What to Watch Instantly on Netflix? (and now all streaming services)

[JPhillips]

It would be an interesting poll question. Would you rather be unknown, but financially secure or be constantly financially insecure, but have the experiences of Anvil members?

[Matthean]

Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks and The Crow are on instant.

I watched Astonishing X-Men. It covers issues 1-24 of the comic written by Joss Whedon. It's a motion comic book animation so there are some issues with it, but overall it's a quick watch considering there are 6 parts of about 11-14 minutes each with credits.

[DataKing]

Sports Night is available streaming now. I haven't seen it (yet) but I know I've heard good things about it from others on this board.

[Butter]

Kids in the Hall is also available now.

[Matthean]

Deadliest Warrior is up as well.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Deadliest Warrior is up as well.

If you were on Sportsdigs you would have known that this was up two weeks ago at least.

[Matthean]

I Saw The Devil. A guys kills the fiancée of an elite special agent and then the agent seeks revenge. It's a film that could be done in 30-45 minutes and it pretty much feels that way. At that point I was really wondering how the hell there was a 2:20 long movie in this. Oh, but it's a Korean psychological thriller directed by KIM Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Tale of Two Sisters). CHOI Min-sik(Oldboy) plays the killer. It's violent to the point of being uncomfortable and skips the R rating and gleefully gets an NR. Even without the ending, it was a solid building of tension and with a cop out ending still works and is way more than enjoyable. However, there is no cop out ending. The ending is beautiful in a messed up way that some Korean film makers seem to make their signature.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I Saw The Devil. A guys kills the fiancée of an elite special agent and then the agent seeks revenge. It's a film that could be done in 30-45 minutes and it pretty much feels that way. At that point I was really wondering how the hell there was a 2:20 long movie in this. Oh, but it's a Korean psychological thriller directed by KIM Jee-woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and A Tale of Two Sisters). CHOI Min-sik(Oldboy) plays the killer. It's violent to the point of being uncomfortable and skips the R rating and gleefully gets an NR. Even without the ending, it was a solid building of tension and with a cop out ending still works and is way more than enjoyable. However, there is no cop out ending. The ending is beautiful in a messed up way that some Korean film makers seem to make their signature.

It was a brutal gut punch of a movie, I really enjoyed it, though it was violent, overpoweringly sad, funny in bits, horror abounds. It never dragged, it just got more twisted. Still by the end, I felt that I had watched something awesome.

[Antmeister]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Marwencol is a great documentary about a former alcoholic that was beaten nearly to death and now creates and photographs pseudo-WWII scenes as a sort of self therapy.

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I watched Marwencol a few weeks ago. Was really interesting.

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

I concur, I watched it too. Odd to think that getting lost in fantasy allows for one to get reattached to reality.

Thanks for this. Amazing...amazing movie.
It is amazing to see a tragedy and chance change the direction of his life for the better. There are many more levels to this, of course, but I don't want to ruin it for those who take a chance to watch this.

[PilotMan]

I am thoroughly enjoying the 7 and a half hours of the ROCK in the WWE.

[PilotMan]

Tudor's season 3 and 4 are now on to go along with 1 and 2. Fan-fucking-tasic.

[Peregrine]

Not sure if you were aware, but a couple of obscure sci-fi series called Star Trek (TOS) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (as well as Voyager and Enterprise) are now available on Netflix Watch Instantly for the next two years at least. I hear DS9 is coming on October 1st. It's going to be a very Star Trek heavy next few months for me.

[Dodgerchick]

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.

Documentary about a guy who's on several medications and has a medical condition in which he breaks out into rashes and whatnot. He decided to change his diet and his life completely changed.

Absolutely.must.watch. It's one of those life changing movies... it's changed our lives, that's for sure.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm thinking it's time to see Reservoir Dogs again, haven't seen it in at all in several years.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

If you haven't seen it, the 'When We Left Earth' documentary series it is an absolute must. Great insight and footage on the NASA program. Lots of info on the moon mission decade that I didn't know.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.

Documentary about a guy who's on several medications and has a medical condition in which he breaks out into rashes and whatnot. He decided to change his diet and his life completely changed.

