Cordkillers 251 - Crocodile Tiers (w/ Kristi Kates)
Amazon's free streaming service, Game of Thrones final season date, and new Captain Marvel trailer. All this and more on Cordkillers! With special guest Kristi Kates.
CordKillers: Ep. Crocodile Tiers
Recorded: January 14 2019
Guest: Kristi Kates
Intro Video
Clip of Dan Trachtenberg saying he'd love to direct an "Uncharted" movie
Primary Target
Amazon unveils ad-supported IMDb video streaming service
- Amazon launched its ad-supported streaming service through IMDb, called Freedive. The service lists about 130 movies and 29 TV shows. You can watch it through the IMDb website or on Fire TV devices. TV shows include Fringe, Heroes, The Bachelor and Gilligan's Island. The film selection includes Memento, Awakenings, A Few Good Men and Monster.
Plex plans to offer ad-supported movies and more premium subscriptions
- Plex announced it is in discussions to get movies to bring to a free ad-supported service. It's also talking to content providers about offering subscriptions through Plex as add-ons to the Plex Pass fee. Plex recently began offering the music service TIDAL bundled with a Plex Pass.
Sling TV rolls out free content to non-subscribers, initially on Roku
- Last year Sling TV launched its free tier of service on Roku to former customers and now it has extended it to newcomers as well. The service has more than 100 hours of tv shows and movies. Sling TV offers access to standalone paid channels like HBO without needing any other package.
How to Watch
NBCUniversal to launch streaming service in 2020
- NBC Universal plans to launch its own streaming service in early 2020. It will be an ad-supported service available at no cost to pay TV subscribers in the US. An ad-free version of the service will be available for a fee, and non NBC subscribers can also purchase a subscription. NBC said it will continue to license content to other studios and platforms while retaining rights to certain titles for the new service.
Hulu redesign may drop the confusing screen called ‘Lineup,’ simplify navigation
- Hulu announced it has more than 25 million subscribers up 50% over last year. (Netflix has 58 million in the US)
- As Disney prepares to gain Fox's ownership in Hulu, Disney CEO Bob Iger says the service will remain home to more adult-oriented series, classic television shows, and exclusive Fox offerings vs. the Disney+ service.
-Hulu is preparing a redesign of its streaming app. Hulu is testing getting rid of the current "lineup" page that you get when you first enter the app. The test shows users either Hulu Picks, which are curated by staff or "Unwatched in My Stuff" which is pretty self-explanatory. The test will roll out to some users in the coming weeks. Hulu is also making tweaks to displays and navigation and adding the ability to mark things as watched or unwatched. The Hulu with Live TV subscribers will get two weeks worth of guide data.
What to Watch
HBO released a Game of Thrones teaser and announced the show will return for its final half-season on April 14.
Earth Is Dying and It's Time for Humans to GTFO in the First Trailer for Netflix's IO
-Netflix released a trailer for the apocalyptic series IO. Earth is toxic and humanity is moving to the Moon IO. Except for Margaret Qualley and Anthony Mackie who are running late for the last ship. It's coming this Friday January 18.
Netflix Gets Its Own Killer Time Loop Show in the First Russian Doll Trailer
- Netflix has a trailer for its dark time loop comedy Russian Doll from Amy Poehler, Natasha Lyonne, and Leslye Headland, starring Lyonne as a woman named Nadia who finds herself sent back to a set point in time one evening after being killed in a traffic accident. It comes to Netflix February 1.
Watch the first trailer for Jordan Peele's YouTube sci-fi show 'Weird City'
- YouTube released a trailer for its series from Jordan Peele and Charlie Sanders called Weird City. It's a show about a world with no middle class, just a technologically privileged upper class and everyone else who lives below "The Line." Weird City arrives on YouTube Premium on February 13th.
Amazon revisits Lorena Bobbitt’s trial in new ‘Lorena’ trailer
- Amazon released a trailer for the Jordan Peele produced 4-part documentary series on Lorena Bobbitt called Lorena coming to Sundance this month then Prime Video February 15.
The new Captain Marvel trailer came out for the movie that comes out March 8.
Twitter hopes you want to watch NBA games from a camera focused on just one player
- Twitter will start streaming the second half of some NBA games in February. The camera on these streams will focus on one player as chosen by the audience during the first half. If the player is out of the game the stream will show the game from end court.
Eyes On
Brian: Dirk Gently, Counterpart, Good Place, Spider Man (again), Vice, Bandersnatch sorta
Tom: True Detective, Angie Tribeca (Freezing Cold Prestige Drama)
Kristi: The Good Place S3 E11 , The House with the Clock in its Walls and Solo DashDucks on Twitch<-- this is very interesting!
On the Lookout: FyreY Fraud
Front Lines
The Game of Thrones Prequel Rounds Out Its Cast and Adds a Jessica Jones Director
-Last week HBO announced that Naomi Ackie, who is also appearing in Star Wars Episode IX, will star in the Game of Thrones prequel series. Ackie joins Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse who were previously announced. Jessica Jones and Defenders director S. J. Clarkson will direct the pilot.
