FilmStruck

[sir_luke]

If the FilmStruck version has the Janus logo, as reported, then Criterion/Janus have the film.

I can confirm it does open with Criterion and Janus logos.

[Sam T.]

I just signed up and haven't watched anything yet - just doing some searching to see what's there.

Is a significant chunk of the Hulu library missing? I can't find Jacques Demy's Parking, for instance. And Hulu has seventeen Fassbinder films vs. Filmstruck's ten. Filmstruck does have Lola, though, which Hulu never has.

[mfunk9786]

Running out of ways to justify giving them my money for this - I thought it'd offer a more expansive selection from the collection, not less?

[Sam T.]

Running out of ways to justify giving them my money for this - I thought it'd offer a more expansive selection from the collection, not less?

There are certainly a number of things on Filmstruck that were never on Hulu, including recent disc releases like Blood Simple that have probably accumulated over the year or so since CC stopped updating their Hulu page. I would guess that the overall number of films is roughly the same.

But, yeah, a few head-scratchers. Obayashi's Sada is also missing, as is Kieslowski's Camera Buff.

[mkozlows]

Anybody else notice several english language films have no available subtitles or captions for the deaf or hard of hearing? The only exceptions I've bumped into are british titles like A Hard Day's Night. I asked Filmstruck about it on Twitter and they responded that "Currently, subtitles are on a film-by-film basis. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.". I don't understand, could this be a rights issue or is it just low on their list of priorities?

Priorities. They're saying they hope to have full closed-captions available by end of year, but they're only on some titles for now.

[xoconostle]

Has anyone else experienced the problem of the progress bar not hiding in full-screen mode?

Yes (Safari/Mac.) However it went away after about 30 seconds, a surprisingly long time. Make sure your cursor is above the bar if you haven't already. Good luck!

[albucat]

Less of a technical problem than a logistical one: I found out they put all the extras for Blood Simple online because of the nytimes article. But I don't see any indication of a "featured movie" on the site, and in fact the only way to see if a movie (rather than a theme) has an extra is to tediously open up its individual page. Am I missing something?

[mfunk9786]

You aren't as far as I can tell - movies also aren't labeled as being in HD or not in HD. The interface is genuinely galling, it looks like something that my company's time and manpower restricted IT department would put together in a pinch.

[Noiradelic]

Filmstruck does have Lola, though, which Hulu never has.

Lola is on Hulu.

[mkozlows]

Is a significant chunk of the Hulu library missing?

My suspicion is that stuff will be added after it rolls off Hulu, but don't know for sure -- the Filmstruck social media crew just refers questions about Criterion's selection to Criterion, and I haven't seen them say anything about it.

[Sam T.]

Filmstruck does have Lola, though, which Hulu never has.

Lola is on Hulu.

Sorry, I meant Fassbinder's 1981 Lola, not Demy's 1960 Lola. I can see now that my post was unclear. Unless both Lolas are on hulu, in which case I'm clearly just a confused man.

[dda1996a]

Filmstruck does have Lola, though, which Hulu never has.

Lola is on Hulu.

Sorry, I meant Fassbinder's 1981 Lola, not Demy's 1960 Lola. I can see now that my post was unclear. Unless both Lolas are on hulu, in which case I'm clearly just a confused man.

IIRC Demy's Lola is, Fassbinder's isn't

[dwk]

Mr. Lime posted on the Blu-ray.com forum that Kino is going to release Demy's The Pied Piper, which Criterion has been streaming for a couple of years now. I believe this is the first case of Criterion having the streaming rights, but not the DVD/Blu-ray rights to a title.

[Roscoe]

FilmStruck is running Oshima's BOY, which makes me very eager to sign up.

[dda1996a]

FilmStruck is running Oshima's BOY, which makes me very eager to sign up.

Hulu had that for a long time as well...

[vidussoni]

New films with Criterion logos:

Strike (Eisenstein) 1925
Un, Deux, Trois, Soleil (Blier) 1993
Look Back in Anger (Richardson) 1959
The Entertainer (Richardson) 1960
Everyone Off to Jail (Berlanga) 1993
Long Live the Bride and Groom (Berlanga) 1970
Patrimonio Nacional (Berlanga) 1980
Novio a la Vista (Berlanga) 1953
Miracles of Thursday (Berlanga) 1957
Spirits of the Dead (Fellini, Malle, Vadim) 1968
The Outlaw and His Wife (Sjostrom)1917
The Steamroller and the Violin (Tarkovsky) 1961

I was wondering who had those two MGM Tony Richardson titles. I guess this means Criterion passed on Charge of the Light Brigade and Mademoiselle. The later is particularly underrated, in my opinion.

[Anhedionisiac]

Priorities. They're saying they hope to have full closed-captions available by end of year, but they're only on some titles for now.

I'm relieved to hear it's only temporary. Here's hoping growing pains like these end sooner rather than later.

[yunro]

The content on FilmStruck is very nice, but the iOS app leaves a lot to be desired, there is no built in airplay support. I'll be curious to see how many people keep this after the free trial, I know I won't right now I can't watch anything on my tv.

[ianungstad]

Criterion is obviously not going to put up everything they have streaming rights to on the launch date. Subscribers are going to expect weekly or monthly updates to the film library and Criterion are going to have to pace themselves just as they do with physical media. All the hulu titles will eventually transition plus other surprises.

As for Tony Richardson...they may put up more or maybe those MIA titles are still with MGM. They obviously picked up a package deal with Tony Richardson's estate. There's no reason to think that everything he's ever worked on is included in that deal.

[Luke M]

I was browsing the website today and I'm impressed with all the available titles. I won't be using it until it arrives for Roku, but if this works as well as I hope it does, I fear I may have already bought my last Criterion Blu-ray.

[FrauBlucher]

I assume Criterion will have exclusive supplements to the blu/dvd that will try to prevent such from happening.

[sir_luke]

I probably won't use it full time until the Roku, but I went ahead and got the iOS app - it's much better than the desktop site at first glance but it's still somewhat wonky and difficult to navigate. This was the rockiest possible start, and they've completely bungled the communication, so I hope they won't lose too many potential customers... because I'm sure it will improve with time. I also agree completely with ianungstad - I never expected the service to hold ALL of Criterion's films out of the gate.

I think we should take a few breaths, give them a month or a couple, and see what happens.

[MongooseCmr]

They've already started to add at least a few more films since last night. Downey Sr.'s Chafed Elbows and Babo 73 are up while only No More Excuses was previously. So it's probably just slow and unofficial

[phantomforce]

if this works as well as I hope it does, I fear I may have already bought my last Criterion Blu-ray.

My thoughts exactly

I assume Criterion will have exclusive supplements to the blu/dvd that will try to prevent such from happening.

I was all set to go to my local B&N to pick up the executioner and woman in the dunes until I searched for those on Filmstruck and found that every single supplement was ported over, so I held off buying those.

For fun, I compared my blu titles and while there is a definite sizable chunk of titles missing, the titles that were in there had all supplements minus the commentary, or no supplements at all. Only time will tell if this will last though.

[phantomforce]

The content on FilmStruck is very nice, but the iOS app leaves a lot to be desired, there is no built in airplay support. I'll be curious to see how many people keep this after the free trial, I know I won't right now I can't watch anything on my tv.

Couldn't you just airplay from the home menu? In any case you should be able to using any mac os device by clicking on the airplay icon in the top menu.