Woke up too early so watched Bicycle Thieves on Amazon Prime, which has an excellent HD remaster. People always moan about Prime's film selection ("bottom shelf of Blockbuster at closing time" etc) but they've got way more pre-2000 movies than the other big streamers, many of them actual classics. - ThreadSky

eddierobson.bsky.social • 28 days ago

Woke up too early so watched Bicycle Thieves on Amazon Prime, which has an excellent HD remaster. People always moan about Prime's film selection ("bottom shelf of Blockbuster at closing time" etc) but they've got way more pre-2000 movies than the other big streamers, many of them actual classics.

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hyperlunk.bsky.social•28 days ago

It’s like prime is really going for the video store selection and they also put effort into ensuring b-grade movies are in the catalog which is totally the video store experience… sometimes you just wanna watch stuff like that

eddierobson.bsky.social•28 days ago

I have just put Dark Star on my watchlist for the next time I'm in that mood.

reaky.bsky.social•28 days ago

Did they stick ads in there, though? I watched Civil War last night and the ads took me out of it.

eddierobson.bsky.social•28 days ago

They ran a few at the beginning but the actual film was uninterrupted.

brodiewriter.bsky.social•28 days ago

Great movie, long time since I've watched it.

cydniey.bsky.social•28 days ago

I had a horrible Prime trial period. Literally every movie I wanted to watch required either an additional rental fee, or upgrade to a different platform. But that was 3 years ago. Pre-2000 films are my thing, maybe it's time to try them again. Do you know anything about their sci-fi collection? TIY

eddierobson.bsky.social•28 days ago

I noticed a few things while I was going round: off the top of my head, Dark Star, Scanners and Mad Max 2 are on there at the moment

cydniey.bsky.social•28 days ago

Ooh, cool. 2 of those are on my to watch list. Time for another free trial. We just radically downgraded cable, so we could easily afford a sub now.

theonetruedoktor.bsky.social•28 days ago

Prime has a ton of older movies. Anyone who says it’s Blockbuster isn’t using the search feature

meikle.bsky.social•28 days ago

I do love the bit when he takes his 8-year-old son to the cafe and says “let’s get drunk!”

emilyoram.bsky.social•28 days ago

I’d always go to Prime before Netflix for films tbh. Netflix almost never has the thing or a similar thing I’m after.

eddierobson.bsky.social•28 days ago

I don't have the app on my phone because it's on my wife's account, so I don't check it as often as the others - but every time I open the app on the TV I'm pleasantly surprised by something they've added since last time I looked.

orbette.bsky.social•28 days ago

I'm exactly the same. It involves more digging but there's a lot shit tonne on Prime. Netflix feels bare atm.

petefrasermusic.bsky.social•28 days ago

I think it’s the fact there are pre 00s films and they don’t hide them (hi Netflix) that’s the big sell. Just much easier to find something to watch.

underlogic.bsky.social•28 days ago

I have this link bookmarked - https://www.justwatch.com/uk/new?providers=nfx,amp which shows daily additions to Amazon and Netflix and Amazon certainly has the quantity. Quality is obviously a bit hit and miss, but there's certainly variety in there.

deerhook.bsky.social•28 days ago

I actually really appreciated the “bottom shelf Blockbuster” vibe of a lot of their movies, anything to get away from the mainstream selection on streaming every once in awhile. Of course, I have quit Amazon since the election, so it doesn’t matter anymore. Unfortunate.

shesjustanne.bsky.social•27 days ago

Wow. Thanks for this tip. I’ve been thinking a lot about Italian cinema lately. Was going to post Rome Open City as my 20 day #Filmsky entry today. It’s raining in LA. Sounds like a good day for De Sica.

may-be-milo.bsky.social•28 days ago

They definitely have a shit-ton of films, but I can no longer figure out how to browse their entire catalog, A-Z. A lot of streaming platforms have hidden or done away with the ability to do so, easily. Instead, it seems like they push recommendations or small groups of selected, categorized films.

eddierobson.bsky.social•28 days ago

Yeah I agree, they're all pretty bad at this, and in slightly different ways.

blueresist22.bsky.social•28 days ago

Cancelled Amazon and Prime. I’m not giving Bezos another penny!

shesjustanne.bsky.social•27 days ago

There used to be a movie rental shop in my city Vidiots. It relocated a few miles away due to rent increases. What a loss. I bought a dvd player in 2020 and started renting films that arent available on steaming. Now I’m rebuilding a dvd collection from thrift finds. Doing the same with CDs.

bobdavisnpf.bsky.social•28 days ago

Prime has nice selections of serials that you can watch free, and credits toward rentals for taking slower shipping options sometimes, and a rebate on the unused portion of your annual membership when you cancel in protest of Bezos’ control over Washington Post editorial board and policy.

bobdavisnpf.bsky.social•28 days ago

As a bonus you also get back most of the money you spent on stuff from China you didn’t need, and maybe if you’re lucky some of the hours you spend watching tv

elkor.bsky.social•28 days ago

Check out Kanopy, free with your library card if your local library supports it, has an excellent selection of older titles.

elisachenoweth.bsky.social•28 days ago

That movie ripped my heart out!

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