FilmStruck

[MyFathersSon]

FilmStruck has been added to JustWatch (US), a popular streaming search engine website.

JustWatch has its hands full juggling so many providers while adding more, and there are many inaccuracies in search results. The Criterion Channel is not listed separately. JustWatch doesn't work properly with my IE browser, so I use Chrome.

Today, 1,051 FilmStruck titles are sorted by popularity, and 8 titles are shown as 'New'.

[D50]

FilmStruck has been added to JustWatch (US), a popular streaming search engine website.

JustWatch has its hands full juggling so many providers while adding more, and there are many inaccuracies in search results. The Criterion Channel is not listed separately. JustWatch doesn't work properly with my IE browser, so I use Chrome.

Today, 1,051 FilmStruck titles are sorted by popularity, and 8 titles are shown as 'New'.

Thanks for posting!

I like that you can click on a title, and back takes you to exactly where you were in the scroll. Just realized that they link to the Filmstruck page to view the film. Search is so much better also - example: director searches. And you can open into a new tab - I hope this will be fixed in Filmstruck.

[AK]

Now that Imamura's Eijanaika has been added to Filmstruck, I'm wondering whether Intentions of Murder was ever on Hulu?

Edit: And thanks for the heads-up on justwatch.com! It's an invaluable source of information since Filmstruck's own search engine isn't quite sorted out yet.

[repeat]

I'm wondering whether Intentions of Murder was ever on Hulu

It was, and in good quality as well - watched it shortly before the changeover. Great film, hope it turns up on Filmstruck.

[AK]

I'm wondering whether Intentions of Murder was ever on Hulu

It was, and in good quality as well - watched it shortly before the changeover. Great film, hope it turns up on Filmstruck.

Great news, thanks! I'm sure it will be there, eventually.

I'm really loving Filmstruck, despite the technical limitations, which, given time, they'll in all likelihood iron out. (The Watchlist is not limited to 100 films anymore, and there has been some other tweaking going on) I've been watching the Naruses there, and waiting for Late Chrysanthemums to make an appearance. On my computer I've had no connection issues whatsoever, so I'll count myself lucky.

It'll be interesting to see which new releases find their way to the service (thinking McCabe & Mrs Miller and Lone Wolf & Cub) and in what timeframe. The Zatoichis are already there. I'd expect from six months upward.

[D50]

...(The Watchlist is not limited to 100 films anymore

Nice catch.

I've got some catching up to do with Ozu:

Tokyo Chorus (1931), Yasujiro Ozu 90 filmstruck
An Inn in Tokyo (1935), Yasujiro Ozu 80 filmstruck
I Flunked, But... (1930), Yasujiro Ozu 65 filmstruck
That Night's Wife (1930), Yasujiro Ozu 65 filmstruck

[Sam T.]

Also, what is the non-criterion content looking like? Is it just more arthouse/foreign selections? At first I thought it would be TCM like programing with lots of classic Hollywood, but reading a few pages back that appears not the case. If so, what exactly is TMC bringing to the table? The early press releases made it seem like a partnership between TMC programming and Criterion content.

I'm seeing almost nothing that reminds me of TCM the cable channel. My sense is that CC is bringing the movies and TCM is bringing the website, some original content like introductions for many of the films, and promotion, while they also licence films from other, smaller distributors. There is some interesting non-criterion content on FilmStruck, but none of it is the kind of stuff TCM is known for. The content seems to be mostly English language, mostly non-Hollywood, and pretty evenly distributed across decades from the 1950s to the 2010s. It's been a long time since I've had cable, but TCM has generally favored Hollywood of the production code era, no?

I've watched more of the non-criterion content than I expected I would, but it's mostly been rewatching. Happy Go Lucky, Importance of Being Ernest (2002), etc. The two non-criterion things I've found so far that were really exciting (to me) were the Ruth Orkin / Morris Engle movies and the Shirley Clarke documentary about Ornette Coleman.

Most of Filmstruck's own special features (like the one-minute host intros they have for a number of films) seem like they're intended for younger viewers - college kids who are way into Tarantino or Wes Anderson and are just starting to get curious about cinema in a broader way. That's a cool service - I wish I'd had something like it 20 years ago - but I find it pretty unwatchable (because I am old, I guess). It is definitely not aimed at the same people as Criterion's special features. The host intro for Persona, for instance, andthe recent short they posted about Antonioni, both seem to feel the need to make an argument that the film is worth your time. Like "Hey, kid, I know you're going to want to shut Persona off after fifteen minutes, but you really shouldn't."

