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General Discussion The Criterion Channel Streaming Service (Official Thread) (1 Viewer)

warthree

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Good to know.

I had the exact same problem with my Apple TV 4K (along with different problems with the app on my Roku 3) and contacted Criterion's tech support. Here was their reply:

"I sincerely apologize for the delay in getting back to you and the problems you have been experiencing. We are currently experiencing a high volume of support requests and are working as quickly as possible to get these answered. We appreciate you reaching out about the problems you are encountering and providing that helpful information. I can confim that both problems you have mentioned are actually ongoing issues with both platforms that our engineers are investigating and hope to have a fix for soon."

For the record, I had the exact same problem last fall when I first got Filmstruck. It eventually cleared up. I presume Criterion will figure it out soon as well.
 

Cranston37+

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Probably mentioned already but I just noticed - when you click on the description of the movie it will tell you the date the movie is leaving the service. About to watch Human Desire which is leaving June 30...
 

Cranston37+

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"In a Lonely Place" was added today. I own it through MA but it's great to go through about 90mins of extras plus audio commentary...
 

Garysb

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Cukor's Women was added.
The Women
What Price Hollywood
Dinner At Eight
Little Women
Our Betters
Sylvia Scarlett
Camille
Two Faced Woman
A Women's Face
Gaslight
Cukor on Cukor

Carol Reed x 3
Odd Man Out
The Third Man
The Fallen Idol

Walk On The Wild Side
Nights of Cabiria
Smithereens

Safety Last!
 
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bujaki

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Cukor's Women was added.
The Women
What Price Hollywood
Dinner At Eight
Little Women
Our Betters
Sylvia Scarlett
Camille
Two Faced Woman
A Women's Face
Gaslight
Cukor on Cukor
Warner's titles all. Looking more and more like the late Filmstruck.
 

Robert Crawford

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A couple of tidbits from Criterion Channel emails:

Tech Update

More good news on the tech front this week. The latest round of app updates fixed the Resume and Continue Watching functions across all apps and browsers. Captions had stopped displaying on Roku, but as of version 4.5, build 3, they should be back. (Please note that we are still in the process of uploading caption files for many titles in our catalog, but we hope to be close to 100% captioned or subtitled on all films by the middle of the summer.) We are on track for Chromecast support in iOS and Android apps next week.

"MAY 3, 2019
As a Criterion Channel Charter Subscriber, you’ve been with us from the very start. We hope that many years from now you will still take pride in having helped to get the Channel off the ground. In commemoration of your early commitment and as a token of our appreciation, we would like to send you a durable steel keepsake Charter Subscriber membership card, etched with your name and the date of our launch.

Carry it, wear it, hang it from your luggage, use it as a paperweight, pin it on your bulletin board—it’s only true purpose is to serve as a lasting reminder of our gratitude and dedication to you, our most loyal audience.

To receive your membership card, click here to enter your first and last name as you would like it to appear on the card, along with your mailing address, in the form below, prior to June 15, 2019. Only Charter Subscribers who remain active at the time of the mailing are eligible to receive membership cards."
 

David Norman

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Question and I hope I didn't screw something up -- signed up as a Charter member back in Oct/Nov. Confirmed my sub at 9.99 per month in late March with the understanding that as long I was a paid continuous subscriber the rates would remain $9.99/$89.99.
Decided today near the end of the trial period I'd just as soon change to Annual Subscrition and save the extra $30 per year.
After I clicked the button "Change to Annual rate" my account settings now say $99 annual next to my CC number and "10.99 per month to change to Monthly plan."

Anyone else do this and seeing the same thing? Any idea if I'll be charged the Charter Rate in he next 1-2 days or the higher rate. I wasn't (edit) aware that changing plans might void the charter rates -- maybe nothing, but if so then I'll have to reconsider things.

I did send a "contact us" email and hope someone can help clarify things tomorrow.
 
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Cranston37+

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David Norman

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As you said, changing plans does void the charter rates.

We talked about it a few pages back...

Criterion Announces New Stand-Alone Streaming Service: The Criterion Channel

Actually that was a typo and I meant "Wasn't aware." Not surprised that I missed the discussion and my word search didn't pull the result, but now I have a starting point to start reading -- thanks


I remember reading the 1st part "Must sign up before April 7" and somehow skipped over the rest. Baffling fine print honestly esp to change from a short term to long term plan after getting a chance to test the app.
I guess one more cancelled streaming service after a free trial -- not the first, not the last I guess
 

Cranston37+

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I guess one more cancelled streaming service after a free trial -- not the first, not the last I guess

If you had been willing to pay $120 a year ($10/month) as recently as yesterday, surely $99 is a good deal too?
 
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David Norman

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Well -- I actually wasn't willing to pay $120. $10 maybe, but in the middle of the month I had decided I was going to cancel completely. Pangs of guilt set in and figured after supporting Criterion for 3 decades I'd might as well support the Criterion effort to get this off the ground. I changed my mind a couple days ago and figured I'd do at least one year at $90 as moral support if nothing else. Not blaming anyone other than myself for the screwup though as far as I can tell that warning was only in the presignup email, I couldn't find anything on the site, nothing in the congratulations for joining email, nothing on the account settings to warn you, and nothing during the confirm the change service that reminds you of the gotcha.

