PREMIUM MOVIE CHANNELS

MUBI

For a monthly fee Mubi offers a new film every day — and it stays up for 30 days. So there are always 30 hand-picked films to watch or download. The wild and wonderful selection includes forgotten, cult, foreign, and experimental films as well as award-winning masterpieces. A highlight: curator Nicolas Winding Refn has restored some strange B and exploitation films from the Grindhouse era.

CRITERION CHANNEL: For discerning cinephiles, this subscription service offers classic films from Criterion’s renowned collection. There is a featured movies every day, curated playlists, and extra content made up of excellent interviews and analyses.

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO: If your family is already using Amazon for books, groceries and more, you get the added benefit of being able to enjoy movies with endless options for streaming. Some are included and others come for a fee: $12.99 – Monthly, $119.00 – Yearly.

DISNEY+ Decades upon decades of movies, television, and live events fit for families or for those seeking nostalgia. There are price tiers and options.

HBO NOW / HBO GO: HBO NOW is a standalone streaming service that doesn’t require a cable TV package. HBO GO comes with a paid cable TV subscription that includes HBO. More comparisons are listed here. Films and series content (like the excellent I Know This Much Is True), sporting events like HBO’s signature boxing series as well as older original series like The Sopranos or Barry are available

CBS ALL ACCESS: $5.99 with ads, $9.99 ad free. You get all the great CBS series plus online specials like the revamp of The Twilight Zone or the new Star Trek series, Picard. And then there are the time-honored news shows like 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. You can get the stand alone app, or add into another app, such as Amazon Prime.

CRACKLE: Free with ads. Some really great movie options and a nice interface. If you don’t mind a few commercials mixed into your watching experience, this is one of your least expensive options!

IMDB TV: Free with ads. Their streaming service is small compared to others, but they have some wonderful and exclusive deals. Movies, TV shows, and more are all available. It is integrated into Amazon Prime, so it is easy to use.

VUDU: Like a mini version of Amazon Prime with a touch of IMDBTV. You can buy and rent content (including a stellar UPC to Digital option). There are no monthly subscription rates, but to watch a lot of great content you will have to put up with ads.

HBO MAX: Warner Brothers, which owns HBO, will be launching its new streaming service on May 27. Just like Disney+, this will be a site with plenty of content. The studio has produced material for all the major TV networks — plus there is movie content that spans decades.

PEACOCK: NBC Universal saw how many people were watching NBC programming on the other services. This is in soft release with a full release coming on July 15.

NON-TRADITIONAL VENUES

VIMEO: This video sharing platform is chockablock with shorts and films of all kinds. A good place to start is Staff Picks. They also have Channels; Analyses; On Demand, and Free Movies.

TOP DOCUMENTARY FILMS: There are more than 3,000 free documentaries available here, and they are organized into 25 different categories, searchable by keywords, sortable by rating, comments, and titles. There is new documentary selection every other day.

OPEN CULTURE: This site brings together difficult to find cultural & educational media scattered across the web. Their mission is to gather this kind of elusive content, curate it, and provide access. You do not have to join or install anything. Note: There are no ads! Free Online Courses; Lectures

INDIEFLIX: For a low monthly fee IndieFlix offers streaming services that promote and support films dedicated to creating positive change in the world. This screening service also books offline community screenings in schools, corporations, and communities.

KANOPY: A marvelous deal! This award-winning video streaming service is available with just a library card. It provides access to a remarkable (and free) collection of more than 30,000 independent and documentary films. The titles in Kanopy are drawn from The Criterion Collection, The Great Courses, Media Education Foundation, and thousands of independent filmmakers.

TUBI: This streaming service is free, serving up on-demand content of over 15,000 movies and television series. Be warned: it is an ad-supported service, with commercials popping up during unskippable breaks. This is the largest independently owned video service in the United States.

LE CINEMA CLUB: This is a curated, free streaming platform — supported by CHANEL — that screens a new film every week. It remains up for seven days. Selections vary in genre and length, with special attention given to short formats.

JOURNALISM AND VIDEO

WGBH: There are links to American Experience, Frontline, Nova, and education programming. The site’s Arts Link offers arts coverage, documentaries, studio concerts, as well as links to literary adaptations. Plenty to explore here.

The New York Times: You will find short videos, including news updates, investigations, profiles. The offers are efficiently organized in a grid by category.

The New Yorker: The magazine has been creating an array of videos for years. There is a page by Genre, a most Popular page, and original Series page. They also have their own video series available on Amazon called New Yorker Presents.

The Atlantic: The Atlantic has become politically outspoken in the age of Trump. The magazine’s exceptional video page is called From Atlantic Studios and Around The World.

Boston Globe: The newspaper has a YouTube Channel that features an interesting and varied collection of short features.

Washington Post: The newspaper offers concise and informative videos (one to five minutes) on news and politics.

Variety: If show business is your bag there is much to see and hear at this website (no subscription required). For fans of movie performers, Actors on Actors offers provocative pairings of actors interviewing one another and discussing their craft.

— Tim Jackson