Archived Criterion Streaming Discussion

[swo17]

They're saying on Facebook that Andrei Rublev was just put up on Hulu. Can someone confirm whether or not it's the old transfer?

[matrixschmatrix]

Looking from Hulu to the disc, they look the same- the Hulu print is still pretty muddy, and there's a lot of flickering and such the way there is on the disc. It's not locked to 1:33 the way the disc is, but that's the only change I see.

[SpiderBaby]

Rublev aside, anybody seen the Mikhail Kalatozov film that was just put up?

[jwd5275]

For those keeping track:
The Letter Never Sent - Kalatozov
Premiers Desirs - Hamilton
Late Chrysanthemums - Naruse
La Nuit de Varennes - Scola
Assassin - Shinoda
A Lesson in Love - Bergman

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

So what's up with Premiers Desirs? It looks like standard 80's European erotica (with vaseline filter galore). Anything to it?

Also glad about Assassin (Or Assassination as the MoC release has it as). Chanbara filtered through the pessimistic lens of 60's Shinoda and another excellent Takemitsu score to boot! Plus more Naruse!

[dwk]

Premiers Desirs - Hamilton

So, does this mean we will get Eclipse Series XX: THE JAILBAIT DRAMAS OF DAVID HAMILTON

[mteller]

Rublev aside, anybody seen the Mikhail Kalatozov film that was just put up?

Yes yes, it's brilliant! Hopefully a future release is forthcoming.

[med]

Premiers Desirs - Hamilton

So, does this mean we will get Eclipse Series XX: THE JAILBAIT DRAMAS OF DAVID HAMILTON

Ha! It is a bit curious that Criterion has the rights to anything Hamilton. Maybe soft-focus smut is a brand-new avenue they’re looking to explore.

[SpiderBaby]

It's funny to me that "Premiers Desirs" is the newest title on Hulu, yet the most popular. You don't think it has anything to do with the cover they posted for it do you? Looks like sex and samurai sells to Hulu customers.

[knives]

It sells to most people, hence a high amount of it in the collection.

[matrixschmatrix]

I'm guessing the 'popular' listing is popular over the last week or so- newly listed stuff is generally pretty high on there.

[Clodius]

Got Hulu over the last few days. Tried a week trial 2 months ago but it would skip all the time. Since then, changed from a roommate to only myself, and now Hulu works gloriously. Well worth the 8 dollars. In the last few days I've watch numerous films people have talked about a ton, and I would highly rate it. As for the movies I've seen...

Bad Quality:

Devil and Daniel Webster: Obviously it's an old transfer, and streaming just makes it worse, especially as much of its action takes place at night. Fun movie, good for streaming, but wouldn't buy.

The Challenge: Obviously not a new transfer, pretty poor quality, not too engaging as a whole honestly. For some reason I feel like it's an example of too early Brit cinema, not up to Ealing quality and for the 30s I feel it's basic. Perhaps I'm too harsh, but I couldn't pay attention (and I like "mountain" movies, I enjoyed 7 Years in Tibet for goodness sake)

Medium:

World on a Wire: Veeeeeery slow starting off, but once it gets going, great movie. Image wise, I feel like it may look as good as possible, but certain shots (for ex. when Stiller crashes in Eva's apt) don't look very good at all. Again, it may be Fassbinder's choice rather than a fault of the transfer, but even streaming it's distracting.

High and Low: Great movie, truly enjoyed it. The only reason it's medium here is that is ought to be a brand new transfer, but I still saw a lot of streaming problems with it (i.e. the blacks were blockey etc) On Hulu it's a very iffy stream, unless my connection is bad, but I watched it on a cable connection without any other traffic.

Good:

Harakiri: Such a great movie. Reminded me why Nakadai is as good if not better than Mifune. I could comment on it till the cows come home. Quality wise, it's obviously a new master and it looks great. After seeing it on Hulu, it became a must purchase for October.

Battle of Algiers: Movie was excellent, I was really sad I didn't order it from B&N when it was half off. Quality wise, it fell between medium and good, It looked fine but I didn't feel it was up to the quality of a new transfer. Still wouldn't hesitate to buy on Blu tho.

Sword of Doom: Looked AMAZING for a multiple year old DVD transfer. If I had to bet on one thing I've watched to have received a new transfer, this is it. The movie was simply stunning aw well (Nakadai ftw) but if this came out on Blu, instant reserve. Seriously looked stunning for a 5+ year old DVD transfer streaming.

