Archived Criterion Streaming Discussion

[Minkin]

Tracked (Usugesho), 1985 - Hideo Gosha

[Minkin]

Oshima's A Street Of Love And Hope (1959)

[Siddon]

Marketa Lazarova (1967) Frantisek Vlacil
Critical Mass (1971) Hollis Frampton
Nostalgia (1971) Hollis Frampton
Poetic Justice (1972) Hollis Frampton
Safety Last (1923) Fred Newmeyer
Land of Millk and Honey (1971) Pierre Etaix
Yoyo (1965) Pierre Etaix
The Living Skeleton (1968) Hiroshi Matsuno
Burden of Life (1935) Heinosuke Gosho

[mfunk9786]

Marketa Lazarova (1967) Frantisek Vlacil
The Living Skeleton (1968) Hiroshi Matsuno

Awesome news. I can now watch Marketa Lazarova before I make a buying decision, and there's another Eclipse set I don't have to buy because 100% of it is on Hulu*. Excellent.

*Scratch that, Genocide isn't on Hulu yet.

[Ishmael]

Awesome news. I can now watch Marketa Lazarova before I make a buying decision.

You can, but prepare yourself for a whole lotta macro blocking.

[mfunk9786]

I've never had a problem streaming a Criterion film on Hulu

[Ishmael]

Really? I've had tons of problems, though certainly not with every film. In general, the streams I've watched on Netflix tend to look significantly better than the ones I've seen on Hulu (obviously we're talking different films here, so I can't do a direct comparison). I even spoke to a Hulu tech about this, and he explained that Hulu uses some sort of system that's supposedly superior to Netflix's, yet I have many more problems with Hulu. At this point, I mostly tune it out, though there are some shots in Marketa (involving grass or branches or water) that are so macro blocked that parts of the frame literally look like an Impressionist painting. I'm not overly concerned with a shot here and there--most streamed films turn to shit when a scene fades to black, for example--but I just thought there was an excessive amount in Marketa...not saying it's unwatchable, just sayin' not to have your expectations too high (and not sayin' you did, just sayin').

[jwd5275]

Likely depends on the quality of internet connection and whether the stream is through a computer or a set-top box...

[Ishmael]

Likely depends on the quality of internet connection and whether the stream is through a computer or a set-top box...

Yeah, but I watch Netflix and Hulu through exactly the same setup but get much worse results with Hulu. So whatever the problem is, it ain't the setup. It seems more logical to assume it's either the provider or the quality of the content itself.

[AlexHansen]

Possibly Hulu's "superior" system might need a more robust setup to take full advantage of it. Just throwing that out there. I've never had problems with either but I've had a ridiculously good internet connection for the last few years (my roommates were *and are* big gamers so speed was a necessity). Now that I'm living alone, and will be going with a more modest connection, I'm expecting to run into some more hiccups. The only transfer I recall looking exceptionally poor was Kurosawa's CURE, but that's on account of the non-HD source I'm assuming.

[Props55]

I'd say my experience with Hulu (especially compared with Netflix) is very close to Ishmael's. I'm still not sure what's most to blame but it seems to be a combination of internet connection (spotty service by provider) and inherent problems with Hulu itself (at least as far as the encodes provided by Criterion are concerned) but the point of culpability seems to shift on a daily basis.

I do know I have tried to view ANDREI RUBILEV at least two or three dozen times over the past year and the damn film absolutely refuses to load. The black screen and that continuously twirling and/or blinking loading cue are as far as I've gotten. I've tried rebooting, going to another service and back again and shutting down entirely and starting over but nothing works. I've not had any difficulty remotely similar with any other title. Bizarre!

[mfunk9786]

I access it on a Roku and/or an Xbox 360 with a Verizon FiOS Quantum connection. Might be a factor in my successes.

[rrot]

I'm a bit jealous of anyone who can use any of the streaming services as a replacement for physical media. To be clear: I don't doubt it, I'm just jealous.

I have a Cablevision internet connection with Samsung's Hulu and Netflix apps. The most significant problem for me has been lip-sync. Don't know why, but this is too frequently an issue with Hulu but not on Netflix. In either case though, there's also usually enough occasional video compression artifacts to make me wish for ownership rather than rental -- if the film sufficiently moves me.

So for me the streaming companies aren't more than a great preview service and a good way to try out films/directors.

[krnash]

My advice? Buy a Roku. The one I bought was about $50. I got it after experiencing streaming issues with Netflix, Hulu, MLB, all sorts on my Samsung blu-ray player. It was an invaluable investment. It streams all things- Hulu especially- perfectly. No freezing, no hiccups, no mis-sync. I love this little thing, I can't speak highly enough of it.

[jwd5275]

I second that. Plus there are some pretty great channels available for cinephiles including Fandor, Warner Achive and a Silent Films channel with a huge selection of Flicker Alley/ Blackhawk Films/ Film Preservation silents on it. There is supposed to be Russian Cinema Council channel coming soon too.

[Mr Sheldrake]

I stream Hulu through a Samsung bluray and have similar problems with lip synch. After the latest update now all the Criterion movies are streamed full screen. Hulu told me that it had to be on my end but I tried everything they suggested with no positive result. MLB has also been troublesome so I think it's time to try roku with all the recommendations.

[triodelover]

I stream Hulu through a Samsung bluray and have similar problems with lip synch. After the latest update now all the Criterion movies are streamed full screen. Hulu told me that it had to be on my end but I tried everything they suggested with no positive result. MLB has also been troublesome so I think it's time to try roku with all the recommendations.

If you are using USB connection, the lip synch problem may be related to the USB buffer used to minimize jitter in the conversion to S/PDIF. If you have the option, try an optical or straight S/PDIF input.

[Black Hat]

Just wanted to chime in and say the Roku is fantastic, one of the best purchases I've ever made.

[Ishmael]

I'm using Verizon FIOS and streaming through a Sony BD player. So I don't think the problem is my connection, but I've noticed many people over the years saying that they have no Hulu problems with the Roku box...so maybe it's the app in the Sony? Guess I gotta come up off of 50 bucks to find out (not a big deal).

[Minkin]

The Machine That Kills Bad People (1952) -Roberto Rossellini

[knives]

They already had that up.

[Minkin]

They already had that up.

Indeed! I guess next time I'll search more and not just go by this list. Thanks Cinephrenic for the embarrassment!

[Noiradelic]

NYT: Hulu, Seeking a Buyer, May Shift Course

[Minkin]

Two from Les Blank:

A Life Well Spent (1972)
The Blues Accordin’ To Lightnin’ Hopkins (1970)

[headacheboy]

I watched one of these shorts this morning. The running time of The Blues According to Lightnin' Hopkins includes a second film 1969's The Sun's Gonna Shine which runs about ten minutes in length. It's more footage of Lightnin' but imdb.com charts it as a separate film. At the end of that film there is about 30 seconds dead air before it shows the title Mister Charlie which concerns Lightnin' Hopkins telling a great story about a boy who stutters and his work for Mister Charlie.

I've not yet had time to watch A Well Spent Life but I don't imagine there will be any surprises attached as there are with The Blues... since the running time on imdb and HuluPlus both indicate 44 minutes.