If you’re a cinephile, you’re probably deeply grateful for the existence of the Criterion Channel. There are few other places you can go online to see such a diverse set of classic, arthouse, independent, and hard-to-find films. Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Max have nothing on Criterion. It’s the undisputed king of online cinema. I just watched a movie on it last night and had a great time.
This week, Criterion launched a quirky new service that allows you to watch movies curated by the platform itself. Criterion24/7 lets you tune in and be treated to an endless curation of movies from the platform’s massive collection. It’s the casual experience of popping on the boob tube but with higher-quality programming and no commercials.
Criterion hasn’t said much about this new service—maybe because it’s fairly obvious what it is and how it works. We reached out to the company for more details anyway. On the page where the service launched, it merely says: “Don’t know what to watch? Let us choose! Click on Criterion24/7 and drop into a steady stream of must-see movies, any time you want.”
The company behind the streaming service, The Criterion Collection, is well-known in the film world, and it dedicates itself daily to preserving, restoring, and selling Blu-ray versions of classic and contemporary movies.
If you want to access Criterion’s new 27/7 feature, you’ll need an account with the streaming service. On that note, if you are a movie fan, I can’t stress enough what a great deal subscribing to the Criterion Channel is.