TV/Movies Megathread

[CountDeMoney]

I was hoping for an original or, at the very least, a cool reboot/reinterpretation of the Joker.   Hope is a dangerous thing.

[Eddie Teach]

Holy shit! Ilsa, she wolf of the SS was like what would happen if MC Esher dropped LSD at the Shaolin Temple! 5 out of 4 stars!

Also had a Riefenstahl tinge.

Apropos of nothing, but this made me giggle.

[CountDeMoney]

New York Times
Television
FilmStruck Streaming Service Places a Big Bet on Cinephiles
By MIKE HALE
NOV. 1, 2016

While the cable industry wonders how many of us will be willing to cut the cord and do without a traditional television package, its online rivals have moved on to a more timely question: How many cords — albeit invisible, cheaper cords — will we be willing to pay for at once?

FilmStruck, an ambitious new movie-streaming site that began on Tuesday after a two-week delay, is betting that you'll open your wallet for at least two content providers, and possibly three or more. It wants to be your second buy after a larger, general streaming service like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu — or your third, if you're keeping cable — and it hopes that an increasing number of people will find the money for multiple subscriptions.

Jennifer Dorian, general manager of Turner Classic Movies, which developed the site in partnership with the Criterion Collection, said internal research showed that the people most likely to pay for FilmStruck's offerings of independent and art-house movies were paying for cable TV and another streaming service. "They're already very involved in entertainment," she said. "It's their hobby, and they don't mind spending money."

Recent studies indicate that FilmStruck may be making a good bet. Nielsen reported last year that 13 percent of American homes had multiple streaming services by the end of 2014, and a study by the market research company GfK this year put the number at 16 percent.
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But even with the backing of two heavyweights, the Turner cable channel and the home entertainment company Criterion, both beloved by film buffs, FilmStruck is entering a niche-streaming field that's already very crowded. Movie sites like Fandor, Mubi, Tribeca Shortlist and SundanceNow already cover much of the same non-Hollywood ground as FilmStruck. And myriad other sites — focusing on Asian soap operas, animation, Bollywood films, horror, documentaries — are going after the same discretionary dollars.

FilmStruck has one big advantage — the connection to Criterion, by far the most prestigious name in DVD and Blu-ray distribution, and its 1,500-film catalog of art-house classics. (Criterion films, available on Hulu for the last five years, will be streamed exclusively on FilmStruck, beginning later this month.) The site's two-tiered pricing reflects the importance of that connection: A FilmStruck subscription is $6.99 a month, but full access to the Criterion Channel within FilmStruck costs $10.99. (An annual subscription to both is $99.)

For $6.99, you get some access to Criterion content: About 200 of its films will be part of the general FilmStruck roster of about 500 titles at any given time, according to Charlie Tabesh, senior vice president for programming at FilmStruck and Turner Classic.

In the site's initial incarnation, the Criterion offerings are heavily front-loaded. The most prominent display is a set of thematic clusters — political documentaries, movies starring Marcello Mastroianni, films that had been banned in the United States — and about 80 percent of the selections in those groupings are from Criterion.

The edge in classic content is hard to ignore: A section labeled "The Masters: Akira Kurosawa" includes 26 of that Japanese auteur's 31 feature films. But the site's architects say that the real battle will be fought not over the films themselves, but over supplementary material, and there again, Criterion — famous for the copious extras it provides with its lavish DVD packages — provides an advantage.

"I think the movies are a solid piece of it," said Jonathan Turrell, chief executive of the Criterion Collection. "But I think the way they are presented is what we're spending a lot of time with." He said that, beginning with the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple," the site would present "entire editions" of films, with all of the extras — commentaries, interviews, documentaries — that were part of the original Criterion DVD package.

Mr. Turrell invoked a nickname applied to the Criterion Collection, "film school in a box," to describe what could be done on FilmStruck. Larry Aidem, president of Fandor, a prominent competitor in the movie-streaming field, made a similar observation in defining the difference between the sites.

"It appears Turner and Criterion are targeting and planning to super-serve the cinephile," Mr. Aidem said, adding, "To super-serve the indie-film fanatic is forgoing a ton of people out there."

If enough cinephiles are willing to spend $99 a year (which, even when combined with Netflix or Hulu, is significantly less than a cable subscription), then it won't matter how many viewers FilmStruck forgoes. Not all of its movies are hard to find or all that interesting — "Madonna: Truth or Dare" or a group of 28 Charlie Chaplin films don't set the heart racing — but its elegant interface and the Criterion catalog give it a big head start in the battle to be the second buy.

Five Streaming Sites for Film Lovers

The first four offer similar mixes of independent, foreign, cult and documentary films, with Tribeca Shortlist putting more emphasis on mainstream hits. The fifth, Warner Archive Instant, focuses on Hollywood classics. Many of the sites offer free trials and discounts, and all are available on some combination of services like Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast, smart TVs and mobile apps.

Fandor

$10 a month, $90 a year

Recently featured: A Weekend Escape theme that included Kelly Reichardt's "Old Joy" and Roger Michell's "Le Week-End"; new additions including Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Cure" and the early Todd Haynes film "Poison."

Mubi

$5.99 a month

The gimmick is that only 30 films are available at a time, for 30 days each, with one film added a day.

Currently available: Kirby Dick's documentary "The Invisible War," Lucio Fulci's giallo adaptation of "The Black Cat" and lots of shorts from the New York Film Festival's Projections section.

SundanceNow

$6.99 a month, $59.99 a year

Best known for nonfiction.

