Streaming Services

[movielocke]

Netflix experimenting with letting viewers change the viewing speed of their streaming content

I’m sure Instagram-style filters are next...

The ps3 has audio playback of dvd and blus at 1.5x, it’s my preferred way to listen to commentaries and talking head interviews, often on Bluetooth headphones while doing housework.

But for content? Ugh.

Although, I was once trying to find my exact place to reattempt watching red desert after falling asleep and briefly watching a few minutes of Antonioni on 1.5x made it seem like a normally paced film (that’s a joke)

[flyonthewall2983]

YouTube has had this for ages

[mfunk9786]

I know people who listen to podcasts sped up like that almost exclusively, and podcatcher apps also have features like automatic removals of dead air gaps in order to shorten the overall length of a podcast.

It seems borderline psychotic to me to be okay with unnaturally speeding up human speech (for non-Chipmunk reasons), but to each their own. I don't see how doing it with movies is any different - the only people who will use the feature aren't enjoying the content they're watching on a level I can possibly understand, so fuck 'em

[domino harvey]

Every day we are getting closer and closer to corporations primarily targeting that guy who sat next to Soderbergh on a plane fast forwarding between action scenes on his laptop

[HJackson]

That’s the President you’re talking about.

[mfunk9786]

Would recklessly speculate that perhaps it's tougher to find a hit of serotonin in day to day life these days than it was when life was less interior and more necessarily social, but I am just a mere observer of my own brain

[flyonthewall2983]

Hulu to house the majority of FX's old shows, with three new ones originally set for the network now to be exclusively on there.

[Noiradelic]

Every day we are getting closer and closer to corporations primarily targeting that guy who sat next to Soderbergh on a plane fast forwarding between action scenes on his laptop

"Laptop" -- that's adorable.

[ando]

The entire Power of Myth series currently streaming on Netflix will end on December 1. See it while it's up.

[Never Cursed]

THR article on Netflix viewer data discloses Netflix's current definition of a "viewer" of their content (any single account that has watched two minutes of a given program). It reportedly used to be anyone who had watched 70% of a program.

[ando]

:YouTubeTv just eliminated the YES network, local Fox Sports channels (not sure if they still have SNY or MSG) so I'm going with Hulu, which has all of the above plus ESPN channels. Gave Sling a trial run but Hulu is the better option for local New York sports (imo). Could change any moment, of course.

[dadaistnun]

Spamflix offers "avant-garde and cult films that are difficult to frame into one precise genre" (their description); it looks like they launched in fall 2018. Their selection is limited (they have fewer than 60 titles right now) and appears to rotate, though I can’t tell how often. No subscription, all à la carte 72-hour rentals. Prices are in Euros (3.5 – 4), though according to their FAQ, “Every film that appears in the Now Playing page is available in your country.”

Right now they have a selection of Denis Cote films (Bestiaire, Carcasses, Curling, Elle Veut le Chaos, Our Private Lives, and Drifting States), a documentary on Sion Sono, a couple of Alex Cox titles (Death and the Compass, Three Businessmen), and two by Shahram Mokri: Fish & Cat, which a number of us have been banging the drum for, as well as his earlier Ashkan, the Charmed Ring and Other Stories.

[FigrinDan]

VUniverse is the all-in-one solution for your streaming problems, using the streaming services you already subscribe to. Our platform allows you to search, sort, and filter titles from across your favorite streaming services and create watchlists to organize your streaming universe and get recommendations.

Looks like a helpful app. Currently available on Android / Apple devices and the VUniverse website.

[mfunk9786]

WarnerMedia announced their new platform, HBO Max, for release next year.

This has launched, with a maximum resolution of 1080p

How bizarre. As the article explains, there is a lot of content that would benefit from UHD, but despite there being better versions of much of this readily available, they aren't on HBO Max.

I already subscribed to HBO and they were actually offering this at $11.99 per month for a year, which is a cost savings. So I'm subscribed regardless. But it's unfortunate that it's so low rent compared to the new Disney service.

EDIT: Finding out that it isn't available on Roku or Amazon Fire TV, either. What a mess. I hope HBO Now continues to work until that's remedied.

[mfunk9786]

Even Tim Heidecker is joining in on dunking on HBO Max, which just cuts off at "S" when browsing Adult Swim's library.

In general, if you search for it on social media you just see people upset about the lack of stream quality (some shows like Doctor Who moved from Amazon Prime, which was streaming it in 4K, to HBO Max where it's now in 1080p), the lack of Roku or Fire Stick support, or any number of other issues.

Especially during a time when many people are sheltering in place, it's astonishing that Warners fucked this up so bad

[knives]

Their fault for not naming their team in alphabetical order.

[RIP Film]

Wish he would have went to the TCM tab instead. This was a streaming service I was actually waiting for, and just finding out now it’s not on amazon devices or roku. Way to kneecap your launch... Guess I’ll do the 7 day trial.

[mfunk9786]

Their fault for not naming their team in alphabetical order.

Ha! I like Eric a lot, but I think their output apart from one another is a strong hint at who the figurative brains of the operation is.

Wish he would have went to the TCM tab instead. This was a streaming service I was actually waiting for, and just finding out now it’s not on amazon devices or roku. Way to kneecap your launch... Guess I’ll do the 7 day trial.

I was already subscribed to HBO Now and am actually paying $3 per month less for this than I was for that thanks to their offer of $11.99 per month for the first 12 months of this service. So I don't think I'll be doing any cancelling out of protest. But like Filmstruck, platform compatibility being overlooked is the sort of thing that's going to needlessly deflate interest and subscription numbers. I just don't understand how that isn't the number one priority.

[knives]

I actually had to look up to see if Wareheim had done anything apart from the team and learned his day job is apparently as a musician.

[domino harvey]

There's seriously no option to use HBO Max on the Amazon Fire? Didn't they have, like, at least half a year from announcement to prepare for the streaming devices people use?

[mfunk9786]

Yeah, no Roku or Fire support now, and the expectation is that they'll probably work things out with Roku but probably won't with Amazon. It is insane to hype up a new service like this and leave out what might actually be a majority of the home streaming market

[MongooseCmr]

So what exactly was so urgent about killing FilmStruck ~18 months before launch if this is only featuring a greatest hits selection of the TCM material and Criterion Collection?

I’m not watching many movies lately and mooching off my dads HBO, but this would be the one service I’d pay for if I needed/wanted to. Hoping they get the platform and content straightened out.

[RIP Film]

Even if you order hbomax directly through Hulu or YoutubeTV, it simply won’t play on Roku or Fire.

Yeah... They can go to hell.

[mfunk9786]

So what exactly was so urgent about killing FilmStruck ~18 months before launch if this is only featuring a greatest hits selection of the TCM material and Criterion Collection?

Since it brought us the excellent and getting better all the time Criterion Channel, I'm not complaining about the death of Filmstruck

[Glowingwabbit]

So what exactly was so urgent about killing FilmStruck ~18 months before launch if this is only featuring a greatest hits selection of the TCM material and Criterion Collection?

Since it brought us the excellent and getting better all the time Criterion Channel, I'm not complaining about the death of Filmstruck

Do you mean content wise its getting better? I let my charter subscription run out because it was awful to use and it didn't seem like they were ever updating its functionality and layout (at least not on the firestick app). If they can get that fixed I'll be back. It felt like Filmstruck had just started to come around to being more user friendly when news dropped about it ending.