Veronica Mars and the Unhealthy Glow of UltraViolet

For TechHive, I write about today's streaming-controversy of the week, where Veronica Mars Kickstarter backers got UltraViolet/Flixster redemption codes and got…angry.

Netflix Instant Loses Nearly 2000 Titles Today

My friend Christina Warren over at Mashable has it wrong that all of these expiring movies are going to Warner Archive Instant...since none of the expiring titles were WB to begin with. I'm surprised she had never heard of WAI, too.

Part of Reed Hastings' statement on letting their Viacom deal lapse was saying that, more broadly, Netflix is letting go of non-exclusive content.

If Warner is putting more of their deep cut stuff on WAI, then it would theoretically be Netflix's choice in a future when they start dropping WB titles, and not greedy, evil Warners yanking away the content.

Update on 2013-05-02 01:36 by Moises Chiullan

When I posted this, I didn't realize how crazily this whole thing had spread. Makes me hate the internet.

I'm more angry than I was earlier about this particular paragraph that Christina wrote, which has yet to be amended, corrected, or retracted:

So why are these titles leaving Netflix? Licensing. The titles belong to Warner Bros., MGM and Universal and will soon only be accessible through the Warner Archive Instant service — a service I didn't even know existed. For $10 a month you can get a selection of streaming films only slightly better than what Redbox Instant offers.

The "WB/Uni/MGM titles will go to Warner Archive Instant"? Completely untrue. Her assessment of WAI's selection following a soft-launch as being "only slightly better than what Redbox Instant offers"? That's her opinion, but I would point out that this snark toward WAI is undeserved, especially from an entertainment journalist who writes for one of the most-read sites on the web who didn't so much as notice that a major studio launched a streaming service almost exactly one month ago.

Most importantly, if you're going to say "all this stuff is going to this other service", at least attribute a source. Where did this info drop out of the sky? I'd love to know.

Shame on Ars Technica likewise for rallying more torches and pitchforks, heaping culpability on WB without doing any due diligence of their own.

Also worth noting...the "2000" titles are expiring throughout the month of May, not all at once on this day of "Streamageddon". Here's InstantWatcher's dynamically-loading list of titles soon-to-expire.

Southern California Public Radio made an italicised partial correction at the bottom of this post. Author Mike Roe cries tears for the James Bond movies Netflix had disappearing, but this has happened before.

Someone just find me this magic list of "hundreds of Warner Bros. movies" that have allegedly been greedily snatched away, and I swear I'll shut up.

CW Network Launches XBox Live App

VentureBeat's Tom Cheredar reports that The CW (The Carrie Diaries, Arrow, Supernatural, other shows) is making full episodes available in a free XBox Live app, and in so doing, becomes the first US broadcast network to distribute that way. Interesting counter-move as compared to the ostriches hiding from Aereo, who are crying instead of doing something like this themselves.

The Next XBox Revealed on 21 May

Polygon's Brian Crecente reports on press invites going out for the new XBox. I can't wait to hear how many slides worth of "social" and "revolutionizing TV" they have to share in the same way Sony and Microsoft have. I know their XBox Smart Glass app has revolutionized my folder of iPad apps I don't use.

I am actually interested to see how forceful a play they make in the exclusive video content game. They have the bankroll to buy up some things. If they're smart, they'll get their own Netflix/Hulu/Amazon-style "channel app" on other hardware platforms. History has not shown them to be that smart.

HEMLOCK GROVE Beating HOUSE OF CARDS (Based on Zero Public Data)

Deadline mentions an analyst call in which Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that their new, critically-unloved series from Eli Roth, Hemlock Grove, has had a better initial response than House of Cards did two months ago.

He doesn't offer any actual numbers or data to back that up other than to say "more" people have been plowing into Hemlock than House of Cards. I'm not calling him a liar, but it is worth noting that they are charting successes in a vacuum, with no new model for relative success. Everything is rosy when you're comparing against nothing and validating your own adjective without data.

A friend of a friend mentioned her greater interest in Hemlock Grove as a fan of True Blood (the books, not the TV show, she specifies). I hope it succeeds. I've heard through backchannels that Eli Roth found the process of putting this together invigorating and inspiring. Bully for that.

I love that things like this, Arrested Development, and others are springing up in a media landscape where the audience has been wanting it for a while, but the content providers have been too lazy to care. Who knows, maybe even Futurama's recent cancellation will find it un-cancelled yet again. Maybe that rumored Firefly animated series could have a home at Netflix (or Hulu, or iTunes).