The Spider-Verse May Spread to Television
-In addition to reports of a Spider-Gwen movie, the New York Times says Sony is considering making animated TV shows based on characters introduced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
New TiVo apps will let you watch live TV on Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku boxes
- TiVo said it will launch a full-featured app that lets you view Live and DVR recordings on non-TiVo boxes. Fire TV will get the app in Q2 and afterward it will come to Android, Roku and eventually Apple TV. Previously only a TiVo Mini could allow access to recordings. TiVo is also introducing a WiFi adapter for the Mini.
Amazon Fire TV now has ‘well over’ 30 million users
- Amazon announced its Fire TV boxes have more than 30 million active users which would push it ahead of the Roku. That's an increase of 5 million since October. Roku announced last week that it has 27 million active accounts.
CBS' Picard series will loosely tie in with JJ Abrams' 'Star Trek'
- Star Trek: Picard series creator Alex Kurtzman says the series will tie into the events mentioned in the JJ Abrams movie Star Trek. Basically the fall of the Romulan empire that spurs events in Star Trek the movie has a big effect on Picard in the Prime universe, since Picard was an ambassador to Vulcan and working with Spock on reunification with Romulus. AND CBS All Access also confirmed that Michelle Yeoh will star in a Star Trek Discovery spinoff series about Captain Georgiou's role in Starfleet's mysterious Section 31. Alex Kurtzman and Rod Roddenberry will executive produce.
CBS Super Bowl coverage features augmented reality and 8K
- During the Super Bowl, CBS says it will use 14 cameras to create live virtual graphics it's calling Augmented Reality, in "never–before-seen field level views." CBS will also use multiple 8K cameras so it can provide dramatic closeups unavailable at lower resolutions. CBS says US viewers can watch the Super Bowl without signing in. The Super BowI is February 3.
Dispatches from the Front
Hey Killers,
I wanted to let you guys know, I received the Roku Speakers as a gift for Christmas from my mother-in-law....
The sound quality is not quite as good as the sound bar they replaced, but guess what? This is another instance of, you guessed it, convenience trumping fidelity! These speakers just work! My wife is thrilled. I will say though, every now and then, I will notice a hiccup where I switch sources ...Still a small price to pay compared to our daily sound bar resets in our old set up, and likely something that will get fixed with an update.
What is most interesting though, is the sheer craziness of how my wife and non-tech-savvy mother-in-law had to collude just to purchase these things. ... wife had to get into my password manager and find my Roku account info and then log in and use my credentials to purchase my own present. Then of course, it lost all element of surprise when I got the confirmation email saying thanking me for my order!
Given that strange barrier to entry, I am not sure if these speakers will be a bang or a bust in the long-term, but I gotta say, in the near-term, I like em! And so does the wife, and I heard about them first from you guys. So kudos!
Your boss,
-Evan
Last week there was a question about how to handle a trip to Anartica and not being able to "phone home" for the DRM check
Someone could use "Play on" by either paying to use the cloud service which costs between $0.20 and $0.30 per movie/episode. or buying the software to record on your home computer ($30 on sale). Play on does a recording of the show/movie you watch so it will process in real time
Insert discussion, if this is moral/legal and a violation of the teams of service.
One of your fearless leaders
-Joe
Greetings fellow coworkers, I say that since I don’t want to have to make you former coworker as one of your bosses. But Tom oh Tom, how could you let me down so after all these years. On Ep 250 you talked about a website to tell you if a show had an ending or not and you mentioned Timeless.
I was flabbergasted that you thought it ended without resolution and was going to call you out, but since it is the new year, and trying to turn over a new leaf I will assume you were busy and missed the amazing two hour Timeless Christmas special that did wrap up not only season 2, but the series as well.
So if you have not see it definitely check it out, and then whomever does decide to make diditend.com can allow you to add in your thoughts on the Timeless series finale.
Cheers to more cord killing in 2019!
-Troy
Hi Tom, Brian, and Bryce,
I know you guys may have mentioned the service Shudder a few weeks back. I wanted to give you a recommendation for something streaming on the service and what is an up coming show for them.
Joe Bob Briggs, a horror movie critic and former horror show host from the 80s and 90s, has several streaming marathons on Shudder called Last Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs. He had a show on the movie channel (not sure of it's title) and later on TNT called Monster Vision that ended in early 00s. I was a huge fan and watched those shows all through high school. The new show doesn't disappoint if you like his previous work. Best part is that the films are not edited for TV and his color comments are not censored either. I know Brian often talks of movie lists or tv shows that are curated for people and I think this touches that base. Shudder streaming the marathon live with Twitter and social media comments then puts them up for streaming right afterwards. Joe Bob's marathons have been so popular for Shudder that in the next few months he is getting a weekly double feature of Last Drive In rather that the holiday marathons.
Love the show,
-Lou
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