On the whole I've been pleased. I had a lot of problems with videos getting stuck loading last week, but that seems to be gone now (hope it's not just my imagination). There's lots I hope they change, but small changes seem to be rolling out incrementally every few days, and what's currently there is already roughly as good as what was on Hulu, both in terms of number of films and in terms of user experience.

[McNulty]

Have Blow-Up and The Passenger been on Filmstruck since day one? Because they're there now (w/o Janus/Criterion logos) and I know that doesn't guarantee a future mainline release, but I think it may make it more likely. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown plays without a Janus logo and was just announced for February.

[feihong]

Pretty sure those Antonionis are new.

[Ribs]

They added the "Masters: Antonioni" as the newest subcategory on Friday. Almost all the new additions to the site are for these in one way or another, so just pay attention to those as the "new releases" scroller isn't very consistent.

[D50]

^ Just got a Filmstruck email notice about the Antonioni addition.

[feihong]

Oh, if we can somehow see blu ray releases of The Passenger and Blowup some time next year, that would be so great...

[rrenault]

Are Vanessa Redgrave's nipples visible?

[MongooseCmr]

Most of Filmstruck's own special features (like the one-minute host intros they have for a number of films) seem like they're intended for younger viewers - college kids who are way into Tarantino or Wes Anderson and are just starting to get curious about cinema in a broader way. That's a cool service - I wish I'd had something like it 20 years ago - but I find it pretty unwatchable (because I am old, I guess). It is definitely not aimed at the same people as Criterion's special features. The host intro for Persona, for instance, and the recent short they posted about Antonioni, both seem to feel the need to make an argument that the film is worth your time. Like "Hey, kid, I know you're going to want to shut Persona off after fifteen minutes, but you really shouldn't."

I've found these intros extremely disappointing, especially considering how much TCM always seems to do with their 2 minute ones on television. There are some introductions with more academic hosts (the Ford and Lang series), but most of the rest seem to be nobodies pulled in to read off a cue card that gives you nothing for context or insight into the film. The man doing the Takeshi Kitano intros is especially bad, like he's sweet talking you into watching these morbid yakuza films.


On another note, if you click "Recently Added" or "Popular Titles", it will give you the results for the opposite section. A really odd mix up there

[A man stayed-put]

Since more than 100 titles were allowed, has anyone else had trouble opening their watchlist? Mine just presents me with a loading screen.

[D50]

Seeing my first closed captioning option that works: Robinson Crusoe (1954).

[Being]

FilmStruck has some of the problems you might expect from a new enterprise, but I have so far been encouraged. The quality of many of the films I have watched has been better than expected, so I hope a continued emphasis remains on resolution and quality sound.

Not sure if I am perhaps missing something, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of rating system or suggestions based on ratings? "If you liked ____, you might enjoy _____"?

[D50]

FilmStuck...

[ianthemovie]

Has it already been pointed out that Stalker and Andrei Rublev were recently added?

Given that the graphics for all of the other Criterion titles on FilmStruck match the cover art for the corresponding Blu-rays/DVDs, I wouldn't be surprised if that image of the sand room is a preview of what the Stalker cover will look like.

[D50]

Made it through two films in a row this morning with nary a spinning wheel in sight! They are earning that r back. I even paused it a couple times, and closed it once to walk the dog. I'm about 60 / 40 Criterion Channel and the rest. A couple of great films in a row not from the Channel; Enchanted April and The Trip to Bountiful.

New to Criterion Channel's Recently Added: Needle (2013), Anahita Ghazvinizadeh.

[ianthemovie]

I would also heartily recommend The Trip to Bountiful. It's essentially a film that exists solely as a showcase for its central performance, but the performance is so good that it's totally worth it. The filmmaking, while nothing special, frames Page perfectly. It does not feel stagy but also has not been "opened up" for the screen in ways that are obtrusive. It's a movie that risks falling through the cracks because it's not by an auteur filmmaker and Page's star status has arguably waned in the decades since her death, but it deserves to be better known. This is the kind of film that I'm hoping Fences will be.

[D50]

ATHINA RACHEL TSANGARI just dropped.

Chevalier (2015)
24 Frames per Century (2013)
The Capsule (2012)
Attenberg (2010)
The Slow Business of Going (2001)
Fit (1994)

Special Feature: Meet the Filmmakers: Athina Rachel Tsangari (Sept 2016)

Austin, Texas. At the post office buying stamps and bumping into Richard Linklater, who asks: are you here for the audition (Slacker)?

[repeat]

Alright, high time to start the free trial then! Do we know how long these will be available?

[D50]

Couple new titles in The Collection's Recently Added:

The Petrified Forest (1973)
The Thick-Walled Room ((1956)

[Cinephrenic]

Would love if they release more Eclipse. Need a Shinoda set.