NETFLIX Launches Service in UK

has launched today in the United Kingdom. That's exciting news for those of us who have always been jealous of the ease and affordability that the company offers movie fans overseas. And what better way to entice cinephiles to their esteemed services than a photo opportunity pairing founder Reed Hastings with two of our best-loved celebrities? If you're thinking Gary Oldman and Michael Caine have teamed up with the US entrepreneur for a classy snap or two, you'd be completely wrong: marketing have tapped into the collective UK consciousness and have instead brought us a couple of "characters" from The Only Way Is Essex (looking a bit confused as to why they're even involved). They're involved, of course, because Netflix UK is set to target potential customers with a straight-forward service option: £5.99 for unlimited streaming of their online film and TV library. This'll include titles like The Only Way Is Essex (see?), Peep Show (available to watch for free on 40D anyway) and Dirty Sanchez. You can also stream content to your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Apple TV. If you've ever browsed the Netflix catalogue stateside (it's enormous), then the sheer thought of having access to practically every movie and TV show ever put on a disc is sure to get people excited. But having investigated the UK site as it stands so far, I'm afraid to report that the offerings seem somewhat ridiculous. Where's all the good stuff? This is most definitely still a site in the beta stages (there isn't even a search function yet), but 50% of the content is that annoying kind that you'd never bother to watch. Stuff you can find for free. Films that sound terrible on their titles alone. There are some Hollywood staples available like Pearl Harbour, Sin City, Reservoir Dogs and Signs, but those films are rubbing shoulders with Witless Protection, Beauty Shop, and Clockstoppers. To make matters worse, there only seem to be about 200 titles available so far: not really the monumental catalogue amount that might encourage people to sign up and get streaming. There's another catch: you need a Facebook account to sign up, which presumably means that anything you stream is going to be branded across the internet for 456 people you don't like to raise their eyebrows at. That's fine if you want to show how clever and mysterious you are as you barrage the news feed with broody foreign titles, but what if you're the local nutter down the pub with a secret taste for Funny Face? That's your reputation on the line, Steve. It's probably OK to assume that you won't always have to sign up via Facebook and that Netflix are relying on this method to get their name known across the social networking platform: you sign up, it appears on the news feed, hundreds of people click to see what it is. Though that's technically a good marketing idea, it's something that will definitely succeed in putting lots of people off. Right now, though, Netflix is giving you 1 month free to try it out. Will it ever be able to beat out LoveFilm, the UK's current leader in this market? There's no telling at this stage: right now, Netflix just need a more tempting catalogue.