Absolutely.must.watch. It's one of those life changing movies... it's changed our lives, that's for sure.

I saw it being new, so I added it, but didn't watch it yet.

[fpres]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Not sure if you were aware, but a couple of obscure sci-fi series called Star Trek (TOS) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (as well as Voyager and Enterprise) are now available on Netflix Watch Instantly for the next two years at least. I hear DS9 is coming on October 1st. It's going to be a very Star Trek heavy next few months for me.

Thanks for the info. I've been hoping these series would be available at some point. Time to start watching everything over again.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I saw it being new, so I added it, but didn't watch it yet.

Watched it. I liked it a lot. Probably not the thing to watch while eating a frozen pizza and drinking pop just after getting groceries.

[PilotMan]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Riveting, emotional and terribly depressing. Also incredible storytelling, very raw. Highly recommend.

[Scoobz0202]

Yea. I remember watching that on MSNBC about three years ago. Stuck with me for days. One of the few things when people ask what it's about I tell them it's best if I say nothing. Just watch.

[Matthean]

It's been posted before as a major tear jerker. It's in my queue. I'm trying to just be in the mood for it.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Watched it. I liked it a lot. Probably not the thing to watch while eating a frozen pizza and drinking pop just after getting groceries.

Hahaha. I've done simlar stuff - eating M&Ms while reading a diet book, eating a burger while watching Losing It with Jillian Michaels, and on and on and on

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Riveting, emotional and terribly depressing. Also incredible storytelling, very raw. Highly recommend.

That was a hard one to watch. Stirred up a lot of different emotions. One of the best documentaries I have ever watched and is definitely a must see.

[Grammaticus]

Black Death
Awesome flick starring Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones). During the first wave of the pleague there is word of a remote town that is unaffected. Rumors indicate the town has a witch that is protecting them from the plague. The Bishop sends out a small group lead by his leutenant to investigate. Very good and gritty.

[judicial clerk]

Dear Zachary got to me like few other documentaries. I think we might have had a thread about it.

[ColtCrazy]

I have a question for all you Netflix experts. I'm seriously considering canceling my Directv account. I'm past the introductory rate and I get the run around when trying to redo my deal even though I know I'll end up in another commitment. So, do any of you rely on just Netflix and the Internet for your TV viewing?

Right now I have a 360 connected to the internet and I know I can watch Netflix on it. Is the quality good or should I look into buying an internet ready TV? (and if yes, then which one?) The only downside I'm seeing is the lack of sports options, but as long as I can watch the away Colts games someplace, I'll be fine.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Right now I have a 360 connected to the internet and I know I can watch Netflix on it. Is the quality good or should I look into buying an internet ready TV? (and if yes, then which one?) The only downside I'm seeing is the lack of sports options, but as long as I can watch the away Colts games someplace, I'll be fine.

The quality depends on your internet connection. If your 360 has a wired connection (and you have the right connection between your 360 and TV) you will get HD-level quality.

If you have a wireless connection the quality will depend on the strength of your 360 wireless connection. Mine fades in and out a bit. Sometimes I hit the HD-level quality other times I don't.

Overall, the quality can be quite excellent.

[ColtCrazy]

Thanks. My 360 has a wired connection through the the router. Downloads seem to work pretty well on them. I have a free month trial, so I'll give it a whirl and see how the quality is on it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Thanks. My 360 has a wired connection through the the router. Downloads seem to work pretty well on them. I have a free month trial, so I'll give it a whirl and see how the quality is on it.

The quality should be fantastic.

[ISiddiqui]

What they said. I have a wired connection directly to my TV and HD programming is just as good as watching something on HD over cable (a few stutters every once in a while, though that happens).

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

What they said. I have a wired connection directly to my TV and HD programming is just as good as watching something on HD over cable (a few stutters every once in a while, though that happens).

720p is the highest streaming level that I get with a Roku player and a 20.0 MG wireless (N band) connection

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by Grammaticus

Black Death
Awesome flick starring Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones). During the first wave of the pleague there is word of a remote town that is unaffected. Rumors indicate the town has a witch that is protecting them from the plague. The Bishop sends out a small group lead by his leutenant to investigate. Very good and gritty.

