Streaming and VOD film recommendations

johnny_ultimate

Howdy all,

This thread is a spin-off from the Netflix Recommendations thread. This is a place for all your recommendations for films available on the digital platforms - whether that's Netflix, Amazon Prime, Mubi etc... (and whichever ones may come into existence in the future - FUTURE PROOFING).

Feel free to also flag films available on video-on-demand platforms such as iTunes, Google Play, Volta, Curzon on Demand etc... Bear in mind this is an Irish site, so please try to keep to films easily accessible here.

Queries or discussion of regional workarounds is strictly forbidden.

Unlike the Netflix thread, this is strictly film recommendations only, and any TV show recommendations will be deleted.

Go forth and recommend ways for us all to expend our precious bandwidth!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Anybody ever use Volta?

It's an Irish run site, connected to Element Films and The Lighthouse, I think.

I think it's a pay as you go kind of system rather than a subscription.

Sad Professor

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Anybody ever use Volta?

It's an Irish run site, connected to Element Films and The Lighthouse, I think.

I think it's a pay as you go kind of system rather than a subscription.

Yeah, it's like the iTunes Store. I've used it a couple of times for films that I couldn't find anywhere else, including on DVD. Fine as a last resort for renting if you don't mind watching films on your laptop/tablet, I guess, but I can't say I'd recommend it.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Sad Professor wrote: »

Yeah, it's like the iTunes Store. I've used it a couple of times for films that I couldn't find anywhere else, including on DVD. Fine as a last resort for renting if you don't mind watching films on your laptop/tablet, I guess, but I can't say I'd recommend it.

Yeah, that's the thing that's put me off, you don't seem to be able to use it with Chromecast and I hate watching things on laptop.

Sad Professor

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Yeah, that's the thing that's put me off, you don't seem to be able to use it with Chromecast and I hate watching things on laptop.

Yeah, it's bit of joke for a streaming service at this stage, but I assume it's down to rights issues, i.e. laptop/device rights are cheaper and easier to get than tv rights where you are probably in competition with broadcast networks. I dunno, I'd be interested in learning more about this. It seems to be very difficult for new streaming services to get off the ground, which is why it's mostly Netflix and Amazon. Any major services will need the support of a broadcaster or studio to stand a chance. Seems even Apple will have to buy one of the studios to get their foot in the door.

I subscribed to Mubi for a year using one of the Christmas deals. I watch it on my Firestick which is grand, but I'm little underwhelmed with the content compared to the UK. Seems like Irish subscribers get the dredges.

Is anyone subscribed to Amazon Prime Video? I know they had a pretty pathetic token launch here last year, but has it improved since?

pixelburp

Sad Professor wrote: »

Is anyone subscribed to Amazon Prime Video? I know they had a pretty pathetic token launch here last year, but has it improved since?

Having checked it only yesterday, nope, the Irish selection is as pitiful and insulting as it was at launch. I don't have a total, but it takes seconds to browse the entire collection of any section on the smart TV (the amazon app finally reached my Samsung the other day )

Sad Professor

pixelburp wrote: »

Having checked it only yesterday, nope, the Irish selection is as pitiful and insulting as it was at launch. I don't have a total, but it takes seconds to browse the entire collection of any section on the smart TV (the amazon app finally reached my Samsung the other day )

johnny_ultimate

I'm still subscribed to Amazon to work through some of the series on there, but I've been surprised to find a handful of top-tier films when I've gone rooting (the navigation is hilarious ****ty). The excellent Everybody Wants Some is on there, and (not a recommendation - I haven't seen it and don't particularly intend to) David Brent: On the Road is there unusually quickly. Few stone-cold classics like Vertigo as well. The superb Mustang is also hiding on there.

Don't get me wrong, still an immensely underwhelming & scattershot bunch, and I'd have unsubscribed if the shows didn't grab me. But a few games nonetheless. And a significant amount of really strong films recently have borne the Amazon Studios logo - I Am Not Your Negro and The Handmaiden in the last fortnight or so. I don't know what their streaming plans for said material is yet, but alongside stuff like Manchester by the Sea I've seen far more excellent films with the Amazon logo before them then with Netflix (outside 13th I don't think any of their original films I've seen are particularly interesting - hopefully will change with Okja).

No idea why they haven't released their PS4 app in Ireland, incidentally. Have their UK one and works with my Irish Amazon account just fine, bizarre that they haven't made it officially available here.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Just incase anyone missed it in the other thread Film 4 are doing an Andrei Tarkovsky season at the moment and the films are available to stream on All4 for free. There's 3 up at the moment and a few more to come.

