A month or so ago, we brought you word of the new On Demand service being introduced by the Curzon Cinemas chain, which finds itself in a very crowded and competitive market place alongside LoveFilm and NetFlix, who also offer a similar streaming service. Potentially, the difference with Curzon is that they are focussing on much less mainstream fare and also offering much more recent cinema releases (such as Le Havre, which was offered to me for viewing, having been released in cinemas only a few weeks ago.
As Jon Lyus says quite rightly here, this service will suit those who don’t have an independent cinema nearby and don’t want to wait until DVD releases for non-mainstream films that they are keen to see. I won’t review Le Havre itself, as it has been covered amply by Lewis Bazley right here. What I will offer some views on is the service itself.
The website is extremely easy to navigate and you can quickly find a list of the films available, together with a clear and simple pricing system (variable price and a member/non-member distinction). The range on offer is impressive, including more obvious recent titles like the original Girl Who… trilogy and excellent older films like the Three Colours films. Given the prices for more accessible films like Vera Drake and Hidden, they may struggle to attract much of an audience through this particular service, but to be able to instantly access Synecdoche, New York and Modern Times for a couple of quid each, with seven days within which to view them, will hold considerable pull with a particular type of customer.
With internet-enabled TVs now de rigueur, there will be relatively little need for squinting at your iPad or laptop, but when you’re watching The Deep Blue Sea rather than The Avengers, maybe that’s not such an issue anyway. For those harder to reach titles and for anyone keen to keep their hard-earned out of the hands of bigger companies, Curzon’s On Demand service might be just the ticket. You can check it out at your leisure here.
