Filmstruck / Criterion Channel

The film streaming service from TCM & Criterion Collection goes live in 13 days — October 19th.
$6.99/month for the basic service, $10.99/month (or $99/year) for Filmstruck + Criterion Channel

Who's in?

looks good that they have the commentaries, extras etc of Criterion discs, or at least some of that kind of content. i hope this won't mean the end of the Criterion blu rays. i'm expecting 'that market' will always want the 36 page books and fancy packaging and such. i know i will.

http://www.filmstruck.com/

I'm in.

i wonder why the TCM lot and the Criterion gang decided to get into bed together. i mean Criterion doesn't seem like an obvious match for Ted 'Colourization' Turner.

Turner hasn't been involved in years...? TCM is a pretty good channel. Have they ever shown a colorized film?

Cons: US only, no Roku support at launch, extreme vagueness (how many films? "HUNDREDS of films!")

But I'll sign up, at least for a few months.

I'll wait to start until Criterion joins up in November. I'll drop the $99 for their catalog alone.

Criterion won't be available from day 1? I hadn't heard that part.

Yet no one posts on my Fandor thread

November 11th for Criterion. They have to wait for the Hulu deal to expire.

Not bad, if you do the $99 once-a-year payment, it's about $20 cheaper than a year of Netflix. Is there any way to browse the TCM catalog at the moment?

On their FB page they said Criterion will be available at launch.

I want to sign up but my two devices (Nvidia Shield TV and XB1) aren't supported.

I went by this press release that says the 1th of November.

https://thefilmstage.com/news/filmstruck-and-the-criterion-channel-reveal-subscription-pricing-plans/

Been reading a lot of information on the website and elsewhere, but haven't seen anything that says the TCM movies will also be part of the package. I have a nagging feeling that they're not. Also wonder if the Criterion movies will be available in 1080, instead of the 720 now on Hulu.

I don't think everything on nightly at TCM will be on there but a selection of TCM-sequel films.

I'm going to guess it will be like Mubi with a larger rotating library plus Criterion.

TCM-esque

yeah, TCM's tweet that filmstruck "will focus on indie, foreign & cult titles, not Old Hollywood. Some limited titles, not many" considerably dampened my enthusiasm.

https://twitter.com/tcm/status/777661149911347200

my guess is milo z otm re: criterion plus larger mubi. Which is cool, but not the turner library plus janus library nearly nonstop excellence that i had prematurely imagined

I have a Hulu subscription and honestly never watched a single Criterion title. The ones I want, I just buy.

I was excited when I thought this was gonna be criterion + old Hollywood tcm stuff. The latter element was critical for me. If it's criterion + buffet of other stuff then no.

Yeah, that's a bummer. I figured $99 was a no brainer but if it's Criterion plus some random rotating films I don't know.

basically i would pay... let's see... $15 a month for some reasonable fascimile of access to TCM's programming without having to have fucking cable tv

aw man. I too was pretty stoked for the TCM+Criterion version of this.

This weird in-between time where the biggest events still happen on old-fashioned cable TV, the "prestige" TEH DISCOURSE TV shows are on Netflix, film is either exploded across multiple competing streaming services or iTunes rental downloads that disappear after 24 hours or totally unavailable, video stores are rare — is totally excruciating.

whiney otm, i feel a deep nostalgia for, like, 2008-2010, when a full decade of DVD production had led to lot of foreign/classic/arthouse stuff to be available, and Netflix was still in the business of providing just about any DVD that got produced.

Like, the fact that we let this happen is ridiculous: http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2014/09/12/netflix_streaming_dvds/

maybe i just wasn't reading the early filmstruck announcements carefully, but it seems like everyone i know was expecting it to have a major focus on classic hollywood, given tcm's involvement. My guess is that getting streaming rights to that old hollywood stuff is probably just insanely complicated and, from a business perspective, not worth the investment of time and resources. Still disappointing though.

