Streaming Services Guide
WELCOME to the new page for information and discussion about any and all streaming services.
Since I took the previous Streaming Services page offline*, we have had several comments related to that subject. I have made this new page to fill that need. Eventually, I hope to put all the information that was on the previous page here, but for now, we will at least have a place to talk about anything related to other services, or streaming in general.
*The previous page was a work in progresss, and I couldn't keep up with all the information about all the various streaming services. As a result, it just felt too disorganized, and I wanted to "clean it up" before re-publishing.
To get us started, I found the following on Rotten Tomatoes: 100 Fresh Movies to Watch Online for Free. The good news: These are all excellent films from various decades. Whether a re-watch, a missed gem, or something you're curious about, this is a list worth checking out. The bad news: As you probably suspected, they are all on sites that interrupt the movies with ads, so if you don't want that, then never mind. Also, as with Netflix, movies come and go on these sites, so, if interested, watch as soon as you can.
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The Criterion Channel
ReplyDeleteThe films include their permanent library from Criterion catalog, and films licensed from a variety of sources. They have a broad focus, classics both Hollywood and British; independent; art house and international films. Each day, particular items are featured, but most new content is actually posted at the beginning of the month, typically 60 to 80 new films. Rotating content is usually available for 3 to 6 months, but a few films stay as short as a month. There are currently about 2000 features and shorts on Criterion plus very many extras. They have a list of titles expiring at the end of the current month available on both the web site and app.
The web site, https://www.criterionchannel.com/browse is browsable without joining. You can also go to https://www.criterion.com/current/category/19-on-the-channel to see the featured content for each month.
DeleteThanks Achernar. I'm wondering how I can watch the films on my smart TV? Mine is a 2016 model, so it doesn't support new stuff, such as Disney Plus. Do you know if Criterion is included on Roku? Or will I just have to hook up my hdmi cord? Thanks for any help you might have to offer on this subject.
Criterion has Apps for Apple; Android; Roku; Fire devices and TVs. I use Roku devices. I have it, but don't use it on my Android tablet. I don't like to watch on a small screen. It will also run under various web browsers. Since my computer is very old, I can browse the site but not view videos.
DeleteVersion requirements are available on their Web site. For Roku, they state "3rd Gen +, Roku 4+ (4K)". My Roku stick is from 2016.
DeleteThanks for that very helpful answer, Achernar. I think it's time I invested in a Roku device - I'll make sure to pay attention to the right model.
You will be OK with any current model, according to Wikipedia, third generation players came out in 2013 and the Roku 4 4K came out in 2015.
DeleteRoku also has their own free with ads channel, with some worthwhile content and only a moderate number of adds.
DeleteGreat! Thanks Achernar.
Here are a few highlights this month on Criterion.
DeleteThe Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles , 1942) with two commentary tracks plus over 5 hours of additional extras. It ranked in the top ten of Sight and Sound’s decadal critics poll of the Greatest Films of All Time in 1972 (8) and 1982 (7) and ranks 81 in the latest 2012 critics poll. This film has been top of my most want to see list for quite a while.
Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941) with a commentary track and additional extras. This hard to find film ranked 61 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies 2007 list.
Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece, Brazil (1985) with both the director’s version, the studio’s stripped down “Love Conquers All” version, commentary tracks for each and over 2.5 hours of additional extras.
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (Roy Rowland, 1953) written by Theodor Seuss Geisel. A must see children film.
For tennis fans, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (Julien Faraut, 2018).
For fans of Everybody Loves Raymond (I personally have never seen the show), Exporting Raymond (Phil Rosenthal, 2010).
To see the complete August lineup, go to https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7032-the-criterion-channel-s-august-2020-lineup
You can browse Criterion without a subscription, https://www.criterionchannel.com/browse
A few comments about my experience with Disney+. Back in May, I subscribed to Disney+ for a free week and stayed on for a paid month. At $7/month, the price is reasonable. As a general film buff my interest was viewing some of the classic Disney vault and Pixar films and shorts with particular interest in the films include in various American Film Institute lists. I don’t have any interest in the Marvel or Star Wars stuff (although I would have liked to see again the original 1977 theatrical version of Star Wars before Lucas screwed it up with CGI crap).