Hopefully everyone else can learn from my mistake.
 
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Cranston37+

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Well -- I actually wasn't willing to pay $120. $10 maybe, but in the middle of the month I had decided I was going to cancel completely. Pangs of guilt set in and figured after supporting Criterion for 3 decades I'd might as well support the Criterion effort to get this off the ground. I changed my mind a couple days ago and figured I'd do at least one year at $90 as moral support if nothing else. Not blaming anyone other than myself for the screwup though as far as I can tell that warning was only in the presignup email, I couldn't find anything on the site, nothing in the congratulations for joining email, nothing on the account settings to warn you, and nothing during the confirm the change service that reminds you of the gotcha.

Hopefully everyone else can learn from my mistake.

Not all is lost, if you use Apple...

Right now Target is having a sale on iTunes gift cards - buy one get one 20% off. If you buy 2 $50 cards that's paying $90 for $100, which means you can get the annual Criterion subscription for the same price as a charter member.

If you happen to be a Target RedCard holder you get 5% off your purchase, which means you can get the annual subscription for $85.50 - LESS than a charter member.
 
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Robert Crawford

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Not all is lost, if you use Apple...

Right now Target is having a sale on iTunes gift cards - buy one get one 20% off. If you buy 2 $50 cards that's paying $90 for $100, which means you can get the annual Criterion subscription for the same price as a charter member.

If you happen to be a Target RedCard holder you get 5% off your purchase, which means you can get the annual subscription for $85.50 - LESS than a charter member.
Right, that's the second iTunes gift card sale Target had in the last couple of weeks. I didn't know about this sale until a salesperson that I know, alerted me of this sale on Monday when I was picking up an on-line order as she remembered I tried to use the first sale price twice last week which wasn't allowed. In short, a bought more than a few iTunes gift cards the last couple of weeks.:)
 

Cranston37+

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Right, that's the second iTunes gift card sale Target had in the last couple of weeks. I didn't know about this sale until a salesperson that I know, alerted me of this sale on Monday when I was picking up an on-line order as she remembered I tried to use the first sale price twice last week which wasn't allowed. In short, a bought more than a few iTunes gift cards the last couple of weeks.:)

This is how weird I am -

I let my Criterion charter membership trial lapse today then re-upped with iTunes cards (so paid $85).

I then bought another $100 worth and put them in an envelope. My Apple Music subscription renews on Oct 1 for $99 so I set myself a Siri reminder for Sept 30 to add those cards to my account so I can get THAT for $85.

I'll probably do something similar for Disney+ in November but I need to first make sure you can subscribe through iTunes and that $69 is an awkward number to get BOGO cards for...
 

Steve Y

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Possibly good news for those of you with Chromecast. The Android and iOS versions of the Criterion Channel app have been updated to support casting (for real this time, not the browser-cast loophole). The only caveat is that some earlier devices may not support Vimeo's DRM schema. I can confirm it functions marvelously on a Chromecast Ultra, casting from a Galaxy S8.

I watched the rest of Jubal and So Dark the Night on my 4K TV, and started Richard III. The video stopped to load occasionally (only 2-3 times total), though I had been experimenting with the rewind and pause functions a lot from my phone. The picture looked great, seemed to be a stable 1080 image (upscaled). I'm very happy!
 

SultanOfWhat

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I hope the Criterion streaming becomes more reliable. I was watching Fallen Idol recently, and four times in the first 30 minutes the picture disappeared and "UNABLE TO LOAD" appeared on the screen, though the audio kept playing. I had to backtrack and click on the film thumbnail again to pick up the stream. Really took me out of the movie.
 

Sam Posten

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The yearly charge hit my credit card. I have not been using this as much as I should. I will probably binge at some point and not renew a second year. We'll see.
 

Ronald Epstein

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The yearly charge hit my credit card. I have not been using this as much as I should. I will probably binge at some point and not renew a second year. We'll see.


Same here.

I only watched The Scarlet Pimpernel (recommended by Crawdaddy) and nothing since.

I don't know how much time I will give to this service based on all the unopened BD and 4k titles I have lying around.

I will give it a year. Once I retire in a few weeks I am certain I will look for other selections on the channel.
 

Robert Crawford

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Same here.

I only watched The Scarlet Pimpernel (recommended by Crawdaddy) and nothing since.

I don't know how much time I will give to this service based on all the unopened BD and 4k titles I have lying around.

I will give it a year. Once I retire in a few weeks I am certain I will look for other selections on the channel.
Trust me, even in retirement there is never enough time. There are tough viewing choices to be made and too many in numbers with not enough time in a day to watch those choices.:)
 

Sam Posten

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Trust me, even in retirement there is never enough time. There are tough viewing choices to be made and too many in numbers with not enough time in a day to watch those choices.:)

Well yeah, and vidya games, and board games, and trips to see family... Somethings gotta give and for me there are already too many good quality streaming services. I'm locked in for Netflix, Apple and Disney, I don't know that even with all Criterion has that I have room for it on my plate. NONE of the others are even worth consideration to me tho. No vudu, no CBS, no Warner.
 

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