It’s Unstreamable! Where Jas Keimig and Chase Burns recommend movies and TV shows you can't watch on major streaming services in the United States. We post on Wednesdays unless we’re tired or busy.
Got a recommendation? Tell us at unstreamablemovies@gmail.com.
US, 2001, 98 min, Dir. Harry Dodge, Silas Howard
Even though it was filmed and released more than two decades ago, Harry Dodge and Silas Howard’s By Hook or By Crook feels as refreshing and daring as anything released today. The film follows Shy (Howard), a trans guy who leaves his po-dunk small town after the death of his father for gay-ass San Francisco. It’s there he meets Valentine (Dodge), an eccentric adoptee looking for his birth mom and chaotically dating Billie (Stanya Kahn). With barely a nickel to split between them and living on the fringes of society, Shy and Val decide to embark on a life of crime.
By Hook or By Crook was Dodge and Howard’s first film, which they say they dreamt up as a plan for “financial security” following the indie success Kevin Smith’s Clerks. Shot on tinny digital video by director of photography Ann T. Rossetti (of another lesbian classic, Go Fish), there’s a DIY spirit that pervades the film. Both director/actors give emotional depth to their respective characters and explore the queerphobia, classism, and social instability without being too preachy. While Shy and Val’s circumstances might be a little tragic, they themselves are not. I wish I had seen this as a kid! JAS KEIMIG
Find it on DVD in the LGBT section. Or rent it by mail.
Japan, 1989, 100 min, Dir. Mamoru Oshii
The Patlabor franchise is sick. A popular addition to the mecha genre, the Patlabor world includes large, human-like robots, named "Labors," who essentially work in Amazon warehouses. The Labors produce labor more effectively than humans, but everyone is apparently surprised when Labors begin to randomly destroy buildings and commit crimes. Who's responsible for the chaos? The robots? The programmers? The politicians?
Patlabor: The Movie is a standout for the franchise, notably directed by Palme d'Or-nominated Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. Released in 1989 but set in 1999, the anime focuses on the tension between naughty Labors and the specialized Patrol Labors (get it, "Patlabor"—it's a portmanteau) assigned to keep the Labors in check. Members of the back-up squad running Patrol Labors begin to suspect that a Labor programmer intentionally created software that would cause the Labors to go berserk. CHASE BURNS
Find it in the Anime Spotlight section. Or rent it by mail.
*The fine print: Unstreamable means we couldn’t find it on Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, Disney+, or any of the other hundreds of streaming services available in the United States. We also couldn’t find it available for rent or purchase through platforms like Prime Video or iTunes. We don’t consider films on sites that interrupt with commercial breaks, like Tubi, to be streamable. Tubi is like Neu Cable. And yes, we know you can find many things online illegally, but we don’t consider user-generated videos, like unauthorized YouTube uploads, to be streamable.
