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Recently a friend of mine recommended me to watch the movie Heavenly Creatures. I went to justwatch.ca to see if it was streaming anywhere in Canada [1]. Not on

Recently a friend of mine recommended me to watch the movie Heavenly Creatures. I went to justwatch.ca to see if it was streaming anywhere in Canada [1]. Not only was it not listed as streaming, it wasn't even listed to purchase anywhere. I went to as many places as I could think to find it: Amazon, Apple, Netflix, even Cineplex online. I was not able to find it anywhere available in Canada to stream for any amount of money. I found an article online that corroborates this is true [2] and recommends using a VPN to access content in other regions. It made me realize that we are very much at risk of losing our cultural memory. For this particular movie I could use a VPN I suppose, but I imagine that some movies/music/books will someday not be available in any region in any form. 1. https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/heavenly-creatures https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/heavenly-creatures 2. https://www.entoin.com/entertainment/heavenly-creatures-on-netflix https://www.entoin.com/entertainment/heavenly-creatures-on-n...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
jfghi 3y ago
Recently I tried to purchase an exercise book to find that the printed copy released in 2013 was nowhere to be found new or used although I remember it being for sale as recently as last year. Instead there is only a kindle version available.
jhbadger 3y ago
In the US (and perhaps elsewhere) I recently witnessed this with Angels & Insects, the 1995 movie based on a novella by A.S. Byatt (who died last week). Not only does it not appear to be available streaming, but the DVD is out of print and used copies seem to be going for $40+.
hellotomyrars 3y ago
I pay for prime currently and Netflix in the past I still used torrents for content that I had access to because it was significantly more convenient to have an mp4 file. I prefer to use my player of choice. Also stupid restrictions on quality per device. You can’t get more than 720p on Netflix unless you use edge. That kind of restriction is so boneheaded stupid. The economics of it all is so insane anyways. How much money is a company getting if I watch their film once on Netflix vs how much are they getting if I buy it on physical media. The difference is difficult for me to justify . Also I don’t want to have a bunch of physical media taking up space. Do I rip them and sell the discs? Throw them away? Donate them? What is the morality of that? Anyways instead of trying to square the ethics of capitalism with the content I like, I’ll just do it on my own terms. Things do go down the memory hole though even in piracy. Less obscure stuff vanishes entirely.
mongol 3y ago
Is it this one? Available at Youtube: https://youtu.be/gyCMRwHkGCw https://youtu.be/gyCMRwHkGCw My trick is to just google it and click the videos tab, filter by video length. Surprisingly often you find it.
dirtyhippiefree 3y ago
Yandex searches another section of the internet. That’s how I saw Ahsoka.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
thiht 3y ago
This is so frustrating. I went from Netflix+Disney Plus+Prime Video to just Netflix, because every single time I wanted to watch something specific, it’s not available on any platform. I kept Netflix because they fill the « I don’t know what to watch, give me something » correctly, and I have a few shows in progress. For the rest, I’m back to TPB, torrent is once again more convenient than the alternatives.
wahnfrieden 3y ago
Some, someday? Most are already not available, it's about half of all produced that are available. There are online archives that try to assemble access to many of these lost or otherwise inaccessible films or other media, but they get shut down or lock access over time.
ljm 3y ago
There was a TV show starring JK Simmons called Counterpoint. I was able to watch it at one point but now it is completely unavailable in the UK. Can’t even buy the series! Despite subscribing to the Showtime channel on Amazon Prime, I cannot watch Homeland. I can watch it on Netflix though and the audio and quality is absolute shit. And I don’t want to give Netflix 20 quid a month for that. Why homeland? Was on a Damien Lewis binge. Love that guy’s work.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Counterpart. Was a really good show. It's available in the US but it looks like you have to buy or rent.
  - ljm 3y ago
    That’s the thing. Can’t do it. Unless it was released on physical media. I really wanted to watch it again considering severance s2 has been in limbo for ages.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      It seems to be available on DVD in the US. Though going forward--and given the number of people who don't even own DVD players any longer (even some older folks think it's weird I still have one)--I expect more and more things won't be released on physical media any longer.
- Yoric 3y ago
  Wasn't that Counterpart? The one that takes place in Berlin?
  - walteweiss 3y ago
    Yeah, sounds like it is.
- Charlie_26 3y ago
  Watch Wolfhall if you haven’t
LeonardoTolstoy 3y ago
Do libraries in Canada loan DVDs and/or Blu-rays (and I suppose do you have something to play those, a PS5 for example)? Just checked my local library system and there are 7 available copies of Heavenly Creatures, I could get it and watch it in a few days via inter library loan. But I'm in the States. 95% of the films I watch via the library I would venture. But it depends on your system.
