Monday, March 5, 2012

Free?

Did you guys know you can watch streaming movies online for free?  I'm a little slow and just found this out the other day.  While I hate watching full length movies on my computer I can now do it on the XBox.  I used to have Netflix on the XBox, but then I cancelled it because I wasn't using it enough.  I know it was only $8/month, but I only ended up watching it a few times.  I was just mad because Netflix in the US gets WAY more movies and TV shows then we get up here in Canada.  If we ever catch up then maybe I'll consider signing back up.

Anyway, XBox updated the dashboard aka menu/UI which I don't really like anymore.  Now you install apps onto the XBox that do stuff I don't really understand, but most of them are for watching videos.  A TMZ app?!  I was looking around the dashboard and clicked on something that automatically installed some video app called Crackle.  I had heard of it, but really wasn't sure what it was all about.  Since I already downloaded and installed it I figured I'd better see what it's all about.

Crackle just lets you watch movies and TV shows on your computer, game console or mobile devices for free.  Yep, totally free.  Of course there are some disadvantages like a small selection of content(compared to Netflix and Hulu) and video quality is only 480p.  Still it is free and there are enough shows to keep me going for a while.  I've already watched a Three Stooges short, 70's blaxploition flick Black Gunn, Van Damme's Maximum Risk and Rage and Honor.  Next up is Rage and Honor II, I wonder what's gonna happen next? 

Watching it on the XBox they throw in commercials every once in a while, but it is very inconsistent.  When I watched Black Gunn every so many minutes a commercial (for Xbox Kinect, and no I'm not getting it) would kick in.  Watching Maximum Risk the same thing happened, but after the first two commercials they stopped showing up.  At the same intervals the screen would switch to a loading icon, but no commercial would show up and it would straight back to the movie.  Then when I watched Rage and Honor today there was one commercial right before the movie started and the entire movie played without any interruptions.  I don't care about the commercials because I'm already watching it for free.  If there weren't commercials, then it wouldn't be free.

Crackle is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, so all the content on the website is owned by them and their subsidiaries.  There are some good movies, so check them out.  You should sign up just so you can watch Night of the Creeps.  It's a classic!  They also have a few Jackie Chan movies, Full Contact with Chow Yun-Fat and some Godzilla movies.  For some reason they have Weekend at Bernie's II, but not the original Weekend at Bernie's.  People will watch it and be completely lost not having seen the first one!

There are lots of TV shows and most of them are Japanese anime which I haven't even heard of.   Ones I'd like to watch are Astro Boy, Blood+ and R.O.D. TV plus a few other look interesting.  Also, check out Project Blue Earth SOS.  And according to the Crackle website they even have the Karate Kid cartoon.  I didn't even know they made a Karate Kid cartoon!   I shouldn't get too excited to see it because it probably won't even be available in Canada.

So yeah, go watch Night of the Creeps and Project Blue Earth SOS, you won't regret it.  You're welcome!

No comments: