Films - streaming media recommendations

[Corranga]

Ok, so in this world of LoveNetmazonflixTV I'm finding that they all seem to have 1 thing in common - it's virtually impossible to find a list of what is on each of them, and therefore quite difficult to find something worth watching, especially movie wise as (with the exception of NowTV movies, which I gather is just streaming Sky movies) they all concentrate on decent TV with a couple of blockbuster movies in there to grab the crowds.

Basically, they all seem to be filled with crap or mediocre movies.
I don't watch a lot of films, so when I do, I want to watch something worth sitting down for 2 hours and there is a lot of crap out there.
I find myself wasting more and more time selecting the film rather than watching it, so thought maybe we could come up with some recommendations from the streaming services.

I currently have NowTV movies (voucher came with PS4 and I probably won't keep it), Amazon Prime and Netflix. I think Prime is the one that puts IMDB figures on, which makes it a bit quicker to select a film - not saying IMDB is always right, more that it's a good predictor for dross when it's 4.3 or something!

I should probably say that I tend to be attracted to heavy, hard to watch films with deep stories and strong characters. I don't really do comedies, romcoms or horror (which all 3 services I have seem to be full of!!), but am open to most other things.

Can't remember which service:
Selma - It's about Martin Luther King aiming to secure equal voting rights. It's a great story, and was acted out very well.

Amazon Prime:
The Stoning of Soraya M - This is what happen when you watch a film without knowing anything about it (or even properly reading, and comprehending the title!) I find it difficult to say it's good. I don't regret watching it. It's brutal. Emotionally brutal. It certainly succeeds in delivering the message and perhaps gives you a different outlook on (certain parts of) the world. I challenge anyone to watch it and not burst into tears and feel wronged by watching it. Did I mention how brutal it is

NowTV:
American Sniper - It's about a US Navy Seal who is a sniper in Iraq. Bit of a whirlwind of emotions. Took a lot of criticism about how it handles the Iraq war, but it's a character film, not a political war fest.
John Wick - A revenge 'gunfu' film with Keanu Reeves - I suspect you'll know if you want to watch it or not just from that description!! I enjoyed it
Star Wars: The Force Awakens - I think I was the only Star Wars fan, or perhaps movie fan who hadn't seen this yet! It's worth a watch and restored my faith in Disney albeit they played it safe and the is strong similarity between this and some other films shall we say..
The Man From U.N.C.L.E - I'm a wee bit young to have watched the original series first time around, but it was a staple of my youth anyway. I loved watching Solo and Kuryakin week after week on BBC2 on Fridays after Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlett, and with an hour of Super Nintendo slotted in before Red Dwarf and HIGNFY. The modern adaptation is very good. Looks great in a crisp CGI type way, has an interesting enough story, and the characters are similar to how I remember. I really enjoyed it.

[istoo]

Corranga, I am totally with you there, we have Netflix and NowTV. At the moment, going to ditch NowTV as the refresh rate for films is getting pretty piss poor.
Pre-internet TV we used to watch a film as a family on a Sunday, and there is nothing available/suitable on either service. Box sets, i dont have that many hours in the day to watch these.
The only good thing of late was introducing my teenager lads to proper films, usual suspects etc. but even the top ranking films just dont seem to be available. Are the services linking up with the studios only?

I can see me going back to buying DVDs at this rate...

[Shug]

I always still buy any films I really want to have on Bluray... I'm one of the saddos who also likes most of the extra features. Too many times, I've spotted a movie to watch with the missus on Netflix and by the time we get round to watching it, it's been removed. At least with a healthy Bluray shelf, there are always options.

My usage pattern for Netflix is TV programmes and documentaries - very, very occasionally a film if it pops up when we're stuck for something to watch and fire up the browser, but I'd not turn to it as a first source for films.

[Corranga]

Regarding the NowTV refresh rate, I signed up a 1 month trial last December for during the Christmas holidays, worked well then, and this year have a 2 month code that came free with a ps4 purchase - all fine with me. I'm starting to wonder if a 1 or 2 month code every 6 months is the way to do it

I completely relate to the Blu Ray purchasing, but that involves prior thought to order the item and wait for it to be delivered.
The beauty of streaming of course is that it's already there. My film viewing is so rare (perhaps due to the amount of decent TV out there on said streaming services and Sky) that I see little point in continuing to buy Blu Ray - plus I don't do extra features, and prefer to watch something new (to me) than something I've seen before.
Maybe my answer is to continue as is or simply admit defeat accepting that streaming services have crap films and it does take 20-30 minute research online to find a decent one - don't get nowt for nowt?

Chris

[Callummarshall]

I have amazon prime and Netflix. The content changes regularly on both hence the no defffinitive "this is what we have list". What I can say about Netflix is the more you use/watch it the more it complies a recommended list for films/to shows it feels are relevant (believe it or not they actually pay people to sit at home watch the content and link it together to keep you using the service) I feel this part of Netflix works well and you can easily rack up a to watch list.

Amazon's recommended list doesn't work as well in my own oppinoin and I don't think the content is as vast. But when you consider amazon is £80 annually (£6.66/month) or £40 if you have an academic email address ending .ac.uk and for your money you get prime video, prime music and next day delivery even to teuchtershire it works out very good value for money.

If you aren't looking for anything specific I have often found myself trawling for content as there is that much choice. If I was you I'd pick up a 3 month trial of Netflix and give it a whirl, you can easily cancel it if it isn't for you and it will cost less than a blueray for three months, nothing ventured nothing lost.