Agent Coulson

I've been using wuaki tv lately as Hunky Dorkys are giving free rentals with packets.

I've watched Passengers, The Accountant, Fantastic Beasts over the last few weeks.

aine100

Got Amazon prime video a few months ago at 3.99 pm and now it's gone up I've gone with full prime at 7.99 for this month anyway. It's worth it just for the Amazon original shows. Goliath is fantastic and sneaky Pete was good too. I'm also rather enjoying Mozart in the jungle. Our 7 year old was enjoying done of the kiddy stuff like just add magic but no kids version like Netflix so i had to keep on checking. No theres not much to watch but a someone else said there's more if you figure out the very bad interface. Well with doing a free month methinks.

Mickeroo

Hell or High Water was added to prime, heard good things.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Has anyone tried NowTV now that it's available in Ireland?

14 day free trial and then €15 a month for the Cinema package. There's a separate package for the "entertainment" pass, which is basically TV box sets.
http://www.nowtv.com/ie/watch-movies-online

Not sure it would be worth it on top of Netflix, or if it would be worth cancelling Netflix for the cinema package.

pixelburp

Quite pricy if you go for the movies and TV packages; looks like it's supported by a lot of terrestrial channels. No sign of an app though for my Samsung TV so that's it out of the question for now.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Would definitely be expensive to go for both. The free trial might be worth having a look at. If it was good enough you could get rid of your TV subscription from Virgin or whoever it might be worth it. That said it seems the providers know broadband is the main thing now and it's nearly as expensive to get it on it's own as it is to get a TV/phone/Internet bundle.

Mickeroo

Works out at €80 a month if you want everything :-/

Occono

The service costs up to over twice as much as the UK service (which has more features) so I refuse to pay for it.

Agent Coulson

It's a Wonderful Life, Chinatown, There will be Blood & Gone Baby Gone have been added to Amazon over the last few days.

Agent Coulson

Spotlight, Jaws & Into the Wild were added to Amazon today.

Occono

I found Swiss Army Man and Room buried under loads of ****ty Z-movies. It's an awful ****ing interface, jesus.

jh79

For horror fans, The Love Witch and all the remastered Phantasm films have been added to shudder.com.

Agent Coulson

Not really a recommendation but but still handy the Amazon Prime app is now on Apple tv 3 and greater.

Mr.Wemmick

Anyone got any recommendations for Amazon prime?

I binge-watched Zone Blanche (Black Spot), French thriller/mystery on Amazon, would recommend; it's excellent.. beautifully shot, great story with a rather eerie and dark edge to it.

Agent Coulson

Bosch (Cop series) is good and The Man in the High Castle (Alternate history) is very both will have there new seasons starting soon.

Marje

Patriot
Taken
Absentia

ixoy

Just finished 'Patriot' about two minutes ago and a definite recommendation from me. A weird comedy-drama with nothing really like it on TV elsewhere.

johnny_ultimate

Watched City of Ghosts last night, and it’s one of the definitive documentaries about the nightmare facing the Syrian people. Plus a great account of journalists putting their life at risk to spread an essential story.

Tom Mann Centuria

ixoy wrote: »

Just finished 'Patriot' about two minutes ago and a definite recommendation from me. A weird comedy-drama with nothing really like it on TV elsewhere.

I wish I knew why the creators chose two small English seaside villages as their football teams!

Not even Clacton and Great Yarmouth, Jaywick Sands and Hemsby! Brilliant show though, loved it. Poor Stephen.

rekluse

Train to busan is brilliant on prime.

johnny_ultimate

One of this year’s very best films, Dawson City Frozen Time, is streaming on Mubi for the next couple of weeks.

Focused on the discovery of a trove of frozen film reels underneath a remote Canadian town, Bill Morrisson uses the severely damaged films in a way that creates this completely mesmerising examination of filmic decay and fragility, as well as an engrossing account of the history of one town.

For me, it was also my first encounter with the director - and it’s been a pleasure discovering some of his more experimental works after this one.

It’s a film that doesn’t seem to have received any more formal release beyond a DIFF screening, so this is as good an opportunity as any to use that Mubi trial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEbHM8Vsvlo

Agent Coulson

Goodfellas & Falling Down are on Prime.

adox

Since buying a 4K a few weeks ago I have done something I never really did in the past and always presumed it was an overpriced platform, I’ve been buying films for iTunes!

I bought a refurbished ATV4k from Apple and have been very pleasantly surprised at the amount of films they have on special offer at various times.

I picked up Get Out in 4k for a fiver. Also Jurassic Park, again in 4k for the same price.

A Quite Place and It, both in Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos soundtracks for €6.99

A Fantastic Woman for €2.99 I think it was.