I've never watched any Criterions on Hulu but that's because their interface is such a disaster - you don't know what's streaming in HD, there's no easy way to sort the entire Criterion list, etc. Higher hopes for this, though I'm a lot less inclined toward a burning need to watch Truffaut than when I was 23.

Their interface/searching/tagging/credits is all pretty awful in comparison to Netflix and even Amazon Prime. That said, damn I'm gonna have to rush out some screenings before they leave. Better get Lady Snowblood queued up.

The FAQ has changed to specify that only 4th-gen Apple TV will support this, so me and my 3rd-gen box are out of luck. I'll have to load a film on my iMac and push it to the tv with Airplay.

With airplay/casting, does it make a difference if you're casting from a phone vs. a computer?

(I think my Apple TV is second generation...)

I honestly don't know. That time David Lynch cussed traumatized me so bad I've never tried watching film or video on my phone.

sad trombone

Hello film fans:

We want to share some news that the launch of FilmStruck is delayed until November as we work to complete a seamless and easy registration process for subscribers.

Just like the final stages of completing a film, this additional time will allow us to put the finishing touches on FilmStruck in order to bring you a premium service with beautifully curated content and the largest streaming library of world-renowned arthouse, indie, cult and foreign films. Rest assured, we're working hard to bring you the high-quality streaming movie service you've been waiting for.

Thank you for both your patience and your enthusiastic interest in FilmStruck.

The FilmStruck Team

At this point they should wait until the Hulu contract for the Criterions expires.

Yep. I wasn't planning on starting any free trial until everything was available.

Launched.
Looks like the Criterions are up with an 11-day overlap with Hulu. Seeing a lot of fussing on the Facebook page about errors while setting up payment.

Anyone start using this yet? Any thoughts (apart from the still unavailable (?) Criterions?

I'm in, just getting the apps installed now. I need a tivo app! Apple and Amazon will do for now.

Sound like it's worth waiting a few weeks for them to get all the bugs worked out

Not available on Roku til Jan so nope for a while. Also copy on their site suggested that virtually all Criterions wd be available but several that I've searched for are not (incl All That Jazz, ugh)

They have someone responding to comments on Facebook, putting on the shiny happy face but being really vague with specific questions.

Some Guy Named Dave: Your Criterion selection seems to be quite limited. Are you ever going to offer the same number of Criterion titles as Hulu - over 900?

FilmStruck: Hi Dave, on the #CriterionChannel side you will find the largest selection of Criterion releases available to stream

Me: That doesn't really answer the question that was asked...

FilmStruck: #CriterionChannel has the largest Criterion selection available streaming, more than was ever available elsewhere.

Me: Ozu on Hulu: 30 features, 2 shorts and a trailer
Ozu on Filmstruck: looks like 18 features

Filmstruck: (crickets)

Huh, why would it have less than Hulu does? That doesn't make any sense to me. I did notice through a cursory search that they had at least two titles not on Hulu (Godard's Every Man for Himself and Yang's A Brighter Summer Day), so I was hopeful that maybe it had more than Hulu.

It doesn't have all the Oshima titles that are currently on Hulu either

I'm hoping they're still loading up the buffet table. They have quite a few things that aren't on Hulu -- Blood Simple, that JFK documentary stuff. They got The Killing of a Chinese Bookie back, which disappeared from Hulu a year or more ago.

I'm hopeful too, though the way filmstruck has been marketed and rolled out has dampened my expectations all around

Even Criterion doesn't have the rights to all the Criterions anymore

yeah, otm, and i'm sure there are a number of criterions that got dvd release, but where they never had streaming rights. the more i search around on filmstruck the more i think that WilliamC is probably right that they're still adding movies to the service.

hm. no amazon app even!

TBF, this is the day where they're going nuts with the press.

Sometimes I suspect they just repackage the same films over and over under different categories, but curation is curation, and I still appreciate the effort.

