Really disappointed in Netflix

[HollyBearsMom]

Am I missing something??

I signed up for streaming a few weeks ago and there are NO good/new movies on it  Virtually every movie I have wanted to watch is only available on DVD. A few examples:

It's Complicated

Austin Powers

The Eclipse Series

Eat Pray Love

These have all been on pay per view and itunes for a long time.  I am ready to just cancel.  Any experts out there? How do I stream new movies?

TIA!

[love4bob]

You can't. They only have certain ones on streaming, and it's not usually the good ones. I have the plan where I get one movie through the mail and streaming. I just get the new movies through the mail. It's not as convenient, but it works.

[lookatreestar]

you really don't? i stream tv shows mostly... but i am not a movie person.

[kawa kamuri]

If there are no streaming movies, documentaries or TV shows that you care for than I guess it isn't for you, no?  My family routinely has the 500 max on instant que and we watch the others via DVD. It's worth $10ish to me. 

[lucyem]

You can only stream what they allow you to stream.  There is a delay with newer movies.  I am sure a lot of the delay or unavailable stuff is due to the movie studios and contracts they have with pay per view etc.  Netflix really wants to focus on streaming and I do see more and more being available all the time.  Because of the delayed/unavailable items we are on the streaming and 1 dvd plan.

Edited by lucyem - 1/2/11 at 5:22am

[sapphire_chan]

We use streaming mostly for TV shows. I  also like older movies and foreign titles. Dh likes action. And there's a lot in those categories where it's easy to get something for casual watching.

[HollyBearsMom]

thanks everyone

I wanted new releases.   There are not many TV shows I am interested in (don't watch a lot of reg. TV so maybe there are and I don't know them). The local blockbuster closed and the red box thing at the grocery store is worthless. Because of this the waiting time at the library is crazy. I was really hoping to get my movie fix.

$8 bucks a month is a lot to not even have *old* movies! Just seems weird.  I mean Austin Powers came out in '97 and Twilight in 2008! And to pay $10 to get one DVD at a time is a little rich for my blood. Even if I could watch it instantly when it arrived (impossible) I would be lucky to watch 2 a month. For that price I can do PPV and record it on my DVR to watch when I have time or do iTunes...

Oh well shame on me for not researching available titles before signing up....

[Sfcmama]

I was a little disappointed when I first started streaming but then I starting finding really cool documentaries and tv shows that I didn't even know about (eg, this American life). It takes some getting used to but now i enjoy it. They also make recommendations bad on what you've watched that I find to be helpful.

Supposedly, their whole collection will be streamable in the near future, whenever that is!

[HollyBearsMom]

Originally Posted by Sfcmama 


I was a little disappointed when I first started streaming but then I starting finding really cool documentaries and tv shows that I didn't even know about (eg, this American life). It takes some getting used to but now i enjoy it. They also make recommendations bad on what you've watched that I find to be helpful.

Supposedly, their whole collection will be streamable in the near future, whenever that is!

that would be awesome!
 

[liliaceae]

The turnaround time on the mail DVDs is pretty good; I get mine 2 days after I send the last one in.  But if you only watch 2 movies a month, you could try video on demand on Amazon, they have new releases for $3.99 or less.

Netflix does have a lot of stuff for kids on streaming.

[Drummer's Wife]

My kids stream hundreds of tv shows/movies every month via netflix, so for us it's absolutely worth the $9 a month.

There are tons of good series: weeds, Dexter, Jericho, Tudors, breaking bad, the office and so on; I wouldn't cancel it just yet - look around (they also add new stuff frequently).. If we want something newer we either do redbox or on demand from directTV.

[Kidzaplenty]

We love NetFlix.  There are about 500 in our que right now.  And there are always new ones coming out.  They are releasing more and more streaming every day, and hopefully will have most available soon.  We don't pay for TV any more, I just get them from NetFlix once they come out on DVD.

If you are only wanting streaming and only new releases, then NetFlix is not for you.  But, I find they have tons of good ones.

[Arduinna]

I personally wouldn't bother with netflix for the streaming alone. At this point the streaming is basically a nice little bonus that you might be lucky and find some stuff you want to watch, the selection is just not comparable to their dvd and even blu ray offerings.

[Arduinna]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

thanks everyone

I wanted new releases.   There are not many TV shows I am interested in (don't watch a lot of reg. TV so maybe there are and I don't know them). The local blockbuster closed and the red box thing at the grocery store is worthless. Because of this the waiting time at the library is crazy. I was really hoping to get my movie fix.

