A Website to Check Out

It’s not remotely as vibrant as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, but the other day I came across a webservice called, TubiTV which streams movies online – for free.

The thing is, it’s not just random discount-barrel films, but a great many gems including Heaven Can Wait, Amistad, La Cage aux Folles, Lilies of the Field, Some Like It Hot, Reds, and even some films not yet on Netflix, like Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks and his Shadow and Fog.  (It lists many others, but I double-checked a few, and Netflix now has them.).  Plus there are foreign films, music concerts, TV series (including British TV shows), comedy concerts, a Latest Additions section, and a huge amount more. 

I checked out a few and saw that ads run at the beginning of each film, though only just a couple, and there are periodic commercial breaks throughout.  (Hey, the site is free, and that's how they pay the bills.)  Some movies appear to rotate out of the collection, since there is a category, Leaving Soon, which included The Falcon and the Snowman, Sweet Smell of Success, and the wonderful, original British version of Death at a Funeral. 

(I loved Death at a Funeral, though it’s not for everyone.  It’s a dark comedy, quirky, and done in the frenetic French farce style, building its pace as the lunacy grows.  But I found it hilarious.  It stars Mathew Macfadyen and Rupert Graves, directed by Frank Oz.  If you do like this sort of film, I suggest checking it out before it does “leave” the site.  You can find it directly here.  As for the American remake, I didn't see it, so you're on your own with that one.) 

I also noticed that it has an absolutely wonderful, charming but moving little film from 10 years ago that’s close to unknown, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.  I thought that Julianne Moore's masterful performance deserved an easy Oscar nomination but the problem was that…well, pretty much no one ever saw it.  Woody Harrelson plays her well-meaning but much-too troubled husband.  It’s a true story, based on a memoir written by a daughter, one of 10 children, about how their mother in the 1950s had an uncanny ability to stay relentlessly upbeat against pounding challenges and keep the family financially afloat by, of all things, winning write-in contests.  (The full name of the book’s title is, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less.  You can find it here.)  The film has one line which is so impressive that for the only time in all my years watching movies at the Writers Guild, the audience literally gasped in appreciation.  It also has the single greatest last sequence of a “true story” movie I have ever seen.  And I’ve never told anyone – nor will I here – what it was, so as not to ruin the impact.  Anyway, I heartily recommend the movie (which has a 7.3 rating out of 10 on iMDB, and the book has 4-1/2 stars on Amazon), and hey – it’s free!  And you can watch it directly here.

The tubiTV site is well-designed, and has convenient categories and a Search feature.  It’s not necessary to register, though for some films (it seems like the ones that are R-rated), you do have to log in.

As you’ve probably figured out, I think it’s really worth at least checking out.  Again, you can find the website here.