TV Answer Man, I read that my favorite film of all time, Scarface with Al Pacino, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Do you know which streaming services have it in their libraries? Is it on cable now? — Jan, Detroit.
Jan, Scarface, the brilliant Brian De Palma-directed drama, stars Al Pacino as Cuban refugee Tony Montana who discovers crime does pay, and exceedingly well, in coke-fueled 1980s Miami. The movie debuted in December 1983 so this year does mark its 40th anniversary.
I’ll tackle your last question first. Scarface will play on AMC, the basic cable channel, tomorrow night at 11 p.m. ET and re-air the next morning at 11 a.m. ET. However, note that the AMC presentation will include commercials and might be cut to accommodate a PG audience. The film is ripe with profanity and some of the scenes are so violent and grisly that it’s hard to blame AMC which operates by different standards than a subscription streaming service.
The movie will also be available for free on Tubo, the streaming service owned by Fox. But again, watch out for commercials. (See below for more information on Tubi.)
If you are willing to fork over a few bucks, an uncut, commercial-free Scarface is now available as a pay-per-view movie for as little as $3.99 on Apple TV, Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play, Redbox VOD and YouTube. Philo, the $25 a month live streaming service, also has it in its library.
Jan, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!
Below is a story on Tubi from last November from our sister site, CutYourTVBill.com.
Tubi, which is owned by Fox, is a free streaming service available on your computer, mobile phone or streaming device, such as Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, XBox, Chromecast, Xfinity X1 and Cox set-tops, and select LG, Samsung, Hisense, Sony and Vizio Smart TVs. The Tubi lineup consists of thousands of TV shows and movies from studios such as Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, MGM and Warner Bros.
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Tubi is able to offer the programming for free by inserting ads before and during the programs. The in-program ads usually run every 15 minutes or so, much like how commercials are placed during shows on networks such as CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC. The ads breaks are one to two minutes in length on average.
You won’t find many recent movie releases or TV shows on Tubi. But there is a vast catalog of films and shows in all genres, including drama, comedy, documentary, western and horror.
The movie lineup is dominated by titles which are several years (or decades) old, and frankly, not in high demand. But you will find some standouts such as these films that were recently added: John Wick, John Wick, Chapter 2, John Wick 3, Tombstone, Deadpool, Full Metal Jacket, Carlito’s Way, Out of Time, A Few Good Men, Salt, Escape From New York, and Book of Eli. (Of course, be prepared for these films to include ads.)
Tubi, like some other free services, such as Pluto TV, also has a live TV section consisting of ad-included channels such as the NFL Channel, MLB Channel, NBC News Now, USA Today channel, Fox Weather and so on. The quality varies, but it’s not bad for free.
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So if you like free movies, and free shows, — with some ads sprinkled in — Tubi could be your new home after you cut the cord. You can learn more about Tubi here.
Have a question about TV technology? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