ReplyDeleteFor someone with young kids who want to see the same films/TV shows over and over, it is probably worth a long term subscription.
For someone like me, it is worth a short term subscription until you catch up with everything you want to see.
For a serious Disney buff, it has some significant shortcomings and is not organized for study.
All of the AFI (except for Song of the South) and vault films are there. Note-- Song of the South made the AFI last for best song. Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah is available on YouTube. The Pixar side is almost complete missing just a very few features and shorts. The Disney side is missing a few films, e.g. Make Mine Music, Victory Through Air Power. It is seriously deficient on short especially modern shorts.
One other limitation is while the library is fairly decent, new content is very limited just one or two major titles and a few originals a month.
DeleteHi Achernar, thanks for once again bringing us up to speed with what's happening at Criterion. I finally subscribed, but don't have as much time for browsing as I would like, so I really appreciate your update.
Thanks also for your Disney review - I agree with your observations.
Unlike a year or two ago, I have a lot of time for viewing. Rven so, I can barely keep up and have to be selective. Criterion has too much good content.
DeleteA highlight this month on Criterion, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Classic stop-motion from Ray Harryhausen. With films like this to watch, who needs CGI crap.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a ’70s Horror collection (Robert Altman's Images is interesting) and a New Korean Cinema collection including several films from the director of Parasite.
DeleteAs always, thanks for your heads up, Achernar. I definitely want to watch some of the ones you mention.
One other highlight this month is the animated documentary “Of Stars and Men” from the book by and narrated by astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885 –1972). The science is a bit out of date, but the animation is just beautiful.
DeleteAlso, Abbott and Costello’s “Buck Privates” (1941) is generally not worth the time unless you are a big Abbott and Costello fan. There is one short segment of the film that is worth seeing. Shortly after the 59 minute point, The Andrews Sisters perform their hit "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" which was written for the film.
DeleteThanks Achernar. I'll definitely watch Of Stars and Men for the animation, and try to catch The Andrews Sisters - sounds fun.
As I've mentioned before, I've come across several other web pages about what's leaving and coming to Netflix. Are there any sites that cover other streaming services? My public library offers two movie streaming services to patrons, Hoopla (other types of material, too) and Kanopy (movies only). When they first started offering Hoopla, the site had a category called Leaving Hoopla Soon, but it has since been dropped. Kanopy has never had such a listing in the time during which I've used it. It would be great to know in both places what is leaving soon.
ReplyDeleteOur Xfinity service has a few movie streaming services that are included in our plan or that we pay extra to get, including tubi, HBO, and STARZEncore. When I display movie information from these services, their expiration dates are shown. Some are as far away as 2029! Still, it would be nice to have all of the expiring ones shown in one place.
Thanks for any help that anyone can give me on this.
DeleteI haven't used hoopla, but it looks like they have categories for "leaving in October" and "leaving in November." Tubi has a page for "leaving soon," but there aren't any dates. Not sure if this will help because I just did a web search for "leaving [name of service]" and those are what came up. I didn't search for all the sites you mentioned, but you might try that if you haven't already.
You didn't ask about Amazon Prime, but there is a similar page to ours, begun by one of our contributors. The link is in the sidebar under Related Websites.
Thanks for your reply about Hoopla. I see that they now have these two categories for video, which includes movies and T.V. I think that previously it was just called "Leaving Hoopla Soon". The more specific information is more useful. Since it's not date-specific within a month, I hope that this means at the end of the month only.
DeleteHoopla doesn't have this category for ebooks and audiobooks. If they work like other library ebook and audiobook services such as CloudLibrary and Libby/OverDrive, removals are based on what comes first - the end of a specific licensing period, such as two years, or reaching a specific number of checkouts, such as 52. A title may be scheduled to leave Hoopla two years after it first arrived, but if it is popular enough to have 52 checkouts before that time, it may leave before that date.
DeleteGlad I could help with Hoopla. Thanks for the book info.
