Mark wrote:
> Thanks. Alas, I don't have a region-free player. Maybe it will
> inspire me to finally subscribe to Netflix.
Mark, Mark, Mark.
You can get a cheapo DVD player and just set it to region-free. Amazon
even sells 'em for about thirty bucks, and they're exactly the same
player we bought at Best Buy for 25 bucks. The only difference
(besides five simoles) is that the region free one we got from Amazon
includes a instruction sheet telling you how to set it up as region-
free. (My wife's hooked on British cop shows from the seventies and
eighties...)
Which we then used to re-set our other player.
This whole region thing is pretty much a joke by now, anyway. (And not
just because Canada and the U.S. share a region, but Mexico shares one
with Australia, I think it is).
With the rise of a bootlegging industry that knows no borders and the
guerilla marketing of increasing numbers of indie filmmakers who just
want to have their work seen, the studios wonky region system is more
of a hassle than a deterrent; and increasingly moot.
It'll all be digitally downloaded or streamed anyway right to your
television or computer or your computer/TV within a few years. DVDs
and CDs are disappearing faster than ever, and it's the internet
that's the reason (the "rebirth" of vinyl is sorta of like the rebirth
of old-time radio. It's fun, and it's sorta cool and culty, but it's
not going mainstream any time soon...)
I'm assuming most of you know about Hulu and Fancast and Netflix and
all the other places that offer free (and legit) streaming TV and
films. So far, it's pretty much mainstream stuff (Rockford, Spenser
for Hire, Burn Notice, Monk, etc.)I'm guessing it won't be long until
there'll be sites for specific genres, and more left of centre
choices. A film or crime version of Hulu would be way cool, and if it
works out the way music has, pretty soon long lost and obscure films
will once again be available, even if it's only digital.
rara-avisTV.com, anyone?
Kevin Burton Smith
Editor/Founder
The Thrilling Detective Web Site
"Wasting your time on the web since 1998."
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