On April 18th, 2023, I received an email from Netflix that signaled the end of an era. Shutting down their disc-by-mail service makes business sense, but this was a wellspring for those who needed access to rare and hard-to-find titles. Conversely, those who couldn't maintain a steady internet connection lived on the outskirts of civilization or couldn't fathom "streaming" anything; it was a connection to the world only offered by libraries. However, chances are those still receiving the discs signed up for the service well before streaming existed.
Unfortunately, I was the wrong person to sign up for Netflix DVDs.
It was 2004. I had internet and access to video stores aplenty. Hell, I was even working at a video store when I signed up! Living in a college town, there was a Blockbuster, which provided exactly what everyone remembers. I had been working at a local video shop for a year when I signed up for Netflix. The store I worked at provided enough titles outside the mainstream. However, as I was getting into movies and film culture, I knew there was a wide gap between what we had and what was available.
My relationship with DVD.com was rocky from the start.
Remember TiVo? Remember basic cable actually playing movies all through the night? Combined with a few years living abroad, my time spent with those red envelopes was limited. When the dust settled, I was living on the other side of the world, working as a video clerk in a local shop. 2 years in Australia meant my account was paused, leaving me to gaze at my queue from a world away. Occasionally, I'd check in to remind myself what was waiting on me and remove titles if I watched them.
Netflix Instant became Netflix, and everything changed.
It seemed beautiful to have the Netflix catalog at my fingertips on demand. However, my access to movies was changing dramatically. I had spent the past 2 years working as a video clerk and was in the process of starting my own cult movie web store. Movies surrounded me. Netflix discs became the stepchildren to whatever I grabbed for my store. The streaming options offered me more options than I had dreamed. Or so I thought.
My store blossomed, with it, stacks of discs for my customers piled up. Netflix Instant became the fallback whenever I needed something to watch. It became easier to binge Trailer Park Boys than seek out movies I wanted to watch. Sadly, nothing I chose was ever on my watchlist, just whatever movies were featured on the homepage. Filler titles. It wasn't until much later that I sadly realized how little I cared about the red envelopes. They collected dust on the shelf under my TV.
..and just like that, everything changed. I became a father and then a freelance Blu-ray disc reviewer. Time disappeared while boxes of discs appeared on my doorstep. Like the envelopes, my queue collected dust. Months later, I emerged from a cloud of business and realized I was wasting the opportunities lying dormant in my Netflix queue. So many of the movies I was reviewing were off my radar and far from my watchlist. I had veered off course dramatically. I needed to prioritize.
What benefit do I get from Netflix discs?
My shelves were filling up with new and beautiful discoveries. I was expanding my tastes. What could I get from those 350 titles waiting to be shipped from Red Envelope Central? I had so many shiny new things to play with now. Could I just forget about those movies I added years ago? I'm not that person anymore! Yeah, but that person was reaching out to broaden their horizons beyond the college Blockbuster. I was reaching out beyond the confines of the local video shop inventory and into those Empire Magazine articles that recommended foreign films. Let's remember those documentary articles from Sight & Sound magazine. All of those lists went into the Netflix queue for a reason.
Can I ignore my past ambitions?
Let's fast-forward through the boring parts, shall we? Years passed with red envelopes trickling through my living room. Usually, when the entertainment budget was discussed, I'd find the motivation to log into the site, reorder some titles, and mail off whatever was sitting on my TV shelf. Streaming services became part of my evening entertainment. With each year, more were added, and my options grew. Disc review titles poured in, overflowing my wildest expectations. Occasionally, I'd seek a Netflix disc when the services couldn't supply what I demanded. I'd go through the queue and see the ebb and flow of my interests: French sci-fi, gritty crime thrillers of the '60s, and even 2000s DTV horror. I'd get excited to dive into these waves of genre goodness, but I failed to sustain a consistent watch pattern. Adulting really sucks.
The End.
The email arrived regarding the shutdown of DVD.com, prompting me to rearrange the queue again. Knowing its demise helped me cherry-pick the last remaining titles before the end. I regarded the last few titles I watched as a victory lap. By then, I had established myself as a supporter of physical media, even with multiple services at the click of a button. The one thing that never changed was the sheer joy of placing the disc on the tray. It's such a satisfying experience! Vinyl collectors can also understand the power of this sensation. The last disc in my mailbox was The Player by Robert Altman. A film I am embarrassed to admit I have never seen. That was the point of Netflix for me. A resource to see all those movies that were out of my grasp. I'm going to miss that feeling.
The Queue Strikes Back.
Where do I go from here? After much thought and consideration, I've decided not to let my queue die in vain. Armed with my downloaded data, I'm choosing to press on and watch the movies on the list. Some are difficult to find on disc, while some are easily accessible via streaming services. I'll find the best way to work through the list, whether buying a title or *sigh* renting them digitally. As I'm a sucker for physical media, it's probably fair to say I'm gonna lean HARD into buying the discs. We'll see what happens. However it plays out, the movies and my process will be documented in a blog series titled The Queue Strikes Back. I will miss DVD.com, but my queue will live again.