Netflix

[Nick Armstrong]

if any one has found good movies on either i would love to hear aabout them

Ah, I have just remembered that I was delighted to find on netflix a film that had rather a powerful effect upon the adolescent Caliban, an atmospheric and melancholy independent film made in 1976 called "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" - starring a youthful Jodie Foster (by whom I was rather smitten at the time ) and Martin Sheen. It's a sort of mystery/thriller/horror/romance mixture with some gorgeous photography of a remote little New England coastal town in the fall (it starts on Hallowe'en) - and makes haunting use of what was an enormous and lasting discovery for me, Chopin's 1st piano concerto (it's apparently the Claudio Arrau recording with the LPO under Eliahu Inbal). It's got a big nostalgic 70s feel to it, Foster is gripping, the story intriguing, Sheen vile and splendid - all in all a rather beautiful yet creepy little number which might appeal to Sir

(When not deploying the Chopin, the music score also features a very 70s kind of 'Shaft'-lite electro element, to take one back a bit)

[richardfinegold]

As I said earlier it's available in the States next month. It's currently being shown on terrestrial or cable TV over there which is why I assume it's not available at the moment. The same thing happened with Breaking Bad.

What I find odd is that it is available in the UK before being available here. Netflix is after all a U.S. company and Saul is a US production...

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Ah, I have just remembered that I was delighted to find on netflix a film that had rather a powerful effect upon the adolescent Caliban, an atmospheric and melancholy independent film made in 1976 called "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" - starring a youthful Jodie Foster (by whom I was rather smitten at the time ) and Martin Sheen. It's a sort of mystery/thriller/horror/romance mixture with some gorgeous photography of a remote little New England coastal town in the fall (it starts on Hallowe'en) - and makes haunting use of what was an enormous and lasting discovery for me, Chopin's 1st piano concerto (it's apparently the Claudio Arrau recording with the LPO under Eliahu Inbal). It's got a big nostalgic 70s feel to it, Foster is gripping, the story intriguing, Sheen vile and splendid - all in all a rather beautiful yet creepy little number which might appeal to Sir

(When not deploying the Chopin, the music score also features a very 70s kind of 'Shaft'-lite electro element, to take one back a bit)

Shaft is

[Stunsworth]

What I find odd is that it is available in the UK before being available here. Netflix is after all a U.S. company and Saul is a US production...

I imagine it's a rights issue. The programmes are currently being shown on a 'normal' tv channel in the US, that isn't the case in the UK. As I mentioned earlier the same thing happened with Breaking Bad.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

on my way to down the lane i was waylaid by In Order of Disappearance Nordic Noire Blanc and as dry as Arctic ice!
[on Netflix]

[Nick Armstrong]

on my way to down the lane i was waylaid by In Order of Disappearance Nordic Noire Blanc and as dry as Arctic ice!
[on Netflix]

Recommended then? I'll clamber aboard that snowplough 'somewhere in Norway', as long as you totter on down that lane (don't nick any crab-apples!)

[Nick Armstrong]

I imagine it's a rights issue. The programmes are currently being shown on a 'normal' tv channel in the US, that isn't the case in the UK. As I mentioned earlier the same thing happened with Breaking Bad.

I suspect because AMC which is the name on the show has its own cable/satellite channel in the US - richard, do you not receive AMC? - so uses productions for its schedules there first, whereas in e.g. the UK, it has to rely on other media for broadcasting.

Talking of rights questions, I've been very glad to be able to fill the void after the end of season 5 or Spiral by attacking season 4 which is available on Netflix (calum: of interest to you? I hadn't watched any of the first four seasons).

But although seasons 1-3 of Spiral were at first available on Netflix too, they no longer are. A little digging reveals this too is due to 'rights issues'... I mean to find out from CanalPlus why this is!

[richardfinegold]

I imagine it's a rights issue. The programmes are currently being shown on a 'normal' tv channel in the US, that isn't the case in the UK. As I mentioned earlier the same thing happened with Breaking Bad.

Well, I guess that depends how one defines a"normal" channel. Saul is owned by a Cable Network. Cable TV here is not free and is sold by subscription. The free channels are usually referred to as the normal channels.
I had written not long ago that we dumped our expensive cable service and are getting the free channels only. We pay $10/ month for a Netflix subscription and will occasionally buy other content fom Apple. I just ponied up $14 to Apple to buy the entire season of Saul, still a bargain considering that we are saving over $110 month by dumping cable, but it would have been sweeter to get Saul via the Netflix .

[richardfinegold]

I suspect because AMC which is the name on the show has its own cable/satellite channel in the US - richard, do you not receive AMC? - so uses productions for its schedules there first, whereas in e.g. the UK, it has to rely on other media for broadcasting.