Things have started changing in a big way. 2013 is going to be a disruptive year in content.

Aereo Starts Service in Boston on 15 May

Deadline has done a very good job following this whole Aereo "thing" from beginning to now. Here's a quick recap of what this is and why it is controversial:

The Barry Diller-backed service will stream local broadcast channels for free without the permission of those stations. At NAB, over-the-air broadcasters Fox, CBS, and Univision made the hilariously stupid threat to take their broadcast channels to pay-TV-only, which is actually a much worse move for them than to have a service that is basically IPTV-style Slingboxing:

It will stream programming from 28 over-the-air channels in Boston without their permission. (Aereo also has an agreement with Bloomberg Television to offer its pay TV channel.) Broadcasters in New York have already taken Aereo to court, alleging that it violates their copyrights. The company counters that it simply rents antennas, enabling subscribers to watch programming that’s already available to them for free. It adds that consumers also have the right to stream their content, much like they would if they bought a Slingbox.

Roku 3

I bought a Roku 2XS around a month ago. It's just been replaced by a new $100 Roku 3 that is:

over 5 times faster (so maybe they'll finally be able to support a YouTube channel in the Channel Store)
dual-band WiFi support (5GHz presumably)
features a new UI that my old one can get in a month or so
has a headphone jack on the remote

More info buried throughout this page.

Only the first and second items bother me. As much as I've been preferring the Roku experience to my now-neglected AppleTV, unlike Apple, I doubt Roku is going to replace my 2XS if I complain. Fry's definitely doesn't care.

The centerpiece of this update is the revised UI, which is much cleaner and indexes search universally, across all of your channel subscriptions. Search for a title or an actor or a director, and it spits out all of your viewing options.

Bye, "where/how can I watch it?" services. Unified search is a feature, not a platform.

Warner Archive Instant Begins Closed Beta Today

I dropped cable years ago, and now I finally have something like what I've wanted for a long time: a monthly subscription "instant channel" roughly equivalent to Turner Classic Movies.

Launching in closed Beta, Warner Archive Instant is a new Roku streaming channel that features a rotating selection of SD and HD content from the Warner Brothers back catalogue.

I've tried to get more info out of WB to no avail. They're clammed up tight for the moment.

Titles range from the super-obscure and cult to genre classics to amazing movies from some of the cinema's great directors. A limited quantity of TV show episodes are in the beta too, and knowing the loads of shows released by Warner Archive on DVD, there's an absurd wealth of content there on top of the thousands of movies they have.

The titles included in the Beta are not final, but, I'd assume they are at least representative of the minimum quantity of titles available for the service when it launches at what will hopefully be a sub-$10 monthly fee or the equivalent.

Warner Archive oversees over 5000 titles, including ones previously released on DVD that went out of print. The new Instant channel adds ones that I'd consider major Warner back-catalogue stuff (The Music Man, for example).

I'm thrilled this is finally a reality. Warner Archive has done an extraordinary job of breaking down the wall between a studio/content provider and their audience over the last few years, better than any other studio of their relative scale. Where others have been tepid about MoD DVD at all, preferring to sell to middleman retailers wholesale, or only just gearing up, Warner has really gone for it, and they're listening to customer feedback. I'm sure that's the case with this new iteration of the Archive Collection.

I don't have any non-public details, but there's a library of 157 feature films, 2 made-for-TV movies, and episodes from 7 TV shows in the current public-facing listing. I've listed everything further down, including calling out which titles are in HD. I transcribed all of this manually, so if reposting, please link back rather than simply copy/pasting everything. I hate that I have to say that, but welcome to the world of blogging.

When Warner Archive Instant is opened up to the public, you can bet I'll let you know.

Before we get to the full list, here are a pile of highlights (among loads of great titles) with brief commentary:

A Face in the Crowd [HD]
America, America
Elia Kazan is one of the great filmmakers, and these two are criminally under-seen and under-appreciated. Face in the Crowd features a career-best performance form Andy Griffith.

The Alphabet Murders
Worth watching for the novelty of Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot, but fun and entertaining on top of that.

