Here's a nutty idea, Fox... let people see your movies

If I ran a movie studio and had a shred of common sense, I would think having people see a movie would be, you know, a good thing.  Maybe that's why I'm not running a movie studio.

It has long been a pet peeve of mine that studios including 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Universal have been trying to hold out on dollar-rental kiosk operator Redbox, because they think that cheap DVD rentals impact DVD sales.  I thought maybe it had something to do with the number of cruddy movies they've been turning out, but I'll leave it to the supposed experts.

Now comes a New York Times report that Fox is spying on Redbox, to make sure its boycott is keeping their movies out of loyal Redbox renters' hands as long as possible.  Here's a nutty idea, Fox... you make movies.  Let people see the damn things.

I know one thing for certain: I'm way more likely to buy a DVD after being able to rent the movie from Redbox or Netflix.  Sorry to upset the studio apple-cart, but I don't go out and buy DVDs without seeing the movie first, and these days I don't typically see movies if a rental costs more than a buck or two.  The last time I set foot in a Blockbuster brick-and-mortar store was to exchange a Blockbuster Online mailer for a free rental.  I really can't remember the last time money has actually changed hands between myself and a local video store employee.

I want to see your movies, and if they're good I may buy the DVD.  But I flat out refuse to spend more than a buck to rent it.  I want to use Redbox.  I want to get your movies from my Netflix Queue.  I want to be able to sit down with my Blu-ray player and stream it from Netflix when and where I want it.  All you have to do is make good movies, and I'll buy DVDs.

Don't think of me as an unreasonable guy.  I'm willing to compromise.  You can go ahead and continue your pig-headed practice of dumping stripped-down, feature-barren discs in the Redbox.  I'm cool with that.  If I enjoy the movie, I could see buying the DVD to see special features.  I love 'em.  I'm totally into all that "the magic of moviemaking" crap.  

But I'm sorry, no matter how good you say it is or how much you grossed in worldwide box-office, it'll be a cold, cold day in hell before I'm going to go out and buy Ice Age 3 on faith.