Many Disney DVDs attempt to fool DVD rippers by having a fake chapter file that puts the chapters out of order. For these discs, you need to find and load the correct chapter file.

I've had this problem with Bolt and with Wall-E, though I can't speak specifically to Howl's Moving Castle.

So, this problem, at least, may not be the fault of your Linux rippers.

I've used Movielink to rent about a dozen movies. For me, it beats going to the video store. At the video store, I can never find what I want, it's either unavailable or already rented. I can check Movielink without leaving my desk, and though the often don't have what I want, it's easy to check.

As many have pointed out, the $4.99 rental fee is a bit steep. But while some folks may be good about returning movies, it seems about half the time I end up paying a late fee, so it's not really any more expensive for me than a DVD rental at Blockbuster.

I don't see it as an alternative to Netflix. Netflix is a great deal if you watch a lot of movies, or want to watch movies that are harder to find. Movielink is best for the occasional rental of mainstream films.

Movielink has a small selection, but it's easy to find out if they have something I'm interested in. The downloads are very quick over my 3Mb cable modem, typically completing in less than an hour, and watchable (streaming) a few minutes after starting the download.

The 24 hours limit is a bit of a pain, but importantly, the 24 hours doesn't start until you start watching the movie. Honestly, most new movies aren't worth watching more than once anyways.

It's too bad that Movielink requires Windows and Windows Media Player, but if this type of movie rental becomes more popular, they will be forced to support other platforms. The movie studios are resisting internet delivery of movies, thus Movielink has a pretty small selection.