- ornornor 3y ago
  What’s the difference, monetarily? The library bought one copy of the dvd/BR and shares it with as many users as they can. How is that fundamentally different than downloading an “illegal” copy on file sharing? In either case, someone acquired the source material (afaik, “pirated” content is bought with actual money most of the time) and then shared without further revenue for the publishers. Isn’t that fundamentally the same except for saying that libraries can do it but not scene groups? Libraries are just a more convoluted and restrictive way of doing the same thing imho. While not everyone everywhere has access to a library system (let alone a well funded one), virtually anyone can download off the internet.
  - GoblinSlayer 3y ago
    By downloading you create an additional copy of the work. Renting a dvd doesn't create a copy, the library doesn't retain access to a dvd it rented to you.
    - ornornor 3y ago
      Isn't that a technicality though? 99% of the content I watch, I only watch once and never again personally. It's deleted/returned as soon as I'm done with it but I do keep a permanent copy in my memory as having read the book/watched the movie/tv show.
      - xp84 3y ago
        It’s not a technicality, in fact the spirit of the law is what matters. When you stream a movie on Netflix or hell even on actual over the air digital TV, by any definition bytes are being copied there too. However, you aren’t intending to copy it, just to consume the media and the “copy” is a technical implementation detail. When you rip the library‘a disk or BitTorrent the movie, you are making a copy on purpose, a copy you could keep (and I bet you or anyone would keep it if you enjoyed it so much you wanted to rewatch it many times). When you choose to erase it afterward, it doesn’t erase your infringing act you did in the first place. Note: None of this is a commentary on what’s “right” just discussing the legal ramifications. I don’t personally care what anybody does or have energy to convince anyone of anything.
michaelleslie 3y ago
Anecdote, but I've gone back to public library DVDs and Blu-rays for titles unavailable on streaming for similar reasons to what you've described. I'm in the States, so it's less of an issue of region/market lock-out and more an issue of no one being able to own their own media any more.
- t0bia_s 3y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ll_own_nothing_and_be_happy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ll_own_nothing_and_be_...
hn_ta456 3y ago
Our cultural memory and our ability to develop it and pass it on was erased when we decided that a small group of people had to be in charge of writing, recording and broadcasting it. Recorded culture is dead and frozen culture.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
  >Our cultural memory and our ability to develop it and pass it on was erased when we decided that a small group of people had to be in charge of writing, recording and broadcasting it. When did we decide that? It's never been easier for an ordinary person to write, record, and broadcast...
  - hn_ta456 3y ago
    Write, record and broadcast what? What happened to the stories, music and performance handed down by cultural tradition? Unless you think Mr Beast qualifies. “Broadcast” is also part of the problem. Audience size is the goal, not the story, moral or history.
    - brokenmachine 3y ago
      You're free to tell stories and perform to whatever size audience you want.
glimshe 3y ago
I simply can't find my favorite Graphic Novels in DRM-free format outside pirate streams. I want to pay for them, but there is no scenario where I'll shell out hundreds of dollars to rent content from big DRM providers like Amazon. I'm not as afraid of completely losing our cultural memory exactly because "piracy" can't be ultimately defeated: As long as people can consume their DRM-protected content, there will be always a way to remove the DRM and offer it through alternate means. I understand the risk of civil disobedience, however it seems that there has never been a time without the risk-takers that effectively protect our cultural heritage. Despite the immense power of the immoral US Copyright law, it's not all-powerful as places like sci-hub prove.
- sonicanatidae 3y ago
  The media giants did this, with exactly what you mentioned. DRM. I can download a movie for free, or I can spring $20-30 for the DVD, then sit through forced FBI warnings, then previews, etc. when I really just wanted to watch a damn movie. They shifted the burden to the consumer (time wasted) and in a world with piracy, good luck with that model.
  - rapind 3y ago
    This reminds me of advertising in movie theatres now. I show up to a movie 15 minutes late to skip the insane number of ads.
    - xp84 3y ago
      Previews are pretty annoying to me too but I’m curious: if you like movies, how do you find out about them? I don’t watch ad-supported TV and opt out of ads wherever I can (YouTube Premium, Hulu etc). When I was in my early 20s in the 2000s, I could go to a theater and just know what the deal was for 90% of the movies that were playing at a 20-plex automatically just from TV ads and a few late-night-show actor interviews. Today I know zero (other than recognizing which one is some Marvel thing). If you dropped me off at the movies I wouldn’t know what to watch without googling them all.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