Speaking of which, there are some corners of the internet that will lose their shit that "Children of Men" will be streaming. That one has still not been released as anything much more than a bare-bones blu ray 15 years ago, and I've seen it pop up on a lot of Criterion/special edition wish lists, so any indication of movement on that front will be welcomed, even if nothing comes of it.

Tons of Altman films about to leave.

Maybe I will zig instead of zag and watch Rene Clair's It Happened Tomorrow instead.

Although apparently it's readily available elsewhere.

Maybe will watch that and Buffalo Bill and the Indians.

If not the Pulp documentary.

"All We Imagine As Light" had been on my watchlist for years. Finally got around to it a week or two ago (it's good), and I was a bit shocked, because all I had seen was the cover/thumbnail (which I didn't inspect in detail) and I was convinced it was a movie about an Indian girls basketball team:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/f63b1c8d29ee80bc672d31b240fd9168/8CLwmybYoH5TN4pD0casNJFR0GZFPP_large.jpg

For years? It's from 2024.

Trump's president, give'em some slack

OK, for more than one year. Or whenever it popped up on Criterion.

"All We Imagine As Light" had been on my watchlist for years. Finally got around to it a week or two ago (it's good), and I was a bit shocked, because all I had seen was the cover/thumbnail (which I didn't inspect in detail) and I was convinced it was a movie about an Indian girls basketball team:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/films/f63b1c8d29ee80bc672d31b240fd9168/8CLwmybYoH5TN4pD0casNJFR0GZFPP_large.jpg

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, December 3, 2025 8:04 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

lmao

January 2026 additions: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9012-the-criterion-channel-s-january-2026-lineup

February 2026 additions: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9036-the-criterion-channel-s-february-2026-lineup

Any Nordic Noir recommendations?

Hyacynths is good n very very queer

Huh.. I might revisit Drugstore Cowboy after all these years... that movie really inspired a lot of old friends to become junkies (some now deceased) so i've kept it at arms length since I saw it back then

nice, I’d been putting off PETER HUJAR’S DAY because of the price tag

ha, i called it in the Ira Sachs thread the other day. they can add it to their Whishaw collection that debuted this month.

I’ve been making my way through the collection of pre-code Mervyn LeRoy films they put together for February. I’ve been deep into movies from this era lately, and by coincidence watched both LITTLE CAESAR and I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG just a few weeks ago. So it seemed like a sign I should watch the rest!

None of them are classic so far, but I’m still enjoying them. Some of them are only an hour long so it’s also pretty easy to whiz though them. HIGH PRESSURE succeeds on William Powell’s charm alone. FIVE STAR FINAL is like a dark counterpart to THE FRONT PAGE, released the same year—fast-talking journalists driving people to tragedy rather than saving them. And last night I watched THREE ON A MATCH, about a well-off woman who basically throws her life away, ultimately becoming a drug addict. Compared to films of the era, Ann Dvorak does a pretty great job of seeming like an addict! Also notable for having both Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart in small parts before either hit big.

The only one I didn’t really love is BIG CITY BLUES, a short comedy that doesn’t really have a handle on its tone, and the lead is a little too wide-eyed, irritatingly so. It picks up for a moment when, again, Bogart checks in for a bit part. But it doesn’t last.

I like Ann Dvorak so I intend to watch Heat Lightning which if nothing else is a great title.

She’s the highlight of THREE ON A MATCH so check that one too if you haven’t seen it.

nice, I’d been putting off PETER HUJAR’S DAY because of the price tag

― comrade jhøsh (k3vin k.), Tuesday, January 20, 2026 5:59 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

really lovely btw

loved Three On A Match when I saw it on a Blondell deep dive years ago, need to rewatch
is there a way to sideload other region apps on an AppleTV? I could watch Criterion Channel on a PC via VPN but having it on my TV would be a lot more enticing

All those LeRoy films are worth watching, but Little Caesar and I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang are urgent and key.

Got my class action settlement money today, $53 and change.

