Netflix Killed the Video Star

A few weeks ago, I promised another musing on the state of movies today. Or how we watch movies. DVDs gave us a film-viewing experience again. A VHS, I would argue, was a mere artifact of the viewing process, like catching a rerun, while a DVD became the original film again, complete with supplements and the correct aspect ratio. But then crashed the wave of instant video... and a seemingly endless string of options.

Netflix
I signed up in December last year and was hooked within a week. For one thing, I found a few movies streaming that weren't even carried by my Boston-area library system (which is very extensive). With some films, I can either stream now or request the DVD for later. Win win, right?

But there are caveats. Their streaming selection is so far the best available of the major online streaming sites, but I can foresee running out of movies to stream in a year. Every now and then, a Mad Men joins the ranks, but streaming movies are added at a slower rate than they should. The license for each streaming film is unclear; I usually receive an end date in my queue less than a week before the movie vanishes. Then there's the failure of "experience" with some streaming choices that are artificially stretched (The Grapes of Wrath) or out-of-sync (The Office, UK).

My biggest gripe: the Netflix DVD. New titles from the past year send what are essentially screeners, with no supplements. I rented 127 Hours to watch the thirty-minute ending cut from the film, and received a movie-only disc. Why not just stream it?

Hulu
The inception of Hulu goes back to my senior-year dorm room. You couldn't really watch anything cool yet, but what potential! Now I catch up on my weekly sitcoms through Hulu, the legal free streaming website. The new Hulu Plus beats Netflix's TV offerings by a mile, though movies are treated like the red-headed stepchild. But logically, which am I likely to choose if I only pick one? A movie rental service with streaming and DVD, or a TV streaming service for which I pay for access to shows that once aired for free? When I can stream HBO, then we'll talk.

Amazon.com
The Wal-Mart of the Internet. First Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble, then Amazon vs. Apple, and now Amazon vs. Netflix. What's left? Can they also make the world's best grilled cheese? So please understand that my skepticism isn't because Amazon can't. If they want to be huge in streaming, they will be. But with all these hats, Amazon won't concentrate on everything, and streaming will likely fall by the wayside. Right now it's just a perk, the cherry on top for Prime members. And we're supposed to use the Cloud too?

Beneath the competition are the actual movies. We're fighting over the ability to watch them, not the quality of the movie itself. What if Amazon offers them on Kindles next, all in black and white? Should we even have the option to watch Jaws on the beach? And it doesn't cease: just yesterday, YouTube announced they will make users pay for movies, too.

My vote for now: Start with the Netflix free trial, and go on Hulu to watch shows the week they air. You know, like we used to.