Filmstruck / Criterion Channel

Long filmography, but I would perhaps just start at the end. Le Havre and The Other Side of Hope. Then work backwards trilogy by trilogy.

Shadows in Paradise xp

ha, thanks guys. Maybe I'll switch back and forth from start to end

Download playback problem has been reproduced by customer support and bug report has been filed!

I mean, it's not like they've had months to work out any bugs. Glad they're on it now, at least.

i couldn't find it in the roku channel store on my tv but got it installed on my tv via the web. watched part of hollywood shuffle and part of experiment in terror, the picture quality was great. navigation/organization seems similarly wonky to filmstruck. i wonder how frequently they'll add/swap out movies?

i had no "bugs" other than it not being in the channel store.

I thought this trailer was excellent

https://www.facebook.com/CriterionCollection/videos/2131081733833606/

I found it in the “just added” section of Roku’s streaming channels tab.

Sharing in case anyone else is getting "device does not support secure video playback" or similar HDCP errors:

The reason you’re having trouble right now is because Criterion is using DRM (Digital Rights Management) and HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) in order to comply with the technical requirements, anti-piracy provisions, and territorial restrictions of their agreements with major studios and independent rights holders around the world. These technologies help prevent unauthorized playback and copying, but unfortunately they aren’t compatible with all viewing setups.

In order for a protected video to play back on your setup, your Fire TV and the TV it’s linked to need to be compatible with DRM and HDCP. You can check out this article for more information about DRM and HDCP.

While Fire TVs are generally supported, some models (especially older units) are not compatible with the way DRM is implemented on the app. I know it never goes over well to recommend upgrading your device, but this is likely the only way to access Criterion’s content on Fire TV (assuming the incompatibility isn’t related your TV).

Sorry I don't have better news for you right now :(

I think we have an old apple tv box somewhere around here that i'm gonna try, otherwise there's some likelihood this may work:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089DSLMY/

Apple TV requires v4 or later.

having a weird thing where when I try to stream in Chrome it gives me an "external monitor is not supported" error but then it works fine in IE

I was getting an error message "Sorry, this video cannot be played while your device is connected to this external monitor" on Chrome (mac desktop), and a Reddit person has already done the helpdesk work. It's an HDCP issue -- the content plays fine on Safari.

― ILX Halftime Shows Ranked — Which Was the Best? (WmC), Monday, April 8, 2019 3:20 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah, durr. anyway it's only a mild irritant,.

I know their tech support must be slammed with a thousand versions of "how do I shot web," but I sent them my main request, which I made to Filmstruck constantly -- a page with a flat text-only table of everything available, sortable by title, director, year, country, runtime, genre and expiration date.

It's the first day, folks.

― Simon H., Monday, April 8, 2019 11:00 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not a great first day

― i believe that (s)he is sincere (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, April 9, 2019 3:23 AM (nine hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao

doesn't this happen during every first day of a tech launch

literally every single one

those aren't great first days either
all first days are bad
second days aren't much better
when do the good days start

The technical bugs I can forgive. The only real bummer of the day for me was seeing Taste of Cherry's ruddy transfer hadn't been updated (yet, presumably).

a page with a flat text-only table of everything available, sortable by title, director, year, country, runtime, genre and expiration date.

i think ppl like this probably believe kind of like the streamer-service's analogue of the IT belief that secrecy about your systems is the best security - if they let people just KNOW what they have then they won't be able to lure people in by stimulating the instinct to browse and be fortuitously pleased to find something that wasn't the thing they were looking for which isn't actually there anyway and would cause disappointment if it were positively missed

I had a quick look at scraping this from their web pages but they don't make it easy. There's no complete list but if you search for 'a' it lists 3000+ results and then proceeds to show them to you 8 to a page, meaning 400 page requests to get the whole thing (although that's not guaranteed to be complete)

And within the first couple of pages you start to see anomalies - things called "American version - prelude" which is actually a DVD extra for A Canterbury Tale but which doesn't list a director or year or country. No expiry date anywhere either, or running time, not as part of the search results page anyway.

https://letterboxd.com/natethecyborg/list/every-film-available-on-the-criterion-channel/

This list is a start at compiling all the features and shorts currently available.

Looks like a number of clever people on reddit have been busy. Here's one spreadsheet, which includes everything -- films, trailers, supplements, commentaries, etc. -- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-ctl5IGVUqfkCH48DFUbLx0iQai9r6BLG9NStMwxPSw/edit#gid=210791698 (4176 items)

Here's a page with just the films, not the supplements, 1579 items -- https://tcclibrary.com/

nice

i think this might be the push i need to buy a smart tv.
any recommendations?

The list which is pictures of everything is just as unsearchable as the original, albeit in 9 pages rather than 400.

The spreadsheet has things called "audio commentary" in it. But saved me a job. Criterion is probably wondering why all these people are ddosing their webpages when they could offer their own list in a machine readable format, probably 1mb of data, tops.

