Call me crazy, but I doubt Netflix has permission to modify the films in this way. Something tells me the studios are providing them to Netflix pre-cropped.
That's what pan-and-scan is. Its done by the studio so they have some "artistic" control of how the cropping is done.
Overlooked in the outrage expressed is that movies are shot knowing that cropping will occur, and the scenes are often viewed with the cinematographer & director marking out which parts of the frame will be preserved for various formats. In the scene where Carrey is cropped out, he may very well have been positioned in the full frame such that if/when cropped to 16:9 he simply would not appear, rather than awkwardly have just his arm show while sensibly trying to preserve enough of the speaker within the frame.
http://library.creativecow.net/carlin_paul/35mm-evolution/5 describes a variant of this, presenting and addressing (as a deliberate process!) a little-discussed variant: the 2.39:1 and 16:9 versions may be the ones in fact guilty of cutting off part of the scene, with the 4:3 frame containing the whole scene, and the others preserving the full width but dropping top & bottom portions to make them fit the narrowed frames.
That's etler's point: you seem to be disagreeing and correcting, but all you are doing is restating what he said. The idea is that "clearly" (and we now have this said twice): this is not just a blind crop, this is a crop that took into account something that Netflix wouldn't know (who is speaking), so it is thereby an unjustifiable stretch to believe that Netflix is modifying the movies themselves (which is the premise that etler was responding to, if you re-read mullingitover's comment).
Movie studios want to keep enthusiasts away from all-you-can-eat streaming services because they're one of the few groups that appreciate (and are willing to pay for) quality over quantity. Quality includes framing as the director intended.
If i'm paying to watch a movie, i want to at least be informed it it's a mutilated version of the movie.
...not that i would be paying netflix if i wanted movies. everyone knows it's just for TV series anyway.
If one is such a nitpicker, Netflix isn't a good fit. Pay for the BluRay director's cut. Netflix $7.99/month, and it's a pretty good deal for what they provide.
but making clear what they are selling to being with.
what if there's now a competitor that has decent movies and does not crop the image, and charges 8.99?
it would be a much, much better choice for me and everyone here. but since netflix does not disclose they have the low budget licensing of the movies, i would compare wrong and support the lesser service thinking they are similar and one is just cheaper.
i.e. cheating.