I love Netflix's streaming service, but recently, as the company has been investing in original programming like "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black," I've noticed that finding really great movies on the service has become something of a challenge. Fortunately, it turns out there's a way to vastly increase the size of Netflix's catalogue.
Say hello to Hola.
A free browser extension, Hola allows you to visit websites that are otherwise blocked in your country.
For Netflix subscribers, that includes the UK version of the site, along with a bunch of other versions, all of which have their own ever-evolving libraries of TV and movies.
You're probably wondering: Is this legal?
That was my first question before using it.
Basically, Hola let's you use a virtual private network (VPN) to watch the site in other countries.
How Hola lets you to watch Netflix overseas and other programming anywhere in the world »
While not illegal, using a VPN proxy may violate the Terms of Service for some sites, including Netflix. It's not clear if the company has a way of knowing what you're up to, but in theory they could deactivate your service for breaking the rules.
In practice, of course, Netflix is in a battle for subscribers, and punishing violators is not in their interest. Especially with Richard Plepler, CEO of Netflix rival HBO, publically admitting that he doesn't mind a bit if people share their HBOGo passwords with nonsubscribers.
Still, it must be said, violate Netflix's TOS at your own risk.
I took a chance, and after playing around with the tool — with an assist by a great online content search tool, Moreflicks.com— I quickly realized the international Netflix sites have a ton of movies the U.S. site doesn't.
We've gone through seven other countries, picking out a few new and classic films you can see right now overseas on Netflix. We were surprised by how many recent movies we found.
Netflix Canada
"Amour"
"An Education"
"Taken 2"
"Monsters Ball"
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
"Jerry Maguire"
Netflix Chile
"Lee Daniels' The Butler"
"The Way Way Back"
"The Bling Ring"
"The Godfather"
"A Clockwork Orange"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
Netflix Norway
"Argo"
"Cloud Atlas"
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly"
"The Goonies"
"Halloween"
"Kill Buljo" -- Norwegian parody of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill"
"The Matrix"
"Pale Rider"
"The Reader"
"Rush Hour"
"The Shining"
"Superman"
"Taken"
"The Terminator"
Netflix UK
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Donnie Brasco"
"Gone Baby Gone"
"The Help"
"Erin Brockovich"
"Kill Bill Vol. 2"
"Pretty Woman"
"Snatch"
"When Harry Met Sally"
Also, if you didn't see it in theaters, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is streaming there, too.
Netflix Uruguay
"Amadeus"
"American History X"
"Anchorman"
"Chicago"
"Crash"
"Gladiator"
"Glory"
"The Master"
"Place Beyond the Pines"
"Rocky"
"Seven Psychopaths"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Netflix Sweden
"Airplane"
"Blood Diamond"
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"
"Lethal Weapon"
"Moon"
"Ocean's Eleven"
"Rambo"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Volver"
Netflix Venezuela
"American Beauty"
"Chinatown"
"Cleopatra"
"District 9"
"Dirty Harry"
"Iron Man"
"Iron Man 2"
"Kill Bill"
"Out of Africa"
"Scarface"
"Schindler's List"
"The Dark Knight"
"True Grit" (1969)
"Up in the Air" (gone after 1/25)
"V for Vendetta"
"Zombieland"
Check out more movies: 21 films to see this year