Throne of Blood: This one looked somewhat on and off, but man when it was on it looked awesome. When Mifune meets the forest spirit, the detail was stunning. Considering it's a Kurosawa it will get great treatment, but it already looks amazing.

Those are just my comments from the Hulu+ Criterions I've watched so far. Great use of 8 dollars, and if this has proven useful to anyone, I'll keep posting up here my CC views.

[teddyleevin]

I'm more interested in a lot of the titles that are being brought to Hulu than what they have been releasing as of late. I'm really enjoying the expansion of their Japanese output. Still not sure if I should give up my Netflix streaming for it. I wouldn't want to be spending on both.

I also like the typo on the cover for "Bulldog Drummond Escpapes."

[Drucker]

Every few weeks I keep thinking about switching to hulu, but I look at the TV show selection and it's just fucking terrible. Every show I would want to watch on Hulu plus I already own. Someone once remarked re: streaming that until the likes of Citizen Kane/ Casablanca/ any classic movie you want is right at your fingertips, it's kinda not worth it, and I'm inclined to agree.

[Siddon]

BTW their are a few kinks in the Hulu system some Criterion films are hidden

Les Cousins shows up in Movie Clips
Harder They Come is one of the free films
Notorious is also free but not under the Criterion Label

[neal]

BTW their are a few kinks in the Hulu system some Criterion films are hidden

Harder They Come is one of the free films
Notorious is also free but not under the Criterion Label

Probably because Criterion doesn't hold the rights to these films, which is why the DVDs are out of print.

[Sam T.]

OK, I have a question.

I'm not sure how much weight I give the "Most Popular" list on the hulu channel (I mean who really knows how it's calculated or what it refers to) but I'm still kind of surprised that A King in New York is currently #3, behind only Primers Desirs and In the Realm of the Senses (the popularity of these latter two makes complete sense, obviously).

Not that A King... isn't awesome, but it has no skin and no samurai, and it's been on hulu since February. Was it in the news recently or something? If the average hulu subscriber is watching it now why weren't they doing so in, say, April, when there were far fewer movies to choose from?

[jwd5275]

OK, I have a question.

I'm not sure how much weight I give the "Most Popular" list on the hulu channel (I mean who really knows how it's calculated or what it refers to) but I'm still kind of surprised that A King in New York is currently #3, behind only Primers Desirs and In the Realm of the Senses (the popularity of these latter two makes complete sense, obviously).

Not that A King... isn't awesome, but it has no skin and no samurai, and it's been on hulu since February. Was it in the news recently or something? If the average hulu subscriber is watching it now why weren't they doing so in, say, April, when there were far fewer movies to choose from?

King of New York is one of the main featured movies (the only Criterion one...) when you open Hulu on a set-top box like Roku....

[Ovader]

Wenders’ Alice In The Cities and Saura’s Deprisa, Deprisa added.

[inneyp]

I've been waiting to see Alice In The Cities for awhile, and I loved it. My only issue was the quality. At times it looked almost like it'd been copied from a VHS tape. Does that exclude the possibility of a proper release anytime soon, or would they not have done their best restoration work for the Hulu version? In any case, I'm really happy they put it up.

[agnamaracs]

The real question is: do they have Kings of the Road?

[Vegeta84]

I'm not sure where else to post this (if there is anywhere else, I would appreciate the input) but I was scrolling through the films criterion is streaming through Hulu and I saw four Hideo Gosha films! Four! And one of them was Hunter In The Dark which is one of my all time favorite movies. Has anyone heard anything about this and if Criterion was planning on releasing a Gosha set soon? I'm still in shock that Hunter In The Dark actually has a distributor.

[Minkin]

La Balance (1982) - Bob Swaim
Il momento della verità (1965) - Francesco Rosi
Expectations (1997) - Daniel Bergman
Endless Desire (1958) - Imamura
Don Juan (or If Don Juan Were a Woman) (1973) - Roger Vadim

[jwd5275]

Scattered Clouds (1967) - Naruse

[jwd5275]

Just put up:
Repast - Naruse
Sound of the Mountain - Naruse
Bitter Rice - De Santis
Eating Raoul - Bartel
Secrets of Women - Bergman
The Sun's Burial - Oshima