Recently featured: documentaries including "Brooklyn Castle," "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present" and "Birders: The Central Park Effect"; fictional films including "Orlando," "In the Company of Men" and the "Red Riding" television movies.

Tribeca Shortlist

$4.99 a month with Amazon Prime

Recently featured: "No Country for Old Men," "Platoon"; five films selected by the actor B. D. Wong, who chose "Midnight Cowboy" and "Ran," among others; a Top Movies Not on Netflix or Hulu section that highlighted "Bad Lieutenant" and "Requiem for a Dream."

Warner Archive Instant

$9.99 a month, $94.99 a year

The place for old-Hollywood fare.

Recently featured: a John Wayne spotlight ("Operation Pacific" and "Blood Alley" were among the eight films); a last chance to watch "The Prince and the Showgirl"; four seasons of "Medical Center."

[Josephus]

There seems to be multiples of characters. The Spanish bandit guy couldn't have been fixed that fast. Unless you follow the two time line thing, which seems unlikely to me.

I do think we're following different timelines.

[Duque de Bragança]

Holy shit! Ilsa, she wolf of the SS was like what would happen if MC Esher dropped LSD at the Shaolin Temple! 5 out of 4 stars!

Also had a Riefenstahl tinge.

Here is a fun fact:
Ilsa she wolf the SS was shot in the same set as Hogan's Heroes.

[Berkut]

I think it is certainly supposed to be the case that the hosts are singular. Too much would not make sense otherwise, like them complaining when they go missing.

In general, someone like Dolores is playing on a daily loop. She resets each night (or when she is killed) or so to restart her rather simple loop within the town for new customers.

Others clearly have loops that go longer. And I think plenty are individually managed when particular story lines extend themselves over several days.

I think there is an element in the show of "Don't think too much about this..." that you have to take on a bit of faith, especially when it comes to these conversations the hosts are having while "offline".

[garbon]

New York Times
Television
FilmStruck Streaming Service Places a Big Bet on Cinephiles
By MIKE HALE
NOV. 1, 2016

Seems a bit pricey for people who already have 2 streaming services to want to add-on.

[Scipio]

New York Times
Television
FilmStruck Streaming Service Places a Big Bet on Cinephiles
By MIKE HALE
NOV. 1, 2016

Seems a bit pricey for people who already have 2 streaming services to want to add-on.

They've got me for the annual, though, because I love Criterion's catalog.

[Martinus]

In the best review to date, Christian Critic calls Doctor Strange a "dangerous introduction to demonic occult deception".

http://epicstream.com/news/Christian-Critic-Says-Doctor-Strange-is-Dangerous-Introduction-to-Demonic-Occult-Deception?fbrefresh=1478195519

My Facebook feed is positively ecstatic. 

[celedhring]

New York Times
Television
FilmStruck Streaming Service Places a Big Bet on Cinephiles
By MIKE HALE
NOV. 1, 2016

Seems a bit pricey for people who already have 2 streaming services to want to add-on.

We have a similar service here in Spain, focused on artsy and indie fare, and it's pretty successful. And this is a country where people has less disposable income than the US or UK. Add to it the Criterion collection (which isn't available over here), and it seems to me it can work.

[celedhring]

The Dark Tower film has been moved and now has a prime July release. That's good news, I want it to make obscene amounts of money so more Dark Tower stuff gets made.

[Malthus]

The Dark Tower film has been moved and now has a prime July release. That's good news, I want it to make obscene amounts of money so more Dark Tower stuff gets made.

I ain't hopeful, to be honest. Signs point to a 're-interpretation' that resembles the books only slightly.

To give but one example - the female lead is not going to be playing Susannah Dean, but "Tirana".

"Abbey Lee, who is coming off Mad Max: Fury Road and who stars in Gods of Egypt, is expected to star in the female lead role of Tirana. The report describes the character as "sexy and dangerous" with "fake human skin and cold snake-like eyes." In King's original series, Tirana doesn't show up until the seventh novel and only has a relatively small part, but it looks like she will be a key figure in the movie version."

WTF? She was a blink-and-you-miss-her spear-carrier for evil in the series, shows up in a crowd scene inn the Dixie Pig in Book Seven. Now, she's the female lead.

There isn't even anyone cast as Susannah or Eddie. Yet there is a Jake. 

Chances it will be crappy = unfortunately, high.

[KRonn]

I got Bad Moms through On Demand on my cable TV. I like the actresses in it - Kunis, Applegate, Hahn, Bell. But it just became more like raunchy "comedy" to me, and I turned it off part way through.

Still loving Westworld , a new show this season. Interesting story line and really want to see how it progresses. Seems like some good potential there.

[viper37]

The Dark Tower film has been moved and now has a prime July release. That's good news, I want it to make obscene amounts of money so more Dark Tower stuff gets made.

Signs point to a 're-interpretation' that resembles the books only slightly.

It's a Stephen King book, so that's a good sign.

Chances it will be crappy = unfortunately, high.

It's based on a Stephen King series of books, so yeah, chances are high.  However, if they move away from the source material, I'll be hopeful.

[viper37]

Frontier is a new tv show shot in 4k by Discovery Canada.  The blu ray might be nice, but I remain unconvinced at the beauty of a 4k tv show aired in 720p.

Anyway.  The premise looks intriguing, it's about the fur trade of Northern Canada in the early 1800s.  However, in the preview, they show both the Union Jack and the old Kingdom of France flag, with the Fleur de Lys.  by this time, France was nowhere to be seen in Northern Canada, hadn't been seen in a while.  Don't know what this is about.