The Silver Screen Oasis

I canceled my Netflix DVD plan last month (I only ever tried their streaming plan for a few months). Few of their "recent additions" were old or classic, and every title in my queue (less than a dozen) was on "short wait".

I only have ClassicFlix now, and I get about three titles a month. Every one is a movie I've always wanted to see, and which would have cost me around $20 a title if I had bought them. Sure, it costs a little more than Netflix, but it makes sense for me to spend a little more on movies that I know I want to see. With Netflix, I really was having to search for things I might like ... ideally, I'd love to have the ClassicFlix catalog with Netflix's shipping speeds (I could get 2 titles a week from Netflix) but nothing in life is ideal.

I can picture it now.



"Psssst. Hey Bud! Come over here. Yeah, you, in the fancy schmancy suit . You wanna buy a dvd, real cheap? Shhhh! Alright alright... I'll give it to ya, just give me the cab fare home! Hey, whaddya, doin'? Oh, no! @#$%^$#@! Cheese it! The cops!"

"Archive print my eye, that was a TV-rip, and a lousy one at that."

Few of their "recent additions" were old or classic

So far, I'm not seeing streaming as compatible with my tastes. I'll probably stick with DVD for a few more years.

My husband uses our Netflix account primarily for watching tv series. He will have something playing on one monitor while he plays games or goes online on the other monitor. He does watch movies, too. I don't use it that often myself, because I just don't really care for watching a film on the computer. I do watch old Mad Men episodes, which has been enjoyable.

The only classic film that I watched on Netflix that is not available on dvd, and that I've never seen on TCM, was The Pleasure of His Company starring Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds. I was thrilled to see it again after decades. We don't have a Roku, but we are thinking about getting one.

Sandy K

Oh my god, Mary-Kate, that was hilarious! Perfect caption for that picture.

I love that movie, Sandy, I can't remember the last time I saw it. I'll have to go see if it's still available. I've watched a lot of documentaries on Netflix, The Dick Van Dyke show, and some foreign films like Therese Raquin lately. I also streamed the entire Foyle's War, which was worth ten times the amount of the subscription to Netflix.

Ah, "Foyle's War." We just finished "Wire In The Blood" and we're still going through "Midsomer Murders" and I've taken to watching Branagh's "Wallendar" and "MI-5" among others. I have a thing for British productions.

Still getting some old movies but most of the streaming are those shows and TV shows.There's still enough available that I'm keeping both plans for some time.

They do seem to get the Brit productions, which I love too. Of those ones you watched, which would you recommend most Chris?

JackFavell wrote:Oh my god, Mary-Kate, that was hilarious! Perfect caption for that picture.

Thanks, as you can guess, I got a laugh out of your's too.

I think this group would like "Foyle's War" best. The way they work history into the stories really adds another level than just a murder mystery. Really good characters help/ You also don't really need any background. "Inspector Lewis," as good as it is, helps from knowing something of the "Morse" series but you'd pick up on it soon enough though.

If you're looking for something more complicated and has a real edge to it then "Wire In The Blood" is a very good series.

Thanks Chris for parsing out which ones might appeal to me. I'm not squeamish or anything, at least usually. I think for me, mysteries usually have to bring something else to the table besides just the whodunnit aspect.

Wendy, I'm two months late but imdb links to an article that says there is a new series for "Foyle's War." This time he is in the Cold War. No word when it airs here but at least something to look forward to.

I saw that! I hope it hasn't aired here yet. I can never find anything on PBS anymore.

According to one report three "new 120-minute episodes [of Foyle's War Season 8] will air as part of the Masterpiece Mystery! season on PBS in the summer of 2013."

Thanks Moira, and what a great photo of the incredible Pert Kelton!