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albucat wrote:Complete list of films premiering on the Criterion Channel during November:
November 3
Black Lizard, Umetsugu Inoue, 1962

Didn't realize there were 2 versions of this. Hulu's Criterion channel, had the 1968 version from Kinji Fukasaku, which is probably the better of the 2. I'd love to see these make them make it to disc, a la The Lower Depths or The Killers.

No, Hulu had the Inoue version (at least that's the one I watched there about a year ago before they lost the Criterion stuff - don't know if they had the Fukasaku up at some earlier point). It's good fun, haven't seen the Fukasaku so can't compare. (As for Inoue, the real revelation for me was his Daisan no kagemusha from 1963, what an amazing film)

I have been a Filmstruck subscriber for months now but haven't been using it as much as I thought though I have a watchlist of some 78 titles. This weekend, I decided to knock out a couple and I watched Man Bites Dog and Rocco and his Brothers. Jeeze...

Spoiler

I thought both films were brilliant but boy do I have bad luck choosing movies with explicit and disturbing rape scenes. I wasn't aware of either. What an unsettling coincidence.

Am planning of watching Bresson's Pickpocket next. Please tell me it's not more of the same...

HitchcockLang wrote:Am planning of watching Bresson's Pickpocket next. Please tell me it's not more of the same...

You'll be fine with Pickpocket. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say that it's less aggressive and more contemplative than those other two.

repeat wrote:No, Hulu had the Inoue version

I didn't watch it so I can't say for sure, but I do remember seeing a list of close to a dozen Fukasaku films on Hulu 5-10 years ago. I also seem to recall Black Lizard being next to Black Rose Mansion in the list, which was its sequel.

The Criterion site mistakenly credited the Inoue Black Lizard as being directed by Fukasaku.

Just got the latest Android app update, and wow, this is a huge improvement. Not only is the curated content surfaced more easily, but there's finally useful browsing (by director, decade, country, genre). The watchlist gets a redesign to put things in a grid with vertical scrolling (which is enormously better for long lists), and UX is just way faster and more responsive in general.

I don’t think this has been mentioned here, but Filmstruck has a discounted subscription for students and educators: $39.99 for six months, a savings of $19 off the annual rate and about $52 off the monthly rate.

Or if you're a non-student, you can sign up for the year price and get a free Roku Express ($29 at Amazon) thrown in, which is a pretty good deal, and should ameliorate complaints about console support.

The new update hit the Apple TV too, also a grid for the watchlist which is a fantastic change. Looks like tabs have been established for the in progress and recently watched lists

mkozlows wrote:Just got the latest Android app update, and wow, this is a huge improvement. Not only is the curated content surfaced more easily, but there's finally useful browsing (by director, decade, country, genre). The watchlist gets a redesign to put things in a grid with vertical scrolling (which is enormously better for long lists), and UX is just way faster and more responsive in general.

It sure looks nice, but I can't get it to play anything to the Chromecast. Just loads and loads and loads and plays nothing.

Werewolf by Night wrote:I don’t think this has been mentioned here, but Filmstruck has a discounted subscription for students and educators: $39.99 for six months, a savings of $19 off the annual rate and about $52 off the monthly rate.

I only see that it says "students." I'm an educator and am already paying for a regularly priced annual subscription. I wonder if there's a way to get it converted.

David Bordwell posted that it's for anyone with a .edu address.

All the Best People wrote:

mkozlows wrote:Just got the latest Android app update, and wow, this is a huge improvement. Not only is the curated content surfaced more easily, but there's finally useful browsing (by director, decade, country, genre). The watchlist gets a redesign to put things in a grid with vertical scrolling (which is enormously better for long lists), and UX is just way faster and more responsive in general.

It sure looks nice, but I can't get it to play anything to the Chromecast. Just loads and loads and loads and plays nothing.

I submitted this as a support ticket. It's a widespread and known issue. In Support's response:

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is a known issue with the most recent version of FilmStruck released 11/16/2017. My development team is investigating the issue and are working on a resolution to be released as soon as possible. I apologize for the inconvenience as we work to remedy this issue and restore access to FilmStruck on Chromecast.

Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

albucat wrote:David Bordwell posted that it's for anyone with a .edu address.

That really sucks, considering that LQ teaches adult education film courses but isn't on staff anywhere to get a .edu. If anyone figures out another way, please post it here.

mfunk9786 wrote:If anyone figures out another way, please post it here.

Do either of you have an alumni email address from college ending in .edu? If not, check with your alumni affairs to see if you can get one.

Happy Together is leaving Filmstruck on December 1st, and is no longer part of the Criterion Channel. Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, and In the Mood For Love remain on the Criterion Channel. Is there anything to be read into this?

Don't believe it ever has been added to the Criterion channel. It plays with a Janus logo like the others, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

goblinfootballs wrote:Happy Together is leaving Filmstruck on December 1st, and is no longer part of the Criterion Channel. Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, and In the Mood For Love remain on the Criterion Channel. Is there anything to be read into this?

Filmstruck seems to be following the Disney model of making things available for a limited time as a means of increasing value among consumers. I think many people didn't subscribe to Hulu or made less use of it (I know I did), because it was perceived to be always available.

No, it isn't? The Criterion Channel's titles almost universally will remain up forever, and Happy Together will be added to it before it goes as has happened on other occasions when titles were put on vanilla Filmstruck that had not yet been added to the Channel that were Janus. The titles that oscillate are the titles they license for sets amount of time, because no studio in their right mind signs away rights to titles in perpetuity.

Complete list of films premiering on the Criterion Channel during December:

December 1
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Stanley Kramer, 1963
Happy Together, Wong Kar-wai, 1997
The World of Jacques Demy, Agnes Varda, 1995

December 8
Godzilla, Ishiro Honda, 1954
Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, Ishiro Honda and Terry O. Morse, 1956
Godzilla Raids Again, Motoyoshi Oda, 1955
Rodan, Ishiro Honda, 1956
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Ishiro Honda, 1964
Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ishiro Honda, 1964
Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ishiro Honda, 1965
The War of the Gargantuas, Ishiro Honda, 1966
Son of Godzilla, Jun Fukuda, 1967
Destroy All Monsters, Ishiro Honda, 1968
All Monsters Attack, Ishiro Honda, 1969
Godzilla vs. Megalon, Jun Fukuda, 1973
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Jun Fukuda, 1974
Terror of Mechagodzilla, Ishiro Honda, 1975

December 12
Return to Glennascaul, Hilton Edwards, 1951


December 13
Phoenix, Christian Petzold, 2014

December 15
Woman in Witness Protection, Juzo Itami, 1997
A Quiet Life, Juzo Itami, 1995
Tales of a Golden Geisha, Juzo Itami, 1990
The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion, Juzo Itami, 1992
The Funeral, Juzo Itami, 1984
Rubber Band Pistol, Juzo Itami, 1962
The Last Dance, Juzo Itami, 1995

December 20
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Nagisa Oshima, 1983

I've only seen The Funeral out of all those Itami films, I'll try to watch them all but are there any I should seek out first?

Fourteen Godzilla films join on the twelfth of this month. Official banner.

mfunk9786 wrote:

albucat wrote:David Bordwell posted that it's for anyone with a .edu address.

That really sucks, considering that LQ teaches adult education film courses but isn't on staff anywhere to get a .edu. If anyone figures out another way, please post it here.

A note on the website says " If your university doesn’t provide you with a .edu email address, contact Customer Service to sign up. Your account will be reassessed every 6 months to verify your status."

I just renewed my subscription this morning, after having gone without for a few months. One thing I immediately noticed, is how fast you can move (on an Amazon Fire setup).