Netflix Instant Rocks

I see a lot of complaints about what people perceive as the flaws of Netflix's streaming service.  Principally, it seems to be that it doesn't look like the New Releases wall at the video store. (Remember those?)

This is certainly true.  The only time you find a recently-released mainstream movie on Netflix Instant is when it has bombed specacularly at the box office.

But the service does have many other charms.

One is the TV selection.  While, again, the most in-demand series are not here, it offers plenty of opportunity to catch up on shows that are a little older but still good. So we've burned through just about every Reno 911, which is freaking brilliant, about which more in a forthcoming entry, and are currently working through Trailer Park Boys, which is also funny, and not just because of the Canadian accents.  Though those are pretty funny.

But honestly the rest of my family watches way more tv episodes than I do.  What I really like about it is the absolutely huge selection of classic horror movies on offer.  The old Universal classics, some Hammer classics, most of the Vincent Price canon...well, you get the idea.  

Why, just the other day, when I was suffering with a bad cold and confined to the couch, I watched Count Yorga: Vampire.  This was a real gem from 1970 that managed to be creepy and sexy despite having the look of an old Columbo epsisode.  (The part where they discover the newly turned vampire lady, blood all over her face, corpse of a kitten in hand, was awesome.) 

It used to be that I had to wait for random Saturday afternoons to catch movies like this, usually interrupted by about 40 minutes of commercials per hour. Now I can watch one whenever I want!  What's not to love?

Well, only this: I simply don't have the bandwidth at home to support two people streaming video at once.  Which means that I'm often cut off from watching classic horror as my daughter devours yet another season of Scrubs.  I kinda wonder if switching from DSL to cable would help this problem, but I doubt if Comcast is going to give me a straight answer about whether I can use their internet service to bypass TV...