The Queue
Plus: Four Val Kilmer films for your viewing list.
You’re reading The Queue, Boston.com’s guide to streaming. Sign up to get the latest industry news, movie and TV recommendations, and more in your inbox every week.
With the economy looking a little bit shaky and streaming companies continuing to raise prices, many people may be looking to trim their entertainment budget. The easiest way to do that? Switching to a free streaming service for your movie and TV needs.
As I’ve covered previously in The Queue, the big streaming players like Netflix and Max have made their value proposition consistently worse over time through a mix of price hikes and slimming down their libraries of movies and TV shows — making free alternatives even more enticing.
If you’re willing to tolerate advertisements, there are a staggering number of free movie and TV streaming services to choose from. Even Chick-fil-A has its own streaming service for some reason.
In my eyes, there are two free services that stand head and shoulders above the rest: Tubi and Pluto TV. But I’m also going to highlight three others worth considering — two of which are ad-free.
Tubi
Total Titles: 51,147
With more than 50,000 movies and shows, the single-largest streaming library by far belongs to Tubi, the free, ad-supported television (FAST) streaming service owned by FOX.
A lot of the movies and shows on Tubi are low-budget trash, which can be entertaining in its own right. But if you’re searching for quality, Tubi’s algorithm learns quickly and feeds you Oscar winners like “Fargo” and “The Pianist” or classic TV shows like “Columbo” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Check out Tubi here.
Pluto TV
Total Titles: 13,121
Pluto TV used to be my favorite FAST service before it lost the rights to its 24-hour “Jeopardy” channel. But the Paramount-owned service still has an impressive library of movies and shows, and is about on par with Tubi when it comes to ease of navigation.
As Paramount completes its Skydance merger, the company may add more Viacom-owned shows from CBS, Showtime, Comedy Central, MTV, and more to Pluto TV in the future.
Check out Pluto TV here.
The Roku Channel
Total titles: 22,854
If you own a smart TV, there’s a good chance it uses the Roku operating system. Easily accessible from your TV’s home screen, the Roku Channel has a robust list of offerings as well as a number of Roku originals you won’t find anywhere else.
Roku gets the third spot on this list because its channel navigation is inferior to Tubi and Pluto TV, and it is prone to bait-and-swich tactics, where you’ll click on a show like “Yellowjackets” and find out only one episode is available for free.
Check out The Roku Channel here.
Hoopla and Kanopy
Total Titles: 23,779 (Hoopla), and 11,247 (Kanopy)
The last services on this list, Hoopla and Kanopy, are different from the rest. They don’t offer live channels, they don’t have ads, and they are only accessible if you have a (free) library card.
Once you have them connected to your library card, however, both Hoopla and Kanopy offer access to thousands of movies and TV shows on demand.
Hoopla tends to have a better selection of popular movies, while Kanopy has some rare gems. The other night, I went searching for Jacques Tati’s 1967 satire “Playtime,” and the only place it was available for free was Kanopy. If you’re a fan of BBC shows, Kanopy and Hoopla have plenty of those as well.
The only drawback to Kanopy and Hoopla is that your local library must pay a licensing fee after a title is checked out a certain number of times, which has led some libraries to end their partnership with the companies.
Check out Hoopla and Kanopy here.
Play or Skip: Val Kilmer Edition
Have a show you can’t stop watching? Email me about it at [email protected], and your recommendation may appear in a future edition of The Queue.
Press play on these new movies and shows:
“Top Secret!” (Pluto TV): The fantastic actor Val Kilmer passed away on April 1 at age 65, ending a career that was as unpredictable and unconventional as his personality. Kilmer had movie-star looks but rarely played a traditional leading man. In his big-screen debut “Top Secret!,” a Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker spoof, Kilmer played an Elvis-esque pop idol turned government spy, fully committing to the ZAZ silliness.
“Top Gun” (Prime Video and Paramount+): Kilmer is the villainous foil to Tom Cruise’s flyboy Maverick in Tony Scott’s “Top Gun.” But the two are cut from the same cloth and have a grudging respect for each other in between rolling planes, schmoozing dames, and cracking wise.
“Tombstone” (Hulu): Featuring the most iconic line of Kilmer’s career (one that later served as the title of his memoir), “Tombstone” featured the actor as Doc Holliday, a close compatriot to Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, who must try to rid their Western town of outlaw cowboys. The fact that Kilmer was passed over for an Oscar nomination as Holiday but was handed a “Most Desirable Male” nomination from the MTV Movie Awards typifies Hollywood’s underestimation of his gifts.
“Val” (Prime Video): By the time this documentary about Kilmer began production, the actor’s vocal cords had been permanently damaged by throat cancer. Narrated in Kilmer’s own words by his son, Jack, “Val” is a chronicle of the health and career obstacles the actor faced, as well as an unflinching look at what gave him the “difficult” label at the peak of his career.
End Credits
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Queue. If you’re a fan, please consider recommending this newsletter to your friends.
Until next time, good stream hunting, everyone!
— Kevin