[j2 lot]

Now TV offered us several reduced rate packages when we went on-line to cancel. All in I think we were about 18 months at half price or less. So the moral of the tale is don't go straight to renew and they should bump the price down a couple of times to keep your subscription live.

[Scuffers]

I was always a bit on the skeptical side with online streaming, the quality was simply poor (not enough bandwidth for the resolution etc).

however, stuff has moved on, watched The Grand Tour in 4K on Amazon - and it's the first thing I have seen on TV that looks genuinely better that direct Blue-ray 1080p, it was *almost* flawless (little bit of digital trails in the first segment), also it's been done in HDR (10 bit), and that's really noticeable.

That said, looking at the stats on my router at the time, it was running at an average of 35Mb whilst streaming.. (not sure what codec they are using, I assume HEVC?) for ref. Typical decent Blue-Ray at 1080p will be running ~50Mb average using H264.

[tut]

If the film industry depended on me it would go bust, as though I have Sky I watch very few movies, and they are always on record as I have all the time in the world to watch them.

As I am normally in bed in the morning till 1100 I have mission control next to me, iPad Mini with the news on, iPhone with 5 Live Radio, and Macbook 12" in charge of e-mail, Forums, browsing, googling etc, and catch up with recordings. As I am on 1.3mb download BB speed I can not believe how good the streaming resolution is on the iPad for everything from Sky whether live or from recordings. Same in the evening as it is two hours before lights out and with the electric bed it is probably when I am at my most comfortable as there is no exertion on the lungs apart from Khan lying on top of me.

Not really a lazy barsteward, just have plenty of time to fill, never get bored, and it means my mind stays active all the time and still absorbs lots of new information.

tut

[Ferg]

I was always a bit on the skeptical side with online streaming, the quality was simply poor (not enough bandwidth for the resolution etc).

however, stuff has moved on, watched The Grand Tour in 4K on Amazon - and it's the first thing I have seen on TV that looks genuinely better that direct Blue-ray 1080p, it was *almost* flawless (little bit of digital trails in the first segment), also it's been done in HDR (10 bit), and that's really noticeable.

That said, looking at the stats on my router at the time, it was running at an average of 35Mb whilst streaming.. (not sure what codec they are using, I assume HEVC?) for ref. Typical decent Blue-Ray at 1080p will be running ~50Mb average using H264.

Have to say I agree. The ability to stream HD has increased significantly with improvements in Broadband tech etc. When I watched the Grand Tour I was pretty impressed with the image quality. The program was pretty good too.

[Lazydonkey]

with the exception of NowTV movies, which I gather is just streaming Sky movies

NowTV is owned by Sky and based in the same campus and i think more and more you're going to see Sky exclusive content pushed to Now at the same time as going linear.

From my perspective they used to run and operate as a separate company but they are coming much more in line with the rest of Sky and that can only be good in terms of content deals. Likewise the original operating model was that people would always have a sub month to month but they seem a lot more comfortable with a base that comes on for events (such as GoT, the open etc) and then stays for a while afterwards. IMHO of course.

[Corranga]

Yes, I think it' s a good call by Sky to adopt that model. I remember being frustrated for example, every Jan/Feb when I just want to watch the NFL playoffs. All games were on Sky, but my (at the time) TV supplier, Virgin Media, would not allow me to add Sky Sports for 1 month.
NowTV allowed me to get around with with a month sports pass.

Similarly, I like to watch movies, but never have the time, except at Christmas when I'm not working. Even as a Sky customer, I use NowTV for movies...

On that note, and in-keeping with my original thoughts on this thread, last night we watched:
NowTV:
Bridge Of Spies - Great film with Tom Hanks playing the interesting role of a lawyer defending a Russian spy in cold war times.

[scott_e]

Streaming services have come a long way in the last couple of years but still have a way to go IMO. Find the fundamental problem is you need so many of them to access the content wanted. I want a world where all content ever is available on demand from one place .... but that aint going to happen any time soon.

The Expanse was purchased by Netflix after S1 on SyFy. If you like Sci-Fi there is nothing better. Amazing series of books (polished them off in 3 months) , its the TV version of Gravity/Martian/Interstellar where the science has real theory behind it. Superb IMO.

ps this was good (The Siege of Jadotville - Netflix). Early NATO in Congo, good history lesson.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3922798/

[Corranga]

its the TV version of Gravity/Martian/Interstellar where the science has real theory behind it. Superb IMO.

Coincidentally, we watched The Martian on NowTV last night (it seems that when my toddle actually decides to go to sleep we DO have time for films!) Great film and well worth a watch.
I'll have to check out The Expanse too.
I missed out on Interstellar - it was on my watch list, but is no longer available

[Scuffers]

not experienced Now TV yet, what's the quality like?

RE: The Martian - yes, great film, one you can watch again and not be bored, it also one of the few 4K films that really does 4K justice.

[tut]

I bought an LG 55" OLED TV earlier in the year, but had to forego the 4K model as it was still too much of a premium.

The picture quality is unbeatable with OLED so the Martian etc look stunning, but I would have been interested in a comparison with the 4K version which is now on Sky. However as we have a large lounge so sit at a good distance from the TV, as it is only pixel count, I doubt if there would be a difference. I watched it in 2D firstly and then tried it in 3D which was a whole new ballgame.

tut