The Blu-ray rental problem

[michaelgsmith]

I recently purchased Hitchcock's Notorious on blu-ray. I think it's one of the master's best films and I was more than happy to sell my old DVD for this upgrade. I was very impressed by the quality of the blu.

I was intensely curious to watch Spellbound and Rebecca as well. While I don't think they're "top tier" Hitchcock, they're both still very good films and I wanted to see them in their best home video presentations without having to buy them. Guess what? I can't find anywhere that rents them. I live in Chicago, which unlike a lot of U.S. cities, still does have a decent amount of video stores. Not only could I not find these blu-ray discs for rental at a local store, I also couldn't find them for rent by mail (through Netflix or anywhere else).

This is when it occurred to me that this depressing problem is only going to become worse in the future: if you want to see a movie on blu-ray, you're going to have to buy it.