Consumers Flooded With Movie-Watching Options, But Which Are Best?

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the mood for a good movie?

Your toughest decision today is not just what you want to see but how to see it.

Do you download, rent a DVD or have cable or streaming? The choices are numerous.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker takes a look at which services offers you what conveniences and at what price.

Streaming a movie offers convenience, says fan Michael Bohmer.

"When I want to watch something, I want to watch it right away. I don't want to wait a day or two," he says.

Or, you can pick one up at the corner kiosk.

"The more choices there are for consumers, the better," says Tiago Salvadore, an Accenture pricing analyst.

And, boy, are there a lot of choices: Vudu, YouTube, HuluPlus, CinemaNow.

"Depending on what you're willing to pay for convenience, you can have multiple options for the movies you want," Salvadore says.

It's understandable why movie night with Kris Cain and her four kids is all about weighing convenience and cost.

"Can you imagine buying five movie tickets at regular price? It would be very expensive. So we spend a lot of time at home watching movies," she says.

The number one choice for this busy mom? Netflix streaming for access to thousands of movies and TV shows, for $7.99 a month.

"It's instant and I can watch it on television," Cain says. "I can watch it on my computer. There's just so many movies. Even though it's not the newest stuff, there's always something you haven't seen."

She also streams with HuluPlus. She gets fewer options but pays the same price -- $7.99 a month. One big bonus: the latest episodes of current TV shows.

She also occasionally rents from Redbox, for $1 a night. In all she figures she spends about $25 a month.

Charisma Wills likes hard-to-find movies.

So, for her, streaming through Amazon Prime for $79 a year might be a good option.  

But if you want the latest blockbusters you can now rent them directly from studios. 

Paramount Pictures charges $4.99 apiece for their new releases online. Sony movies that are streamed through Sony devices cost $5.99.

You can also get movies through applications on new Internet-capable Smart TVs, which work like smart phones.

If you have an older ditigal TV, you can buy a special box that allows you to stream movies through applications like CinemaNow or iTunes. Models will cost between $80 to $180, however.

You can get new releases from either one for just $3.99 per movie.