Based on my observations, like one out of every 50 movies stream in HD. TV shows look to have a little better ratio. On PS3 it will say HD in the details if applicable, not sure about xbox. But you still need at least 8mbps Internet connection. And component can't do 1080p, need hdmi.

All that being said, even non-hd should look significantly better on the xbox than the wii, assuming a decent Internet connection. Wii max is 480. Its all still variable though. I've recently watched District 9 and Star Trek on PS3, neither marked HD. District 9 looked very good - near broadcast HD quality. Star Trek was subpar. It's possible one was 720 and the other 480, since my understanding is that they only put the HD tag on 1080, but I could be wrong. Or my tubes were clogged during star trek.

It depends on the equipment involved, but component cables can do 1080p in some cases. It wasn't in the spec until recently, but some devices supported it anyway.

Meh, changes your whole perspective on the movie if you have the info going in -> spoiler IMO.

Anyhow:

Someone told me about this movie last week and I wasnt sure if I wanted to watch, then I read this review on Netflix.
I watched it right after reading this and I agree 100%, the movies so fuct up you have to see it once.

Canadian Netflix ppl...have you seen "Fubar?" I love it! It's about some Alberta headbangers, a mockumentary but ppl often believe it's real. They released a sequel this year, didn't catch that yet. It's a classic drinking movie with my buddies.

no thnx

Does anyone else think that the people recommending 'Human Centipede' are kind of like the people who used to go to the carnival and get hoodwinked by some stupid **** like the 'Man-eating Chicken' tent, where there is an actual man eating a plate of chicken, so the marks don't want to feel quite so stupid so they tell their friends to see the 'Man-eating Chicken' also?

Well speaking as probably the only person in the history of the internet never to have seen 2 girls one cup, which I think makes me the internet equivalent of the moral majority. I have no desire to see that film.

I can appreciate the humor behind the concept, but just imaging scenes from the descriptions I have heard creeps me out to the point that I will never see the movie.

But hey if some girls mouth being sewn to a guy's ******* so she is forced to eat his crap turns you on... I hope you, Sylvester Stallone, and the good people of Cleveland have a good life together.

Nah not quite. I was reading a discussion somewhere (maybe here?) about how tilting it is to hear that "supposedly people were passing out" during 127 Hours, or Human Centipede, or Frozen, or Paranormal Activity. It's so ****ing annoying, you hear it every 6 months. The Human Centipede people I see in that vein, not the man eating chicken vein.

The premise of HC disturbed me greatly, so I had to see it to be able to come to terms with myself or whatever. It wasn't that bad. Many of the horror movie elements/behaviors were very poorly done. Ultimately it's only mildly disturbing, and if you're really bothered by the concept, watching it will probably bring you peace.

Also it's kinda hot.

I have never watched 2G1C except for the first 5 seconds, and would presumably get really grossed out by it. Human Centipede shows almost nothing explicitly and is not that bad.

Netflix WI Users Bandwith Hogs Update:

According to some research note I was sent today - ~3.5M Netflix WI users account for 20% of fixed line Internet consumption in the United States from 8pm - 10pm (the highest Internet usage time period during the day).

I bring this up because if ISPs end up instituting metered internet subscription packages (those who use more Internet will pay more) - this will of course impact us all as heavy Netflix WI users, and the "all-in Netflix cost" to us will be much higher.

As a side note (not meant to be all doom and gloom about our Netflix costs, but something to keep an eye out on): Netflix's cost structure is going to be under a ton of pressure the next couple years.

Here's a good summary of where Netflix's head is at, as well as the people who provide them content:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/time-w...renemies/42681

One takeaway from that article, and I don't see how this wont' happen: Netflix will have to pay way more than they do now for access to solid content. This only means that their increased costs will get passed down to us the consumer.

We may be living in the short-lived halcyon awesome cheap days of Netflix WI, and the window could be shrinking for us... though only time will tell...

-Al

can't they just make them tubes twice as wide?

leprous - I certainly hope the engineering nerds figure this out soon.

As more and more people begin to consume video via the Intertubes, the bandwidth pressure will become more of a real, precarious issue for us all.

-Al

No I haven't but "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" was really good, altho obv not so much for the music which there really isn't a lot of. Will check out Fubar. Won't be watching Human Centipede tho. Horror movies are beyond stupidity, never understood why people get off on being scared by special effects.

Restrepo - one of the best on "watch instantly"

I Think were alone now - I was too shaken up to vote it 4 stars

Crooklyn - decent (worth watching a spike lee self documentary)

Mallrats - cult classic from Kevin Smith when he was still dating JLA (so it was good)

A lot of the stuff is horrible, but there are more than a few gems.

Once you've read any sort of review or plot synopsis of "The Human Centipede," you've basically seen the film. Meh.

That article just sounds like one company is crying because Netflix is offering a solid service for a fair rate and they can't figure out a way to compete.

TV/Movie stations have been raping us since the TV was invented. We finally have a means to get quality service at a reasonable rate and this Bewkes fool is making it sound like the world is coming to an end.

If prices go up and people understand that they go up because other movie stations are forcing the prices to go up do you really think the end user will be happy to migrate to their service if it happens to put Netflix out of business?

I'm going to say no. You'll just see piracy become more common just like it was in the past before Netflix. I don't have stats to prove that movie piracy has gone down since Netflix was released but I would bet anything that it did.

There's still tons of ways to improve movie streaming and delivery. They should spend less time crying and more time coming up with innovative ideas with features users want.

