Hacking NetFlix

The Full List of Expiring Starz Titles -- Watch Them Before February 29th

Netlfix said that they didn't renew the Starz deal because the renewal cost was too high and because the titles only accounted for a small percentage of streaming. So, if you want to see any of the Starz titles you only have a few days left. TV and Movies Now (by Tech of the Hub) has posted the list of expiring Starz titles, and also notes which ones are are available on Amazon Prime.

Netflix Adds Dragon Tatto Extended Editions With Additional Footage to Streaming

If you're waiting for the US version of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you should really check out the original Swedish versions (they're subtitled but good). Netflix added Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition today, and it includes more than 2 hours of additional footage.

How the Online Video Services Compare on Hit Movies

Tristan Louis at TNL.net compared hit movie availablility at Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu and DVD. 

The past year has seen an increas­ing align­ment in the libraries of titles offered by online stream­ers in an on-demand basis. At the same time, we have seen Net­flix appar­ently aban­don its strat­egy of offer­ing pop­u­lar movies on a sub­scrip­tion basis. Next week, I will look at whether Netflix’s efforts are get­ting more focused on tele­vi­sion streams or whether we are see­ing them pull back across the board in terms of avail­abil­ity of more recent content.

We are also see­ing Hol­ly­wood now treat­ing online as more equiv­a­lent to DVD sales, offer­ing titles for sale online at roughly the same rate as they do on DVD. Let’s hope that this trend con­tin­ues to hold and that the indus­try sees the wis­dom of pro­vid­ing online streams in an ear­lier release win­dow. A few inde­pen­dent movies have done simul­ta­ne­ous releases online and in the­aters this year and Hol­ly­wood has a poten­tial to increase its rev­enues if it were to increas­ingly go in that direction.

Quentin Tarantino's Top Movies of 2011

Love his movies or hate 'em, Quentin Tarantino has announced his top 11 movies for 2011, as shared with Tarantino.info. 

1. Midnight in Paris
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
3. Moneyball
4. The Skin I Live In
5. X-Men: First Class
6. Young Adult
7. Attack the Block
8. Red State
9. Warrior
10. The Artist / Our Idiot Brother
11. The Three Musketeers

It's also worth checking out other movies he liked as well.

Roger Ebert Recommending Netflix Streaming Movies on Twitter

If you're looking for interesting movies to watch, movie critic Roger Ebert is recommending Netflix streaming movies on Twitter.

Ebert's blog is also a great read if you're a movie nut. 

Netflix's CCO Ted Sarandos Recommends Documentaries

Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos posted a list of interesting documentaries to watch over the holidays.

I am a huge fan of documentary films and helping our subscribers get access to them even if they don’t live in the big cities is one of my favorite parts of this job. Our documentary selection is a point of great pride for me and my team. Documentary films play a very important role in a world where news is coming is shorter and shorter bites and the stories of our lives are becoming more and more complex. Documentarians entertain, inform and sometimes change the course of history. This year has been a great year for docs and some of the world’s best storytellers have brought their films to Netflix for streaming. It is hard to choose just a dozen of the best documentaries recently added, but I thought it might be a way to help you catch up over the long holiday break.

Here's his list of recommended documenataries: Senna, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Waiting for "Superman", Winnebago Man, Buck, The Arbor, The Last Mountain, Forks Over Knives, Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, and Storage Wars.

Netflix Adds 'Holiday Favorites' Section to Website, PS3, Wii & Roku

Netflix announced a new holiday section on the Netflix blog, but so far we've only seen it on the Netflix website, PS3, Wii, and Roku Player. 

Netflix, Inc. is bringing holiday movies and TV shows out from under the tree this year, by highlighting new and traditional titles on the Netflix homepage. The Netflix 'Holiday Favorites' row offers a sleigh load of holiday titles to choose from, including classics like A Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th St.

Also enjoy the holidays with unforgettable TV episodes featuring some of the funniest comedic families like the Bluths on Arrested Development, Michael Scott and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin team on The Office and the musically-talented glee club from McKinley High School on Glee.

Here's what the 'Holiday Favorites' section looks like on the Netflix website:

Here's the 'Holiday Favorites' section on the Roku Player:

What's your favorite holiday movie?

New Netflix Streaming Releases This Week

I'm still going to post the new DVD releases on Mondays because the new DVD releases are shipped on Monday, but it makes sense to post the new streaming releases on Fridays so you can see what's new to watch this weekend.

So, here's the list of new & interesting streaming titles this week (well, since Monday this week): GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies, Set Up, What the #$*! Do We Know!?, A Golden Christmas 2: The Second Tail, Five Minutes of Heaven, One from the Heart, Heathers, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Eye of the Beholder, Vampires, C.H.U.D., Stephen King's Children of the Corn, Accused, America's Funniest Home Videos, Cake Boss, The Bellboy, The Nutty Professor (Lewis), Ultraviolet, The Forsyte Saga, Outrageous Fortune, and Kingdom: Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3.

Netflix Adds Cameron Crowe Pearl Jam Documentary to Streaming

LIsa Nishimura, Netflix's VP of Content Aquistion, announced the addition of Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam Twenty documentary to the Netflix streaming collection.

Once in a while a film comes along that is clearly a labor of love. Pearl Jam Twenty, a documentary feature spanning 20 years in the life of Pearl Jam, lensed by Oscar winning director & writer Cameron Crowe is just such a film. Painstakingly culled from 30,000 hours of material collected across two decades, Pearl Jam Twenty provides an intimate look into one of the most influential bands of our time.

Netflix Nabs Exclusive Streaming Deal for Kevin Smith's Red State

Netflix announced that they signed an exclusive streaming deal for Kevin Smith's latest movie, Red State.

Lisa Nishimura, VP - Independent Film Content Acquisition, here to let you know that Kevin Smith is back with a vengeance! The writer/director of indie classics, “Clerks” & “Mallrats”, returns with the incendiary horror-thriller Red State, available now exclusively to watch instantly in the US on Netlix. You’ve been warned – enjoy!

Director Kevin Smith announced that Red State was on Netflix via his Twitter account: "Just hit an important milestone in the ongoing life of our latest flick: I'm watching RED STATE on @Netflix - ON MY PHONE! IN THE TOILET!!!"