March 2026 additions: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9065-the-criterion-channel-s-march-2026-lineup

curious about alex ross perry's videoheaven - it's almost three hours long

i watched who killed teddy bear recently, it's great - very dark and grimy

Love those two Bressons

April 2026 additions: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9091-the-criterion-channel-s-april-2026-lineup

aw man, was hoping YEAST would be part of the mary bronstein thing. still haven’t seen it and I don’t think it’s streaming anywhere

I've noticed that they really take advantage of the curated packages to stream Hollywood blockbuster pulp and schlock like "Disclosure" and "The Devil's Advocate."

yeah that stuff is very popular and not to be a hypocrite, I've certainly watched some of their more brainless offerings when I'm not in the mood to be challenged in any way.

But I do wish you could trust their picks a little more. I have p broad taste and can def appreciate why you'd put, say, The Rock in the collection as an entertaining exemplar of that kind of film or as a document of film historical importance à la Jaws. But yeah Devil's Advocate and Disclosure are just mediocre movies (iirc I suppose, it's been a while)

It's pretty rad that they're streaming a handful of out of print titles with their supplements!

I wish they'd lean even harder into pulp and schlock, in the form of AIP drive-in stuff from the 60s and early 70s. Let's see Psych-Out and Wild in the Streets, Sixpack Annie, Macon County Line, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, a heavy dose of nostalgic crap. The Doris Wishman and giallo packages laid plenty of foundation. If we can have Nude on the Moon, we can have The Wild Angels.

It the same but recently subscribed to Night Flight and in addition to it being a wildly nostalgic experience as I grew up on it, it has a pretty fantastic roster of cult and art films and lots of exploitation stuff.

aw man, was hoping YEAST would be part of the mary bronstein thing. still haven’t seen it and I don’t think it’s streaming anywhere

― comrade jhøsh (k3vin k.), Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

It's there under American Independents

I wish they'd lean even harder into pulp and schlock, in the form of AIP drive-in stuff from the 60s and early 70s. Let's see Psych-Out and Wild in the Streets, Sixpack Annie, Macon County Line, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, a heavy dose of nostalgic crap.

Get the Screenpix add-on to Prime. $2.99 a month with no ads for a random assortment of AIP & UA deep cuts. Lots of drive-in stuff.

Is that available by itself without Prime? I managed to extract Amazon and Prime from my retail life last year.

There's a roku version: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/browse/w.K1ZPMqvg9oTQo6lk1N4Ns9RDJJzgPyHkKZwRoPdeUjalDaxqWyIm0jg1vqxkt8WRJ3aBwYtJz5A4da9oI6v3v/screenpix

thanks!

aw man, was hoping YEAST would be part of the mary bronstein thing. still haven’t seen it and I don’t think it’s streaming anywhere

― comrade jhøsh (k3vin k.), Wednesday, March 18, 2026 2:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

It's there under American Independents

― mizzell, Thursday, March 19, 2026 5:57 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I just checked and it’s not there. is it country specific?

According to the April updates link, it'll appear in April, I think.

yeah mizzell meant it's on that page under the American Independents heading

oh! I didn’t scroll down enough. nice!

Lots of drive-in stuff.

haven’t used it myself but some friends love eternal family and it does look pretty great…

https://eternal.tv/

May 2026 additions: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9126-the-criterion-channel-s-may-2026-lineup

hard to explain how excited I am for Desk Set

Desk Set is fun! I watched it about a decade ago after learning that Hepburn's character was supposedly modeled after someone who had worked for my then-employer.

Love Desk Set.

I have basically been trawling through films of the 30s and 40s over the last few months so I’m glad to see a bunch from that era coming in May

that's a cool connection, jaymc

My brother recommended Desk Set ages ago and in the meantime, without my ever seeing it, I decided to do a phd about work + technology (I guess it wasn't hard to explain), and yeah I'm definitely curious about the rest of that collection -- I've seen The Whole Town’s Talking, His Girl Friday, and The Apartment and they're all good to masterpiece (well, one good and two masterpieces).