General Discussion The Criterion Channel Streaming Service (Official Thread) (3 Viewers)

[Worth]

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.

I got the same thing via Roku the other day. I was really looking forward to this service, but I'm pretty disappointed so far. Apple TV stutters (same with iPad and iPhone), Roku won't play straight through without interruption, and it doesn't let me connect my laptop via HDMI because of stupid copy protection.

 

[skylark68]

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.

Yeah I just ended up unsubscribing during the free period. I kept having issues with the connection. Netflix and Amazon Prime Movies stream flawlessly from the same setup so I know it's not on my end. Unfortunate because the content is amazing.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

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.

That has been my issue, too -- more things to watch than I have time for, even now that I am retired. The Criterion Channel intrigued me, but I did not sign up as a charter member. The trial period fell when were going to be spending most of April in South Carolina, so I knew I wouldn't watch it hardly at all during that trial period. I have a few discs and a bunch of digital content I haven't watched yet, and other things going on in my life that take up time, too -- golf, travel, assisting my elderly parents, etc.

I only pay for two streaming subscriptions, and one of those is Amazon Prime, which I consider more than just a video subscription service (free shipping, music streaming, etc.). I also subscribe to NHL.tv during the hockey season so I can watch my favorite team -- the out of market Montreal Canadiens. I could see maybe adding one more rotating streaming service in the future if there are programs we really want to see -- for example, I will probably add HBO Now for a month to catch the final season of Game of Thrones once we finish re-watching the earlier seasons (we are on Season 5 right now). The Criterion Channel could be one of those services I rotate in for a month or two.

 

[Steve Y]

My charter membership is partly a vote of confidence in the idea of The Criterion Channel - and what it could (should) be, given enough time and tinkering. Ideally everything would be smooth out of the gate, but many streaming services don’t hit the ground running. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, HBO Now had a prolonged debut plagued with sub-par video and device incompatibility, but found its footing eventually.

The addition of Chromecast reinvigorated my enthusiasm. As for not getting around to watching the films, that’s an issue I have with all streaming services, but considering the content on TCC, I have fewer good excuses.

For the record, I’m not having as many issues with buffering that some others seem to have. If I did, i.e. if the movies were unwatchable, I would probably reconsider my “high-minded” membership. After a year, I’ll take a look at the service and do another appraisal.

 

[Tom Logan]

Problem: Unable to switch on subtitles if I'm watching a film w/commentary.

• Amazon Fire Stick
• Film: In a Lonely Place
• Commentary: Dana Polan

I'm guessing subtitles are not available when watching w/commentary track, but any help appreciated.

 

[SultanOfWhat]

Criterion has made a big upgrade to the Criterion Channel website, as they now list all films available. I went through about half of them, and added a few dozen to my list.

Streaming was flawless for the last film I watched (David Lean's Great Expectations), so hopefully things will improve as the service matures.

 

[Steve Y]

Chromecast support is broken again. The app wasn't updated as far as I can tell, and the cast icon is still there, but many people on forums (including myself) can no longer stream movies. After connecting and tapping play, the movie appears to load for a second on the TV, but then the app disconnects from casting almost immediately and the following message appears in the app: "Could not play video over Chromecast" - an error I've not seen before.

This is pretty discouraging, I was looking forward to parking myself in front of the TV and continuing some of the collections. I've written their support team and update this thread if I hear anything back.

 

[sleroi]

Thanks Steve. I thought I was going crazy. I finally signed up last week when I read that the Chromecast issue had been addressed. Watched a few shorts just fine.

Then I spent a few days in the hospital while my wife had a knee replaced and couldnt watch on my phone because of playback not supported error. And when I got back home yesterday I couldnt Chromecast.

Its frustrating, but i was still in my free trial, so im not out any money. I emailed them and put in my cancellation comments that I really want to support them, and plan to resubscribe if they can figure this out, I simply cant pay for something I cant use right now.