Antmeister and I were trying to figure out if we should watch this, or IP Man, We went with IP Man but will probably watch Black Death sometime this week.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

We watched Ip Man based on the recommendations over at slickdeals (the Blu-Ray is $14). I would heartily recommend this movie for any kung fu fan...or anyone else for that matter. My wife's chief complaint is she didn't like reading the subtitles, but I got used to it after a bit.

It is an excellent movie.

Spoiler

When Master Ip says "I want to fight ten men" that fight is crazy awesome

Spoiler

Yeah when he kept shaking that gate, I was all like, oh shit, all hell's gonna break loose! And it did.

IP Man, yes check it out. Full of kung-fu awesomeness.

[molson]

Looks like some price increases at Netflix. I don't think it's worth some of the outrage I'm reading on the internet, but it's now $16/month for 1 DVD + streaming, and $20/month for 2 DVD + streaming (the latter is a $5/month increase I think).

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by molson

Looks like some price increases at Netflix. I don't think it's worth some of the outrage I'm reading on the internet, but it's now $16/month for 1 DVD + streaming, and $20/month for 2 DVD + streaming (the latter is a $5/month increase I think).

I think my issue is that it's the second price change in a short period of time. This gives me less confidence that this pricing is going to stay for a significant period of time.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by molson

Looks like some price increases at Netflix. I don't think it's worth some of the outrage I'm reading on the internet, but it's now $16/month for 1 DVD + streaming, and $20/month for 2 DVD + streaming (the latter is a $5/month increase I think).

Seriously? Yeah I think I'm canceling completely now.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I think my issue is that it's the second price change in a short period of time. This gives me less confidence that this pricing is going to stay for a significant period of time.

Someone else here made the point about how we're really in the golden age of price/options. It's going to be a completely different deal in 5-10 years. What I get from Netflix now is worth so much more than what I pay, I just shrug these increases off. I would have needed a second job to pay Blockbuster what I get from Netflix. Except Blockbuster didn't even have every movie/TV show ever recorded to DVD. Netflix at $16/month is at least triple of the value of Cable/Satellite at $80ish/month.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by molson

Netflix at $16/month is at least triple of the value of Cable/Satellite at $80ish/month.

Unless, of course, the majority of what your family is watching is catching up on random stuff primarily from cable.

Me - haven't watched anything yet except for being in the room with my kid

Son - after a few stray movies (albeit a couple of good ones), mostly a few missed eps of things like Ultimate Warrior, Billy the Exterminator, 70s Show

Wife - a few movies, otherwise mostly old TV (AbFab, Ally McBeal, 30something, etc)

At the moment (i.e. summer break) there's probably $20 of value in it for them. Once school starts back, I've got my doubts about that.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by molson

Looks like some price increases at Netflix. I don't think it's worth some of the outrage I'm reading on the internet, but it's now $16/month for 1 DVD + streaming, and $20/month for 2 DVD + streaming (the latter is a $5/month increase I think).

Hasn't Netflix been clear that they want to get away from physical discs and into streaming, so increasing price for physical media would be in line with that? Or is the streaming-only package going up noticably as well?

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by molson

Looks like some price increases at Netflix. I don't think it's worth some of the outrage I'm reading on the internet, but it's now $16/month for 1 DVD + streaming, and $20/month for 2 DVD + streaming (the latter is a $5/month increase I think).

Yup.. I was paying like idano.. $10 or $11 for unlimited streaming and 2 DVDs last summer... now it's getting a second increase and going up to $20.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Unless, of course, the majority of what your family is watching is catching up on random stuff primarily from cable.

Me - haven't watched anything yet except for being in the room with my kid

Son - after a few stray movies (albeit a couple of good ones), mostly a few missed eps of things like Ultimate Warrior, Billy the Exterminator, 70s Show

Wife - a few movies, otherwise mostly old TV (AbFab, Ally McBeal, 30something, etc)

At the moment (i.e. summer break) there's probably $20 of value in it for them. Once school starts back, I've got my doubts about that.

This is the problem. Outside of TV to some extent, their streaming selection still sucks. I need to look into hulu more, but I really see no way I go streaming only.

