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Comment by clydethefrog | Hacker News Reader

Unfortunately still not legally accessible outside the US. [Although I managed to get trial access with a VPN, but then I did not work anyway with a laptop running linux connected to TV with HDMI due to a certain DRM protection]

I have been enjoying MUBI a lot, the European alternative to Criterion Channel. Especially since they added a fixed catalogue aside from their new movie a day model. They also usually highlight three great reviews as a companion reading to the movie plus the user base is delightfully snobby, with no low effort jokes like you will see on Letterboxd.

They also do great retrospectives, currently Kelly Reichardt and Christian Petzold.

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I found Criterion to be quite easy to VPN actually compared to some other services. You have to use a VPN to signup, but watching the movies doesn’t require it which is nice. And they don’t have any issues accepting international payments either.

(For reference, this was about 6 months ago, and I live in Australia)

I think the Criterion Channel catalogue does differ somewhat by country; I needed to use my VPN to watch Y tu mamá también from Canada.

I don't understand why sites like Netflix or MUBI do not allow an easy search or easy browsing of their ENTIRE catalog by certain criteria (country, length, rating, budget, etc.) Pirates do an incredibly better job at it and it amazes me every time.

Netflix makes their user interface terrible to search. This is by design: when things get pulled due to licensing or whatever other arrangements are made with studios or their parent companies, users are all none the wiser.

The reason why P2P will reign supreme is because it cuts through the bullshit of backwards business restrictions and empowers people to watch content on whatever device they want, when they want, and how they want. Netflix has, what, 30,000 titles available? Compared to the 400,000 titles at your nearest P2P based source.

Netflix doesn’t want you to see how bare-bones their catalog actually is

There is a way to browse by genre which map to a generic URL but are much more direct than the default aimless auto-playing nightmare of their default interface.

https://www.finder.com/netflix/genre-list

http://ogres-crypt.com/public/NetFlix-Streaming-Genres2.html

Some don't resolve to any results, which I think is a result of their poor catalog.

http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/68778 = Action & Adventure starring Tom Cruise

Criterion is available in Canada...

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