What's new

General Discussion The Criterion Channel Streaming Service (Official Thread) (2 Viewers)

dpippel

Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems
Supporter
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Messages
12,293
Location
Sonora Norte
Real Name
Doug

NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 16, 2018


We are incredibly touched and encouraged by the flood of support we’ve been receiving since the announcement that FilmStruck will be shutting down on November 29, 2018. Our thanks go out to everyone who signed petitions, wrote letters and newspaper articles, and raised your voices to let the world know how much our mission and these movies matter to you.

Well, if you loved the curated programming we’ve been doing with our friends at FilmStruck, we have good news for you. The Criterion Collection team is going to be carrying on with that mission, launching the Criterion Channel as a freestanding service in spring 2019.

We’ve been trying to make something a little different for the past two years—a movie lover’s dream streaming service, with smart thematic programming, where the history of cinema can live and breathe, where a new generation of filmmakers and film lovers can explore the classics or revel in rarities, where adventurous cinephiles can champion films that have never gotten their due, and newcomers can easily find guidance from major filmmakers, top scholars, curators, and other experts from all walks of life.
The Criterion Channel will be picking up where the old service left off, programming director spotlights and actor retrospectives featuring major Hollywood and international classics and hard-to-find discoveries from around the world, complete with special features like commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and original documentaries. We will continue with our guest programmer series, Adventures in Moviegoing. Our regular series like Art-House America, Split Screen, and Meet the Filmmakers, and our Ten Minutes or Less section will all live on, along with Tuesday’s Short + Feature and the Friday Night Double Feature, and of course our monthly fifteen-minute film school, Observations on Film Art.

Our library will also be available through WarnerMedia’s new consumer platform when it launches late next year, so once both services are live, Criterion fans will have even more ways to find the films they love.

We will be starting from scratch, with no subscribers, so we will need all the help we can get. The most valuable thing you can do to help now is go to Criterion.com/channel and sign up to be a Charter Subscriber, then tell your friends to sign up too. We need everyone who was a FilmStruck subscriber or who’s been tweeting and signing petitions and writing letters to come out and to sign up for the new service. We can’t do it without you!

 

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
I signed up for a charter membership -- I mean, it's free for 30 days so why not give it a shot.

Reading the above press release, it doesn't look like The Criterion Channel will be carrying their films which is what I would have wanted and expected. If I am reading correctly, WarnerMedia, instead, will be offering their own streaming service with those titles.

There are so many Criterion films I would love to see but their ownership model is just too expensive. To be able to stream those titles for less than $10 a month is a fantastic thing. However, unless I am wrong, that doesn't seem to be what this service is all about.

I hope I am wrong.
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
I signed up for a charter membership -- I mean, it's free for 30 days so why not give it a shot.

Reading the above press release, it doesn't look like The Criterion Channel will be carrying their films which is what I would have wanted and expected. If I am reading correctly, WarnerMedia, instead, will be offering their own streaming service with those titles.

There are so many Criterion films I would love to see but their ownership model is just too expensive. To be able to stream those titles for less than $10 a month is a fantastic thing. However, unless I am wrong, that doesn't seem to be what this service is all about.

I hope I am wrong.
Ron,

Their channel will allow you to stream their titles just like Filmstruck does until November 29th.
 

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
Whose channel specifically?

Criterion has not yet launched.

I would rather not invest in whatever channel it is that will stop showing Criterion titles in about two weeks,

Appreciate the help though
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
Whose channel specifically?

Criterion has not yet launched.

I would rather not invest in whatever channel it is that will stop showing Criterion titles in about two weeks,

Appreciate the help though
Ron,

Perhaps I misunderstood your post @Ronald Epstein or what you were asking. Filmstruck which is going away on November 29th allows streaming of Criterion's catalog for a monthly fee. I'm really pissed about that development as Filmstruck was one of my favorite streaming apps. After November 29th, there won't be any streaming of Criterion titles until Criterion launches their new channel in 2019. When that happens, people will be able to stream Criterion titles on that channel and it looks like that channel will be available on WarnerMedia too when it launches their streaming service in 2019.

One caveat about Criterion titles for streaming. You can download/stream Criterion titles on iTunes, but like any other title on iTunes you have two options to do so. Rental or owning it which is $3.99 and $19.99 respectively. Also, their number of titles are very limited. The number of titles on Filmstruck was much larger than on iTunes.
 