jfghi 3y ago

Recently I tried to purchase an exercise book to find that the printed copy released in 2013 was nowhere to be found new or used although I remember it being for sale as recently as last year. Instead there is only a kindle version available.

jhbadger 3y ago

In the US (and perhaps elsewhere) I recently witnessed this with Angels & Insects, the 1995 movie based on a novella by A.S. Byatt (who died last week). Not only does it not appear to be available streaming, but the DVD is out of print and used copies seem to be going for $40+.

hellotomyrars 3y ago

I pay for prime currently and Netflix in the past I still used torrents for content that I had access to because it was significantly more convenient to have an mp4 file. I prefer to use my player of choice. Also stupid restrictions on quality per device. You can’t get more than 720p on Netflix unless you use edge. That kind of restriction is so boneheaded stupid. The economics of it all is so insane anyways. How much money is a company getting if I watch their film once on Netflix vs how much are they getting if I buy it on physical media. The difference is difficult for me to justify . Also I don’t want to have a bunch of physical media taking up space. Do I rip them and sell the discs? Throw them away? Donate them? What is the morality of that? Anyways instead of trying to square the ethics of capitalism with the content I like, I’ll just do it on my own terms. Things do go down the memory hole though even in piracy. Less obscure stuff vanishes entirely.

mongol 3y ago

Is it this one? Available at Youtube: https://youtu.be/gyCMRwHkGCw https://youtu.be/gyCMRwHkGCw My trick is to just google it and click the videos tab, filter by video length. Surprisingly often you find it.

dirtyhippiefree 3y ago

Yandex searches another section of the internet. That’s how I saw Ahsoka.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

thiht 3y ago

This is so frustrating. I went from Netflix+Disney Plus+Prime Video to just Netflix, because every single time I wanted to watch something specific, it’s not available on any platform. I kept Netflix because they fill the « I don’t know what to watch, give me something » correctly, and I have a few shows in progress. For the rest, I’m back to TPB, torrent is once again more convenient than the alternatives.

wahnfrieden 3y ago

Some, someday? Most are already not available, it's about half of all produced that are available. There are online archives that try to assemble access to many of these lost or otherwise inaccessible films or other media, but they get shut down or lock access over time.

ljm 3y ago

There was a TV show starring JK Simmons called Counterpoint. I was able to watch it at one point but now it is completely unavailable in the UK. Can’t even buy the series! Despite subscribing to the Showtime channel on Amazon Prime, I cannot watch Homeland. I can watch it on Netflix though and the audio and quality is absolute shit. And I don’t want to give Netflix 20 quid a month for that. Why homeland? Was on a Damien Lewis binge. Love that guy’s work.

ghaff 3y ago
Counterpart. Was a really good show. It's available in the US but it looks like you have to buy or rent.
- ljm 3y ago
  That’s the thing. Can’t do it. Unless it was released on physical media. I really wanted to watch it again considering severance s2 has been in limbo for ages.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    It seems to be available on DVD in the US. Though going forward--and given the number of people who don't even own DVD players any longer (even some older folks think it's weird I still have one)--I expect more and more things won't be released on physical media any longer.
Yoric 3y ago
Wasn't that Counterpart? The one that takes place in Berlin?
- walteweiss 3y ago
  Yeah, sounds like it is.
Charlie_26 3y ago
Watch Wolfhall if you haven’t

LeonardoTolstoy 3y ago

Do libraries in Canada loan DVDs and/or Blu-rays (and I suppose do you have something to play those, a PS5 for example)? Just checked my local library system and there are 7 available copies of Heavenly Creatures, I could get it and watch it in a few days via inter library loan. But I'm in the States. 95% of the films I watch via the library I would venture. But it depends on your system.

