It’s a lazy Saturday evening and you crave a movie. But - as already mentioned - you’re lazy, and therefore do not feel like going out to the movie rental store in town. I guess you could watch one out of your gargantuan VHS/DVD library, but tonight, not one of them piques your entertainment-viewing interest. And you definitely aren’t patient enough to order a Netflix rental, wait for 24 hours, and view it the next day, at which time you would probably not feel like, or have time for a two and a half hour flick. Your entertainment craving is about now! And it needs to be quenched!

So, what do you do? Sulk and cry in a corner of your home theater room? Drown your entertainment-less woes with Wild Turkey? Throw a childish temper tantrum? No! Let me give you a hint: the Internet is an amazing medium full of solutions to the wackiest needs - yours is none too wacky.

I was in a predicament similar to the one above recently. But I searched for solutions. I researched online to find if there was such a thing as a website which would allow me to download movies, thus allowing me to "e-rent" (if there is such a word - if there isn’t, I invented it!) a video at a reasonable rate, satisfying my movie fancy. One company name came out above the others: Movielink.

The Basics

Movielink is an e-business which offers customers downloadable movies, television shows, and other videos. For a reasonable fee you can quickly download a high-quality WMP-format copy of a movie or movies onto the Movielink Manager (which you can download for free with the purchase of your first movie) and view it from your own personal computer or television. Or, your NETGEAR Digital Entertainer works with MovieLink as well. Prices for rental start at $0.99, while purchase costs start at $1.99.

It’s pretty easy. Just go to www.movielink.com. Then start searching through their vast video library for the exact flick you are looking for. If you find what you want, then rent or buy it - whichever you feel like (c’mon, you know yourself better than I do). Once you find what hits your fancy, add it to your cart. The rest is as simple as tying your shows. The site, although not a favorite of mine in layout, aesthetics, or organization, is nonetheless quite easy to navigate. So if you are one of those few remaining tech-unfriendly species living on this planet, don’t fret - it’s a piece of chocolate cake.

Consider This

To start off, if you are an Applet or a Linux-fan, don’t even think about. Sadly, at least at this point, Movielink is solely Microsoft compatible - and only the newer versions at that (2000 and onward). Sorry iPod enthusiasts.

Another thing to think about before diving in is how a rental with Movielink works. Once rented, the movie is downloaded to your Movielink Manager. From there you can view it. Once you begin viewing it, you have 24 hours to finish it. At the end of that 24 hour period, you cannot view the movie again unless you pay for another movie rental. Now, that may not seem too difficult, but it is something to consider before you make the choice between renting and purchasing. Do you really like the movie? Is it a suspenseful, thrilling espionage film which takes 67 viewings before the mist shrouding the plot can be taken away and thoroughly understood (case in point - Syrina)?

One time I fell asleep during a movie, and then missed out on the latter half which I had slept through because I rented it. That was a bummer (slight understatement). Purchasing a movie does not cost much more than renting one. So, if you are in doubt as to how awake you’ll be over the next 24 hours, or how well you will enjoy the movie or simply "get it" the first time, why not buy the film and have the chance to see it over and over again? It just might be well worth the extra dollar or two.

Here’s another thing to consider. Once you purchase or rent a Movielink video, you can begin the download. But do not begin viewing the film a second after you start the download. It won’t work and, if it does by some miracle, your movie can potentially get choppy and really messed up and then - all of a sudden - stop, which is a real stinking bummer when Harrison Ford is about to kick some bad guy’s butt!

Final Thoughts

I thought I would just close this article by addressing a few potential questions. Here goes:

Is it legal?

Yes, Movielink is 100% legal, so there are no needs to worry for you anti-piraters out there. The film libraries are provided for use by Movielink and its customers by the company which created them (i.e., Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, etc.). Purchasing Movielink’s services is not illegal, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to burn a copy of a movie onto a blank DVD - that is illegal.

What if I want to go portable?

For those enamored with all things portable, think Portable Media Center (PMC) or Windows PlaysForSure. But Movielink is not compatible with your iPod, nor is it with the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

So the next time you are lackadaisical to the core, but still in the mood to watch a different movie, check out Movielink. It might just be what you were looking for.