I don’t do subscriptions yet, just free Roku channels, and not a lot of that so far. But I am noticing an overlap of certain TV shows and movies between channels. Not only that, some of the Roku offerings are the same movies that rotate on the Over-the-Air subchannels like Charge, Comet and Bounce.
And yes, sometimes it does take longer to find something to watch than it does to watch it!
On the other hand… Hoopla has some interesting selections, including videos from The Great Courses. Shout Factory has tons of Mystery Science Theater 3000 to enjoy. YouTube-- 'nuff said. And I keep threatening my Dad that if he gets too cranky, I’ll bring up some Adult Swim and blow his mind. (I haven’t watched it in years, but I can only imagine him trying to figure out Assy McGee or 12 Oz. Mouse. Mwa ha ha. )
It’s lovely so far. The problem is, it’s a four episode series, with each episode posted in three parts— twelve in all. The BBC smacked the first part of each episode with copyright infringement. So parts 1, 4, 7, and 10 can’t be viewed.
(It’s also available on Britbox, which we don’t have… yet. I’d love to pick it up on DVD, but the only ones I’ve found are encoded for Region 4. I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth the effort to use my laptop to rip/burn a R1 copy.)
Edited to add: parts 11 and 12 were unviewable too.
Yet another example of an entity which says it wants to generate revenue, but seems to go out of its way to thwart consumers.
The last straw for me with region encoding was when I got a region-free DVD at a concert – says so right on the package. They don’t have to include it, technologically speaking.
I don’t think it’s money they’re after. If they were announcing other Marvel shows on the new Disney streaming service, I’d understand cancelling the Netflix ones, but they’re sacrificing practically guaranteed money for control.
It seems to me like they’re putting all of the pieces together, so that they are the only ones who have any rights to the Marvel properties. They still won’t be able to distribute a solo Hulk film without involving Universal (or to open a Marvel theme park in the Eastern US, as Universal has those rights too), and Sony still has Spider-Man, but with the Fox acquisition and the Netflix shows cancelled, that’s pretty much everything else consolidated within their own stables.
That’s the whole story right there. I don’t know what would have to happen to keep the key people in place while moving the shows to the Disney service. If it’s doable then, like I was saying, Jessica Jones and Punisher would continue to do well.
Hm. My guess would be 40 somethings who, in previous generations, would have already been Lincoln buyers.
Much as I love the Lincoln Lawyer film, I’m not sure that’s going to work for them. The whole reason that character has a Lincoln is because it’s his law office on wheels, and the whole reason he has a chauffeur is because he can’t stay sober long enough to drive legally.
Speaking of McConaughey, I saw Serenity yesterday.
It’s good, and a very interesting thought experiment. I enjoyed how it leads you down a path of one movie genre only to go off the rails halfway through.
Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music
Pretty spiffy 8 part documentary series from 2016, originally broadcast on PBS in the US. Touches on most of popular music from the 50s/60s on with some notable blind spots.
Technology seems to be an important factor in considering what to focus on, acoustic blues is touched on lightly simply to introduce the electric blues, Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens are mentioned as people who rejected the geegaws of trendy production techniques, but little is said of their actual music, Dylan isn’t mentioned until he goes electric, Willie Nelson is in there for no reason made clear to the audience, etc.
More a collection of anecdotes than the history it apparently wants to be, but still worthwhile viewing.
)
I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth the effort to use my laptop to rip/burn a R1 copy.)
But the library is an excellent suggestion-- thank you! 