Hi everyone. I recall fondly the independant video rental store I used to go to when I lived in Oregon. I could do no wrong by renting movies there, even if I hadn't heard of the title before.

I was wondering if there are any similar "independant/alternative" dvd-by-mail services that anyone uses, or if you are all happy with netflix or blockbuster. My wife and I do watch the occasional unusual foreign film, or nc-17 rated movie, and i particularly am looking for a place where it's easy to find recommendations for such, like in Amazon.com where if you search for a particular book or piece of music, and they give you suggestions for other books/CDs.

Sorry I can't help you. I have Netflix. And I find they have lots of movies that are indie or foreign film. So far they have been really good. I grew tired of Hollywood Video not having a wider selection of movies. Good luck in your quest.
Donna A.

Thanks donna, i think we may go with netflix.

In Utah, we have an independent theater chain (Salt Lake Film Society)

http://www.saltlakefilmsociety.org/now.html

that orders and maintains a decent independent DVD library/rental. I assume that local independent chain theaters in various parts of the United States may provide a similar opportunity to obtain hard to locate movies.

I'm in the process of using IntelliFlix for the first time. The reason why I joined it is that they give you a pay plan of "as you go," rather than monthly, which I was looking for. At this point, I still don't rent very much, and when I do, it's only at certain times of the year. So, assuming they can give me the choices I want on a timely basis, this is a company worth looking into for you.

I used GreenCine out of San Francisco. Really nice Anime collection, and focuses on Indie movies... I did not like the fact that I couldn't load up my queue with unreleased movies. NetFlix allows that.

It does have a nice community feature, and subscribers post a lot of lists.

I no longer subscribe, but it was always reliable, and quite affordable.

www.greencine.com