Even in the streaming era, not every movie is easy to find on streaming—and some aren't even available on DVD. Here are 19 major movies you can't easily watch in 2024, and how to maybe watch them anyway.
  • jayemar@lemm.eeEnglish
    70·
    5 months ago
    1. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
    2. Starbooty/Starrbooty (1987/2007)
    3. Dogma (1999)
    4. Swimming Pool (2003)
    5. Kids (1995)
    6. Lagaan (2001)
    7. Sleuth (1972)
    8. It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
    9. Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
    10. The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
    11. Longtime Companion (1989)
    12. Making Love (1982)
    13. Raintree County (1957)
    14. Titus (1999)\
    15. Fire (1996)
    16. Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
    17. Porgy & Bess (1959)
    18. The Fall (2006)
    19. Duel in the Sun (1946)
    20. Cocoon (1985)
      • mojofrododojo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        5 months ago

        20 Yeats

        0.o that’s a lot of irish drama.

        joking aside, I need to rewatch this because I recall it being gorgeous. it and The Cell are both wedged in my ‘even if it’s not a great film, it’s a feast for the eyes’ category.

      • Mango@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        It’s literally my favorite movie!

        Do you know that scene where they blew up a cliff? Well to get that shot, they blew up a cliff. Zero special effects!

    • niktemadur@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      A couple of years ago I saw Sleuth, on one of those unofficial Roku apps that don’t work anymore, it had commercial breaks with no commercials in them, the screen went black for a second or two before resuming.
      Same with Dogma.

      Making Love! My oldest brother, a friend of his and I - just barely a teenager then - saw it in the theater! My brother picked that film when at the ticket booth because it had the nearest screening hour, and ironically (considering the film’s subject matter), because of Kate Jackson, whom he called “the underrated Charlie’s Angel”.

    • fartsparkles@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      423·
      5 months ago

      Because the writer doesn’t want some huge corporation buttfucking them into legal oblivion because they can’t afford lawyers to refute?

      • sunzu@kbin.run
        81·
        5 months ago

        People forget sometimes these basic limitations.

        If you are gonna threaten other peoples money flow, don’t let them know who they are. They will retaliate to up to killing you… Ex Epstein and Boeing whistleblower.

    • dutchkimble@lemy.lolEnglish
      51·
      5 months ago

      If you find a way to get this movie, Operation sandman, please let me know!

      • Godort@lemm.eeEnglish
        6·
        5 months ago

        It looks like the movie was only ever aired on TV with a single VHS release later.

        I could find zero evidence that anyone has ever digitized it.

      • Fillicia@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        5 months ago

        I’ll add Gothicmaid to the list of hard/impossible to find. That one was theater only. Never released.

        I hate that even if home theaters are way better than 2012’s big screens, the producer still insist the movie is not meant to be seen at home.

  • digger@lemmy.caEnglish
    24·
    5 months ago

    Dogma is so great! For the last several years I’ve watched it on Good Friday after assisting at our church’s 3pm service as I wait around for the 6:30pm service. Our parish priest loves it too!

  • Drusas@kbin.run
    232·
    5 months ago

    I’m pretty happy to never see Kids again ever in my life, but Grave of the Fireflies being unavailable is basically a crime. Everybody should see that at some point, regardless of how heartbreaking it is.

    • southsamurai@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      101·
      5 months ago

      Yeah, kids is/was a difficult watch. But that’s kinda what made it worth watching. Some really raw performances by young actors that deserve recognition at the very least.

      • Drusas@kbin.run
        8·
        5 months ago

        I am glad I saw it as a young teenager. Probably every teenager should. It’s traumatizing in just the ways they need in order to learn to be extra careful and also that not everything bad that happens to you is your fault even if you are.

        • southsamurai@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          3·
          5 months ago

          I was a good bit older, but it really did hit hard for me, having recently had a friend die of aids when I saw it that first time. And I remember him being just as blindsided by it all as the main character was. Don’t want to spoil it for anyone thinking of giving it a watch because of this post and comments, but it was a similar situation, just with my friend continuing on after the movie ends.

          There’s a lot of fucked up things in the world, and just like you said, your can be careful and still end up wrecked.

  • GroundedGator@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    5 months ago

    I think when IP becomes abandoned like this it should enter the public domain in some way. I could even see there being a streaming service specifically for this type of IP…

    • inefficient_electron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      5 months ago

      I run a plant nursery and in my field it does work this way. When plants varieties are bred they can be protected like other IP, lasting 20 years to give the breeder a chance to realise the benefits of their work. This is conditional though, the protection is only valid as long as growers/the public have reasonable access to the variety. If this is not met the protection can be revoked and it becomes public domain again, so anybody can commercially propagate the variety. Glossing over a few details, but this is true here in Australia at least.

  • eaterofclowns@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    5 months ago

    It’s such a a beautiful day by Don Hertzfeldt is available on Vimeo from NA so I’m not sure that it quite fits the “can’t find anywhere” label. As is World of Tomorrow, which is a modern sci fi favorite of mine.

    As another user mentioned, piracy is an option but so is a casual internet search?

  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    13·
    5 months ago

    How can Grave of the Fireflies not be available? I thought Studio Ghibli had a streaming contract with one of the big players 🤔

    Edit: Turns out distribution rights are a mess because it’s not the studio that owns them but the original writer…

  • reddig33@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    5 months ago

    “Titus” shows up on streaming every now and then, and might be available on public library services like Hoopla and Kanopy.

  • Twofacetony@lemmy.worldEnglish
    112·
    5 months ago

    For those who want to feel empty and numb inside, I would suggest this triple banger of back to back films…

    1. Kids
    2. Requiem for a dream
    3. Import/Export
  • mihnt@lemmy.caEnglish
    9·
    5 months ago

    Kids, man. That movie was such a gritty take. It’s forever scarred in my brain I don’t think I’ll really ever have to watch it again. Newer generations should see it though.

  • Donjuanme@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    5 months ago

    I would like to add the criminally overlooked “Zorro; the Gayblade”. Please find this (I last saw it on the Internet archives) and treat yourself to one of the best Zorro adaptations of the last century.

  • PrimeMinisterKeyes@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    Some of my White Whale movies that are either unavailable or way overpriced where I live:

    • Citizen X (not to be confused with “Malcolm X”)
    • Basquiat
    • Downtown '81

    Also, “Poser” was dropped from my streaming service very quickly and before I had a chance to watch it, and for many years, “7 Years in Tibet” was impossible to get by either streaming or hard copy. I used to think that it was due to Chinese influence, but maybe it was something far more mundane.