Discussion: The Refreshment Stand

Please note: This page was originally the list of all movies that expired on June 1. That list is now in the May 2016 archive. I wanted to use this page as a place where we can discuss anything related to the expiration of those titles, because I don't think Netflix handled it honorably. Also, many of the original comments people left here are apropos. 

June 6, 2016 (with updates on June 8)
It's always hard to see a lot of really good movies pulling out of the Netflix station, but I realize that's the nature of their business. If I want a steady influx of different movies, room has to be made. It does seem like the balance of highly watchable content to content of the turkey variety is steadily tipping in the wrong direction, but nobody is forcing me to keep my subscription. 

This isn't about bemoaning loss of content. It's about resentment of being flimflammed with distortions of the truth, in the hope of keeping me - and all others - ignorant and pacified. Maybe Netflix doesn't want to deal with complaints, criticism, or cancellations due to loss of content. If true, then they're in denial about that also being part of the nature of their business. Or, maybe they want to be seen only from their good side, in the best light, like a vain actor. Actors also pretend for a living. 

The Netflix tactics of secrecy and "spin" feel controlling, at best, underhanded, at worst. The stress of the June 1 Netflix movie jettison is fading, but Netflix's withholding all notice of the impending exodus - to the point of removing streaming expiration dates from the dvd site - still sticks in my craw.

Another thing that bothers me is so-called news articles that accept Netflix's word as sufficient, and consequently, don't really tell me anything useful. On June 1, Will G. sent a copy of a Deadline article that appears to be giving the good news that all is well with the Miramax contract: "Netflix 'Refreshes' Deal with Miramax for Library Titles." The article doesn't shed much light on what happened, or will happen in the future, as far as Miramax titles streaming. (New note: "Miramax titles" refers to those titles in the Miramax catalog, whether or not they were actually produced by the Miramax company originally.)

Some of the "facts" in the article don't agree with what we know to be true. I don't think the reporter made anything up, but I do think she took Netflix at its word. If she was talking to a press intermediary, they might not have known the details of the Miramax deal to tell her. The whole business of the "refresh" sounds like someone's brilliant idea to be ambiguous while sounding like everything is just fine.

The following chart gives a clearer idea of the numbers involved. I was always focused on the total of titles, rather than on what was Miramax, and what wasn't. Now that I've had some time to look more closely, here's what I've found.

Note: This chart was updated on June 8, to reflect most recent research regarding Miramax titles, and to include some new information. Note that "All Movies" includes the Miramax titles.

I included Rotten Tomato reviews and Oscar nominees so you can see that the majority of the best movies we lost were from Miramax. The Best Foreign Film category got massacred. Thirteen of the twenty titles in that category are gone, now. The only Oscar nominee to get added from Miramax is Traffic. The only other Miramax titles to be added are An Unfinished Life and Last Night. (If anyone is interested in lists of Miramax titles - what expired and/or what remains - let me know.)

Updated: With more than 400 Miramax titles leaving, only 74 staying, and only 3 more added, I don't know how NF can justify calling it a "refresh." It looks like a deep-sixing to me. My initial research did not find all the titles that were leaving or staying. I decided to go through the entire Miramax catalog, movie-by-movie, and compare those to a) our list of everything that expired on June 1, and b) the list of everything currently streaming on Netflix, using the MaFt site, New on Netflix USA. The results of that project are now on the above chart.

Following is the article that Will G. sent. I went through it trying to figure out what the point of it was. The author might be, "a very well-respected, experienced reporter," as Will points out in a subsequent comment, but I doubt this is an example of her best work. It was great work of Will to find and send it to us, though - thanks, Will! My comments are in blue (some have been updated).

