The Decline of Western Civilization (Movie)

Among the free streaming services, few are as enjoyable and reliable as this one.For this month’s spotlight on lesser-known but worthwhile streaming services, we’re showcasing our first advertising-based video-on-demand platform, or A.V.O.D., the model in which services make their money not via subscriptions, but through good old-fashioned advertisements. It’s a trade-off, to be sure; commercials were one of the reasons everyone got rid of cable. But now that Disney+, Netflix and their ilk have shoved ads back into their (paid!) programming, it’s not so hard to tolerate them from a free service.Among those free services, few are as enjoyable and reliable as Shout! TV, the latest incarnation of one of the most beloved labels in all of physical media. Shout! Factory was started in 2002 by three of the minds behind the great music label Rhino Records, and both imprints carved out a niche for catering to those whose tastes are slightly off the beaten path. As a DVD, Blu-ray and now 4K label, Shout! has been dependable and admirable in both curation and presentation, restoring and releasing crackerjack titles from the realms of cult, horror, sci-fi, action, animation, foreign films and throwback TV.Those genres also make up the backbone of the menu on Shout! TV. Their on-demand film selection includes a wide variety of movies, like Godzilla and Jackie Chan, Gene Autry and Elvira, with a frequently rotating library of entertaining titles from the silent era to the present. But their most impressive selections are in the label’s original specialties. The cult section is a delightful menagerie of Mario Bava films, biker movies, skin flicks, grimy indies, Roger Corman cheapies, contemporary cult items like “Donnie Darko” and oddities you’ll click only because of the inexplicable titles (“Dirty Duck”??). And Shout has enough horror movies to run a successful sublabel, Scream Factory, so the channel’s horror section is stacked with variety that includes “Night of the Living Dead,” “Alligator” and “Chopping Mall.”On the TV side — where the ad spots are particularly unobtrusive (credit where due: Shout bothers to insert them in designated commercial spots, rather than at random intervals as some other A.V.O.D. services do) — viewers can find scores of classic television shows and comedy shorts. They also have variety shows, cartoons and adventures, but the crown jewels of their TV offerings are their expansive collections of old episodes of “The Carol Burnett Show” and “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”; those are not only available as à la carte episodes, based on your preferred guest stars or eras, but also among their 24/7 streaming channels, where you can just tune in and view whatever they’re running. You know, just like watching TV!All of this makes Shout! TV one of the very best streaming values since it doesn’t cost you a single cent — just the time you’ll spend watching ads. Here are a few recommendations:Mystery Science Theater 3000: “The Skydivers”: Shout has been in business for quite some time with the various iterations of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” the uproariously funny cult TV show where an average Joe, marooned in space, watches bad movies with his robot companions while cracking wise. In addition to the original episodes, Shout also streams their “riffed” short films and episodes from “MST” alumni shows “Cinematic Titanic,” “The Film Crew” and “Rifftrax.” But if you’re looking for an entry point, I’d recommend this sixth season episode, in which our boys first watch the educational short “Why Study Industrial Arts?” (the titular question is not satisfactorily answered, frankly) and the technically incompetent and narratively incoherent 1963 film “The Skydivers,” from the writer-director Coleman Francis, a filmmaker so inept, he makes Ed Wood look like Martin Scorsese.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More