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kidc85
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:15 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#26 Post by kidc85 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 1:58 pm

I can't see any mention on the website, but I assume (even with Criterion's recent UK venture) this is going to be region locked?

buskeat66
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2015 4:18 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#27 Post by buskeat66 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:17 pm

cdnchris wrote:
domino harvey wrote:Terrible decision. Being on Hulu not only made it easy to stream on TV-devices, but it enabled lots of casual viewers to discover all manner of great films from the Collection. This is overall a far worse step as far as aiming at an audience outside of the already too niche film lovers community
There are a couple of people at work that actually discovered them through Hulu, not knowing who Criterion was but became intrigued by the films there. They've watched a number of titles already, too.
Also keep in mind leaving Hulu may not have been Criterion Collection's decision. Hulu is investing millions in their own TV series now, and like Netflix, is spending less and less on licensing other studios' material. The selection of films on both sites is shrinking rapidly.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#28 Post by domino harvey » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:21 pm

I find it hard to believe Hulu squeezed Criterion out and not the other way around

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#29 Post by Ribs » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:22 pm

I like this part of the Becker statement, specifically with regards to the "Criterion Channel" part:
We’ll reach outside our library to include films from major studios and independent rights holders.
Also like that the number is now at 1100 rather than the 1000 reported earlier.

This is a small point but I'm curious why Arrow isn't involved? A lot of their Arrow Video stuff is available on Fandor through them, and I'm sure they have the worldwide distribution for Yoshida and other Academy stuff no one else is releasing abroad any time soon as well.

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jwd5275
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: SF, CA

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#30 Post by jwd5275 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 2:44 pm

.Among the titles, the company says, are "Seven Samurai," "Mad Max," "Blood Simple," and "A Hard Days Night."
Wait. Does this mean Criterion now has the rights to Mad Max?

neal
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:44 pm
Location: NY, USA

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#31 Post by neal » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:12 pm

domino harvey wrote:I find it hard to believe Hulu squeezed Criterion out and not the other way around
I don't know. With the licensing fees that Hulu must be paying to the networks (who are almost asking for increasingly larger fees because they could just start their own streaming services like CBS) and paying for original content, it wouldn't surprise me if Hulu wasn't willing to offer Criterion enough of the $8/mo pie.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Atlanta

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#32 Post by Ashirg » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:12 pm

Another studio I wish that is included is Cohen Media Group.

flyonthewall2983
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:31 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#33 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 4:18 pm

I can see more groups joining in as things evolve.

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Black Hat
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#34 Post by Black Hat » Tue Apr 26, 2016 6:57 pm

Criterion partners up with a natural fit in Turner to take control of their product on the streaming market with the idea of maximizing revenue and people think this is a bad idea? It makes little sense financially or otherwise for the Criterion brand to be a sideshow island under Hulu's banner. This move has not only been inevitable for quite some time, but I've been surprised at how behind the curve both companies have been.

As for how this went down, DH is right Criterion left Hulu. Neal also made an astute observation as to why. Seeing how both companies operate I would guess Criterion has been trying to get Turner to jump on board for a streaming venture since at least 2014 when they eventually re-upped with Hulu. The concern here isn't if the service will be carried on various devices because it will, it's if the service will be of a high standard as Turner's various streaming apps have to this point been laughably bad. That said it's hard to believe Criterion would release a streaming service unworthy of its cannon.

It's a really cool, long overdue idea. I'm looking forward to how it will shake out.

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Black Hat
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#35 Post by Black Hat » Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:01 pm

cdnchris wrote:
domino harvey wrote:Terrible decision. Being on Hulu not only made it easy to stream on TV-devices, but it enabled lots of casual viewers to discover all manner of great films from the Collection. This is overall a far worse step as far as aiming at an audience outside of the already too niche film lovers community
There are a couple of people at work that actually discovered them through Hulu, not knowing who Criterion was but became intrigued by the films there. They've watched a number of titles already, too.
Both of these points will easily be trumped by Turner advertising the service on their assortment of channels, programming and other media. For instance one well orchestrated spot lets say with Russell Westbrook or a couple of other NBA stars talking about how much they loved The Seven Samurai will do more for Criterion than Hulu ever could.

Or for instance Marv Albert mentioning the service doing a live read on an NBA game. Who knows if we're lucky maybe we'll get Shaq & Charles Barkley talking about Godard on Inside the NBA.

"I thought Contempt was turrible, just turrible"

"Bridget Bardo was one fine looking woman Chuck"

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#36 Post by Noiradelic » Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:10 pm

neal wrote:I don't know. With the licensing fees that Hulu must be paying to the networks (who are almost asking for increasingly larger fees because they could just start their own streaming services like CBS)
Hulu is owned by ABC, Fox and NBC.