ornornor 3y ago
What’s the difference, monetarily? The library bought one copy of the dvd/BR and shares it with as many users as they can. How is that fundamentally different than downloading an “illegal” copy on file sharing? In either case, someone acquired the source material (afaik, “pirated” content is bought with actual money most of the time) and then shared without further revenue for the publishers. Isn’t that fundamentally the same except for saying that libraries can do it but not scene groups? Libraries are just a more convoluted and restrictive way of doing the same thing imho. While not everyone everywhere has access to a library system (let alone a well funded one), virtually anyone can download off the internet.
- GoblinSlayer 3y ago
  By downloading you create an additional copy of the work. Renting a dvd doesn't create a copy, the library doesn't retain access to a dvd it rented to you.
  - ornornor 3y ago
    Isn't that a technicality though? 99% of the content I watch, I only watch once and never again personally. It's deleted/returned as soon as I'm done with it but I do keep a permanent copy in my memory as having read the book/watched the movie/tv show.
    - xp84 3y ago
      It’s not a technicality, in fact the spirit of the law is what matters. When you stream a movie on Netflix or hell even on actual over the air digital TV, by any definition bytes are being copied there too. However, you aren’t intending to copy it, just to consume the media and the “copy” is a technical implementation detail. When you rip the library‘a disk or BitTorrent the movie, you are making a copy on purpose, a copy you could keep (and I bet you or anyone would keep it if you enjoyed it so much you wanted to rewatch it many times). When you choose to erase it afterward, it doesn’t erase your infringing act you did in the first place. Note: None of this is a commentary on what’s “right” just discussing the legal ramifications. I don’t personally care what anybody does or have energy to convince anyone of anything.

michaelleslie 3y ago

Anecdote, but I've gone back to public library DVDs and Blu-rays for titles unavailable on streaming for similar reasons to what you've described. I'm in the States, so it's less of an issue of region/market lock-out and more an issue of no one being able to own their own media any more.

t0bia_s 3y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ll_own_nothing_and_be_happy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ll_own_nothing_and_be_...

hn_ta456 3y ago

Our cultural memory and our ability to develop it and pass it on was erased when we decided that a small group of people had to be in charge of writing, recording and broadcasting it. Recorded culture is dead and frozen culture.

0xDEAFBEAD 3y ago
>Our cultural memory and our ability to develop it and pass it on was erased when we decided that a small group of people had to be in charge of writing, recording and broadcasting it. When did we decide that? It's never been easier for an ordinary person to write, record, and broadcast...
- hn_ta456 3y ago
  Write, record and broadcast what? What happened to the stories, music and performance handed down by cultural tradition? Unless you think Mr Beast qualifies. “Broadcast” is also part of the problem. Audience size is the goal, not the story, moral or history.
  - brokenmachine 3y ago
    You're free to tell stories and perform to whatever size audience you want.

glimshe 3y ago

I simply can't find my favorite Graphic Novels in DRM-free format outside pirate streams. I want to pay for them, but there is no scenario where I'll shell out hundreds of dollars to rent content from big DRM providers like Amazon. I'm not as afraid of completely losing our cultural memory exactly because "piracy" can't be ultimately defeated: As long as people can consume their DRM-protected content, there will be always a way to remove the DRM and offer it through alternate means. I understand the risk of civil disobedience, however it seems that there has never been a time without the risk-takers that effectively protect our cultural heritage. Despite the immense power of the immoral US Copyright law, it's not all-powerful as places like sci-hub prove.

sonicanatidae 3y ago
The media giants did this, with exactly what you mentioned. DRM. I can download a movie for free, or I can spring $20-30 for the DVD, then sit through forced FBI warnings, then previews, etc. when I really just wanted to watch a damn movie. They shifted the burden to the consumer (time wasted) and in a world with piracy, good luck with that model.
- rapind 3y ago
  This reminds me of advertising in movie theatres now. I show up to a movie 15 minutes late to skip the insane number of ads.
  - xp84 3y ago
    Previews are pretty annoying to me too but I’m curious: if you like movies, how do you find out about them? I don’t watch ad-supported TV and opt out of ads wherever I can (YouTube Premium, Hulu etc). When I was in my early 20s in the 2000s, I could go to a theater and just know what the deal was for 90% of the movies that were playing at a 20-plex automatically just from TV ads and a few late-night-show actor interviews. Today I know zero (other than recognizing which one is some Marvel thing). If you dropped me off at the movies I wouldn’t know what to watch without googling them all.