For those who appreciate the Criterion Collection and its indispensable library of classic film but don’t necessarily want to spend $30 or $40 on a DVD, Hulu has some good news: Some 150 Criterion titles are now available for streaming through the $8-a-month Hulu Plus service, with many more films to come in the near future. The first batch includes must-sees like The 400 Blows, L’Avventura, The Battle Of Algiers, M, and The Seven Samurai—and while, yes, many of these are also currently available through sites like Mubi.com or via Netflix Watch Instantly, Hulu promises to distinguish itself by bringing in movies from Criterion’s vault that are all but impossible to find on video, such as Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Silence De La Mer, the complete works of Kenji Mizoguchi, and early shorts from Charlie Chaplin. Even better, Hulu plans to begin introducing Criterion’s many supplemental features—like commentaries, interviews, trailers, and essays—to video-on-demand for the first time. Did we mention Hulu Plus also has every episode of Airwolf? So now it has this too. [via IFC]
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