The funny thing is I know i can buy a pretty inexpensive roku or a firestick for the same price as a blu ray from Twilight Time. But psychologically its the principle of the matter. I already have a Chromecast and dont want to buy a new device just to watch their channel.

I can wait a few months, their movies will still be there.

 

[Steve Y]

Thanks Steve. I thought I was going crazy. I finally signed up last week when I read that the Chromecast issue had been addressed. Watched a few shorts just fine.

I just heard back from their customer support. They informed me they had just rolled out a server side fix for this issue, and right now it's working for me again (!). I am using a Chromecast Ultra with Android 9 (Kernel 4). They also provided a list of "tips" for people who still don't have success. Here's what they sent me:

• Log out then log back in
• Force quit or close the app
• Restart your device
• Exit the app, turn your device’s WiFi off then on, and open the app again
• Check if there is an update for the app (via the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store)
• Uninstall the app and download a fresh copy
• Make sure your device's OS version is compatible with our app. For iOS, the OS version must be 10.0 or higher. For Android, it must be 4.3 or higher

I hope this is helpful for people.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The June Schedule:

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6387-coming-attractions-the-criterion-channel-s-june-lineup

 

[Jim*Tod]

My problem is that I keep having to log back into the service. This gets old. It happens if I do not access the channel for more than one day.

 

[Sam Posten]

Of course I just bought the Police Story double feature =)
https://www.criterion.com/current/p...ns-the-criterion-channel-s-august-2019-lineup

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Of course I just bought the Police Story double feature =)
https://www.criterion.com/current/p...ns-the-criterion-channel-s-august-2019-lineup

At least you didn't import the region-locked Eureka version from UK ~1/2 year ago (apparently just ahead of the Criterion announcement) and still haven't gotten around to opening them yet...

_Man_

 

[Garysb]

October Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions: The Criterion Channel’s October 2019 Lineup
INSIDE CRITERION / ON THE CHANNEL — SEP 27, 2019

Cat People
We’re leaning into our fears this October with a selection of haunting masterpieces by producer Val Lewton, goretastic cult favorites from Herschell Gordon Lewis, Byron Haskin’s pulpy sci-fi and film noir classics, and other spooky-surrealist picks from David Lynch, Ana Lily Amirpour, Guillermo del Toro, and more. Plus: a tribute to independent film icon Shirley Clarke, the groundbreaking documentaries of Errol Morris, Gillo Pontecorvo’s revolutionary cinema, and a trip to Tuscon in the latest episode of Art-House America.

If you haven’t signed up yet, head to CriterionChannel.com and get a 14-day free trial!

Now, get into the spirits with our October programming!