StarzENCORE got removed from the level of Xfinity service we get for what we pay as of October 27. It is now either $8.00 or $8.99 a month, with 30 days free if signed up for by November 15. I had several movies from them in my Favorites list, mainly old favorites I saw about 40 years ago and would have liked to have seen again. I would have watched them instead of some of my Netflix DVDs if I had known they were going away from my service. Actually, some had expiration dates two or three months from now, but I was going to watch them closer to those dates. This change was apparently announced on our September 1 bill. The other person in our household gets and pays these bills, and I never thought to ask to see it. I will be looking at them now to not get caught by any more surprises.
ReplyDeleteWill Amazon have any Prime specials this year? I think I am finally going to join this year if they do.
DeleteI don't have any info about Amazon Prime, but you might want to check out Expiring Titles on Amazon Prime, created by one of our readers. There's a link in the sidebar under Related Websites. They have a Discussions page, too, for questions like yours.
Is there any site like this that tracks Hulu expirations, or is the press release pretty much all there is? I realize Hulu has a special section where they put your expiring content, but like Netflix, they sometimes don't give much advance notice. It seems like every month there's stuff showing up there unexpectedly. So, is the press release all we've got? Or is a like-minded blog out there, gathering and sharing what Hulu won't tell us (until too late)?
ReplyDeleteI signed up for Amazon Prime 32 days ago, with a 30-day trial membership. The 30 days are up, but I am keeping it. I like getting my ordered items more quickly, and usually shipped for free, even if under $35. (But I also discovered that not everything is shipped for free, if it doesn't come from Amazon itself and certain other vendors.) As for the videos, I discovered that a few of the ones I have wanted to see that are available on the ad-supported tubi are also on Amazon Prime. I much prefer watching them on Prime, not just because of the ads but because tubi cuts off the closing credits. On some platforms, tubi does have an option to see closing credits, but this option is not made available in the Comcast/Xfinity X1 box app, which is how I get it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't like about watching a video on Prime is that whenever I start up a new video, instead of starting my chosen one right away, they show what I would call a "preview" and would never call a "trailer" of another movie. Fortunately, there is an option to skip it. But it is still annoying. (I would also call this a "coming attraction" under some circumstances, but I would still never call it a "trailer".)
DeleteThanks for the report, Regina. I recently signed up for Amazon Prime, too, and am still getting used to using it. A lot of the movies they show posters for are available only by signing up with another service, like Starz or Acorn. Amazon makes it a little too easy to do that, imho, and if a person isn't paying close attention, they can inadvertantly sign up for more than they realized (I didn't do that, but know some who have).
They are called "trailers" because theaters used to show previews after the main feature. When the practice changed to show previews at the start, the term "trailers" was sufficiently ingrained that it stuck.
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DeleteThanks Achernar, I didn't know that.
I'm sure it made better sense to show the previews first. Considering that most people don't even stay for the closing credits, not many stayed for the coming attractions that really were trailers then. But despite being as old as I am, I never heard the word "trailer" for "preview" or "coming attraction" until the consumer Internet era (which started around 1995 for some folks, August 1996 for me).
Deleteespecially later this month (prime day 6/21-22) but also around the holidays, watch for amazon to advertise deals for its "channels," sometimes as low as 99c a month. you don't have to keep it, so you can go to your settings and have it automatically cancel when the month is up instead of billing you for the next.
Deletethe only downside, as i've chronicled on the other blog, is instead of letting content that is free to watch on prime continue that way, when a subscription channel adds it, it is almost always yanked away from ad-free, rental-free viewing for prime members. the same is usually the case even when something is added to amazon-owned IMDb TV with commercials. IMO, if someone is paying over $100 a year for the service, they should have continued access to something that was free with it that did not post an expiration date, as the license should still be in place with the distributor. it's a bit greedy to unceremoniously pull these so that people subscribe to an addon.
On The Criterion Channel this month, “Hitchcock for the Holidays”. The collection contains 21 films spanning 1927 to 1976 including “Vertigo” which was voted as the greatest film of all time in Sight and Sound’s 2012 once per decade poll of over 800 film critics.
ReplyDelete