Watch Movies online

I’m no great fan of piracy (as a previous cinematters post may have alerted you) nor of watching films online, due to serious compromises of quality. That said, a couple of sites I’ve recently added to the Sites to See list are well worth your time and attention if you’re a big movie fan. The first is the BBC Programmes player list of films, not every film played on the BBC appears, in fact those that do are in a serious minority, but still, the occasional treat pops up, available to watch up to a week after its broadcast. On a separate page, when it’s running, you can also find the brilliant Storyville series of documentaries (which often plays major releases), I’ve just added a direct link to that page to the list, and I recommend the currently available Up for Debate: Team Qatar. At the films page you can currently see Robin Williams and Toni Colette in The Night Listener, the rather good Hotel New Hampshire, with Nastassja Kinski and Jodie Foster and the unspeakably terrible Pavee Lackeen.

Then there’s the Internet Archive. IA is a treasure trove, a seemingly bottomless list of out of copyright brilliance that is truly unique on the internet. It’s an outstanding service, offering films old and new(ish) in a choice of streaming and downloadable file sizes to suit all. It’s going to be valuable to me in helping expand my knowledge of the silent era (Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin all crop up frequently) as well as filling gaps in other parts of my movie watching experience. I’ve only been able to browse 20 pages deep so far, but already I have a long list of titles to watch including… The Big Combo, Broken Blossoms, Faust, Intolerance, Nothing Sacred, The Streetfighter, Teenagers From Outer Space and Triumph of the Will. I’d unreservedly recommend that you look through it yourself, you may not need to go out for the next year when you do.

The best thing about both these sites? They are totally free and totally legal. Enjoy.