* indicates programming available only in the U.S.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1
Short + Feature: American Gothic
Möbius and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Featuring an introduction by Möbius director Sam Kuhn
The kids aren’t all right in these two surreal mysteries set in the misty environs of the Pacific Northwest.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2
Directed by Shirley Clarke
Featuring Rome Is Burning, a 1970 profile of Clarke with appearances by Yoko Ono and Jacques Rivette
Radical counter-cinema landmarks from a true visionary who synthesized jazz, modern dance, and abstract expressionism into a dynamic vérité style that put her at the forefront of the American independent film scene of the fifties and sixties. Features include: The Connection (1961), Robert Frost: A Lover’s Quarrel with the World (1963), Portrait of Jason (1967), Ornette: Made in America (1985). Shorts include: Dance in the Sun (1953), In Paris Parks (1954), Bullfight (1955), A Moment in Love (1956), Brussels Film Loops/Gestures/World Kitchen (Shirley Clarke and D. A. Pennebaker, 1957), Bridges-Go-Round 1 (1958), Bridges-Go-Round 2 (1958), Skyscraper (Shirley Clarke and Willard Van Dyke, 1960), A Scary Time (Shirley Clarke and Robert Hughes, 1960), Christopher and Me (Richard Leacock, 1960), Butterfly (1967), 24 Frames Per Second (1977), Four Journeys into Mystic Time: Initiation (1978), Four Journeys into Mystic Time: Trans (1978), Four Journeys into Mystic Time: One-Two-Three (1978), Four Journeys into Mystic Time: Mysterium (1978), Savage/Love (1981), Tongues (1982)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3
From the Archive: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Featuring a laserdisc commentary by film scholar Maurice Yacowar
Cold War paranoia gives birth to a powerfully allegoric and still-chilling science-fiction classic.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4
Double Feature: Bad Kitty!
Cat People and The Living Idol
Killer hellcats are on the prowl in a landmark of psychological terror and a pop-surrealist oddity.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
Saturday Matinee: The Adventures of Prince Achmed
A world of enchantment flickers to life through breathtaking shadow play in this animation milestone.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6
Val Lewton Presents
Featuring Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, a 2007 documentary by Kent Jones
Terror lives in the shadows in the moody masterpieces of maverick producer Val Lewton, who turned our fears of the unseen and the unknown into haunting excursions into existential dread. Featuring: Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942), I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943), The Ghost Ship (Mark Robson, 1943), The Seventh Victim (Mark Robson, 1943), The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur, 1943), The Curse of the Cat People (Gunther von Frisch and Robert Wise, 1944), Isle of the Dead (Mark Robson, 1945), The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise, 1945), Bedlam (Mark Robson, 1946)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 7
Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)
Criterion Collection Edition #966

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8
Short + Feature: Look What the Cat Dragged In
Call of Cuteness and House
Feline frights abound in these two films that turn cats into the stuff of nightmares.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9
Persepolis
Featuring a program on the making of the film
Marjane Satrapi’s defiant, irreverent, supremely moving vision of growing up in a changing Iran.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10
Three by Byron Haskin
A master termite-art technician, Byron Haskin brought a prodigious visual imagination and keen intelligence to pulp classics of both science fiction and film noir. Featuring: I Walk Alone (1947), The War of the Worlds (1953), Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11
Double Feature: The Deviant and the Divine
Freaks and Multiple Maniacs
Totally twisted shockers from two masters of the perverse, Tod Browning and John Waters.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12
Saturday Matinee: Animation Celebration
A dazzling array of animation techniques are on display in this eyeball-whirling selection of bite-size wonders, featuring stop-motion monkeys, mischievous chairs, a cosmic reverie, and more!

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13
Art-House America: The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ
The latest installment of our ongoing tour of America’s art houses pays a visit to the Loft Cinema in Tucson, Arizona, a vibrant nonprofit theater that has been serving the local community since 1972.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14
Judex (Georges Franju, 1963)
Criterion Collection Edition #710

Three by Jacques Tourneur
A master craftsman whose shadowy visual palette and staunch humanism shone through B-movie trappings and across genres. Featuring: Cat People (1942), Out of the Past (1947), Stars in My Crown (1950)

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15
Short + Feature: Bizarre Love Triangles
Bad at Dancing and Jules and Jim
With a new introduction by Bad at Dancing director Joanna Arnow
Three’s a crowd for a millennial throuple and a French New Wave ménage à trois.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16
La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001)
Criterion Collection Edition #743

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17
Following (Christopher Nolan, 1999)
Criterion Collection Edition #638

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18
Double Feature: Bad Habits
Black Narcissus and The Devils
Sexual frenzy shakes the convents in these hothouse tales of nuns gone mad.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19
Saturday Matinee: The Blob
Steve McQueen plays a rebel teen who tries to warn his small-town neighbors about an outer-space invader in this cult classic of gooey greatness.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20
Directed by Errol Morris
Featuring a selection of archival interviews with Morris
Singular films from the director-detective who redefined the possibilities of nonfiction filmmaking through his idiosyncratic perspective and philosophical insight into the human condition and the elusive nature of truth. Featuring: Gates of Heaven (1978), Vernon, Florida (1981), The Thin Blue Line (1988), A Brief History of Time (1991), Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997), The Fog of War (2003), Tabloid (2010)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21
The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
Criterion Collection Edition #56