Netflix ‘Refreshes’ Deal With Miramax For Library Titles
by Anita Busch
June 1, 2016 12:07pm

EXCLUSIVE:  Exclusive obliquity? Netflix has renewed its deal with Miramax to keep some of its 700-plus title library within their streaming service. Renewed is her word, not Netflix’s. Wouldn’t renewed mean the titles would remain? I think it’s more likely that they renegotiated the deal for a lot fewer titles at substantially less cost, and are calling it a “refresh.” “Refresh - yeah, that’s the ticket.” Netflix said that some titles are staying put and others falling out but they would not release the number of titles they are keeping. Or tossing. No problem, Netflix. We’ll just leave it at that; no further probing or researching. Can’t be bothered tracking down the truth of red flags. Although Netflix’s corporate strategy is heavily on developing original content, the library made up roughly 10% of the streaming service’s total content right now. Updated: Not sure what the point of that sentence is. 10% is about right for before June 1 ("made up," past tense). "Right now," after the big unloading, Miramax titles make up only slightly more than 1% of total content (around 5000 titles, including series). Is that last sentence a justification for the unloading? It almost sounds like she's saying that even though they're into original content, they still took on a substantial amount of available movies (because they're saintly?). Except that the Miramax deal was made before Netflix decided to go whole hog on original content. Even if original content was already in the works, they had to know it would be several years before there would be much of it, so they knew they would need available content in the meantime. I would have liked a follow-up sentence, not the equally clueless next one. No terms of the deal have been disclosed, but the deal is surprising given that Netflix chief Ted Sarandos underscored to Deadline earlier this month about the importance of original content. He noted, “What I’m trying to do is take the benefits and the beautiful byproduct of the internet, which is all about consumer choice, and apply it to movies where no one else has.” In talking about content deals, he only included Disney and The Weinstein Co. The deal, especially since it’s shrouded in secrecy, ISN’T surprising when you consider that taking away ALL the beloved titles at once gives customers an itchy “cancel subscription” finger. Also not surprising is that they got rid of more than 4/5ths of the Miramax content.

The Miramax library pact with Netflix was set to expire yesterday, May 31. And a big part of it did. Now, let’s avert attention away from the subject of this article, and tout everything good we can think of to make Netflix sound wonderful. The Miramax library “refresh” comes only months before the streaming service’s deal with Disney kicks in and as it’s multi-year pact with The Weinstein Company gets underway. This September, Netflix will have the exclusive rights for streaming/pay TV of the latest live-action and animated films from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature and Lucasfilm for all films released this year. That means The Jungle Book, Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia and Alice Through the Looking Glass as well as Finding Dory, Doctor Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The deal also includes direct-to-video titles and all will be made available for Netflix members to watch instantly in the pay TV window on multiple platforms, including television, tablets, computers and mobile phones.

In addition, the two giants pacted on a multi-year catalog deal for Disney classics like Dumbo, Pocahontas and Alice in Wonderland. New: These have all been, and gone. Is this saying they're coming back, or is it just really old news?

The Weinstein Co. deal includes such titles as Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, Hateful Eight and Philomena to name a few.

With the Miramax library, Netflix keeps hold of such titles as Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, No Country for Old Men and The English Patient as well as Life is Beautiful, Amelie, The Crying Game, Strictly Ballroom, My Left Foot and Cinema Paradiso (again, to name only a few correctly).

That paragraph makes it sound like all of those titles are streaming now. As Larry G. points out in his comment, 5 are not. She got (or was given) almost half wrong. Three titles were on the wrong side of the refresh. None of her titles that are streaming are new. I need to look up “refresh” in the dictionary. Maybe it has some different meaning I’m not aware of, like how “humbug” isn’t just language that is false or meant to deceive people, but also a hard peppermint candy.

Miramax has gone through various incarnations in ownership but most recently was bought by Qatar-based media and entertainment company beIN Media Group. The company was originally launched in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein which now helm The Weinstein Company.

This month, Netflix will release Jurassic Park: The Lost World, this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight; in July it drops The Big Short and in August it will premiere another critical favorite: The Little Prince along with The Fast & The Furious, The Wedding Planner and St. Vincent. More bragging. None of these titles are Miramax.

In response to inquiries from Deadline, Netflix said, “We refreshed our agreement with Miramax … summer is a time when we refresh a large part of our film catalogue and this year is no exception.” And Deadline couldn’t wait to publish that quote for all to read, and wonder, “Just what the hell does that mean?”

