Last November, FilmStruck, the greatest cinephilic streaming service ever, was killed by its corporate overlords. As a combination of Criterion and Turner Classic Movies, it had the greatest collection of important films ever in one website. On Monday, Criterion opened The Criterion Channel, offering about half of what FilmStruck had, which still makes it an … Continue reading Son of Filmstruck: The Criterion Channel is up and running (sometimes)
Category: Streaming
Kanopy: The free FilmStruck alternative
In last week's article about FilmStruck alternatives, I didn't go into detail about Kanopy - the free streaming service you can access through your library card. The problem was that my card is with the Alameda Public Library, which doesn't qualify. Soon after I posted that article, I discovered that I can get a library … Continue reading Kanopy: The free FilmStruck alternative
What to Watch Between FilmStruck and the Criterion Channel
FilmStruck is dead. It's replacement, The Criterion Channel, won't go online until spring. And when you consider the problems of developing a complex website, that may mean October. So how will you stream classic films in the coming months? Here are some alternatives to keep you going until The Criterion Channel goes live. All of … Continue reading What to Watch Between FilmStruck and the Criterion Channel
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Last of FilmStruck
Here are the last films I watched on FilmStruck - all movies I'd either never seen before or hadn't seen in years. I'm listing them, not by quality, but in the order I saw them. A- Walkabout (1971), Tuesday afternoon Nicolas Roeg takes us to Australia and the edge between civilization and the wild. As with … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Last of FilmStruck
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: More FilmStruck binge watching
With Thanksgiving finished, I had a chance to watch more movies before FilmStruck goes away. Only three more days left in the best streaming service ever. A Being There (1979), FilmStruck Peter Sellers gave the best performance of his life as Chance, the Gardener (AKA Chauncey Gardner), a mentally deficient TV addict who knows only about … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: More FilmStruck binge watching
The Pending Death of FilmStruck
Admittedly, much worse things have popped up in the news lately. The end of a movie streaming service doesn't mean much compared to a mass killing in a house of worship. But for American cinephiles, the sudden announcement about closing Filmstruck feels like the pending death of a too-young good friend. It's been only two … Continue reading The Pending Death of FilmStruck
Watching Movies at Home: On the Internet or on shiny discs
Ideally, we should watch movies is in a theater. But this is the real world, and even the most fanatical cinephiles watch a lot of films at home. But the way we watch movies at home has changed considerably in the last few years, going from physical media to Internet streaming. How is that changing … Continue reading Watching Movies at Home: On the Internet or on shiny discs