Auntie Mame [HD]
Mame
Both of these adaptations of the musical theatre classic were impossible to find for some time before Archive started pressing DVDs. I never felt like owning them, but occasionally wanted to be able to watch them. Mame is Lucille Ball's final film performance.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms [HD]
A nuclear blast awakens a giant dinosaur that wreaks all sorts of havoc in this movie that features creature effects by Ray Harryhausen and which is based on a short story by Ray Bradbury. If you even just kinda like monster movies and have never seen this, make it a top priority. Godzilla would come out in Japan the following year, and they...share some DNA. This movie's success drove Godzilla into actually getting made. I can't believe I can finally watch this monster movie classic in HD, when previous DVD releases have all been pretty much lousy in the picture department.

The Beast With Five Fingers
One among many great, sinister Peter Lorre performances is on display in this movie where a famous pianist dies...and his hand returns for revenge. This movie has never been on DVD, and only recently because available for SD streaming on Amazon. I'd buy it if Archive did a Blu-ray. I'd help them find people to interview for the extras.

Blow-Up [HD]
Michaelangelo Antonioni's classic from the 60's available in HD for the first time. Brian De Palma remade this as the equally masterful Blow-Out in the 80's. If you've never watched an Antonioi movie, this is an exceptional place to start.

Dames [HD]
Footlight Parade [HD]
These represent 2/5ths of one of my favorite Warner DVD releases, the Busby Berkeley Collection, and in HD no less.

Disorderlies
If you've never been blessed to see this "The Fat Boys" classic, it's a nice reminder of enjoyable trash from the 80's (and I mean that in the sweetest way possible).

Doc Savage: Man of Bronze
Legendary producer George Pal's last produced film find pulp hero Doc Savage and his five Amazing Adventurers team up to solve the disappearance of Doc's dad. It was supposed to be a franchise starter, and it's crying shame that it wasn't. This has always been a favorite blind recommendation to friends loading up on DVDs in a sale. It's fun and kid-friendly, too.

Finian's Rainbow [HD]
The Music Man [HD]
I'm more stunned that The Music Man is in here in HD due its broader popularity, but Finian's Rainbow, on top of some other musicals, make this pretty great just for the musical category of stuff thus far.

Freaks [HD]
Tod Browing's freakshow horror classic that stars actual sideshow performers...and in HD.

Freebie and the Bean
This movie is tremendously racist, hilarious, fun, and a perfect artifact of 70's American cinema. "The Bean" refers to co-lead Alan Arkin...who plays a Mexican-American. I've said this about a couple of others, but make this one of the first five you watch. Edgar Wright re-discovered this movie for so many during one of his Wright Stuff movie marathons in L.A. Bless you, you brilliant English bastard.

The Divorcee [HD]
A Free Soul [HD]
Night Nurse [HD]
Red Headed Woman [HD]
Four excellent pre-Production Code, pre-Ratings System movies, one of which features Clark Gable as a nasty dude. Saucy, salacious stuff previously available in SD on the Forbidden Hollywood collections.

Soylent Green [HD]
Hope that no one ruins Soylent Green for you before you find out what Soylent Green actually is in the movie.

Storm Warning
Ronald Reagan fights the Klan. 

Tarzan And The Amazons
Tarzan And The Huntress
Tarzan And The Leopard Woman
Tarzan And The Mermaids
Tarzan Triumphs
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Six Johnny Weismuller classic Tarzan pictures, all in one place.

Time After Time
HG Wells (Malcolm McDowell) chases Jack the Ripper into the future year of...1979!

The Valley of Gwangi [HD]
A cowboy goes after glory and gold, trying to capture a Tyrannosaurus Rex so he can sell it to a Mexican circus. Another Harryhausen-powered stop motion creature movie.

Now for the current complete listing:

TV Shows (Multiple Episodes each)

77 Sunset Strip: Years 2-6
Adventures of Superman (Eps 1-13)
Hawaiian Eye: Years 1-4
Cheyenne (Season 1)
Gilligan's Island (Eps 1-13)
Jericho (Season 1)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Eps 1-29)

Made-for-TV Movies

Cosa Nostra: An Arch Enemy of the FBI
Planet Earth

Features (157, with over 70 in HD)