I suspect that this was Criterion's choice. Hulu has such a poor movie selection, I don't see them choosing to give up such a large (and prestigious) catalog, even if it wasn't nearly as popular as their network programming. Also starting one's own streaming service is such an active choice; it usually doesn't result from being dropped from somewhere else.
Last edited by Noiradelic on Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

neal
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:44 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#37 Post by neal » Tue Apr 26, 2016 7:16 pm

Noiradelic wrote:Hulu is owned by ABC, Fox and NBC.
I had forgotten that. Thanks!

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Valin Kenobi
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:25 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#38 Post by Valin Kenobi » Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:48 pm

Boo. I would gladly have paid extra as an add-on to Hulu, since their infrastructure works everywhere. It's unlikely this will be enabled on PS3, and I can't justify getting a next-gen console or dongle/widget just for this.

But let's be honest, the present setup was too good to last forever. And at least they did us the solid of giving several month's notice. Looks like I'm binging as much as I can until November and going back to Netflixing discs after that.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#39 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:22 pm

I think this is a great idea. One thing we haven't touched on yet is that this service will include extras such as video pieces and commentaries, previously unavailable through Hulu. That alone would make any add-on to this service worth it. I don't think this is too bad for Hulu either, because of their deals with the networks and their own original programming. I'm definitely keeping that subscription.

I don't agree what I'm reading in some corners that too many services are flooding the marketplace and that it's becoming too much like cable. You can still cancel and renew whatever you like. Raising the prices like Netflix is about to do is obviously not good but I don't see that escalating too much because don't fix what isn't broken, etc.

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Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#40 Post by Minkin » Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:35 pm

This is a rather interesting development! Some general thoughts of mine:

-Criterion has had an interesting history with streaming formats. First it was The Auteurs /Mubi - which worked fine, but had extremely limited marketing or appeal from mainstream + a rather poor video player. Then some films were available on Netflix to stream - but Criterion never had its own imprint /brand on Netflix, so there was nothing to differentiate their films from the thousands of others (which makes things difficult to find and is bad for a such a brand conscious company). Then we get Hulu, which has expanded to Fandor (does anyone actually use Fandor?). They were lured in by having their own Criterion section - placed prominently on the movie page + a selection of titles highlighted randomly by Hulu staff.

- I don't think Criterion's Hulu deal was very worthwhile. I'm sure they didn't like having to have commercials breakup the free films selections. Then they always promised a plethora of bonus content, but I've never been able to find any of it (I know it exists, I think, but its next to impossible to find). Hulu's attempt at broadening the appeal of Criterion didn't seem too apparent. The most popular films are still those with erotic premises; and those venturing to the page are not going to immediately find the most mainstream films (Seven Samurai, etc) with ease. Anyone I'd tell Criterion's Hulu page to - would just take a 10 second browse through it, shrug their shoulders and go back to their television streaming. Hulu seems to have a shrinking market share, and has become far worse for people wanting films rather than television (Miramax already jumped ship, when they were once bandied about as Hulu's 2nd biggest offering). Then worst of all, Hulu is just terrible for finding films. It gives you almost no information about any of the films, then they cram everything into a few gigantic genres (Classics??), then you have to endlessly click through the pages, all of which looks the same. Last week I got another Hulu free trial, so I spent a few hours adding things to my watchlist, and I clicked through the Drama genre tabs for like an hour, and it was miserable - and even then, it was never going to end (I doubt anyone spends more than 2minutes on that).

So Hulu is a rather terrible service, I don't blame Criterion at all for leaving for the next best thing. Having the chance to include bonus material (that's humanly possible to locate); better interaction with fans, directors, etc; plus has the broad marketing abilities of Turner's empire - I think they have made the right decision. Filmstruck seems to create a "dynamic user experience" - which contrasts to Hulu's awfulness /miserable attempts at creating excitement.

-It looks like this will be available in multiple formats from the get-go, so I wouldn't worry about not being able to access it from your tv/smartphone/tablet/etc (they indicate with drawings some of devices on the main page).

-I don't think this will affect Itunes/Amazon - since those are digital downloads, not streaming - thus Criterion has sold on those channels while having an exclusive deal with Hulu/Fandor. It doesn't matter too much, as there's only a handful of titles on Amazon/Itunes that they don't have streaming rights for.

-This probably explains why there haven't been any additions to Hulu for a very long time.

-It will be interesting in what all the service entails. Its a good sign that Kino and the likes are joining along - as they too seem to have tried every streaming service available (recently removing most all of their stuff from Netflix). Hopefully this will be better than a Mubi 2.0, and will actually fix all of the problems the other streaming services entail.