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22
Short + Feature: Far-Out Fantasies
Les escargots and Fantastic Planet
Science-fiction marvels of surrealist invention and psychedelic wonder from director René Laloux and writer-animator Roland Topor.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23
Frida
Featuring a new interview with director Julie Taymor
The bold visions of two singular artists—Frida Kahlo and director Julie Taymor—collide with dazzling results in this vibrant account of the iconic Mexican painter’s turbulent life and awe-inspiring work.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
Three by Gillo Pontecorvo
Featuring Gillo Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth, a 1992 documentary narrated by literary critic Edward Said
The explosive, fiercely leftist cinema of the Italian firebrand weds revolutionary politics with an equally radical visual style. Featuring: Kapò (1959), The Battle of Algiers (1966), Burn! (1969)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25
Double Feature: Critical Massey
The Old Dark House and Arsenic and Old Lace
The inimitable Raymond Massey lends his formidable presence to two macabre classics.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26
Saturday Matinee: Godzilla
The roaring granddaddy of all monster movies, also a surprisingly humane and melancholy drama, first introduced the beloved international icon of destruction.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27
Meet the Filmmakers: Herschell Gordon Lewis
In a 2009 conversation with filmmaker Sean Baker, the late Godfather of Gore proves to be as entertaining and unpretentious as his own movies, dishing on everything from his filmmaking philosophy to perfecting the look of onscreen blood. This latest entry in the Criterion Channel’s Meet the Filmmakers series is accompanied by a goretastic selection of Lewis’s films, featuring: Carving Magic (1959), Blood Feast (1963), Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Color Me Blood Red (1965), The Gruesome Twosome (1967), The Wizard of Gore (1970), The Gore Gore Girls (1972), Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (Frank Henenlotter and Jimmy Maslon, 2010)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 28
Observations of Film Art #32: Withholding and Revealing in An Angel at My Table
Professor Kristin Thompson explores how Jane Campion uses a strategy of concealment and carefully orchestrated reveals to create curiosity, tension, and surprise.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29
Short + Feature: Baseball and Broomsticks
The Beaning and Häxan
With a new introduction by The Beaning director Sean McCoy
Something witchy this way comes in these sinister brews of satanism, black magic, and pseudodocumentary.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Ana Lily Amirpour’s mesmerizing debut feature blends the influences of spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, the Iranian New Wave, and Jim Jarmusch into a truly original blast of shoegazey, black-and-white cool.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31
The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)*
Criterion Collection Edition #666

 

[SultanOfWhat]

Criterion has been working out well after a sketchy roll-out. I've watched 32 films on the service since April.

The viewing experience has been very stable for me since, say, June, and the transfers have mostly been excellent. One wrinkle they still have to iron out is getting the special features accompanying a film to play properly. I've found that I have to select the item, hit the back button, re-select it, 3-4 times to get an item to be "retrieved" and played.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I watched The Devils last night, from the running time it appears to be the US cut. Unfortunately, it's a standard def transfer and doesn't hold up well under projection. Looking forward to checking out the Val Lewton's this month.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

WOW! Criterion rocks! A $10 coupon on the way for all their subscribers to use in the store -- even during a sale.

 

[dpippel]

I got mine yesterday. Sweet! Thanks Criterion!

 

[benbess]

How long does it usually take for a movie that's newly been released on a Criterion blu-ray, like Magnificent Obsession, to appear on the service?

 

[Cranston37+]

How long does it usually take for a movie that's newly been released on a Criterion blu-ray, like Magnificent Obsession, to appear on the service?

I don't think it really works that way, where it's inevitable that a disc release will make its way to the streaming channel. It depends what rights they have...