plan has changed again and what you said makes sense. I'm going to change my plan to DVD rental - it has a much wider selection of movies - and of course, includes the extras (director's commentary, bonus material, etc.) you don't get in streaming.

 

[Formaldehyde]

No, that is simply not true. You have even been able to get DVDs by mail for as little as $5 per month in the past (limited to one at a time and 4 DVDs per month). Streaming has never been a mandatory aspect of their DVD-by-mail plans. I was a founding member of Netflix. The original (and only) plan was 4-at-a-time for $15 per month.

I was very disappointed with their on-demand service because they have so few of the flicks I actually want to watch. It is primarily the flicks that they rarely rent out in DVD form. They really need to add far more higher-demand flicks to their service.

 

[BvBPL]

I was very disappointed with their on-demand service because they have so few of the flicks I actually want to watch. It is primarily the flicks that they rarely rent out in DVD form. They really need to add far more higher-demand flicks to their service.

That's the point of this thread: to separate the wheat from the chaff in the streaming service.

The "guide" you posted earlier isn't a guide. It is a list of the movies Netflix has available, but that's less than useful because it does not provide any information about whether or no those movies are good. The idea behind this thread to be able to point out movies on Netflix that are actually worth watching, which would, in turn, mean other people don't have the 100 channels and nothing is on problem you describe.

 

[Glassfan]

No, that is simply not true. You have even been able to get DVDs by mail for as little as $5 per month in the past (limited to one at a time and 4 DVDs per month). Streaming has never been a mandatory aspect of their DVD-by-mail plans. I was a founding member of Netflix. The original (and only) plan was 4-at-a-time for $15 per month.

I was very disappointed with their on-demand service because they have so few of the flicks I actually want to watch. It is primarily the flicks that they rarely rent out in DVD form. They really need to add far more higher-demand flicks to their service.

Hmmn,

Spoiler :

Film Festival Today
The Netflix Controversy
Posted on September 27, 2011
Written by: Sandy Mandelberger, Editor-In-Chief

Netflix, the company that changed the ways that tens of millions of people watch films, is suddenly in controversial waters after a strong period of growth and expansion, losing potentially millions of its loyal customers in the process...

... The negative feedback began this summer, when the company introduced an unpopular price increase of $6.00 per month for its internet-plus-DVD services.

I very much agree that streaming Netflix has a disapointing selection. The mailed DVDs have more of what I like.

 

[sophie]

Hmmn,

Spoiler :

Film Festival Today
The Netflix Controversy
Posted on September 27, 2011
Written by: Sandy Mandelberger, Editor-In-Chief

Netflix, the company that changed the ways that tens of millions of people watch films, is suddenly in controversial waters after a strong period of growth and expansion, losing potentially millions of its loyal customers in the process...

... The negative feedback began this summer, when the company introduced an unpopular price increase of $6.00 per month for its internet-plus-DVD services.

I very much agree that streaming Netflix has a disapointing selection. The mailed DVDs have more of what I like.

Yeah, netflix changed their policy in 2011. This was because it was quickly becoming apparent to netflix execs that their current policy of bundling streaming with mail services was entirely unprofitable., as even though netflix experienced unprecedented growth that year due to their streaming service, they actually made little to no money in the process. Therefore they made the perfectly reasonable decision of separating netflix into two branches, one mail-in branch, and one streaming branch. There was some speculation at the time that this was part of a plan by netflix to phase out the mail-in arm of their company as postage and shipping costs were making the business model prohibitively expensive and there was much more money to be made in streaming anyway. Naturally this change resulted in a massive backlash towards the company, with the end result being that netflix quietly and unceremoniously reverted their plans after they had only been in effect for a matter of a week or two.

I believe that is where the company stands now.

They're still fairly unprofitable as I recall, and this was reflected in their stock dropping precipitously in June of this year after the company announced that they were projecting an overall loss for 2012.