Check out My "Inception" Review over at Cinemaniac

http://the-cinemaniac.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-inception.html

I'm Cheating on My Netflix with Redbox and Hastings But I Want To Work It Out

I’ve been having an affair. I’ve been cheating on my Netflix subscription off and on for over a year now. It has just been a flirtation with Redbox and Hastings. It didn’t mean anything. I want to work on my relationship with Netflix so we can be stronger and avoid a nasty split. Everything was wonderful. I don’t know how it happened.

I was in an exclusive relationship with Hollywood Video for six years. It was over when Hollywood Video skipped town with no notice, no phone call, no email. I was on the rebound. I started a Netflix subscription. It was nice to look forward to mail again. It was so exciting to watch a movie and as soon as it was over, drive to the Post Office at night to drop it off so the Netflick was on the road the next day.

Things were going great. Then I moved to two movies at a time, then three movies. Maybe we got too serious too fast. The more serious we got, the less time we had for each other. Sometimes I wouldn’t watch a movie for weeks. Things started to get complicated.

I love everything about Netflix but it isn’t the same Netflix I fell in love with. The inventory had been compromised. “Taken” was number one on my queue for six weeks and I still hadn’t received it. I ended up going to a grocery store and noticed a Redbox. It was all so innocent. I just wanted to see if “Taken” was available. For the first time in two years, I rented a DVD that wasn’t with Netflix. Our relationship has never been the same.

It happened again when “Inglourious Basterds” had a “Very long wait” next to the title in my queue. It was so easy. I even started seeing Hastings when I knew films had a long wait attached to them.

In 2010, the lack of inventory wasn’t the issue. Sometimes I can time it to get a movie the day it comes out. Netflix started cheating on me, dealing with studios to hold off on releases for a month or so in an effort to get me to purchase DVDs rather than rent them. Supposedly Netflix did this all for me, in order to get more streaming content. That is a good thing but I haven’t seen a huge boost in streaming content.

Netflix and its lack of inventory have caused me to run into the arms of Redbox and Hastings when I want to see a movie. This is the problem. I rarely get a movie in my top five. This leaves me with movies coming off the bench, movies slotted in the 5-10 slots.

Since we’ve been having problems, Netflix has tried to woo me. I can’t say Netflix didn’t try. Netflix released the PS3 streaming disc. It was fun. Spent the holidays watching the first two seasons of Dexter. After the initial surprise of the effort, the stream wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. There are some good TV shows but not all the shows I want aren’t available. There are some movies that are good but not many major studio releases. A friend compared the streaming selection to “A $5 bargain bin at Wal-Mart.”

There are some things I can do and Netflix can do to help our relationship. I love instant streaming but there needs to be more content available, more copies of DVDs to meet demand and release the DVDs on their actual release date, not some Netflix timetable Bizaro world release date. My needs aren’t being met.

I’m not excited to see Netflix anymore so they stay with my mail and end up taking longer to get watched. I end up watching less and less and keeping movies longer. Maybe it’s Netflix Kharma. If I hold onto movies too long, movies I want will stay gone too long. Maybe if I get them watched and back in the mail, more of my movies will come back to me. I will start treating Netflix better and hope that my love will reciprocate. Netflix, I want our relationship to work. I want to give this a chance.