36 Hours [HD]
The Ace of Hearts
Across the Pacific [HD]
Action in the North Atlantic
Adventures of Don Juan
Advise and Consent
The Alphabet Murders
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse [HD]
America, America [HD]
The Americanization of Emily [HD]
Armored Car Robbery [HD]
Auntie Mame [HD]
Baby Doll [HD]
Baby Face [HD]
Back to Bataan [HD]
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Bad Seed (1956) [HD]
Bataan
Battle Cry
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms [HD]
The Beast With Five Fingers
Bells Are Ringing
Best Foot Forward
The Best House in London
The Big Cube
The Big Stampede
Billy Rose's Jumbo [HD]
Black Legion [HD]
The Black Scorpion [HD]
Blonde Crazy
Blow-Up [HD]
Born Reckless
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Brother Orchid [HD]
Caged
The Cameraman
Cat People [HD]
Chamber of Horrors
The Charge at Feather River
The Charge of the Light Brigade [HD]
Clash by Night
The Clock
Colt .45
Cornered
The Courtship of Eddie's Father
The Curse Of Frankenstein [HD]
Dames [HD]
The Damned Don't Cry [HD]
Dark Passage [HD]
Day for Night [HD]
Death in Venice [HD]
Deception [HD]
Decoy [HD]
Desperate Journey [HD]
The Devil Doll
The Devil's Brother [HD]
Die Laughing
Disorderlies
The Divorcee [HD]
Doberman Gang
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
Doctor X
A Face in the Crowd [HD]
A Fan's Notes
The Fearless Vampire Killers [HD]
Fighting Frontier
Finian's Rainbow [HD]
Flying Leathernecks
Footlight Parade [HD]
Freaks [HD]
A Free Soul [HD]
Freebie and the Bean
Fury
George Washington Slept Here
The Great Lie [HD]
Gun Crazy [HD]
Gun Law Justice
The Hill [HD]
Horror Of Dracula [HD]
Hot Rods to Hell [HD]
In This Our Life [HD]
The Invisible Boy
Isle of the Dead
It!
It's a Great Feeling
Lady Killer [HD]
Love in the Afternoon
The Loved One [HD]
Lust for Life [HD]
Mad Love
Madame Bovary
Mame
The Man From Monterey
Mark of the Vampire [HD]
Marked Woman [HD]
The Mask Of Fu Manchu [HD]
The Mayor of Hell [HD]
Merrill's Marauders [HD]
Mexican Spitfire
Midnight Mary [HD]
Moon Zero Two
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941) [HD]
Mr. Skeffington [HD]
The Mummy (1959) [HD]
The Music Man [HD]
Night Nurse [HD]
Norman, Is That You?
Objective, Burma
One on One
Our Dancing Daughters
The Pirate
Planet Earth
The Prince And The Showgirl
Private Parts (1972) [HD]
The Purchase Price [HD]
Queen Of Outer Space
Razorback
Red Headed Woman [HD]
Ride Him, Cowboy
The Ritz [HD]
Run of the Arrow
San Quentin [HD]
Satellite in the Sky
The Scarlet Letter
The Sheltering Sky [HD]
Somewhere in Sonora
Soylent Green [HD]
Stage Fright [HD]
The Star [HD]
Storm Warning
Tarzan And The Amazons
Tarzan And The Huntress
Tarzan And The Leopard Woman
Tarzan And The Mermaids
Tarzan Triumphs
Tarzan's Desert Mystery
Taste the Blood of Dracula [HD]
The Telegraph Trail
The Temptress
Texas Lawmen
They Live by Night
Time After Time
To Kill a Man [HD]
Torch Song [HD]
The Ultimate Warrior [HD]
Until The End Of The World [HD]
The Valley of Gwangi [HD]
Violence [HD]
Wagon Master [HD]
West Point
Where the Boys Are
Where the Spies Are
Wild Boys Of The Road [HD]
World Without End
Zero Hour [HD]

Hulu Plus Finally Comes to AppleTV

After what seems like forever, Hulu and Apple have worked things out so that Hulu Plus can have a little jellybean button next to Netflix on AppleTV. The app has been ready to go since last fall.

Mark my words: this is the beginning of more things like this arriving of the tiny sleeping giant that is the AppleTV hockey puck.

Like Netflix, Hulu is $7.99 a month for all-you-can-eat access to loads of content.

For me personally, this means I finally have a box connected to my TV that can access Hulu's Criterion Collection channel full of all sorts of movies that you can't even find on disc.

Unlike Netflix, Hulu's TV library leans toward the much fresher end of things, but does contain commercials to keep the pricing at 8 bucks.

I signed up for Hulu Plus the moment that I fired up my box this morning (after a reboot late last night) and saw the button in the listing. Try it out with their two week free trial and see if you like it.

So...when do we get Amazon Prime and their exclusive access to The West Wing?