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Black Hat
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#41 Post by Black Hat » Tue Apr 26, 2016 9:59 pm

Minkin wrote:Its a good sign that Kino and the likes are joining along
I didn't realize Kino was in the mix here too. Looking it up now there's Flicker Alley, Icarus, Milestone, Zeitgeist and I'm sure Cohen and others to follow. What on earth is not to like about having all these labels on one streaming service commercial free? Sounds amazing.

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captveg
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:28 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#42 Post by captveg » Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:12 pm

If they have it on PlayStation I'm in. This plus Netflix and Amazon should cover 90% of my rental needs. I never did Warner Archive because of a lack of a PSN app, so that's the key for me to sign up.

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Trees
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#43 Post by Trees » Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:14 pm

I'm with Black Hat and Minkin. This seems very promising to me.

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Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#44 Post by Luke M » Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:21 pm

Black Hat wrote: Or for instance Marv Albert mentioning the service doing a live read on an NBA game. Who knows if we're lucky maybe we'll get Shaq & Charles Barkley talking about Godard on Inside the NBA.

"I thought Contempt was turrible, just turrible"

"Bridget Bardo was one fine looking woman Chuck"
This intersection of my two greatest passions is the best thing I've ever read.

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Black Hat
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 5:34 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#45 Post by Black Hat » Tue Apr 26, 2016 11:04 pm

Luke M wrote:This intersection of my two greatest passions is the best thing I've ever read.
It's not inconceivable as Ernie, Kenny and Chuck used to host Thursday night movies on TNT about a decade ago. The NBA are by far the most forward thinking, diverse and creatively marketed sport there is with Turner being their longest television partner. Similarly their players are the most diverse, fun, down to earth and well rounded group of professional athletes. If Turner asks I doubt the NBA says no. And hey Kobe is transitioning into film right? These spots will give him something to produce.

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#46 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Apr 27, 2016 6:11 am

Black Hat wrote:
cdnchris wrote:
domino harvey wrote:Terrible decision. Being on Hulu not only made it easy to stream on TV-devices, but it enabled lots of casual viewers to discover all manner of great films from the Collection. This is overall a far worse step as far as aiming at an audience outside of the already too niche film lovers community
There are a couple of people at work that actually discovered them through Hulu, not knowing who Criterion was but became intrigued by the films there. They've watched a number of titles already, too.
Both of these points will easily be trumped by Turner advertising the service on their assortment of channels, programming and other media. For instance one well orchestrated spot lets say with Russell Westbrook or a couple of other NBA stars talking about how much they loved The Seven Samurai will do more for Criterion than Hulu ever could.

Or for instance Marv Albert mentioning the service doing a live read on an NBA game. Who knows if we're lucky maybe we'll get Shaq & Charles Barkley talking about Godard on Inside the NBA.

"I thought Contempt was turrible, just turrible"

"Bridget Bardo was one fine looking woman Chuck"
I can't wait for the trailer of Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom to be played at the halftime of the NBA All-Star game.

All joking aside this is a terrific partnership. TCM/Time Warner Inc. advertising clout is a no brainer for this deal to work. The technical aspect of the streaming capabilities is the only thing that could be a drawback if not implemented properly but I don't see that happening either. I can't help but think this will be a top of the line streaming service, combined with a tremendous library of films.

hanshotfirst1138
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:06 pm

Streaming the Criterion Collection

#47 Post by hanshotfirst1138 » Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:43 pm

But I was already paying for Hulu :(. Still, Criterion and TCM is a mighty pairing indeed. That's an impressive library by any standard.

roujin
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:16 am

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#48 Post by roujin » Fri Apr 29, 2016 10:29 am

Luke M wrote:
Black Hat wrote: Or for instance Marv Albert mentioning the service doing a live read on an NBA game. Who knows if we're lucky maybe we'll get Shaq & Charles Barkley talking about Godard on Inside the NBA.

"I thought Contempt was turrible, just turrible"

"Bridget Bardo was one fine looking woman Chuck"
This intersection of my two greatest passions is the best thing I've ever read.
I love all of this.

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Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#49 Post by Minkin » Thu May 05, 2016 7:56 pm

I'm not sure if this is another Fandor goof (see earlier of a Kino/etc film showing up on the Criterion picks section), but

The War at Home (1979) is up on Fandor's Criterion selections.

-----Edit

Nevermind, its still with First Run Features (part of their Fandor offerings -but you'll only find this out if you do some extensive searching + the film's page doesn't even mention FRF). Fandor really sucks at getting anything correct (I don't know how they keep making these mistakes). Bring on Filmstruck!

I doubt Criterion will add anything new to Fandor/Hulu now that they're switching services. So perhaps those seeing mystery new titles show up on Fandor should temper their expectations (more likely its Fandor's fault than a new addition).

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
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Re: Streaming the Criterion Collection

#50 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Jul 07, 2016 6:38 pm

Recently Filmstruck emailed surveys for folks to fill out. Did anyone fill it out? If so, any thoughts?

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