Netflix might be trying to sell us its "Refreshment" stand, but I'm not buyin' it. The candy is all humbug, and the soda is flat. The cash register works pretty good, though.

Sources

Brian Clarkson/Netflix Queue Busters
Miramax Catalogue
Deadline
instantwatcher.com
unofficial Netflix online Global Search (uNoGS)
New on Netflix USA
CNET
Our list of May 31 movies
Rotten Tomatoes
Our page of Oscar winners and nominees on Netflix
(regularly updated by Pox Voldius)
Netflix

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Following are the original responses to the article Will G. sent. Sneaky of me to figure out a way to insert my comment first, eh?  ;- )

LarryG    June 1, 2016 at 4:22 PM

    

This is nothing new.
    
Quote: Netflix said that some titles are staying put and others falling out but they would not release the number of titles they are keeping.
    
Readers of this blog know the numbers.
Carol has found 33 titles remaining and 501 titles are gone.
    
The Deadline reporter did not even bother to check the veracity of their own reporting.
    
No Country for Old Men is unavailable to stream. DVD only.
Life is Beautiful is unavailable to stream. DVD only.
The Crying Game is unavailable entirely on Netflix.
Strictly Ballroom is unavailable to stream. DVD only.
My Left Foot is unavailable to stream. DVD only.
    
Sorry, but this is no news.
    
Carol, thanks for all your efforts. Get a good rest. You deserve it.

will g    June 1, 2016 at 5:13 PM

    

Anita Busch is a very well-respected, experienced reporter. I don't think she pulled those titles out of a hat. If they aren't available to stream right now, it may be because the renewal deal just happened and they haven't been put back on yet. Yes we already knew 28 Mirimax titles were renewed, but I THINK this goes beyond that. If there were still over 500 Mirimax titles being removed, I doubt she would have published this article.

will g    June 1, 2016 at 5:19 PM

    

Sorry I should have said over 400 Mirimax titles. 500 was the total of all expiring titles.

The Angry Internet    June 2, 2016 at 7:46 PM

    

The suspicious phrase here is "Netflix said that some titles are staying put and others falling out but they would not release the number of titles they are keeping." That very strongly implies that whatever Miramax titles were renewed are the ones that didn't expire yesterday, which (as far as we can tell) amount to a whopping 33 movies. Netflix's refusal to give even a vague ballpark figure for how many movies are part of the new deal gives me little confidence we will see an imminent mass renewal.

The Angry Internet    June 2, 2016 at 7:53 PM

    

I'll also add that No Country for Old Men is still part of the Starz catalog (and left Netflix four years ago as part of that catalog) and would not be available to Netflix as part of any renewal of the Miramax deal.

Brian Clarkson    June 1, 2016 at 7:51 PM

    

And you can add Decider to that list of those reporting a Miramax renewal. It's possible that we may be getting more of those titles back than those we found renewed. But I imagine that it's not an overnight process.

will g    June 1, 2016 at 8:13 PM

    

That Decider post is just repeating and linking to the Deadline article, as is one other site. Busch remains the one source for this for now.

Brian Clarkson    June 2, 2016 at 5:01 AM

    

Deadline's broken a number of stories when it comes to new series/movies heading to Netflix (see the upcoming Fundamentals of Caring to think of one example) so I believe I can trust them when it comes with renewing contracts with a film studio.

Wellesley72    June 2, 2016 at 12:37 PM

    

Talk about fuzzy reporting. The Miramax deal has been renewed, but people seem to be all over the place in stating "all" of the content will stay at Netflix, "some" of the content will stay, and "the content will contain old and new titles". Since Miramax doesn't make movies any more but is just a catalogue of movies owned by a private investor, the last statement is particularly bizarre unless there are some movies not previously licensed to Netflix that will be licensed in this "renewal", which was apparently signed on May 31 but apparently takes effect sometime in the (unspecified) future. This is beginning to sound like the Disney deal which "took effect" on January 1 except that Netflix has to wait nine months or more to stream the new Disney content. Are the lunatics running the asylum?

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