Dear Movie Companies...

Dear movie companies,

It has occurred to me that you are getting more and more angry about the people who go online to illegally download your movies rather than paying to see them in the theater or buying your blu ray and DVDs. For several years, now, you have stuck gestapo-type ads on your DVDs warning that downloading movies off the internet is the same as stealing from your mother's purse or robbing a store. You seem to be shocked that people are breaking the law to see your movies.

Is it really a surprise, though? Are you truly baffled? Do you really not understand why people would rather see your movies for free than overpay to see them in theaters or buy them on home media? Perhaps I can help explain.

Recently, Warner Brothers struck a deal with the popular online rental company Netflix who have lately been promoting their "Watch Instantly" program. While customers are waiting for their DVDs and Blu Ray to arrive in the mail, they have the option to instantly watch a movie on their computer or TV, streaming from Netflix. The deal was that you would allow Netflix to show more movies from Warner Brother's production companies in exchange for Netflix delaying their rental dates. This meant that a movie such as "Where the Wild Things Are" which was released on March 2, 2010, would not be available for rental through Netflix until April 2, 2010. Warner Brother's also promised that more copies would be available to Netflix so that there wouldn't be long wait times for customers to receive the movies. Now other movie companies have followed this trend.

Well, I have had "Where the Wild Things Are" at the top of my Netflix queue and, nearly two months later, I still haven't been able to rent it. Yesterday, however, I did finally get the movie "The Box". It wasn't a movie I was dying to see, but one that I was somewhat interested in viewing. As I took the blu ray copy out of the Netflix sleeve I couldn't help but notice the words (in a font larger than the movie title) "Rental Copy". When I put the Blu ray in my player, I sat through several previews before finally getting to the Main Menu. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that there was no bonus features menu listed. I went online and found a review of the blu ray and discovered that there were supposed to be several "making of" documentaries on the disc, but my copy, the "rental copy" didn't have them. Now, I realized that not many people really care about special features or "making of" documentaries, but I am a major geek and I LOVE them and I was upset that I wouldn't be able to see any for this movie.

I see what you guys are doing here. You're trying to get me to buy your DVDs and Blu Ray rather than rent them. I totally get that! You're running a business and trying to make money. But you see, there is a reason I don't always like buying your DVDs and Blu Rays.

Last week, the popular movie Avatar came out on DVD and Blu Ray. I was excited about that! I really enjoyed the movie and was looking forward to seeing it again. But then I found out something disturbing. There are absolutely NO special features. NOT ONE! Not even a trailer! How is it possible that a movie as technically advanced as Avatar doesn't have any documentaries about the making of it? Well you see, I discovered that Fox plans to release a "special edition" later in November. This brings me to my next gripe with you movie companies: Double Dipping.

It has become a trend for you guys to release a "bare bones" edition of a movie and then, six months later, release the "special edition" with all those cool new features I crave. Your hope is that I will buy your "bare bones" version AND the "special edition" so you guys make more money from me. Thankfully I was never a fan of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I think there were three or four different versions of each of those movies released!

Do you understand why I would rather rent one of your movies than buy it? I definitely don't want to buy a movie that I haven't even seen! Well, you might say, why don't I just go see your movies in the theaters?

Have you seen the price of movie tickets lately? I'm surprised you don't have loan sharks outside movie theaters trying to lend money to patrons. Usually when I go to a movie, I try to see a matinee showing and most theaters now charge close to $10 for a movie. $10! Ten dollars! For a matinee! Another Hollywood trend is that ultra cool 3D technology! Movies that were never intended to be shown in 3D are now being quickly formatted before their releases so you can charge an extra $5 onto a movie ticket. So that means a matinee 3D movie could end up costing me around $15. $15! Fifteen dollars!

Most times I elect to see the movie in good, old fashioned 2D. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but lately, more and more movies are starting to suck. Few and far between are the movies like (500) Days of Summer or Slumdog Millionaire or Zombieland. More and more movies end up being like Twilight or Clash of the Titans or *shudder* Transformers 2. Hollywood seems to favor large explosions and ridiculous special effects over realistic characters, plausible story lines and more meaningful two hours spent in a movie theater.

Now, I realize that my taste in movies might be far different from the mass majority. Perhaps that is my fault. But can you rich producers understand why I might hesitate to plan out bus routes, walk from a bus stop to a movie theater and pay $10 to sit down in a movie theater only to be disappointed by yet another stupid movie? Can you understand why I might just consider finding a way to illegally download a movie off the internet? I'm not saying that this is what I do. I'm just trying to help you see why so many people who are like me resort to that.

I had a conversation about this with my Republican friend who favors capitalism and she defended you guys saying that you are just running a business. All these things you do are an effort to boost your pocketbooks. You have a product you think I want and you're doing everything you can to get as much money from me for it. I understand that.

However, there comes a time when I have to look at the crappy things I have bought from you over the years and realize that enough is enough. If I was a businessman, my top priority would be to keep my customers. I wouldn't sell them a shitty product that breaks after a month and then offer an "updated version" of that same product that might last a little longer. I would lose customers.

So am I boycotting movies? No, I'm not a big fan of boycotts. There was a time when I could look at a movie theater marque, run down the list of movies playing there and tell everyone that I had seen every single one of those movies. Those days are over. Now, I am okay with waiting until your substandard products are in the dollar bin at stores or more reasonably priced on used shelves. I'd much rather pay $7 for a movie on a used blu ray that came out a year ago than pay $30 for them when they first come out. Or better yet, I'd rather wait until I am able to get them free at the library. Eventually your movies will be old and boring to everyone else and then I can see them.

So there you have it. I hope I've enlightened you. I don't expect that you'll change your ways. In fact, I'm pretty sure you won't. I just thought you should have a better understanding of why people would rather watch your movies for free from online than overpay to see them or get them on home media.

Sincerely,
A former movie buff.