There's a new, shiny kid on the entertainment block. A new video streaming website, hulu.com, has recently popped up offering free online streams of television shows and films. There's no software to download, no bit to torrent and it's simple enough that my mother (and probably techno-prone-grandmother) can use it. I've looked though the site and found that there is a fairly decent collection of clips, episodes and films available for the inner geek in us all. These include (but are not limited to):
- Astro Boy
- Heroes
- clips from Ninja Warrior on G4
- Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa
The only real problem: there's still commercials. Ew. Last night, as I was watching New Amsterdam, I had to watch the same Sudafed commercial five times. It was slightly frustrating, but worth it. Some television shows are completely on the archive, while others have only seasons and partial seasons. Some of the films are full-length features, while others are partially there. The films are also in a wide variety of genre and quality as well, from the incredible Some Like It Hot to the dreadful Eragon (I've watched both; don't judge me).
One of the television shows that I reccommend for a good, geeky giggle is Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, which is corny, classic sixties dubbed silliness. Think Get Smart meets a child's version of Gundam that was built by a gaijin. (Hey, it impressed my source and me.) There's nine episodes so far, all almost equally eye-rolling.
The film I reccommend: October Sky, to fit in with the theme Johnny Sokko sets down. (If you've watched it too much in high school math/science classes, then watch Kagemusha... because it's Kuro, freakin', sawa, man.)
Even if you aren't into watching the nerdly shows, there's still a good selection of programs to pick from. There's shows like Cops, McHale's Navy and Arrested Development. I even found a couple of my beloved Detroit Red Wings games floating around, along with a few Bowl games and the ever-infamous SuperBowl XLII commercials.
Wanna know the best part though? It's still under development. All the shows and films that are up, are not all that will ever be. We're going to hopefully have many more television series and films pop up in the future. Yeah, there's going to be the annoying commericals, but that's when you go and refill the milk glass and get more Oreos. There's one anime, but give the site credit: it's only been public since the twelfth of this month. Plus, the screen's larger than YouTube, at much higher image quality.
Intense.
Sources
Entertainment Weekly, March 28, 2008 "A Site for Sore Eyes" by Tim Stack (additional reporting by Tanner Stransky and review sidebar by Ken Tucker)
hulu.com
