“Valentine’s Day” and “Invictus” are available nowon DirecTV!  If you want to rent them from Netflix or Redbox you’ll have to wait – 28 days!  Man, is DirecTV great or what!?

Or what.  We could question whether we need earlier video releases for these and other films.  After all, if you weren’t willing to pay $10 to see a film in the theatre what difference will another 28 days make?  And if you did catch them at the theatre, are you really chomping at the bit to drop $5 to see them before they come out on Netflix?  But set that point aside, because DirecTV is not going to show you any of these movies any earlier than you have become accustomed to.

Netflix made a deal to increase their film streaming library.  The concession they made was the 28 day delay.  So now you can pay DirecTV $4.99 to watch a movie on pay-per-view when you would have been able to just add it to your Netflix queue before.  Blockbuster agreed to pay the studios their extortion money to be allowed to keep offering movies as soon as they come out on DVD.  Redbox didn’t.  It’s all part of the slow-motion dance toward the holy grail of streaming and/or downloadable entertainment – anything we want, anytime and anywhere we want it.  One day we’ll get there; in the meantime, I can wait 28 days.