The Video Age

Just a little post-script to my previous posts about video renting. I've since gone back to online renting. I've since also read about "throttling". In the US (at least) the major online rental places are now temporarily holding back sending out further videos to their most frequently renting customers so that they cannot "take advantage" of their subscription rates. Well, duh, they shouldn't have had that sort of pricing infrastructure in the first place then. If my site hasn't started this yet, they are sure to do it on me soon. I'm on a 5 disc at a time plan (which s about $14 a week). I decided on this coz I was renting 5 weeklies and at least one new release back at the brick and mortar which came out to about the same cost anyway.
And in my first week I've easily glided through: 3 disks of Sopranos Season 5 (this was easy coz I just wanted to listen to the commentaries, more on that later), 2 discs of Battlestar Galactica Season 1 (7 episodes of some of the most solid without being brilliant television I've seen recently) plus 3 discs of Lost Season 1 (again, just for the commentaries). To buy those three sets would knock me back a minimum of $150 and to rent from Blockbuster would be considerably more than $14 for 5 disks. So translate that as: I'm happy.
While I'm here, just wanted to mention the Sopranos commentaries: I've tended to find these fairly dull in the past. David Chase's has probably been the best, but he's MIA on this set. What we do have is an rather one from Rodrigo Garcia, disappointing ones from Peter Bogdanovich and Steve Buscemi, a quite good one from filmmaker Mike Figgis and an entertaining one from Drea DeMatteo (Adriana). The Bogdanovich/Buscemi ones are average because for such talents, they make rather boring speakers, mostly commentating the onscreen action or saying how great someone is. Enough already. I expect that sort of crap from the Executive Producer of American Pie whateverthenumberwereupto not people of this calibre. So I was a pleasant surprised by Figgis - I guess coming from an almost geeky fan background made the difference.