Anyway, they do seem to have Japanese things that aren't for sale anywhere and that I'd like to see again. Ozu's Tenement Gentleman for one. Yotsuya Ghost story as well (don't know if that's the classic version though). Pitfall.

Do they not do search by country?

Have tried every combination of streaming devices, TVs, browsers, and cables in my house and still haven't been able to watch anything due to HDCP/external monitor errors. Finding it hard to justify buying a new TV(!) or other equipment in order to access one particular streaming service, so guessing I'll end up pulling the plug on this after the free trial, super disappointing, stupid DRM.

One Eye Open: apparently this fixes the problem? Not yet personally tested: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089DSLMY/
https://www.lifewire.com/hdcp-error-3276299

Thanks, yeah I ordered one up yesterday (not that exact one but a similar deal), got my fingers crossed, we'll see! Even if it works, it's annoying that buying it basically cancels out the cost savings of signing up early. Like I'm glad they're able to protect Jubal and the special features of Tanner '88 from the sinister threat of rapacious digital bootleggers, but still.

please report back; curious to hear if that does it.

Doing a lot of random searching and clicking on that tcclibrary site. Finding that some films are not available in Canada. All the Olympic films and all of the John Ford, for instance. White material by Claire Denis. Presumably many others. Hopefully not too many!

and i guess i finally decided to try a "smart tv"

The discs most likely to not be on CC are classic Hollywood. Well. And modern Hollywood.

Which, totally fine.

At the top of the TCC Library site, notice that there's a flag next to the number of films. If it's on the US flag, click it and it'll change to the Canadian flag and the Canada-only films.

oooh, handy. thankfully not a huge discrepancy between the two

What are known incompatibilities?
DRM-protected content will not work on the following:

Chromecast devices
Chromebooks
XBox One
Older models of Amazon Fire TV that are not Widevine L1 certified. However Fire TV Cube, Fire TV Gen 3, and Fire TV Stick 4K should work
All non-branded VHX apps
Linux systems

holy shit so a bulk of the library just... won't work on Chromecast?

that blows. why do other streaming services not have the DRM compatibility issue?

well...

But why can I watch content on other sites and apps?
Many sites and apps have different content protection requirements, and implement DRM solutions in a variety of different ways. Because of this, it’s likely that behaviors will be different across our content and theirs. However, if you’re using a supported browser or a dedicated app, and still having trouble, it might be due to HDCP protection.

another update via Reddit

I sent an email to customer service asking about the Chromecast streaming problems. This is their reply:

I’m sorry you’re having trouble playing Criterion’s content on your Chromecast.

While we have plans to build Chromecast support in the coming months, right now the technology used for our DRM implementation is not compliant with Chromecast. I’m very sorry for the frustration and disappointment I know this must bring. In case you have other options, Criterion has an app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. If you have a Smart TV, you can see if it’s a TV partner with Android apps here: https://www.android.com/tv/

Yeah, this is all why i figured that a smart tv was worth a shot. I've had the same tube for about ten years and it has some weird buggy thing where it overheats occasionally and won't turn off unless you unplug it. Curious to see what this 4k shit is all about and it would be nice to be able to dial up mubi and criterion without any hassles... i might likely watch them more often

I wouldn't trust a smart TV for apps, get an AppleTV.

I actually just got a big "smart TV" yesterday. Runs on Roku, works great so far.

Our last TV was 1080p, worked/works great, but the new one is huuuuuge and cost maybe half as much as that one did 7 years ago. I got a discounted floor model of a TV that was already on sale at Costco, and no joke, the person helping me politely asked for a second, walked off, then came back and offered it for another $50 off before I even said anything.

yeah, i'm getting a TCL/Roku 43" for under $300. This shit got MUCH cheaper than the last time I bought a set... i think i paid 800 a decade ago for the one i currently have.

Roku runs Android right? Really looking forward to having some flexibility with apps; my tivo is locked into Plex/YouTube/Hulu/HBO/Netflix/Amazon and that's about it.

Tried one of the HDMI splitters for removing HDCP and no dice. Might could be I got the "wrong" one since I guess different ones work with different setups? But not interested in pursuing it further, just gonna pull the plug on this. Can't believe it can be so complicated to watch movies on TV in 2019.

After Filmstruck died I rebooted the DVD-thru-mail element of my Netflix subscription and honestly cant believe I ever stopped, they have like 98% of what was in my old queue, still lots of OOP Criterion stuff floating around in the system, think I'm just gonna keep riding that horse till they decide to put it down for good.

xpost I don't think Roku is Android, I think it's its own thing? I only use it for Netflix/Amazon/Plex/Hulu and now Criterion, but they all seem to work.

Honestly I fully don’t get the appeal of smart TVs when you can get a Roku for like $50 that will be way speedier, more stable, have way more channels, etc