Spider-man 2 will be the movie that officially kicks off the Summer box office season (I think technically that honor could have been stowed upon Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier). This Summer you can expect major films like X-men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers Prime: Age of Extinction, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Since we are kicking off the Summer movie season it is an awesome time to talk about digital streaming services. With more and more house holds owning streaming devices from the $30 Chromecast (which brought streaming to a lot of house holds because of the cost), rokus, amazon fire, or apple tv we are in the era where digital content is becoming the way to go. Personally I like having my movies in the cloud though the negative is that you do not truly own the content as you have to use the respective service to watch the content (ie you can not watch a movie you bought through Vudu with say google play movie or another another video service other than what vudu authorizes even when you download the movie to your device). The positives of not having to drive to a redbox, which even though there is one on every corner, the moment I decide I want to watch a movie I have to find what redbox has it, drive to the location, hope it is not scratched, and remember to return it the next day. Do not get me wrong I understand that minor chore is not something to riot about but I like grabbing my phone and looking for a movie to rent and just being able to click "purchase" and play and I am ready to go. For those of you who, like me, enjoy streaming their movies what is your favorite source of movie streaming?
Google Play Movies & TV: This has been my primary way of streaming movies and tv as it is simple as going in to the play store, clicking "rent/buy", then "play". There is nothing to set up as it uses your same debit card/credit card/gift card/google wallet that you use to purchase apps. I have been streaming new releases and buying content since I owned the chromecast and have to say this is the simple route to go if you own a chromecast as google play content may not be available on other streaming devices.
VUDU: I have been late to this one and I must say "wow". If you have a high def tv with the surround sound set up this is the way to go. The movie and sound quality is awesome for a streaming service and that is their mo. You will have to set up an account with vudu but personally for me this has already taken the spot where google play & tv used to be as far as renting movies is concerned.
Amazon Instant: This for me was the very first source of steaming content that I have used and known. But because it never released to chromecast and the buffering issues I personally moved on. Now I am sure they fixed the buffering issue especially for fire tv users but personally I have not used Amazon Instant in years so I can not offer an objective review on this particular streaming service.
Blockbusters: When the droid 2/droid x was released this was the poster child of the bloatware app. I really felt blockbusters could have done something in this particular space but they were slow to innovate and were constantly back on their heels. Meanwhile other streaming services occupy the same space offering the same content with better service and stole their thunder and customers. For me the only reason I would go to blockbuster would be for the nostalgia factor other than that I just feel like personally too little too late. But would like to hear from any one who use their services what they think.
Netflix: This is not the first place to go if you are searching for new releases but there is a lot of content on Netflix. If you like re-watching (or catching up) old tv shows and movies you did not want to waste money on at the theater or redbox then Netflix is the way to go. Though they are going up in fees I feel like the content they offer outweighs the cost.
Crackle: If you do not mind commercials then this is the way to go if you are looking for movies that may not be on Netflix. Most of the content is older content (movies that have been out for 4+ years). Though it may not be the first choice for watching a movie I would recommend adding this to your list of content as yo can not beat free.
HBO/Showtime: If you have a subscription to Showtime and/or HBO then this is another option to watch movies. Unfortunately they are not available for all streaming devices so you will have to check your device's channel availability.
Hulu (Plus): Hulu is mainly for catching up on tv episodes (ie Arrow, Family Guy, Agents of Shield, etc) that you may have missed because of work or having something else to do during that time. So really this service is not a source for watching movies but you can use it to watch movie trailers.