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Rental movies that are exclusive to certain outlets

post #1 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
I watched This Film is Not Yet Rated last night. A friend got it from Netflix, and it's not available from Blockbuster at all.

My wife was recently in a Blockbuster and said she saw promotions about their exclusive relationship with the Weinstein company for their rentals.

Until yesterday, I had no idea certain chains were the exclusive outlet for particular rentals. What a pain in the ass that is. I guess it's new (with the volume of movies I rent, I would hope I noticed it soon after it started happening).

The rationale here seems flawed. It didn't work for Sirius and XM, for example, to have exclusive content. I won't join Netflix to get a movie BB doesn't offer. I won't join BB to get a movie I can't get from Netflix (although I might go into the store for it.

I don't really have a question about this. It just pissed me off, and I figure I can get some backup from the crowd here. Doesn't this suck?
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post #2 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:20pm
There's actually a rather high-profile (theatrically released) movie coming out on DVD that is going to be exclusivly available to rent at Blockbuster. Can't remember what movie, though.
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post #3 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:29pm
Blockbuster was the only place I could go to get THE PROTECTOR (they rent out both versions in the same package). I hadn't gotten anything from there in a long time so I was sort of impressed that they let me have it for a week.

There's a Hollywood and a Blockbuster right against the street from each other fairly close to where I live. So if a film is exclusive to one of those shops it isn't a huge hassle.

It would be nice though if at least one of those joints carried Motherfuckin' OVER THE TOP.
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post #4 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:31pm
Well, if I can't a movie I want from Netflix, then there's always "other ways" to "aquire" the movie.
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post #5 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:46pm
Don't forget Moltisanti, it's not just a week long rental, but it can also be up to 7 days late with no charge. And if it is over a week late, it's just a flat 1.25, since we don't charge late fees by the day anymore.

All shilling aside, Blockbuster's policies on what movies they carry fucking blows. And none of the blockbuster exclusives have been too hot, yet, because they're exclusive to us, we carry about 80 copies of it all, whether it's School for Scoundrels or Unknown. And the whole "no NC-17 movies" policy is so fucking wishy-washy. We don't carry This Film is Not Yet Rated, but when a movie is released in both theatrical and unrated versions, we ONLY stock the unrated version.

The biggest travesty is what we did to Life Aquatic. It was only released as Criterion, so we carried that to rent...but only one disc. Why? There are lots of other movies we rent out that are two discs. What did we do with all those Bonus Features? I dunno. Embezzled them, I guess.
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post #6 of 18
3/2/07 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
Don't forget Moltisanti, it's not just a week long rental, but it can also be up to 7 days late with no charge. And if it is over a week late, it's just a flat 1.25, since we don't charge late fees by the day anymore.
That it explains it. The girl behind the counter said it was due in a week and if it was any later she said "Don't worry about it." I thought she fancied me. I guess that's how it is for everyone there. What an ego bruise. She was fat anyway.
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post #7 of 18
3/2/07 at 4:18pm
Yes, if someone can help me understand this "exclusive" thing, I'd appreciate it.

Any movie I've seen as being exclusive to Blockbuster is still available through Netflix (e.g. The Protector, The Gathering, Unknown)
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post #8 of 18
3/2/07 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
The biggest travesty is what we did to Life Aquatic. It was only released as Criterion, so we carried that to rent...but only one disc. Why? There are lots of other movies we rent out that are two discs. What did we do with all those Bonus Features? I dunno. Embezzled them, I guess.
My local Hastings does this to some DVDs too. They put both discs in the rental for "The Davinci Code", but only one disc in for "Clerks II". Hell, they had the 3-disc "King Kong" for rent, and only put in one disc for the rental!

I chalk it up to employees that don't have a clue.
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post #9 of 18
3/2/07 at 5:10pm
I think "Grindhouse" is going to be a Blockbuster exclusive. Which is just fundamentally wrong.
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post #10 of 18
3/14/07 at 11:51pm
I just got The Protector, which is a Weinstein Co. release, via Netflix. At the beginning a message popped that simply said "This DVD intended for sale only." I wonder if there is a loophole where Netflix can offer for rent these "Blockbuster exclusive" movies if they buy them in mass from a retailer instead of direct from the studio.
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post #11 of 18
3/15/07 at 12:07am
My local Movie Gallery has The Protector. Methinks the whole "exclusive" deal isn't all that exclusive.
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post #12 of 18
3/15/07 at 10:02am
Thread Starter 
That's good news.
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post #13 of 18
3/15/07 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barkatthemoon
Hell, they had the 3-disc "King Kong" for rent, and only put in one disc for the rental!
That musta sucked when you realized the movie was split in half across Disc 1 & 2 (like the LOTR Extended)...

I'll spoil it for ya... Kong dies at the end.
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post #14 of 18
3/19/07 at 8:05am
Eh... "Harsh Times" is supposed to be a Blockbuster exclusive but it's available on Netflix (though there's a "Very Long Wait" for it).
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post #15 of 18
3/19/07 at 11:25am
When this whole Weinstein Co./Blockbuster pact was announced, I looked at the WC website and IMDb to see if there was anything I was really want to see from that studio in their upcoming slate and there were actually very few titles of interest.
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post #16 of 18
3/22/07 at 1:31pm
This doesn't bother me much. I have the Blockbuster mail plan, which yes, they have some shitty policies from time to time, but the fact that I basically get 6 rentals at a time for $18 a month is just unbeatable. I'd rather be able to rent "Grindhouse" and "Harsh Times" than something that's NC-17.
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post #17 of 18
3/26/07 at 12:14pm
I've basically concluded that Netflix is not prevented from renting any of these movies; they just have a lesser number of copies (e.g. The Protector and Harsh Times are available, just on Long Wait, and Bobby will be available in a couple weeks upon release). So, no real exclusivity.
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post #18 of 18
3/26/07 at 12:38pm
While I think most self-respecting movie buffs have picked a mail plan, I'm guessing that the vast majority of the population still drives to the video store. So when you consider that Blockbuster now has a sort of monopoly on one studios releases, I think that's the bone of contention. There's two or three major nationwide chains, and only Blockbuster gets Weinstein releases. I think that probably gives them an edge, especially when they have a bonefide hit to release someday (Grindhouse?).
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