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10 Aug 2004
One of the few things I really miss from Oxford (apart from my friends and the lovely buildings) is the availability of great independent cinemas. The Phoenix and the UPP screened a wonderful range of independent and foreign films; around here there only seems to be the usual glut of Odeons and UCIs showing the standard releases. So Mr. Bsag and I are thinking about subscribing to one of the DVD-rental-by-post services. I think we've got it narrowed down to either the Guardian's Movietrak service or LOVEFiLM.com. My problem is that I can't check out the range available from LOVEFiLM; they say that they have almost every DVD released in the UK, but do I believe them? And do they have a decent range of independent and foreign films? If anyone has had experience of either of these services (or any other good ones I might have missed, provided that they deliver in the UK), I would love to know how you find them.
2
Do also check out mac which sometimes shows interesting stuff.
There is also a great arthouse video/dvd rental shop in Moseley, Birmingham called Cinephilia which has a fantastic collection of movies for home viewing.
Wishing you all the best in Brum.
by Josh @ 11/08/2004 6:09 am • Permalink •
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LOVEFILM were beign heavily promoted at the Cambridge Film Festival a couple of weeks back, so I would guess that someone must think they are appropriate suppliers for the demographic attending.
4
I'm couch-surfing at my brother's now, in London. He's tried Movietrak and found them abysmal, and switched to Lovefilm, which he finds mostly perfect (fast, efficient, big selection, groks the 'net).
This is complete hearsay -- I've never tried either!
by Jean Jordaan @ 11/08/2004 9:08 pm • Permalink •
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Chas Creek: Was it The Electric? Mr. Bsag used to go there a lot, but I think it might have closed down (I could be wrong, and I hope I am). I'm not a big Bollywood fan—too much singing and dancing for my taste 
David: Thanks—I've signed up with Lovefilm now, and am looking forward to getting my first DVDs through the door.
Josh: mac sounds interesting (and not just because I love the other kind of Mac...) I'll have to check it out, though it is on the other side of Brum from me.
steve: As David said, they do have a pretty big range of indie and foreign films. My new queue is growing apace.
6
Just a quick tuppenny worth...forget MovieTrak, they've got a bad reputation, and although I haven't used them, three of my friends had problems with them after a period of time. The first 4-6 months were generally OK though. Problems always seemed to start after this.
Lovefilm have been good for 6 months, and films arrive within 2 days of putting them in the postbox to catch the morning post, which I think is pretty good. Although this probably depends more on the good old Royal Mail - and your exchange may be a bad one!?
by Tim @ 12/08/2004 11:09 am • Permalink •
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Jean Jordaan and Tim: Looks like I made the right choice. I just got an email saying that my first 3 DVDs are on their way.
8
BollyWood isn't by bag either it's not so much the singing and dancing it's the overexaggerated facial expressions although if are in the mood for a giggle then it's quite entertaining for that.
by Chas Creek @ 13/08/2004 9:09 am • Permalink •
9
I've been using Lovefilm for about six months now, and wholeheartedly recommend them too - i've yet to have a problem with them (and even moving delivery address is a piece of piss).
10
Chas Creek: 
Lyle: I seem to have picked a winner then. In fact, my 3 DVDs turned up today, so we've got plenty to entertain us this weekend.
11
Hate to be a stickler, but when I put my mouse over the abbreviation DVD, I get a text popup saying "Digital Video Disc". DVD actually stands for Digital Versatile Disc, I'm guessing because it can handle a lot more than video, it's digital, and is, erm, a disc.
12
1
erm I can't remember where it is or what it is called but in Central Birmingham there is a small cinema devoted to foreign, independent and 'arty' type fims. If you're into Bollywood type films the cinema at Star City has a few screens exclusively for those. Have you picked up the local What's On? Most are listed in there I think.----- I've been using LOVEFiLM for a while now, and have no real complaints: the couple of occasions on which I've received a DVD that wouldn't play for some reason, they've been most apologetic and quick to add free days to my subscription. Because I'm an impatient so-and-so, I did find the "one disc at a time" option too slow in turnaround, so I upgraded to three-at-once and now frankly struggle to get them all watched in good time!
If you have any "test" titles in mind, let me know and I can check if they stock them. As a preliminary indicator I checked their foreign film category and found they have 26 pages of titles, with 25 titles to a page -- should keep you busy for a while!
by David @ 10/08/2004 9:08 pm • Permalink •