I wonder just as many others on that posting whether that means that they’re scaling back their films on Netflix Instant. It would be a travesty if they are. If only they brought this exact plan to Netflix…
They already put up pretty much all of their Chaplin films. I might have to sign up for Hulu Plus just for this. I agree with the above sentiments and I too hope that Netflix doesn’t scale back their Criterion rights.
As a current Hulu Plus subscriber, I was thinking of canceling my account as a lot of their offerings (besides say 4 TV shows I like to keep up to date with) are pretty sub-par. This is very excellent news, though! I could eventually see myself getting rid of Netflix in favor of just Hulu Plus if this expands as Criterion says it will. However, this (as well as Netflix) doesn’t mean much to those outside of the US.
Great, another U.S.-only service. Whatever happened to the MUBI – Criterion partnership anyway? Hrmpf :(
Yeah, I noticed that Criterion doesn’t feature an ad for Mubi like they used to.
Are the images for some of the unreleased films i.e. City Lights an indication of future artwork for the DVD/Blu releases?
Ben, given that a lot of the artwork for existing Criterion DVD releases doesn’t match what we see on the HuluPlus page, I don’t think there’s much that we can conclude from the logos assigned to the unreleased films.
I’m pretty eager to check this out though. Even though I really enjoy my nearly-complete Criterion DVD/Bluray collection, their ability to bring more films into distribution without the need for creating all the extras associated with hard product is ultimately a very good thing. And I think it’s great that Netflix will have to deal with real competition in that arena.
I work as a video editor so I am able to watch films while I edit.
How does that work? Shouldn’t you be watching the film you are editing while you are editing it instead?
Or do you spend a lot of time waiting while your computer renders?
Aha! I was wondering why so many Criterion films were dropping off of my instant watch queue on Netflix. I may have to consider the Hulu upgrade now.
I went through the 150 initial titles and around 20 of them are not yet available on Criterion DVD or Blu-ray. A lot of interesting titles I had never heard of but which look interesting. A few include:
The Spy In Black
A Woman in Paris
Four Feathers [original]
The Challenge
A Was a Teenage Zombie
Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures
The Plumbers
The Cars that Ate Paris
Divorce of Lady X
The Model Couple
Right there is one good $7.99 month [or two]
I’d say given time this will be worth it.
Nice to see the William Klein films up there too… more people need to see those! A favorite among the Eclipse sets.
Was thinking the same thing, Herbie! Thinking about trying out a month just to see those…
Hmm, so they won’t be on Netflix anymore?
That’s kind of a bummer. I like Netflix because there are tons of smaller movies on there. Don’t really feel like paying $10 a month for Hulu just to get some Criterion titles and a bunch of episodes of How I Met Your Mother.
Yeah, turns out they’re pulling all of their titles off of Netflix Instant by the end of 2011. This is bumming me out pretty badly.
Might have to look into Hulu Plus.
Hulu Plus, a monthly subscription service, was launched on June 29, 2010. Like the free version of Hulu, the video available on Hulu Plus also contains commercials.
That was from Wikipedia.
Why are there commercials on Hulu Plus. What are you paying for, then?
Doubt Criterion would allow Hulu to interrupt their titles with commercials. That would severely call into question their integrity.
I noticed Criterion was taking fan questions on Facebook and they answered questions about the commercials. Turns out there won’t be any.
Okay looks like no commercials. Phew.
Hulu CEO said commercials will play before you can watch the films, just not during them.
No thanks. Hope Criterion at least made some good bank partnering up with these conglomerates. The NBC/Comcast merger has money just being thrown around.
Over the coming months, that number will swell to more than 800 films. For the true cinephile, this should be a dream come true. On Hulu Plus, you’ll find everything in our library, from Academy Award winners to many of the most famous films by art-house superstars like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Federico Fellini to films so rare that they have never been seen in the U.S. in any medium. Some of these lost gems have been so hard to see that even most of the Criterion staff will see them for the first time only when they go live on Hulu Plus!
So, this refers to stuff they have the rights to but haven’t released? This may be exciting news, we’ll see.
quote Over the coming months, that number will swell to more than 800 films. For the true cinephile, this should be a dream come true. On Hulu Plus, you’ll find everything in our library, from Academy Award winners to many of the most famous films by art-house superstars like Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, and Federico Fellini to films so rare that they have never been seen in the U.S. in any medium. Some of these lost gems have been so hard to see that even most of the Criterion staff will see them for the first time only when they go live on Hulu Plus! quote
So, this refers to stuff they have the rights to but haven’t released? This may be exciting news, we’ll see.
I thought this was sort of the reason The Auteurs was created in the first place…
Ug, it’s starting. Exclusive rights being divided between different streaming sites that you have to pay for.
This is why I’m not giving up my DVDs.
I don’t know if this makes me stupid or not, but I only care for physical media. I never use the streaming option of my Netflix account. I’d rather wait a day and get the DVD in the mail. If I want to HAVE a movie, having it essentially on-demand online doesn’t do it for me. I have to own the disc.
I can’t really rationalize any of that, it’s just my preference.
Started checking this out. Nice selection. One BIG problem in my opinion is that there is no director, year or country information on any page when one is browsing with Hulu Plus on Roku. I’m assuming on other TV players that’s the case as well. Each film page just as a brief description without any other pertinent contextual information.
Apparently every Mizoguchi film available in the world will eventually be included in this. They will also begin to have commentaries and extras available on Hulu Plus. This is turning into a no-brainer for movie buffs. Although, yes I like the physical media too [I own hundreds of DVD’s] but streaming is one more tool for viewing movies and I see no reason to turn one’s back on the option.
Also, I’m sure it will be fixed but right now there are some issues with the wrong art showing on certain films (both Europa and Equinox have the Europa box art).
This is very unsettling. They are ousting massive amounts of people who use netflix instant. I will not be getting a Hulu subscription for this, I already pay for netflix. No pre-commercials, and I can get the physical dvds if I want… two big factors for me.
Does anyone here know how licensing will work? In other words, will films come and go on the Hulu service? I doubt I’d sign up for the Hulu service for an extended period of time, but I might subscribe for a month or two once they get everything up so I can see all the new Mizoguchi and other non-disc titles. I read in the letter from Hulu that they will have Melville’s The Silence of the Sea.
I want a complete list!!!
Franklinstein
So as of right now Criterion has uploaded over 150 films to Hulu Plus and apparently has plans to bring the entire collection (including many never physically released films, somewhere around 800 total.) The 800 number seems to indicate it will include all of its eclips releases as well as many films (like the Zatoichi series) that havent ever been released by Criterion.
I have been enjoying the vast content Criterion releases on Netflix Streaming but I am unable to download the Silverlight plugin on my work computer (I work as a video editor so I am able to watch films while I edit.) So this news is especially exciting for me.
Oh, and Criterion will be uploading special features like commentaries to Hulu Plus…
Criterion’s Blog Post