Talking of rights questions, I've been very glad to be able to fill the void after the end of season 5 or Spiral by attacking season 4 which is available on Netflix (calum: of interest to you? I hadn't watched any of the first four seasons).

But although seasons 1-3 of Spiral were at first available on Netflix too, they no longer are. A little digging reveals this too is due to 'rights issues'... I mean to find out from CanalPlus why this is!

I think I answered that--AMC is a cable channel, and it's proprietary content usually shows up on Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu or in this case, Apple

[Stunsworth]

Talking of rights questions, I've been very glad to be able to fill the void after the end of season 5 or Spiral by attacking season 4 which is available on Netflix (calum: of interest to you? I hadn't watched any of the first four seasons).

But although seasons 1-3 of Spiral were at first available on Netflix too, they no longer are. A little digging reveals this too is due to 'rights issues'... I mean to find out from CanalPlus why this is!

the first four series are available from Amazon for £27...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiral-Complete-1-4-Caroline-Proust/dp/B007EAFUIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424646577&sr=8-1&keywords=spiral+dvd

[Stunsworth]

I just ponied up $14 to Apple to buy the entire season of Saul, still a bargain considering that we are saving over $110 month by dumping cable, but it would have been sweeter to get Saul via the Netflix .

As I say, it will be available on Netflix US in a few weeks time.

[Nick Armstrong]

the first four series are available from Amazon for £27...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiral-Compl...rds=spiral+dvd

Thanks... yes... might hold out and see if they pop back to netflix. I haf vays of finding out... .

[richardfinegold]

As I say, it will be available on Netflix US in a few weeks time.

Ah, the curse of impatience

[Anastasius]

Netflix et al

We've been thinking about possibly signing-up to one of these film streaming services but are in a Catch 22 situation. To watch anything on our old SCART plasma TV that still produces a cracking picture we'll need to invest in a load of leafs, converters and gizmos to make it all work. And that's even before I manage to extend the wifi coverage through very thick stone walls. However, if there was a good choice of film then it might be worth it.

We do get a good service from Cinema Paradiso but on occasions we're waiting for the next film to arrive and there is nowt on TV.

But to find out what films are available, you have to sign-up for a free trial. And I guess one could sign up to see what was available but then if one discovered that the film choice was good then one would be wanting to take advantage of the free trial. Which needs investment. Catch 22.

I then came across a link on Which that purported to access the Netflix catalogue and so went off in search and came away surprised to find a very limited choice. For example, no Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Even more surprised to discover that films have an expiry date on Netflix (or so it seems).

So my question is this. Am i correct in saying that Netflix has a limited range of films and that they expire ? Is Amazon's service the same?

TIA

[Dave2002]

The Roku LT box has a video output - which can probably be fed into a SCART via a converter cable. If your TV has composite video then you could feed that in.

Unfortunately the Roku LT model does not seem to be available as an "as new" model from retailers now, though some do appear on eBay - for example - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Roku-2400X...item4193c3b0a7

The Now TV box (which is really a modified Roku box) used to be available for a tenner, but it looks as though it now comes in a pack bundled with a day or month TV pass for around £20 - see http://www.nowtv.com/box#ib-section-section-8 If you go for that you need to remember to cancel any subscription ASAP to avoid having to pay beyond the first month. I don't know if the free stuff still works if you do that. That also has a composite video out - scroll down the page on the link to see the specs.

I have looked to see if there is any easy way to get HDMI out to any form of analogue video, so that you could use one of the currently available gadgets, but it doesn't look simple, or cheap. I did manage to find some HDMI splitters which will extract audio, such as this one from Neet - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neet%C2%AE-C...s=neet+hdmi+AV but you would need video. I've not been able to find a current device for that.

Re Netflix - we've not bothered with that one yet - though the Roku box does support it. One day we'll get round to watching that series House of Cards with Kevin Spacey.

If you buy enough stuff from amazon they'll probably give you a free Prime trial sometime, then you can sample the Amazon service. It's OK, but we didn't continue after the trial had ended. The special Amazon "TV" series turned out to be somewhat trashy - I watched 2 episodes of the one about the conductor in the USA, then decided I'd got better things to do.

Re the Roku box - I quite enjoy watching the rather short videos from TED - http://www.ted.com/ - you can watch them on your computer, but the interface with the Roku is easy to use.

I would seriously suggest either biting the bullet and getting a new HDMI input TV - even the cheap Tesco small ones are OK, or putting in a bid for one of the Roku LTs on eBay, or see if you can pick one up on your local Freecycle - put out a wanted request. It should be a very low outlay, and you could try out the Netflix and other services before throwing any more money at them. Also try to pick up a cheap Now box - subject to the proviso which follows - some on eBay, for example - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Now-TV-Box...item2a4ec1e3f9

If it can be confirmed that the Now box (new) will work even after a month once the bundled Passes have expired, then that might also be a good way to go for about £20.