The Criterion Channel

Olivia Bauer · April 06, 2019, 08:57:02 PM

https://www.criterionchannel.com/

A while ago the Criterion Collection announced they were doing their own Netflix-style streaming service.
It's $10 a month or $90 a year. I'm not sure what to expect. The service is not available yet but it will be launching in two days.
I'll sign up for a free trial immediately. Honestly, $90 a year is a pretty damned good deal if it means ALL the Criterion films will be available.
We'll see.

Rev. Powell · April 06, 2019, 10:52:30 PM

They already tried once with "Filmstruck" and failed. We'll see if this one takes off, but I don't see why it would with a smaller catalog.

The entire collection used to be on Hulu a few years ago. Now that was a great deal!

Olivia Bauer · April 08, 2019, 01:45:40 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 06, 2019, 10:52:30 PM
They already tried once with "Filmstruck" and failed. We'll see if this one takes off, but I don't see why it would with a smaller catalog.

The entire collection used to be on Hulu a few years ago. Now that was a great deal!

Guess I'll take a wait and see approach.

It launched a couple hours ago and it's definitely not the entire collection. All of the movies I already own aren't on there for some reason. But I just got done watching Fantastic Planet.
I haven't seen any signs of things like extras, just the raw movie. Maybe that comes later? So far I don't have that much of an opinion on the service yet. The searching is kind of a pain but maybe they'll update it eventually. They also have Seven Samurai so I might look at that next.

RCMerchant · April 09, 2019, 08:02:37 AM

Bet even money it goes belly up.
Nobody wants to watch quaility old films.
Now, if they just play garbage like DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER all day- it might take off...

Allhallowsday · April 09, 2019, 02:06:20 PM

Quote from: RCMerchant on April 09, 2019, 08:02:37 AM
Bet even money it goes belly up.
Nobody wants to watch quaility old films.
Now, if they just play garbage like DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER all day- it might take off...

...snicker...

Don't forget Ancient Aliens

Olivia Bauer · April 09, 2019, 02:54:23 PM

Quote from: Allhallowsday on April 09, 2019, 02:06:20 PM
Quote from: RCMerchant on April 09, 2019, 08:02:37 AM
Bet even money it goes belly up.
Nobody wants to watch quaility old films.
Now, if they just play garbage like DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER all day- it might take off...
...snicker...

Don't forget Ancient Aliens

I've tried to.

RCMerchant · April 09, 2019, 03:04:46 PM

I would love to see mint copies of classic films- I just don't think the general public does.

Allhallowsday · April 09, 2019, 03:27:01 PM

Quote from: RCMerchant on April 09, 2019, 03:04:46 PM
I would love to see mint copies of classic films- I just don't think the general public does.

TCM often shows interesting films... I watched DINER (1982) the other night.

Olivia Bauer · April 13, 2019, 08:40:22 PM

The video player keeps resetting every time I leave the page. So I can't even keep my progress through a movie. Nice.

Also, it refuses to load half of the movie Stalker. It just f**ked up every time. ~~I had to pirate the movie to be able to finish it.~~
Geeze, this site needs work.

I finished it on the site. I don't know why but it just decided to work then.

Olivia Bauer · April 19, 2019, 04:59:30 PM

Lars Von Trier's Antichrist stopped playing at the 10 minute mark. That time I did end up having to torrent it and watched the entire thing.
I don't endorse piracy but I feel like the customer has every right to do so when they're given a promise of being able to watch it for a yearly fee.
Hopefully this won't keep happening with future films.

Another issue I found is that the only movies that you can get subtitles on are the ones in another language.
So if you're watching a movie from an English speaking country and want subtitles you are s**t out of luck.

Rev. Powell · April 19, 2019, 06:09:59 PM

Quote from: A.J. Bauer on April 19, 2019, 04:59:30 PM
Lars Von Trier's Antichrist stopped playing at the 10 minute mark. That time I did end up having to torrent it and watched the entire thing.
I don't endorse piracy but I feel like the customer has every right to do so when they're given a promise of being able to watch it for a yearly fee.
Hopefully this won't keep happening with future films.

Another issue I found is that the only movies that you can get subtitles on are the ones in another language.
So if you're watching a movie from an English speaking country and want subtitles you are s**t out of luck.

Sorry you're having all these problems. Has customer service said anything?

Olivia Bauer · April 19, 2019, 06:22:16 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on April 19, 2019, 06:09:59 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bauer on April 19, 2019, 04:59:30 PM
Lars Von Trier's Antichrist stopped playing at the 10 minute mark. That time I did end up having to torrent it and watched the entire thing.
I don't endorse piracy but I feel like the customer has every right to do so when they're given a promise of being able to watch it for a yearly fee.
Hopefully this won't keep happening with future films.

Another issue I found is that the only movies that you can get subtitles on are the ones in another language.
So if you're watching a movie from an English speaking country and want subtitles you are s**t out of luck.

Sorry you're having all these problems. Has customer service said anything?

I'm trying to find out how to even contact them. Worst case scenario I @ them on Twitter.

dean · April 22, 2019, 06:09:20 AM

I've been a big fan of Mubi (though I get it for free so don't worry if I dip in and out)

Generally I want to support the idea of criterion but I have to admit all the streaming sources I use is starting to get me really fatigued.

But since I can claim them on tax as an expense it isn't too bad... ;-)

Had a brief look and I like what I see so far for criterion that I'm willing to support it but haven't dipped so far that I have had a decent enough play with it to find any tech issues. Just glad it works as initially it told me it wouldn't be active in my country but it is! Hooray!

Rev. Powell · April 22, 2019, 07:49:42 AM

This is a problem I've had with streaming. OK, you get Netflix, fine, great value. Then you get Hulu or Amazon Prime because they have some shows you want. Then the content producers pull their shows off those platforms and put out a separate Criterion Channel, HBO+, Disney+, Warner Media... pretty soon you're paying more than you would for cable.

Alex · April 22, 2019, 08:15:09 AM

At the moment I only pay for one channel at a time. When the next season of Stranger Things comes on Netflix, I'll start that up, binge that and a few other shows I want to see, then switch to what ever channel has something I want to see next. I really don't like Amazon Prime's service as I object to paying for it, then paying more to watch whatever stuff I want to see. Definately think they are opening more channels on what is rapidly becoming an overcrowded market and I think a lot of streaming channels are going to fail.