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Post by The Curmudgeon on Jun 5, 2013 16:25:13 GMT 2
Netflix has been hanging around the UK for a while now, and it's really started picking up steam and getting serious business. What's interesting is that a huge number of people subscribing to Netflix are the sort of people who usually illegally download. Maybe it's the ease of use, the low price (£6 a month) or the high quality of the actual product, but a number of people who wouldn't normally pay for stuff.. kinda are. Which is great. Anyway, Netflix had never really been much of an interest to me because I get the full Sky subscription package free every month (Mrs C works for them), but there was one thing that made me realise Netflix was an absolute necessity.  All new Season Four to be exact. Since joining, it's been a bit of a "oooooh, look what they've got!" voyage of discovery, my prime non AD picks being EVERY episode of the US Office, something I've wanted to see for years, every episode of non more cult comedy It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia, a show I've never even seen broadcast in the UK, and every episode of Breaking Bad, which I adored from episode one (only seen the first season). I don't know how the content differs, but is there anything essential that I may have missed/not heard of to keep an eye out for on Netflix? |
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Post by trashcanman on Jun 5, 2013 20:20:11 GMT 2
Jesus, where to start? I hold to the notion that there is absolutely no better deal in entertainment than Netflix. To me, it's as necessary as the internet itself. I mean, all you can watch movies for the monthly cost of a single DVD or trip for two to the cinema. How do you beat that deal? I'm assuming you only got the streaming plan. They just released two other original series'. Hemlock Grove was produced by Eli Roth and features probably the best werewolf transformation since An American Werewolf in London. I'd probably compare it to True Blood more than anything else. Then there's House of Cards, which I haven't watched yet, but has very good buzz. There's tons and tons of anime if that's something you'd be interesting in trying, and an endless stream of both modern and classic grindhouse flicks. Netflix has an extensive "taste profile" system where you rate various genres and subgenres on how much you watch them. movies.netflix.com/TastePreferencesAnd every time you rate a film or show, they take that into account and recommend similar and related films. I've found a lot of great stuff using that system. Enjoy. |
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Post by Benjamin Haines on Jun 6, 2013 16:49:05 GMT 2
I'm not sure how much, if any, of the streaming content differs between the U.K. and the U.S., but one particular show I discovered through Netflix, and highly recommend, is The Riches. Starring and executive produced by Eddie Izzard, it's a drama/dark comedy that follows a family of Irish travelers who drift around the U.S. as con artists, living out of their RV and creating/stealing identities wherever they go. Izzard plays father Wayne Malloy and the show begins just as his wife, Dahlia (Minnie Driver) is released from prison after serving two years for a credit card scam. A freak accident leaves the Malloys with the unique opportunity to completely assume the identities, jobs and lives of a recently deceased couple called the Riches, including their lavish house in an upscale neighborhood, but they quickly discover how complicated it is to juggle the histories of complete strangers even as their own pasts come back to haunt them.
The Riches originally aired on the FX network from 2007 to 2008 and lasted two seasons with a total of 20 episodes. The second season was cut short at seven episodes by the 2008 writers strike and FX declined to renew it later due to middling ratings, but it's really a brilliant, intense show. It explores the human propensity for deceit in a very intimate way, chronicling the effects of the elaborate con on the individual family members. Definitely check it out.
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Jun 9, 2013 9:12:11 GMT 2
Hemlock Grove is on there and is probably something I'd have passed on, I'll check it out for sure now. Thanks for that. House of Cards I have heard of (it's promoted pretty heavily here along with AD as THE Netflix shows to see) so I'll definitely be watching that.
Ben - The Riches is superb, a criminally under-rated show that didn't get anywhere near the attention or praise it deserved. I caught it last time on the FX Channel (now Fox Channel), but I may well watch it again. It was that damn good.
Question - how long are these things on Netflix for? The movie channel database that SKY TV has is - frankly - amazing, an A-Z database of literally thousands of films you can download to your Sky box (in HD) and watch whenever you like, but they're not there forever. Is Netflix the same?
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Post by trashcanman on Jun 9, 2013 11:26:51 GMT 2
It's kind of random. Basically, NF gets the streaming rights to a studio or channel's properties for x amount of time. After that time, they have to renegotiate and if it ain't happenin', all of that content gets pulled. Some 2000 titles just expired last month. So don't put anything off for too long because it may vanish on you. I was raging last Halloween because I wanted to watch Trick 'r Treat and it had been taken down, so DVD's aren't obsolete just yet.
Oh there are also a ton of Marvel cartoons on NF, some of which aren't even out on DVD. The 90's Spiderman and Iron Man shows to name two. They also have the great Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes show in its entirety.
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