hulu.sc
Finding the perfect movie for Taco Tuesday can be tough. Going to the movie theater is out of the question, and there are so many movies to choose from on Netflix. But nothing has caught your eye.
On Tuesday last, things looked at least that way for me.
When I found Hulu.sc, its modern look has a very familiar feel to other search engines. Think Google simple. A logo and a search box.
This site is loaded with movies you've never heard of and some new ones too.
A Design That Shines, But Isn?t Gold
I skimmed through the catalog and saw that the new car had a transmission that looked shoddy.
I found a few recommendations for Taco-Tuesday movies, but I wanted to know what you thought was the best. So, I headed over to the movie section and checked out some of your favorites.
The landing page for the movies doesn't seem to care about what I might like. Instead, the films are in no particular order and half of them don't have an image for me to judge the book by its cover. So, I'm in a sea of meaningless movie titles with no direction on which way is up.
Fortunately, there is a filter option for the amoeba of movie titles.
Isn't it easier to just search by genre and year? Users make it easy by offering to filter based on most viewed links and top of IMDB.
Unfortunately, while these filtering methods will give you a list of things people enjoy, it is limited to their library. And worse - it's a randomized list.
When I click ?most viewed? on the page, it popsulates a different list every time, although not an entirely new list. For example, the cinematic masterpiece and Charles Band's 2005 magnum opus The Gingerdead Man first appeared at #1 on the most viewed tab. But when I refreshed the page, it was #7 despite its clever title and obviously compelling plotline. There seems to be a group of top recommendations that appear in no particular order.
And the Top IMDB filter option has the same issue.
Besides offering a group of movies that bear no resemblance to IMDB's actual top lists, it offers a group of movies that are random.
Different people have different favorites, so it's hard to say which movie is the best.
I think we can all agree that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith should come before a Star Wars: Reviewed.
Yet, Hulu.sc has an algorithm that puts the masterpiece of a review by PlinkettReviews before the actual movie.
The website's layout is easy to navigate, but you will still be lost in a meaningless library.
Surprisingly Clean on Mobile
It can be a minefield trying to find a free streaming site that works with an unsupported phone, most of which have AdBlock installed.
Any click might bring you down a rabbit hole of ads that might, or may not, be malware for your device. Be careful before clicking any ad, as it's possible that it could be malicious.
But Hulu.sc was reasonable. I clicked around before landing on American Dad. When I selected the show, I found two ads that I was able to back out of. That's impressive compared to some sites that are almost unusable with ads on.
Mobile sites generally have ads over the play button. And that ad will redirect a few times until you're on a landing page that tries to convince you that hot singles in your area are looking for you.
But this website didn't offer that. Instead, the link went straight to a landing page you're able to back out of. I had to do this twice before the show was playable.
The connection was good, and within 20-30 seconds, the show started and didn't pause to buffer through the entire episode.
The mobile experience of this site should be the standard for free streaming services. They offer a mediocre library with minimal ads that are easy to avoid, fast servers that start your show (or movie) without buffering multiple times, and a user-friendly design.
Sometimes, Bad is Good
On Taco Tuesday, I could have been seriously disappointed with a randomized movie list that didn't give much direction. But instead, I ended up watching a movie that was so terrible I couldn't stop laughing.
I think that the site perfectly sums up my experience.
The site looks good, but the library is not horrible. But not horrible in the ?I?m never eating here again? way. It is awful in the ?favorite-dive-bar-with-bad-service? way.
If you're looking for something to do on a weekday, I suggest checking out the library. They have a wide variety of movies that you might not recognize, but most of them are pretty bad and you'll have a lot of fun laughing after a few glasses of wine.
This website has the appeal of an unattractive dog.
If you decide to take a chance on finding something on the site, you'll have a decent experience finding a mediocre movie.
The (not so) Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Whenever I have the chance, I give the benefit of the doubt. But there are some things that are inexcusable.
This site can be inaccurate. Besides having a broken algorithm to suggest the next title, it also has been known to be inaccurate in the past.
"Let's say you give it a chance," you say to yourself as you sit down to watch the Hollywood failure "Cats." After convincing yourself that a live-action musical about humanized bird murders is worth sitting down to watch, you give it a shot.
You're under your favorite blanket with a big bowl of popcorn and your favorite fluffy socks.
You click the movie. The movie plays automatically.
But you?re greeted by a much younger Jeff Goldblum staring in the 2001 movie Cats & Dogs. Let?s leave aside that Jeff?s performance is probably a better theatrical choice than the financial black hole that is the 2019 Cats.
You were promised a movie on Hulu. The site's description even had the movie's poster, release date, and actor list. However, Hulu does not deliver on their promise and you're left disappointed.
This is not how it's supposed to work.
I can handle the lack of good movies, the subpar algorithm, and possible malware-laden ads. But I cannot handle a false advertisement. If you're going to be a library filled with bad movies at least take the time to get the links right.
What Can Be Improved
Sometimes you need to take things at face value.
This website offers free movies with minimal ads and a layout that makes it easy to check out their library.
But two things can be done to put glitter on their turd library.
Make sure the links are accurate before you use them.
Finding something to spend two hours of my life on can be a tough choice. And once I finally make up my mind, it is frustrating to be redirected to another movie. To me, this seems like the most important fix for the quality of life.
Make sure the filters are accurate.
I'm not the biggest tech guy, but I imagine there is a way to get an accurate list of IMDB movies integrated into the site. If the site already has this data, then the most viewed movies on it should be easy to find.
At first, the filters seemed useful. Then I refreshed the page, and was offered a different list with the same movies.
checking each link to see if it points to the correct movie might be a hassle, but fixing the quality of the filter seems like a more straightforward fix that makes using the site much more user-friendly.
What?s the Verdict?
This is a site that is not good at all.
The layout of the library is easy to navigate, but it lacks compelling movies. The links might be incorrect.
Some things are worth putting up with on this site, but the downsides make it hard to recommend it to friends.
I'll use Hulu if I need background noise while cleaning the house, but it would be tough to put this site on a list of reliable resources.
This is the McDonalds of free streaming. It's usually disappointing, but when everything else is closed, it's an option to get by on.
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