Streaming Services

[ando]

I can't seem to find any Kurosawa films on there using either a Canadian or American IP address.

PLEX (happily) has a handful of Kurosawa films currently streaming for free, MS.

Nice helpings of Ozu and Mizoguchi are available this month as well. (There's actually a bevy of fine titles this month.)

[Captain Paranoia]

It appears that the The Quiet Duel is gone for now, I think I was mixing it up with a different director when I mentioned the films on their service (The Quiet Duel appeared to have been on there due to licensing differences from other Kurosawa films), although i stand firm that there are some great films that are hard-to-find digitally on that service.

[Mr Sausage]

Indeed there are some Deaf Crocodile films on there, which'll be helpful for the current Czech/Slovakia List Project.

[ando]

Hitchcock interviewed at the National Film Theater circa '69 makes a nice compliment to the Hitch offerings currently on Tubi.

[ando]

There seems to be a bigger selection of Ken Burns series in the BingePass option (unlimited viewing of any/all for 7 days) on hoopla. There are a few outside the most popular (Jazz, The Civil War, The Roosevelts, Prohibition) among the selections that i want to see, though Baseball has yet to make it in (the episodes from that series remain available one episode rental at a time). I started with Here & There, an interesting doc about his approach to filmmaking. If you can, catch as many as you can while they're all around for just one borrow! (Apparently, libraries across the U.S. are lowering the number of patron borrows or bailing out of subscriptions altogether due to costs.)

And Ken Burn's 2-part series on Leonardo da Vinci was recently added to the service.

[Matt]

HBO Max and Discovery+ will be divorcing again in 2026.

Also, though it should be mostly inconsequential when it comes to streaming, Comcast is spinning off its cable networks from NBCUniversal. Peacock and Bravo will remain with the NBCUniversal company, while channels including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and the Golf Channel will become part of a portfolio called Versant (which will also include Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes?)

Charter Communications (whose internet/TV/phone services are branded as Spectrum) will be merging with Cox Communications. The company will retain the name Cox Communications but the services will be branded as Spectrum.

Who knows what this all means for streaming services in the future, but I'd expect to see leaner, more targeted services (like what HBO Max and Discovery+ used to be) and fewer all-inclusive services like what Peacock and Max are right now. Disney, with their separate Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN services, each with strong, individual brand identities, are probably what the near future looks like. Don't expect any price drops on any of these services though!

[Lowry_Sam]

With all the talk of Peter Jackson & restorations, people might like to know that Bad Taste is now available on Kanopy. It's credited to NYX Channel.

[Matt]

It may not be an authorized release. NYX deals in public domain films.

[Lowry_Sam]

It looks better than my 90s era dvd, my guess is it's an HD transfer, though I don't ever recall a blu-ray release for Bad Taste.

[Never Cursed]

Was just made aware of this by a Twitter post: the Taiwanese government offers a service, called TaiwanPlus, which allows people to watch a selection of Taiwanese films and TV shows for free, legally, and with English subtitles. The availability of films varies by region, but it seems as though South Korea has by far the best access, with free streaming of a selection of films by Tsai Ming-Liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien (including the restored version of the portmanteau film The Sandwich Man, which from what I can tell has only been put out on disc in Japan), and a few other directors, as well as a selection of older wuxia movies like A Touch of Zen. I assume this would be a decent resource to look at for anyone who's keeping up with the Made in China list? Just be sure to set your VPN to the right region (probably South Korea) for the maximum selection of films.

[Lowry_Sam]

The newest trailers for Eureka's releases (La Notte 4k, Fantomas) have what sound like AI voices dubbing the dialogue over the actual dialog. The dubbing doesn't match the subtitles so I assume Youtube is doing this and not Eureka, however I can't figure out how to turn it off. I haven't come across this before, anyone know how to turn it off (I'm not finding anything in settings)?

[domino harvey]

Try this?

[Lowry_Sam]

Apparently Eureka had allowed for AI dubbing when they uploaded the trailers. When I returned it seems there were a few complaints and they turned it off.

[FilmMania]

Interview with a fmr Netflix executive explaining the financial benefits of streaming services. He says Tubi is a better service for micro-budget Indie filmmakers than larger streaming services such as Netflix.