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Hasn't Netflix been clear that they want to get away from physical discs and into streaming, so increasing price for physical media would be in line with that? Or is the streaming-only package going up noticably as well?

See above. If they want to do that, they'd damned well better step up their game.

[wade moore]

and greg, looks like streaming only and dvd only aren't seeing a jump, just those plans that do both.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by wade moore

This is the problem. Outside of TV to some extent, their streaming selection still sucks.

Kind of my feeling about it. For the vast majority of movies, if I didn't see them at release I really wasn't all that interested anyway. And for older stuff, it's a matter of convenience to rewatch, not something particularly urgent (and rarely anything I can't eventually catch somewhere on Dish).

Outside of a handful of movies I'd like to make sure my kid sees, it's really no big whoop to me.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by wade moore

and greg, looks like streaming only and dvd only aren't seeing a jump, just those plans that do both.

Maybe the reason here then is that they hit subscriber limits that have triggered contract clauses, so they want to make sure that those counting as "streaming" subscribers actually use it, and don't just have it added to their physical media plan as a convenience. They could lose money on people that aren't actually streaming but are signed up for it, so they want to make sure those getting physical media also really want the streaming and use it and thus pay for it, rather than it being the throw-in it started as to get customers when Netflix got the streaming content for cheap.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kind of my feeling about it. For the vast majority of movies, if I didn't see them at release I really wasn't all that interested anyway. And for older stuff, it's a matter of convenience to rewatch, not something particularly urgent (and rarely anything I can't eventually catch somewhere on Dish).

Outside of a handful of movies I'd like to make sure my kid sees, it's really no big whoop to me.

FWIW, a major use for us is Disney Channel and Nickelodeon shows the kids still love to watch. Plus some other movies and whatnot, but shows like Phineas & Ferb and Jimmy Neutron get a lot of the Netflix time these days.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by wade moore

This is the problem. Outside of TV to some extent, their streaming selection still sucks. I need to look into hulu more, but I really see no way I go streaming only.

IMO Hulu's selection is even more limited than Netflix *and* you have to sit through periodic advertising too, even if you do the Plus subscription.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

720p is the highest streaming level that I get with a Roku player and a 20.0 MG wireless (N band) connection

720p and 1080i are basically the same. 1080p is only for Blu-ray at this point.

[PilotMan]

wade you're way off base on the selection stuff, imo. Now we haven't had cable at all in almost 9 years so there wasn't a lot of competition before, but have had netflix for almost 2 years now and hulu+ since it started, we as a family aren't even close to running out of things to watch. I guess it's what you expect. I mean, if you expect to get first run movies and all the seasons of all current tv episodes on premium cable and network tv, you might need to lower your expectations a little. I think that's all fine to work for, but that's not even in the realm of possible for anyone without a dish and DVR right now.

I have mixed feelings about the hike. On one hand it sucks that it's so close on the heels of the last hike, on the other hand, I'm with molson, we get way more value out than we pay, and third, as a shareholder, it's certainly positive for the stock price.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I mean, if you expect to get first run movies and all the seasons of all current tv episodes on premium cable and network tv, you might need to lower your expectations a little.

Agreed. There are plenty of things on there, once you admit you aren't going to get the latest-and-greatest. But that's why you're paying $80/month less.

I finally watched Firefly thanks to Netflix. This whole thread is full of stuff. My wife and I finally watched the first season of 24, commercial free and at our leisure. Plenty for the kids, and plenty of movies we didn't get to see the first time around and don't feel like buying Blu-Rays for. Of course, the reality is I just play more games now and don't watch as much TV as I used to, which helps as well.

[Draft Dodger]

that's a pretty big price jump - essentially doubling in price in less than a year (8.99 to 15.98).

their streaming selection has improved, but I don't think it's improved THAT much. I'll definitely need to think about this one.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Unless I missed it, there was no notification of the upcoming price changes when I logged into Netflix. I only heard about it through the grapevine on the net. Then when I logged into my account information and clicked see membership terms, only then did I see the change.

I think it is pretty poor form from Netflix not to have some sort of formal announcement when you log in. (unless I missed it, then oops)