Last edited:

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
As long as The Criterion Channel offers their entire catalog for streaming then it's absolutely worth the monthly cost.

Right now when I want to see a Criterion release I have to carefully pick and choose based on price of the Blu-ray. There are literally dozens of films I would like to discover but restricted in doing so because of cost of media ownership.

Now I can finally see all these heralded films whenever I want at a yearly cost of less than owning 4-5 titles
 

Robert Crawford

Crawdaddy
Moderator
Patron
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 1998
Messages
67,604
Location
Michigan
Real Name
Robert
I really hope WarnerMedia does right for classic film lovers like myself and those of us that make up the majority of HTF's membership.

WarnerMedia Launching Criterion Collection Streaming Service as FilmStruck Alternative


ERIK GRUENWEDEL

November 17, 2018

Following subscriber pushback regarding the shuttering of Turner Classic Movies SVOD service FilmStruck, WarnerMedia says it will launch a branded service around The Criterion Collection in spring 2019.

The venerable library of films will continue to be part of WarnerMedia’s recently announced direct-to-consumer platform slated to launch in the fourth quarter of 2019.

WarnerMedia – formed following AT&T’s $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner – in a statement, said the pending service “ensures that fans” have access to not only films from the Criterion Collection but also WarnerMedia’s extensive library “in what will be a rich and curated experience, which will further expand the audience footprint for these classic and acclaimed movies.”

Indeed, when news broke about the demise of FilmStruck, no less than Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, among other industry heavyweights, reportedly contacted WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey personally asking about an alternative solution.

Hence, the Criterion Channel will pick up where FilmStruck left off, with thematic programming, regular filmmaker spotlights, and actor retrospectives, featuring major classics and hard-to-find titles from Hollywood and around the world, complete with special features, including commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage and original documentaries.

The service will continue to produce guest programmer series, “Adventures in Moviegoing,” which has featured cinephile luminaries such as Barry Jenkins, Guillermo del Toro, Bill Hader, and Mira Nair. Criterion’s monthly 15-minute film school, “Observations on Film Art,” “Tuesday’s Short + Feature,” and the “Friday Double-Bill” will all be back as well.

Launched in 1984 with the laserdisc releases of Citizen Kane (1941) and King Kong (1933), The Criterion Collection became known for its special edition DVD and later Blu-ray Disc releases of restored classic films.

In 2011, Hulu licensed select Criterion titles for streaming. An arrangement FilmStruck acquired in 2016.

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/warne...-streaming-service-as-filmstruck-alternative/
 

Scott Merryfield

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 16, 1998
Messages
18,865
Location
Mich. & S. Carolina
Real Name
Scott Merryfield
Mediaplayer News needs to change the name of their hyperlink, which mentions the service as being free. The article does not state anywhere that the service will be free.
 

ScottJH

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 27, 2001
Messages
1,036
Real Name
Scott
Criterion sent out an email today with an update & a $10 gift certificate for the Criterion store.
 

Ronald Epstein

Founder
Owner
Moderator
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 3, 1997
Messages
66,561
Real Name
Ronald Epstein
Many Criterion titles are available to stream on Kanopy, which is free with a library card.

WOW. Thanks for this tip. And the service is available on Apple TV.

I have been waiting for the price of WINGS OF DESIRE to drop. Now I can watch it through this service. My library is supported.
 

Worth

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2009
Messages
5,230
Real Name
Nick Dobbs
Thanks, I was not familiar with this and our library offers it. How is the quality?
The quality is not the greatest. It lags well behind Amazon, Netflix or iTunes. For newer material shot digitally, it's fine, especially in HD. But for anything grainy, there are some pretty obvious compression issues.
 

dpippel

Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems
Supporter
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Messages
12,293
Location
Sonora Norte
Real Name
Doug


The Criterion Channel, our new streaming service for movie lovers, will launch April 8 in the U.S. and Canada.

As a Charter Subscriber, you can start watching right now with our Movie of the Week series, featuring a new surprise every Wednesday from now until the official site launch.

We are so grateful to all of you who have signed up to be Charter Subscribers. Now it’s time to make it official and lock in your benefits, including an extended 30-day free trial (starting April 8) and reduced pricing for as long as your account stays active.

Happy viewing!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,814
Messages
5,123,788
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top