$8 bucks a month is a lot to not even have *old* movies! Just seems weird.  I mean Austin Powers came out in '97 and Twilight in 2008! And to pay $10 to get one DVD at a time is a little rich for my blood. Even if I could watch it instantly when it arrived (impossible) I would be lucky to watch 2 a month. For that price I can do PPV and record it on my DVR to watch when I have time or do iTunes...

Oh well shame on me for not researching available titles before signing up....

Is there a reason you can't use the mail service?
 

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

thanks everyone

I wanted new releases.   There are not many TV shows I am interested in (don't watch a lot of reg. TV so maybe there are and I don't know them). The local blockbuster closed and the red box thing at the grocery store is worthless. Because of this the waiting time at the library is crazy. I was really hoping to get my movie fix.

Why don't you like Redbox?  We have netflix streaming + 1DVD, and it works for us, but if we really want a new release and don't want to wait, we use Redbox.  You can even reserve it online before you go (on the same day), so that it's not gone by the time you pick it up.  And it a buck- can't beat that!

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

thanks everyone

I wanted new releases.   There are not many TV shows I am interested in (don't watch a lot of reg. TV so maybe there are and I don't know them). The local blockbuster closed and the red box thing at the grocery store is worthless. Because of this the waiting time at the library is crazy. I was really hoping to get my movie fix.

$8 bucks a month is a lot to not even have *old* movies! Just seems weird.  I mean Austin Powers came out in '97 and Twilight in 2008! And to pay $10 to get one DVD at a time is a little rich for my blood. Even if I could watch it instantly when it arrived (impossible) I would be lucky to watch 2 a month. For that price I can do PPV and record it on my DVR to watch when I have time or do iTunes...

Oh well shame on me for not researching available titles before signing up....

The dvd's cycle through in about 3 days for us. If I put a dvd in our mailbox on Monday, the next one is to our house by Wednesday. Once there was going to be a delay because the DVD had to come from a farther distribution center and they sent the next thing in my queue so I got a movie as quickly as usual.

So, if I had a long full queue, and was very prompt at putting DVDs back into the mail, I could get 10 dvds a month for $10.

But, yeah, if there's nothing in the instant queue you want, it's not going to be worth it.

[HappyMommy2]

My hubby uses hulu for tv shows, and "cinema now" for movies.  Maybe they have newer releases....

[oceanbaby]

We love Netflix, but their watch instantly selection sucks.  Dh and I laugh as we scroll through the available movies.

However, this is due to legal agreements with various production companies, not some oversight by Netflix.  Netflix is spending millions right now to secure rights to more movies to stream online.  For the time being, however, we use it mainly to order DVDs.  We occasionally find an interesting tv show or movie to watch instantly, and there's a lot of good stuff for the kids.

[oceanbaby]

However, here are some good/fun movies that they do have available:

City Island

Julie and Julia

The Ugly Truth

The Proposal

Brothers

An Education

[mamalisa]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

thanks everyone

I wanted new releases.   There are not many TV shows I am interested in (don't watch a lot of reg. TV so maybe there are and I don't know them). The local blockbuster closed and the red box thing at the grocery store is worthless. Because of this the waiting time at the library is crazy. I was really hoping to get my movie fix.

$8 bucks a month is a lot to not even have *old* movies! Just seems weird.  I mean Austin Powers came out in '97 and Twilight in 2008! And to pay $10 to get one DVD at a time is a little rich for my blood. Even if I could watch it instantly when it arrived (impossible) I would be lucky to watch 2 a month. For that price I can do PPV and record it on my DVR to watch when I have time or do iTunes...

Oh well shame on me for not researching available titles before signing up....

The dvd's cycle through in about 3 days for us. If I put a dvd in our mailbox on Monday, the next one is to our house by Wednesday. Once there was going to be a delay because the DVD had to come from a farther distribution center and they sent the next thing in my queue so I got a movie as quickly as usual.

So, if I had a long full queue, and was very prompt at putting DVDs back into the mail, I could get 10 dvds a month for $10.

But, yeah, if there's nothing in the instant queue you want, it's not going to be worth it.

Same here.  You have to plan ahead a bit if you want to have something for a specific night but overall, I love it.  The instant streaming does leave a lot to be desired sometimes though!