Where Can Filmmakers Make The Most Money

[Toland's Mitchell]

Netflix has acquired Warner Brothers

I was looking for a more appropriate thread to post this topic. Is there a thread regarding the business side of movies? Anyway, this is huge news. I'm a little concerned what effects this may have for distribution landscape.

[swo17]

Being discussed here

[ando]

More Ken Burns stuff:

Just finished The American Revolution, available for free on the PBS app through local U.S. PBS affiliate stations for a limited time. Mixed feeling about it. Required viewing (imo), but mostly as a starting point for further study (esp. by some of the historian contributors who were new to me).

And Hoopla has finally added Burns' Baseball series to their Binge Pass option.

[Matt]

I have not watched the whole series, but I agree with having mixed feelings about it. For me, it was fascinating during talk of the motivations for protest and, eventually, revolt, but then when it turned to animated graphics of troop movements in key battles, my eyes glazed over. I know that kind of thing is catnip to the dads-in-recliners demographic, but I couldn't force myself to pay due attention to it. Combine this with my always finding Peter Coyote's narrator voice grating and the endless static shots of quill pens and brick buildings and I just couldn't hack it after a while.

I like Burns' films best when he has actual footage or voice recordings to pull from. The Vietnam War series and the country music series were both incredibly riveting. But when he doesn't even have photographs to pan over? I can't do it. Looking forward to the "LBJ & the Great Society" series in 2028.

[ando]

Just discovered the first season of Sterlin Harjo's The Lowdown, headed by Ethan Hawke, on FX (hulu). Interesting comic noir set in The South. Good cast.

[hearthesilence]

I didn’t realize how busy Hawke actually was because besides this show, I didn’t know he was also the villain in a lucrative horror franchise. I guess this is why he’s able to do so many low budget art films, and it’s made it possible for him to do so much of the best work of his career (First Reformed, Blue Moon, etc.)

[ando]

I didn’t realize how busy Hawke actually was because besides this show, I didn’t know he was also the villain in a lucrative horror franchise. I guess this is why he’s able to do so many low budget art films, and it’s made it possible for him to do so much of the best work of his career (First Reformed, Blue Moon, etc.)

Quite. Wish him luck. Won't go near that phone franchise but the Lorenz Hart film looks interesting.

Can't find Ken Burns' Baseball series on any legal platforms. Expired rights have taken it off (seemingly) everything.

[Matt]

Can't find Ken Burns' Baseball series on any legal platforms. Expired rights have taken it off (seemingly) everything.

Yes, PBS’s distribution rights expired last year. I believe it’s being remastered again and might show up again soon (but I could be mistaken about that). If you’re in the US, you can buy it on Apple TV or you can go old school and watch a VHS rip of it on the Internet Archive.

[Toland's Mitchell]

Burns should soon consider revisiting the project with the 11th Inning to cover some things over the past 16 years. Expanded playoffs, the Giants and Dodgers dynasties, how managers have changed the way they use relievers, stars of the game, the sign-stealing scandal, the COVID season, etc. There's plenty of material there. Of course, another big topic is the widening chasm between rich teams and poor teams, and well, I have a bad feeling there may not be an MLB season in 2027 after this current CBA expires. That would suck, but could make an interesting subject for Burns's epic miniseries of America's Pastime.

[hearthesilence]

I wish someone would come along and redo the last chapters of Jazz as well as update it to today. (The series as a whole has major flaws but the final stretch is the most problematic and least edifying.)

[ando]

Can't find Ken Burns' Baseball series on any legal platforms. Expired rights have taken it off (seemingly) everything.

Yes, PBS’s distribution rights expired last year. I believe it’s being remastered again and might show up again soon (but I could be mistaken about that). If you’re in the US, you can buy it on Apple TV or you can go old school and watch a VHS rip of it on the Internet Archive.

Thanks. Course, there are a plethora of sites (requiring a good ad-blocker) which stream it for free.

Did come across what I initially thought was a queer sounding category on Tubi called Speculative Cinema. The titles were unusual pics for that service; many favorites. I thought, Speculation? R.R. Martin? Orwell? Octavia Butler? Then I did a Google query and found that it was a revived promo based on picks by Quentin Tarantino and his book of the same name. Of course, most if not all, titles stream in 720p, not 1080p, despite the HD label. Nice option, though!