I could go on. I check it daily now and have thrown a few films on a wishlist to keep an eye on. Any HD films that you own, if updated to 4K versions will automatically be updated to 4K at no extra charge. Quite a few iTunes titles have plenty of extras too.

It’s a platform, as a long time Apple user that I never entertained for buying music or films but it’s been a real eye opener in the last few weeks for the fantastic value you can find on it.

Agent Coulson

Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 & Alien: Resurrection are all on Crackle.


The Natural and True Romance are also there.


I'll also add Seven Years in Tibet.



They have a good selection up this month.

Occono

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 & Alien: Resurrection are all on Crackle.


The Natural and True Romance are also there.


I'll also add Seven Years in Tibet.



They have a good selection up this month.

Is it available in Ireland without a VPN?

johnny_ultimate

I thought Ireland was going to miss out on this, but ecstatic to see that isn’t the case: Mubi’s Hong Sang-Soo season has gotten underway https://mubi.com/specials/hss

Six films being screened over the next few weeks, most of which have never received a proper release in Ireland (in some cases they haven’t even received single screenings that I know of... and I do try to keep a very keen eye out for such things :pac:). First two films - Right Now Wrong Then and On The Beach Alone At Night - are among his very best, and personally very excited that two of his films I haven’t seen are among the selections here.

HSS is something of an acquired taste, no doubt, but he’s easily among my absolute favourite working filmmakers. I’d recommend giving at least two of these a shot if you’re at all interested - what’s remarkable about his work is how each film takes a broadly similiar set-up (and lots and lots of soju) and then twists it in some unusual but almost always extremely rewarding way. Several of these films also feature remarkable performances from Kim Min-hee (not to mention a couple of them directly alluding to Kim and Hong’s high-profile off-screen affair)

I’m on record as saying Mubi are providing an increasingly vital alternative to the corporate streaming giants - seasons like this are exactly why

Agent Coulson

Peppermint has been added to Prime.


Jennifer Garner doing a John Wick.

Agent Coulson

If anyone has the 3Plus app they are giving a link to get MUBI for 3 months for €1.

Agent Coulson

Rocky 1 to 6 and Creed added to Prime.

FunLover18

For anyone interested all 6 seasons of Community are available on All4.

Agent Coulson

Inglourious Basterds & The Game added to Prime.

FunLover18

I watched The Big Sick on Prime over the weekend, really good modern day romcom which ia based on a true story.

johnny_ultimate

Cold War, the outrageously beautiful epic-musical-romance from Paweł Pawlikowski, has been added to
Prime. The cinematography is simply stunning, and the whole thing embraces the musicality of its characters with gusto.

FunLover18

I've just seen that American Animals is available on Prime, excellent film from last year about four college students who try to pull off a heist. Based on a true story, it really is something.

Fysh

I watched the firrst episode of Too Old To Die Young, the new series from Nicholas Winding Refn (co written with Ed Brubaker) on Prime. It's very recognizably Refn in terms of style (both visual and aural), but with a tweaked balance of character and plot that served it well (I find Refn a bit willfully tedious in some of his other films). The first episode is 90 mins and feels like a film in its own right.

Agent Coulson

To Catch A Thief has been added to Prime.

Hitchcock, Cary Grant & Grace Kelly what more do you need for a Friday night.

FunLover18

Watched Man Up on Prime last night, pleasant little rom-com with Simon Pegg and Lake Bell (who does a very convincing English accent). Good chemistry between the leads and it's an easy watch at only 80-90 minutes.

Agent Coulson

Stan & Ollie added to Prime.

FunLover18

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Stan & Ollie added to Prime.

Really lovely film.

I mentioned it in the Prime thread but I watched Your Name on UK Prime a week's back, really good anime film.

Also noticed that Community is available on UK Prime and speaking of anime, all seasons of Samurai Jack are on All4 and the animation in that show is just gorgeous at times.

Fysh

I watched Pedro Almodóvar's "Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown" on Mubi tonight, and it was great - great performances, a wonderfully daft plot about a woman who's been up 2 days straight trying to find her lover, and some hilarious dialogue and developments. Totally worth it. Though there is one perplexing shot on what looks like a soundstage that's meant to be a rooftop terrace, which somehow calls to mind the terrible rooftop shots in The Room...

Mr. Arkadin

Currently making my way through the Werner Herzog collection on the Criterion Channel. That service keeps getting better and better. It's an astonishing selection of films.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

All4 have a lot of films available at the moment. Mostly ones that aired recently on Film 4. Moonlight is there, Tangerine, The Florida Project, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster, and some others. There's a time limit on them all though.