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Film

Netflix Streaming Is Killing Off Physical Media — And Film Fans Should Be Worried

By Jason Bailey on

A couple of days ago, Buzzfeed put out a charming little video called “Video Stores Explained to Modern Kids.” In it, a soft-voiced narrator patiently explains how, once upon a time, we had to leave our houses to get physical copies of movies, wandering the shelves and picking from their finite selection of movies, which we’d then watch together because “this was before there was a screen in everyone’s pocket,” and then you had to leave your house again to return it. … Read More

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Television

The Proposed Cable/Netflix Alliance Will Be a Miserable Failure

By Jason Bailey on

When I was ten years old, my grandparents bought their first VCR. It was a very big deal for them, and they asked me to come over and help them set it up and show them how it worked. Grandma had indicated that they’d like to tape the next televised game from our hometown basketball team, so my dad dropped me off at their house that Saturday night. I plugged in the coax, ran the cable from the deck to the TV, and at 8pm sharp, I hit record on that evening’s WSU game. About ten minutes into the game, I noticed that something was very wrong. … Read More

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Film

Flavorwire’s Guide to Movies You Need to Stream This Week

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to Flavorwire’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. This week, there’s good stuff from Bradley Cooper, Ethan Hawke, Paul Rudd, Julie Delpy, Amy Poehler, Zach Galifanakis, and Akira Kurosawa, plus a must-see documentary and one of our favorite stand-up specials. Check them out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

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Film

Netflix’s “Streamageddon”: Why Do Streaming Video Services Still Suck?

By Jason Bailey on

They called it “Streamageddon,” and it was brutal: on May 1, nearly 1800 titles expired from Netflix Instant streaming, prompting wailing and gnashing of teeth among movie buffs, to say nothing of a last-minute flurry of marathon viewing. (We tried to warn you.) The cause was simple enough: the company’s licensing deals with several key providers — including MGM, Universal, and Warner Brothers — came to a close, and they were not renewed. This kind of thing has happened before (the site lost eight percent of its streaming content when their partnership with Starz Play ended last year); it’s the cycle of shifting deals and fluctuating content. But the way the company has responded to the backlash, and the increasingly erratic and frustrating landscape of streaming in general, raises some troublesome questions about where online viewing is going. … Read More

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Web

The Best April Fools’ Jokes From Around the Web

By Alison Herman on

April Fools’ jokes are tricky, and not just because it’s way too easy to forget the date and believe Gmail’s about to turn blue for a few minutes. They’re also hard to get right: they need to be believable, but not too believable; absurd, but not totally out of left field. And most importantly, they need to leave your readers feeling in on the joke, rather than cheated and pissed off. We’ve compiled the highlights (or, depending on your viewpoint, lowlights) of today’s pranks from around the Web. From the email of the future to an Aaron Sorkin-esque HR move at a comics giant, here are the headlines that made us smile, cringe, and sometimes both. … Read More

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Television

TV Critics Explain What Nielsen’s New Streaming Ratings Mean for Our Favorite Shows

By Chloe Pantazi on

Nielsen, the company that monitors TV ratings, has announced that it will alter its rating system to factor in the many viewers that are watching TV shows away from the TV set. By changing the way it will collect ratings, Nielsen finally seems to be acknowledging the increasing significance of streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon – as well as gaming devices that support television like the X-Box and Playstation, also to be counted. The development is expected to come into effect later this year in September. … Read More

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Film

Flavorwire’s Guide to (Scary) Movies You Need to Stream This Week

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to Flavorwire’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. But since we’re a mere seven days to Halloween, this edition of the streaming movie guide will focus on the scary — some of our favorite horror movies that are at your fingertips this very moment. Check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

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Film

Flavorpill's Guide to Movies You Need to Stream This Week

By Jason Bailey on

Welcome to Flavorpill’s streaming movie guide, a new feature in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. This week, we’ve got a new mash-up music documentary, films from Darren Aronofsky, Jim Jarmusch, and Werner Herzog, and a couple of titles we told (or showed) you about over the past couple of weeks. Check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

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News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Remember that really bizarre Steve Jobs action figure? Well, in the wake of “immense pressure” from Apple’s lawyers and the Jobs family, Chinese manufacturers have decided not to sell the lifelike figurine. The company, which had planned to start shipping the dolls in February, has promised to fully refund all pre-orders. [LAT]… Read More

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