Ubuntu – How to get online Movie Rental Service to Work

I turned to Ubuntu 12.10 (and then Mint…and then back) as a means for giving one last leg to an old PC. I'm thrifty, and thought Ubuntu's UI was very attractive. As it stands, I love how Ubuntu functions, I love how it looks, and I'm pretty sure I could become a pretty loyal user…but.

I'm having one hell of a time getting any online movie rental service to work. I'd rather avoid any torrent options, so the services I've attempted to use include:

• Amazon Instant Video
• Vudu
• Blockbuster's Service (Cinema…something)
• Google Play
• iTunes (via Wine/PlayOnLinux)

From what I can tell, the only common thread with these services is DRM. Here's what I've attempted to make these work:

• http://www.techdrivein.com/2012/10/20-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu1210-quantal-quetzal.html Everything here.
• I've attempted the various "hal" suggestions out there, including the ones on this thread: Adobe flash player not working with Amazon Prime
• I've tried using Safari via Wine and winetricks to install Flash: http://techzil.com/install-safari-on-ubuntu/
• I've tried different variants of Google Chrome. Chromium, Chrome, Chrome Beta, and Chrome on Wine. I've taken what steps I can to disable "pepper" from it.

Here's what happens when I currently try to use the various services:

• Amazon: Player loads (Green progress dots…looks fine); Then I receive a Play Update prompt that says "An error occurred and your player could not be updated. This is likely because your Flash Player or Browser needs to be updated.This update is required to play back the video."
• Vudu: The player loads, then I'm given an endless buffering status. Sometimes the buffering status drops off, but the video never loads.
• Blockbuster thing: The player gets hung up on loading a video.
• Google Play: Static and "Please Upgrade Flash to Watch this Video"
• Can't get any version of iTunes to install correctly through Wine.

I just want one of these services to work, I really don't care which one. Ubuntu will never be able to become my primary OS if I can't rent a movie on it from time to time…which I think would be a shame. So hopefully there's one of you brilliant Ubuntu-ers (what do you call yourselves, anyway?) who can figure this out.

If you need system specs, error logs, or whatever, just ask (but you might have to tell me how to pull them). I've gotten fairly comfortable with punching in various Terminal commands, though I don't know what I'm doing most of the time.

As an aside, please don't recommend any of the subscription services at this time (Netflix, Redbox Instant, Hulu—Hulu does play video for me btw). I may turn to those at a later date, but I prefer to rent movies on the fly at random. Now that I think about it, just in case it helps you, I can get video to play from:

• Hulu
• YouTube
• ABC

And I haven't tried any others beyond that…