opening day at the home theater

Today was N-Day.


Netflix came to Mexico, and I signed up early this morning.


No one can say I do not sacrifice for the community.  I spent the day testing connections and selections.  From my vantage, the service gets a good solid C.


Let’s start with some givens.  I like movies.  New movies.  Old movies.  Black and white.  Color.  For a movie service to meet my needs, its selection has to have a good variety.


When I was in The States last year, I subscribed to Netflix.  At the time, it was best known for its DVD rental service.  But it had also started a streaming service that met the needs of people like me who have immediate gratification issues.  I have no desire to wait for DVDs to show up in my mail box.


The problem in The States was that the streaming inventory was rather sparse.  Not surprisingly for a company that made its name in DVD rentals.


So, the first thing I looked at with the Mexico service was the selection list.  In general, it is a yawn.  Most of the offerings are the type of films that were the mainstay of cable movie channels like Showtime.  Films starring post-teen television stars.


But that did not deter me.  Every video store has shelves of the same movies.  Somewhere there must be a colony of James Van Der Beek fans.


When I announced Netflix was coming, Jonna said she was interested only in finding a good source for television shows.  I am certain she will be disappointed.

The television offerings are rather lame.  Nothing current.  Nothing cutting edge.  Unless you live in a time warp where Grey’s Anatomy or Law and Order are considered to be au courant.


My biggest disappointment was the lack of a category for Recent Releases.  In The States, films show up on Netflix right after their theater runs have closed.


But not on the Mexican service.  That may have been a move to mollify the intellectual property right lawyers.  But it does undercut the value.


What you will find, are some classic films like Chinatown, Harold and Maude, Reservoir Dogs, Das Boot, Clear and Present Danger, and The Pink Panther (the original, not the atrocious Steve Martin release).


Here is the best news.  I had no trouble with the streaming.  The movies played without hesitation.  And there are even a few offerings in high definition.


But even the good films offer the a quirk that will keep you wondering who is in charge of the operation.  The film languages.


I despise dubbed films.  If a film is made in French, I want to hear the voices in French while I read the subtitles.  If the film is dubbed into English, all of the pacing and timing disappears.


Netflix seems to have no philosophy on the point.  Of the movies I watched, all were originally filmed in English.  Two allowed the viewer to choose both the film’s language and the subtitle language.  In addition to English, the subtitles are offered in Spanish and Portuguese -- after all this is a Latin America service.


But one movie (a Gus Van Sant piece) was dubbed terribly in Spanish with no subtitles.  And another movie was in English with Spanish subtitles embedded in the film -- subtitles that must have been designed for the hard of seeing because they blocked out almost half of the screen in large block yellow letters.  Considering the quality of the movie, that was a blessing.


Netflix is offering new subscribers free service for one month.  I am not new, so I am paying the monthly fee.


I am going to give it a try for a month or two.  If the inventory does not increase, I am going to fall back on the 400-some DVDs I brought down with me.