a constantly curated list of classic films from the Turner Classic Movies library.

I'm in wait and see mode on that one. I have yet to see a title listed as part of this "curated" section that isn't already on Criterion or just something being branded "classic" because it was made more than ten years ago.

Then again, since TCM was always a super premium channel here, I've never watched it since it wasn't part of any cable package I ever subscribed to. It was one of the reasons I cut the cord in the first place. I was paying $75/month for almost nothing worth watching.

TCM can be fairly hit or miss because they're completist. Sometimes that's a good thing because there are a lot of overlooked gems out there. (Fans of screwball comedy, may I recommend It's Love I'm After? Bette Davis and Leslie Howard as two constantly bickering stage stars who can't live with each other and can't live without each other, Olivia de Haviland as a star struck Daughter of the House, and a supporting cast that includes Eric Blore, Bonita Granville, and Spring Byington). And then there are the movies that were forgotten for a reason (Wheeler and Woolsey come to mind.)

You can already record upcoming TCM movies on Hulu Live do we've been doing a lot of that while we can't get movies from the library. Do you get all the current HBO stuff with the new service as well? Because it looks like it's the same price I'm currently paying for HBO, I'm which case I'll just switch.

I have yet to see a title listed as part of this "curated" section that isn't already on Criterion or just something being branded "classic" because it was made more than ten years ago.

I've perused the list briefly and indeed, there is significant overlap with Criterion Channel. Lots of Kurosawa, early Australian works by Peter Weir, early British Hitchcock. I've added a few films I've been meaning to watch that's not on CC right now to my list (Malick's Tree of Life, some Jacques Tati stuff, Rio Bravo.) A lot of its usefulness will depend on how they are going to rotate/curate this part of the service. Obviously not at the amazing level CC folks do, I imagine, but it's something.

Do you get all the current HBO stuff with the new service as well? Because it looks like it's the same price I'm currently paying for HBO, I'm which case I'll just switch.

Yep. It's a bit like Disney+. There is a section called "HBO" that has all your old HBO stuff, plus sections for "TCM", "Adult Swim," "DC," "Studio Ghibli," etc. I haven't seen a ton of Ghibli (have only seen Mononoke, Spirited Away and Totoro) so immediately added most of the stuff I haven't seen to the list. Goodness, so many things to watch, so little time!

The switch from HBO Now I had (streaming only) to HBO Max was automatic and painless. I did hear that it was more tricky for folks who get HBO via their cable package. Also, HBO Max app is not yet available through Amazon Fire Stick or via Roku, which is a big downside.

Yes, for people who have HBO they can just upgrade for the same price but it depends how you access it. The Math Greek subscribes to HBO already, but Max isn't yet available for Roku so we haven't bothered.

FireOS is always the last to get new streaming services. Boo.

We get HBO through Prime, but I don't see the new content listed there yet, but I could cancel that and switch it to Hulu.

I've seen it specifically stated that it is not available through Prime subscriptions (or at least, won't be in the near future).

ETA: Hulu is offering me a free week of the HBO upgrade so I might do that just to check it out. But there is still so much I want to see on Criterion that I'm not in any rush. Honestly though, I really should give up Netflix and/or Hulu before adding something else to the mix. I really don't watch them. Even MUBI, which used to be my go-to streaming service barely gets a glance these days.

Thanks, Megan. I was thinking of signing up for the Criterion service. Is it good?

If you like classic films, it's great. It definitely leans art house, but the library goes way beyond the Criterion films they offer on DVD. They are also really good at highlighting female filmmakers. They are not so great in certain genres, for example, westerns, but films are getting added all the time.

More importantly, they put together fantastic collections. Beyond director (Godard, Tarkovsky, Sirk) or star-specific (Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Catherine Deneuve) ones, right now in my queue I have collections based on Saul Bass title sequences, Frances Marion scripts, German Expressionism, film noir, and foreign-language Oscar winners. Often these collections have 15 or so films so you could spend a whole month just going through 1 or 2 of those.

Of course, those are often the films that end up in the "expiring this month" list, which is frustrating since then I feel I have to prioritize them, but that is my issue, and at least their interface makes it really easy to see what will be expiring at the end of the month and planning accordingly. In some collections, the films don't have too much cohesion (the Scores of Quincy Jones comes to mind, and I expect Saul Bass will be similar), but they result in great discoveries.

I have a yearly charter subcription which means it is $7.50/month plus I seem to get random $10-off certificates for the Criterion store from time to time. I currently have 2, one of which is a charter member thing but I don't think the other is. I believe there is a two-week free trial period if you want to check it out.