OT: Let's talk about Movies and TV Shows, Part XXX (...how can this possibly go wrong)

[Runner77]

I quit on Crave last month. There's very little to crave, having to wait till seasons 2 of TLOU and House of the Dragon inbetween Raised by Wolves getting canceled, a mediocre list of shows, streaming channels being removed from Crave Total, I got fed-up. I'll plug back in once the aforementioned season 2's come back, or if I feel like watching GoT all over again.

I don’t know about Crave but are we not in a lull on account of the writers’ strike?

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I don’t know about Crave but are we not in a lull on account of the writers’ strike?

And yet Netflix and Prime still offer more.

Disney+ too

 

[LaP]

And yet Netflix and Prime still offer more.

Disney+ too

Prime apps suck major *** though. I have prime and i download movies instead of watching them on prime when they are available on it.

 

[the valiant effort]

We all know Tubi’s vast, and free, collection of forgotten gems, b movies, documentaries, and concerts is the best app on the net

 

[Runner77]

We all know Tubi’s vast, and free, collection of forgotten gems, b movies, documentaries, and concerts is the best app on the net

I’ve downloaded the app last year but never used it. How reliable is it? I might be missing out.

 

[the valiant effort]

I’ve downloaded the app last year but never used it. How reliable is it? I might be missing out.

The wife and I have never had any issues. It is free, so naturally it is ad-supported; you can expect ~5 minutes of ads for every hour of watching. I want to emphasize the forgotten gems and b movies aspect of it because Tubi is not about to replace any of the paid apps that offer new movies and television every other week. If you want to revisit The Last Waltz (1978), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), An American Werewolf in Paris (1981), Arizona (2018), Convoy (1978), the original UK version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (LOL), and I think every George Carlin stand-up special, you will enjoy browsing it. I hate feeling like a paid spokesman for its owner, Fox/Disney, but especially for a free app it is a spectacular archive. Documentary-wise, whatever your favourite band is, for example, I guarantee there is at least one doc on there for you to watch.

Speaking of reliability, of all the apps I've ever paid for at any given time:

Netflix
Crave
Amazon
Disney
TSN
DAZN
Sportsnet

The only one that consistently gives me actual streaming issues is Sportsnet, which I've angrily posted about one too many times in one too many threads on HF. I HATE ROGERS SO ****ing **** ******* ****ing ****ing much.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Prime apps suck major *** though. I have prime and i download movies instead of watching them on prime when they are available on it.

I have no problem with the Prime App, although I run it on a PS5, which is a lot more powerful than the hardware in smart TVs. Prime has a lot of info compared to the other streaming Apps, especially the X-Ray feature.

 

[LaP]

I have no problem with the Prime App, although I run it on a PS5, which is a lot more powerful than the hardware in smart TVs. Prime has a lot of info compared to the other streaming Apps, especially the X-Ray feature.

I run it on an amazon cube i mean i think you could expect it to work properly ... it drops lot of frames.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I run it on an amazon cube i mean i think you could expect it to work properly ... it drops lot of frames.

All media boxes for stream are way weaker than a PS5. It's the best media app player you can find. Yeah sure, it costs a lot more, but the frame rate is always top notch and all the biggest apps are there.

 

[LaP]

All media boxes for stream are way weaker than a PS5. It's the best media app player you can find. Yeah sure, it costs a lot more, but the frame rate is always top notch and all the biggest apps are there.

The youtube appp on the cube can easily play 4k content without dropping frames so the amazon prime app should be able to do it too

 

[OldCraig71]

I watched the JLO masterpiece "The Mother" over the weekend. She deserves an Oscar for this performance!

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The youtube appp on the cube can easily play 4k content without dropping frames so the amazon prime app should be able to do it too

Youtube is a much different app and a lot of videos that say are 4k are not actually 4k.

 

[OnTheRun]

The youtube appp on the cube can easily play 4k content without dropping frames so the amazon prime app should be able to do it too

It come down to which version of the Cube you have. I believe Prime use DV+HEVC for 4k contents (can't check atm). Gen1 Cube is going to struggle because it only have software decode, 2nd Gen is going to be okay'ish because it got partial acceleration and Gen3 will be A-Okay because everything is hardware.

Device Specifications: Fire TV Cube | Amazon Fire TV

Fire TV Cube specifications are provided here.

developer.amazon.com

TL;DR: As soon you run into AV1 or DV contents with an older Cube, it's not going to be that great.

 

[LaP]

It come down to which version of the Cube you have. I believe Prime use DV+HEVC for 4k contents (can't check atm). Gen1 Cube is going to struggle because it only have software decode, 2nd Gen is going to be okay'ish because it got partial acceleration and Gen3 will be A-Okay because everything is hardware.

I have the newest cube gen 3,

 

[OnTheRun]

I have the newest cube gen 3,

Well that's perplexing, while I think Prime app/webui are high-end piece of garbage, performance isn't an issue for me (I mostly use a Firestick 4k max). Did you test over Ethernet by any chance?

