James Hay - Cinema EditorNetflix? Amazon Prime? iTunes? NOWTV?
If you aren’t already a subscriber to one or more of these video streaming services, then you will certainly have heard of them. And they’re great. Great for new film releases, big budget TV series and general binge-watching. But what about, dare it be said, the more discerning viewer? What if you hanker for a more worldy and diverse view? Something, well, call a spade a spade, a bit less American?
Well, there isn’t much out there to cater for you. There is the BFI Player, which offers a pretty impressive archive and collection but now it has some very real and stiff competition from new kid on the block, FilmStruck Curzon – a subscription streaming service providing films and content curated to bring you thematic collections, thoughtfully grouped together, that will both educate and entertain.
To give you a very brief idea of the eclectic selection of films on offer, have a glance below (who doesn’t love a list):
Funny Games
Blair Witch Project
Reservoir Dogs
American Psycho
The Gold Rush
The Consequences of Love
Tampopo
Room at the Top
Requiem for a Dream
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Grizzly Man
Battleship Potemkin
Lady Vengeance
Full Metal Jacket
Festen
F For Fake
Strangers on a Train
Before Sunset
Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back
Badlands
Walkabout
Mildred Pierce
The Seventh Seal
All the President’s Men
North by NorthWest
They’ve even put together a rather snappy little video to show off just how good their films are (although this is just a very tiny taste of all the wonders to be found on this service!). Check it out:
From kinetic modern classics Reservoir Dogs and Full Metal Jacket to, well, classic classics like Hitchcock’s tense avant-garde thriller North By Northwest and Humphrey Bogart‘s timelessly smooth Noir crime caper, The Maltese Falcon to hidden gems of world cinema such as the stunning Japanese feudal samurai saga Lone Wolf and Cub – FilmStruck Curzon is a slick, beautifully crafted curation of films spanning the decades and giving an opportunity to quench your cinephile’s thirst.
Really, there are just too many great films on there to do any form of justice here. What really sets this new platform apart is the way in which the films have been grouped together. Marketed as being “curated by film lovers for film lovers”, it doesn’t disappoint. Well presented, simple and invitingly laid out, you’ll find yourself clicking on something unexpected and getting lost in filmic rabbit holes anew, leaving you feeling smug and satisfied. You’ll be chewing everyone’s ear off about this great new film you ‘discovered’ and spreading the word of mouth of FilmStruck Curzon in no time.
As usual, they are offering a 14 day free trial with subscriptions thereafter being competitively priced at £5.99 monthly (the same as Netlfix).
FilmStruck Curzon is well worth a look. So, what are you waiting for, go take a look!
