Whether you get your movies from Redbox, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Video on Demand from your cable provider, or even the old-school way, by purchasing discs, you’ve got to give Amazon’s Instant Video Finder tool a try!
You know there are LOTS of great movies and TV shows out there you’ve never seen, but you also know there are plenty of clunkers. How can you narrow the field down to the winners? When you’ve got specific criteria, like maybe you need a kid-friendly film to keep the young ones occupied while the grown-ups socialize in another room, how can you quickly drill down to appropriate viewing material, AND choose something the kids will actually enjoy? When you’re in the mood for something fairly specific in terms of subject matter or tone and the usual broad categories of Thriller, Drama and Action aren’t cutting it, how can you find what you’re looking for without spending as much time LOOKING for the program as you’ll eventually spend WATCHING it?
Amazon Instant Video Finder, To The Rescue!
The Amazon Instant Video Finder is an amazing, FREE tool anyone can use to locate movies and TV programs based on much more specific and useful criteria than the usual, too-general Genre categorizations we’re all used to seeing when we’re looking for something to watch online or in stores.
First, you can check a box to specify “rated G or PG only”, “TV Shows”, “Movies”, or “Prime-Eligible* only” (to limit your search results to programs that are free for Amazon Prime* members to watch). You can mix and match these checkboxes too, to come up with search results limited to Prime-Eligible Movies rated G or PG only, for example.
Then, zero in further with the unbelievably diverse category options (see next section), and check out the reviews on individual programs. Sometimes, if I still want more information, I’ll go to Rotten Tomatoes to check out more reviews from film critics, or IMDB to look at a more detailed plot synopsis. Once you’ve found something good, you can rent, buy or borrow from your preferred source, whether it’s the actual Amazon Instant Video store, Netflix, or somewhere else! For me, it’s just a matter of clicking on the Add to Watchlist button right on the program’s Amazon page, since I’m all about the digital videos.
*Note: Amazon Prime is Amazon’s special membership program where, for an annual fee of $79 (as of this writing), members get free, 2-day shipping on all Prime-Eligible products purchased from the Amazon site (and pretty much everything that’s sold directly from Amazon, as opposed to a third-party vendor, is Prime-Eligible) plus free, unlimited viewing access to all of its Prime-Eligible Instant Videos.
Members also get access to the Kindle Prime Lending Library, where publishers make many current and past bestsellers available for Prime members to borrow in Kindle format at no cost. You don’t have to be a Prime member to use the Instant Video Finder tool, but I’ve personally found it’s worth the $79 per year for the free shipping alone—and all those great, free Instant Videos are just the icing on the cake! I said buh-bye to Netflix, and the money I save on my annual Netflix membership is more than enough to cover my annual Prime fee.
A Motherlode of Categories and Genres!
Forget about the old, genre-based categories of Drama, Action, Thriller, Horror, Comedy and the like. Amazon Instant Video Finder includes such options as:
– Political
– Revenge
– Feel-Good
– High School and College
– Serial Killer
– Zombie
– Stand-Up (comedy)
– Courtroom
– Tough Guy
– Epic
– Set in the Future
…and many, MANY more!
Seriously, spend a few minutes taking the Amazon Instant Video Finder tool for a spin, and never spend half an hour looking for a video that just ends up being a disappointment again!