Just watch Daniel Tosh's 20 minute review of it. Almost as awesome as the 70 minute review of Star Wars Episode One.

I don't disagree with this - but Time Warner (most likely the "crying" party you're referring to) both 1) distributes content in direct competition with Netflix's service and 2) creates content, something Netflix does not do.

Bewkes is again wearing 2 hats: one as a distributor (Time Warner Cable) and another as a content producer (e.g. HBO original series).

Ultimately, people would migrate from Netflix at reasonably higher price points if Netflix doesn't carry content the people want to watch.

And no one is trying to put Netflix out of business really - from the content creator/producer viewpoint - all that's really being noted is that the studios that create popular content want to get their fair share of dollars from Netflix for the right to distribute.

Because it's clear now that Netflix is a force to be reckoned with (as they distribute directly to TV sets), and have a very large distributor footprint - the content companies, when they go back to the table to renegotiate, will demand more money - this will increase Netflix's cost structure. Most likely this will increase sub prices to consumers. And this trend is inevitable: basically, Netflix made alot of deals with content distributors before they got good penetration with their streaming device service directly to television sets. Obviously the value of the product to the consumer is much higher if it streams directly to TV sets, vs. merely as rentals or streaming only on the PC. Content producers absolutely should get higher licensing fees now that Netflix is focusing on streaming to the TV.

This is a really solid point, and something all content creators must be careful of when deciding who to distribute with, and how expensive to make their product. Because ultimately, a world where everything is outrageously priced will push the consumer to piracy. And this is a point lost in Bewkes over the top rhetoric - but every studio is aware of this issue, and ultimately trying to keep the consumer happy while getting paid a fair market price.

100% agreed - Time Warner Cable has completely dropped the ball w/r/t rolling out their own robust On Demand service. And they've had more than a decade to figure it out, while being in many, many homes.

They had a chance to own the customer when it comes to watching on demand content, they just f'ed up. Their set top box on demand is horrible, and they were way late to teh game in negotiating for online rights to distribute. It's ridiculous when you consider they are already in your home, as your ISP, and video distributor. Netflix owns them in the On demand space - pretty pathetic on Time warner's part.

-Al

Spy Game is one of my favorite movies. Redford is amazing in it

Good point, that definitely makes it spoiler-worthy.

Watched based off of this recommendation and enjoyed. Really kind of run the gamut of emotions for guys like the Superman wannabe from pity to contempt to ultimately being fine that he and his woman seem content in their own weird little world.

Another "probably doesn't need to be in spoiler tags but just in case":

"Content producers absolutely should get higher licensing fees now that Netflix is focusing on streaming to the TV."

As an optional service perhaps.

The root of the issue is TW is now seeing a potential loss in new customers due to the possibility of everyone having broadband in the near future so they are panicing. The only way to increase profits now is to increase prices, monotenize the content they provide, or offer new and exciting services that people want.

I recently got to see just how screwed we get as consumers in the retail world. I spoke with a Chinese man (no racist ban!) who owns his own clothing shop on a busy street in a popular city.

It cost him $7 for a pair of sneakers to be shipping from a legit warehouse to his doorstep. He even showed me where he purchases them on his laptop which included an online based private store which had thousands of shoes at various sizes/colors/prices. He sells the sneakers for $16 and if you goto Khol's or another store that sells shoes the same exact pair cost $59.99 when they are not on sale.

That's close to a 10x markup.

Point being, I have no sympathy for TW or other businesses who want to raise prices even more. They are already crushing us for unimaginable amounts of money.

Not sure I follow - all I was really saying was that when content studios cut deals with Netflix back in the day - they sold online distribution rights, which at the time meant primarily watching on the PC (which has let's say $X value).

Now, that Netflix streams directly to the TV, the content now has >$X value to the consumer - this is most easily understood in looking at the pricing for other distribution services consumers pay for that go directly to the TV e.g. Cable, Satellite etc.

And obviously the convenience/experience of watching it on TV > than online on your PC. So the consumer would pay more for that, hence the content creators should charge more for it to maintain fair market value of their stuff.

So that implicates us as Netflix WI subscribers. Basically we've been getting an awesome deal (obvi) - and it's unclear if the economics of the system will support us continuing to get an awesome deal with a Netflix type service.

Sure, I don't think anyone would disagree with this - if TW is making great margins on their video/ISP/phone services (which they do).

-Al

"Not sure I follow"

Some Netflix users don't own a Wii (we're talking about the Wii right?) or a device/hardware capable of streaming directly to TV. At a quick glance the Netflix FAQ says it includes the ability to stream to PC/Wii as part of their plan but I never looked into it too deeply as I'm only concerned about PC streaming.

I was hinting that if prices need to be jacked up because of the ability to stream to TV then it should be an optional/bonus service rather than affect every Netflix subscriber.

WI = Watch Instantly, not the Nintendo Wii.

I'd think that most people who have Netflix have a device (if not multiple) capable of streaming Netflix their TV. PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, most new Blu-Ray players, Roku, most new HDTVs, Google TV, Boxee, AppleTV, WDTV, etc all provide an easy way to get Netflix on your TV. Some people use a home theater PC or even just their laptop as well.

All plans currently have the ability for the subscriber to stream to their TV (except for the 4.99 DVD only plan). So yes, perhaps they could offer an option where you pay extra to stream to your TV versus just streaming to your PC, but there would still be ways around that (such as connecting your computer to your TV) so it'd be difficult to regulate.