 

[LaP]

Well that's perplexing, while I think Prime app/webui are high-end piece of garbage, performance isn't an issue for me (I mostly use a Firestick 4k max). Did you test over Ethernet by any chance?

I'm not using wifi. I should probably contact support then. It's weird cause Twitch and Youtube works wonderfully but prime is almost unwatchable. I watched the peripheral on it and it was very borderline unbearable.

 

[sandviper]

It works in Avatar because it's a totally made up world with mostly non human characters. But CGI tends to looks fake with real life story or humans and real animals. Specially anything real that is animated. A mix of CGI enhanced props/sets/miniatures usually works best.

The most recent Flash movie is a prime example of that. The whole baby scene at the start was so cringe.

I don’t recall any major film with a CGI human (with an actual scene and not background). Skin, eyes and hair are notoriously difficult.

 

[sandviper]

If by Star Wars you mean the original trilogy i'd disagree. While the original trilogy was not a staple of story telling it was a honest tale that was rather original at the time. Space opera was simply not really a thing in cinema. The characters were somewhat interesting and there was a very good chemistry between the actors (best part of the trilogy imo). More importantly they were not all super heroes. It was very amateurish at time i'll give you that and it was fan fiction quality but it was honest and driven by passion more than greed. You could tell Gorges Lucas was passionate about his project. I don't think you can properly evaluate the original trilogy if you were not born at the time. I'm born in 1976 and i still vividly remember when i say this on TV when i was about 4 or 5. It was magical. A really special experience even on a 21 inch TV with bad color.

Very different that what we have today. A bunch of sequels and prequels and reboot driven 100% by greed. Everyone is a super hero nowadays. There's no struggle. If Predator would be made today they would all have super powers and would kick this Predator ass into orbit. If you rewatch Predator it's surprising how much of a struggle it is to kill the Predator. Their muscles don't matter at all. When the big native guy go to fight the predator 1 on 1 there's not even a fight he gets owned off screen. The Predator is killed only because he is too confident in his abilities to kill those human insects. That's so different that the awful stories we have today. Predator script is nothing special. It's a simply story. But the way it is delivered is vastly different than today. It's an original take on an old story with a well designed alien, interesting characters with a personality and a struggle by the hero to survive. It's the same in T2. Simple story almost fan fiction at time lot of holes. Very interesting characters. No super heroes even the T800 struggle.

Personally i despise cinemas these days. There's still good movies here and there. But for the most part cinema today is just another super hero with a different costume. The same story over and over. The same delivery all the time. No originality. The Marvel formula can't die soon enough.

You should watch Prey. It was excellent (For a sci-fi/thriller/action movie).

 

[LaP]

You should watch Prey. It was excellent (For a sci-fi/thriller/action movie).

Yeah i liked it outside of the cringe CGI bear

 

[sandviper]

Yeah i liked it outside of the cringe CGI bear

Haha, I’ll give you that. Smaller budget though so I’ll let it slide.

Side note… began re-watching The Pacific. Enjoying it more this time around. I think because I was such a fan of Band of Brothers, as well as more knowledgeable about the Eastern front, I didn‘t appreciate The Pacific as much.

 

[kyne]

I've been watching "Winter King" based on Bernard Cornwell's version of the Arturian legend. So far, not bad in a Game of Thrones kind of way but without the sex scenes. I like the idea that they attempt to couch the story in reality rather than fantasy. Just like the Sharpe and Last Kingdom series, there is grit, intensity and texture to the characters. It may not be an accurate portrayal of late 5th Century Britain but at least anachonisms are kept to a minimum and a reasonable attempt is being made of explaining the chaos that existed at that time. Not a bad interpretation. Anyone else watching this?

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The most recent Flash movie is a prime example of that. The whole baby scene at the start was so cringe.

I don’t recall any major film with a CGI human (with an actual scene and not background). Skin, eyes and hair are notoriously difficult.

Princess Leia in Rogue One

 

[sandviper]

Princess Leia in Rogue One

Well, i meant more full on CGI, like Avatar but with humans. In that case, you’re right about Leia, and we can add Tarkin as well in Rogue One. Gemini Man was actually pretty good also for the CGI Will Smith also.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Well, i meant more full on CGI, like Avatar but with humans. In that case, you’re right about Leia, and we can add Tarkin as well in Rogue One. Gemini Man was actually pretty good also for the CGI Will Smith also.

**** me, I forgot young Indy in Dial of Destiny.

Made me think... maybe they should do a prequel with a full CGI Indy before Ford fully retires or passes away. Although, I gotta say, Ford's grouchy and scratchy voice might kill some of the realism.

 

[DAChampion]

The most recent Flash movie is a prime example of that. The whole baby scene at the start was so cringe.

I don’t recall any major film with a CGI human (with an actual scene and not background). Skin, eyes and hair are notoriously difficult.

Right but Flash is a really bad movie all around so it's not a legit argument against CGI.

The baby scene was cringe because it's dumb as nails.