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Originally Posted by Harry Lime
To jump on the Casablanca love, it's one of the few films that I can watch at anytime and be floored by the artistry of the script. The text, subtext, the breaths allowed by the director; there is just such amazing flow. The gold standard.
I know that Criterion is keeping many of these films alive in the public sphere, but I worry that some of the great movies are not going to be watched because streaming is so random and mercurial. Another of my favorites is the French Connection, and I had an advertisement popup tell me that it's leaving Netflix. To where? The ether, or is it now on Thoraz Bubblesnort +?
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French Connection is permanently on Disney+ so no worries on that particular title. That said, Disney is the absolute worst culprit when it comes to keeping their catalogue titles in the public’s memory. Disney no longer manufactures physical media, and they refuse to license anything in their extensive back catalogue (both the Fox stuff and their own) to other boutique distributors, unlike the other major studios. Warner still releases the own catalogue titles through Warner Archive, licenses freely to Criterion/Kino etc and keeps their own classics readily available on streaming. Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind etc. still maintain their status as we’ve moved into the streaming era while you’ve seen once prominent classic titles like All About Eve or The Grapes of Wrath definitely fade into the ether a little. Depends on the priorities of the studio. Disney doesn’t even treat their own classic animated films with any respect, they treat the Fox back catalogue even more shabbily.