On October 27th, 2018, the unthinkable happened: WarnerMedia decided to close down their beloved streaming service, FilmStruck, within a month's time. They claimed that the service was too "niche" of a program to warrant any financial value - this claim was complete nonsense as evidenced by the devoted fanbase and the subsequent outrage coming from the cinephile community. Without FilmStruck, people won't be able to access movies throughout cinematic history, especially the classics. Netflix doesn't cater to the more adventurous viewers nor do most streaming services. Those that do only have a limited range of films to pick from, and not for very long. Closing down FilmStruck is akin to New York City closing down the Museum of Modern Art as it serves too "niche" a community to make any real impact. It's not only disrespectful towards potential customers, but also towards the films that still have something to say all these decades later. Without looking back on our past, we'll never understand our present nor hope for a better future.

As a loyal patron, I had hundreds of movies that I wanted to watch on my watchlist, and to introduce to friends. Now, that chance to introduce the joys of a rare-to-find gem to a potential fan is quickly endangered, because an alarming majority of these classics aren't widely public on an open platform.

I sort of wish I was a billionaire, so I could resurrect the service into a permanent art collection where everyone could access these films and appreciate their beauty. Here's the list of all the quality movies that either were on FilmStruck, should have been on FilmStruck, or would have been on FilmStruck had it lasted longer. These films would be preserved, curated, and exhibited to an expanding digital audience. byNWR, a spiritual cousin, states that culture is for everyone; since film is part of the universal culture, it is for everyone as long as they have public/reliable/authorized access to it. I pray that one day, it'll no longer belong to just a domineering/greedy few corporate executives, but to all movie lovers.

Note: This list is purposefully long to indicate how I used FilmStruck to watch movies before actually purchasing the darn movie on home video. It's also long because I'm using to vent out my eternal frustration with this inexplicable philistine decision. If you're a normal Letterboxd user, please don't read this - you're in the same sinking boat as I'm are due to you being a movie lover. If you're a copyright nazi/studio executive, read this list thoroughly as I want you to suffer the exact pain that every cinephile is currently suffering right now!

Update: First of all, I'm beyond ecstatic in seeing how well loved this list is! Thank you so much for your support - it really helps as I was just devastated when FilmStruck went away. Second, Criterion has earned my eternal support as they released The Criterion Channel as its own website, partnering with Vimeo to stream their library. If you haven't signed up for it, what are you waiting for?!? Here's their new address for your convenience: www.criterionchannel.com/