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No! P A N I C ! I cancelled my hard copy program for the same reason: if you're a foreign film fan,

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In Reply to: RE: Calm down... posted by Victor Khomenko on October 07, 2014 at 11:22:45

you're now pretty much out of luck, unless it's older films (which I've invariably seen).
If you go through lists of "best foreign films" of the past five years, Netflix has ignored them, opting only to carry a few of the Oscar nominees.
After I exhausted the foreign offerings, I amused myself for some time w/noir films, but after the top 50 (Netflix has a surprisingly good collection of those), I had nothing.
Streaming indeed sucks, too, because it offers almost NO new films from other countries. It's really a for-tv service.
Vudu has some options, but who wants to pay 5 bucks to watch something once? I do, occasionally, but it's not a long term strategy. And� it doesn't have much in the foreign realm, either.
Many of these films are for sale. Perhaps some of us could start our own Netflix type of sharing club?

Follow Ups:

Gulp some fresh air... - Victor Khomenko 12:26:26 10/07/14 (4)
I suspect the films, now only available on discs, will gradually become streamable - call me a dreamer.

I doubt Netflix will simply discontinue the discs, in fact, diminishing their library.

Which brings another point - anyone has any idea how they decide which films to stream?
- Victor, it's over. I've been very, very closely following Netflix for what, nine years? Every year since - tinear 15:04:06 10/07/14 (1)
  streaming, it's become less interested in "hard copy." And it buys very, very few foreign titles.
  Truly, the waiting periods have become common for all but the most popular foreign titles; viewers increase, titles don't. They make VASTLY more money from streaming. At this point, they probably continue DVDs as a loss leader. At any rate, I have a massive list of films I compiled from cross-indexing "best of" film lists for five or six years. It is exceptionally rare to find one on Netflix. Even pretty well-known films are ignored. The "Save" feature is a waste of time; films on my list never are offered.
  As you can see from this very forum, made-for-cable is the replacement for film. MP3 has its new corollary.
  
  Edits: 10/07/14
  - In nine years their selection has expanded great deal. - Victor Khomenko 17:45:43 10/07/14 (0)
    I don't disagree that like in many other fields, the business model that favors the mediocrity will eventually win, so perhaps you just had too high expectations for them.
    
    They are not an art house, that is clear, but they still have quite a few interesting films.
- "will gradually become streamable" I hope you are right - PhilJ 14:35:38 10/07/14 (1)
  ...
  - I hope so too. - Victor Khomenko 17:43:06 10/07/14 (0)
    Still, I would like to be a fly on the wall, and find out how they make all those decisions. Do they have to jump through hurdles to make a film streamable? Is there an extra royalty they have to pay?
    
    I think most of us would be willing to pay a couple more bucks a month for wider streaming selection.
    
    Why bother with all that mailing-shmailing, when you can do painless streaming? It IS the way of the future, I have no doubt about it, I just hope it is brighter, rather than dimmer.

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