Who needs cable?! Not us, guys. Between Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Shudder, et al, we’d pretty much gotten the majority of movies we’d ever want to watch. Sure, a bunch of classic and arthouse films weren’t there, but that’s not too bad, right? Oh, well, we just won’t have those… Just kidding, you gullible fools! Turner Classic Movies has partnered with the Criterion Collection to create the perfect film-lover’s streaming service, FilmStruck. I’m already contemplating dropping several other services because this might be all the movies I’ll ever need. Oh, it launches this month? Score!
FilmStruck, launching October 19, claims to “feature the largest streaming library of contemporary and classic arthouse, indie, foreign, and cult films as well as extensive bonus content, filmmaker interviews, and rare footage,” which sounds like a dream come true. The bonus content will be hosted by the likes of Bill Hader (SNL), Lucky Yates (Archer) and Alicia Malone (Fandango). The eclectic library of films will include titles like Babette’s Feast, Blood Simple, Blow-Up, Breaker Morant, A Hard Day’s Night, Mad Max, Metropolis, Moulin Rouge, My Life as a Dog, Paths of Glory, The Player, A Room with a View, Seven Samurai, The Seventh Seal, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Stardust Memories, The Trip to Bountiful, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and Woodstock.
There will be three tiers of subscription for folks to choose from. Their basic service for $6.99/month features all the TCM streaming titles plus extras, original pieces, and interviews; the middle tier for $10.99/month is everything in the basic, plus the entire Criterion Collection streaming library and special features, plus channel-exclusive content like master classes, filmmaker profiles, guest-curated playlists, and more; and the final tier is an annual subscription for $99/year, which saves you about $30 over buying it monthly.
Beginning November 11, FilmStruck will be the only place to get the Criterion Collection streaming library, so, much like all CW programming and the Doctor Who back catalog, Hulu won’t have it anymore. FilmStruck will be available exclusively on Amazon Fire TV, web, iOS, and Android at launch but will expand to other devices in the coming months (Roku users be patient, I guess). Visit their site to sign up and for more information.
Cinephiles, how do you feel about FilmStruck? Will you pony up the hundo for a year of all that stuff? Let us know your take in the comments below!
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Image: Toho Studios/Criterion Collection
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
