There’s been a major shift in streaming in the last year. We’ve gotten three new streaming services — HBO Max, Peacock, and Disney+ — and they’ve each come with a slate of new movies. Also, Netflix and Hulu have changed up their offerings since then. Part of the appeal of the new services has been the number of films and shows made available that weren’t previously. Disney, for example, spent a whole day triumphantly tweeting every single thing available on Disney+.
Pre-order in the U.S. at https://t.co/wJig4STf4P today: https://t.co/tlWvp23gLF pic.twitter.com/0q3PTuaDWT — Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 14, 2019 So I think it’s time for another look — a look across seven streaming services now available, to be precise. While I know the AFI’s list isn’t exactly the most comprehensive or diverse representation of classic cinema, it does have one advantage: the films on the list are well-known, well-regarded pieces of art, and it’d be unusual for a large portion of them not to be on streaming services. That’s why it was such a surprise last year to discover that less than a quarter of the list was represented across the streaming services, and that none of them had Citizen Kane, the top film on the list and widely regarded as the greatest film ever made. I’ll be leaving off the likes of the Criterion Channel, because the point of that service is to have classic films, and if you’re already a cinephile, that would obviously be your first port of call. But it’s worth seeing what’s available in the streaming services most of us are already paying for. I’m happy to report that now, over half of the AFI’s list is available across the seven services. 69 out of 100 films are available — 61 if you don’t count the Hulu add-ons like Starz and Showtime. HBO Max alone accounted for the first 30 films I checked off the list, and had some of my favorites like The Searchers, The Maltese Falcon, Jaws, and Fellowship of the Ring. While Disney+ didn’t have an enormous concentration of films, it did have all the Disney films on the list including Toy Story, Star Wars, and Sound of Music. Peacock had a lot of Hitchcock’s works, even those not on the AFI’s list. While I found comparatively little on CBS All Access, I have to commend their large collection of classic TV shows — it’s the only place I’ve been able to watch the classic Perry Mason.
— Peacock (@peacockTV) March 13, 2020 The fact that we have access to these films suggests the major companies are aware of how much these movies mean and how important it is to have them available. After all, if they’re not available with the streaming services, we’ll go looking for them elsewhere. And the companies behind these platforms can’t be having our eyes wandering. And yes, Citizen Kane is finally available to stream. It’s on HBO Max.
— HBO Max (@hbomax) November 14, 2019
