hulu.sc
Finding the perfect movie for Taco Tuesday can be tough. Going to the movie theater is out of the question, and you've already spent 30 minutes scrolling through Netflix, but nothing has caught your eye.
Last Tuesday, for me, looked like at least that.
I found Hulu.sc, which is modern looking and has a familiar feel to other search engines. It has a logo and a search box.
But this site has a lot of movies you've never heard of, and some new ones too.
A Design That Shines, But Isn?t Gold
I quickly looked through the catalog, noticing that the new car had a transmission that was not up to par.
I searched for a Taco-Tuesday movie, and the familiar design made it easy to find what I was looking for. However, I wanted some recommendations for a good movie to watch on Taco-Tuesday. So, I headed over to the movie section.
The landing page for the movies doesn't seem to be focused on 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.
You can search by genre and year, but those don't help much. Instead, I prefer to listen to users. And they make it easy by offering to filter based on most viewed links and top of IMDB.
Sadly, while these filtering methods will provide you with a list of things people enjoy, it is limited to their library. And worse - it is a randomized list.
Sometimes, when you click ?most viewed? on a page, the list of recommendations changes every time. For example, The Gingerdead Man, which was Charles Band's 2005 magnum opus, first appeared on the most viewed tab as #1. But when I refreshed the page, it had fallen to #7 despite its clever title and obviously compelling plotline. There seems to be a group of top recommendations that appear in no particular order.
The "Top IMDB" filter option has the same issue as the other filters.
Besides providing a group of movies at random, it offers a group of movies that bear no resemblance to IMDB's actual top lists.
No matter how you feel about it, there are going to be different classics for different people.
I think we can all agree that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith should come before a Star Wars: Reviewed.
Despite its flaws, Hulu.sc's algorithm puts the masterpiece of a review by PlinkettReviews before the actual movie in most cases.
The layout of the website is easy to navigate, but you will still be lost in a meaningless library.
Surprisingly Clean on Mobile
Many free streaming sites are difficult to use on a phone without AdBlock installed.
Any click on an ad could lead to malware on your device.
But Hulu.sc was reasonable. I clicked around before landing on American Dad. When I selected the show, I was given two ads that I was able to back out of. That's impressive compared to some sites that are almost unusable with ads on.
Generally, the mobile sites I use will have an ad 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 the website I was looking for didn't have that link. Instead, it went straight to a landing page that I'm able to back out of. I had to do this twice before the show was playable.
The connection was reasonable, and the show started and didn't pause to buffer through the entire episode within 20-30 seconds.
Overall, I think 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 and fast servers that start your show (or movie) without buffering multiple times.
Sometimes, Bad is Good
My Taco-Tuesday was ruined when I received a randomized movie list that gave no real direction. However, I ended up watching a movie that was so bad it made me laugh uncontrollably.
After using this site, I think that it perfectly sums up my experience.
The site looks good, but the library is horrible. The library is horrible in the ?I?m never eating here again? way. It is awful in the ?favorite-dive-bar-with-bad-service? way.
I would not suggest you invite friends over to watch a movie on Hulu. But if you find yourself bored on a weekday and want to watch a movie, keep an open mind and check out the library. You are not going to recognize most of the movies on the list, but most of them are so bad you won't be able to stop laughing after a few glasses of wine.
This website has the appeal of an ugly dog. It is full of poorly written content and is only meant to attract attention.
If you decide to take a chance by browsing the site, you'll have a decent experience finding a mediocre movie.
The (not so) Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
I try to give the benefit of the doubt whenever I can, but some things are unforgivable.
This website has an inaccurate algorithm that suggests the next title.
Let's say you give it a chance. You sit down to watch a Hollywood failure like the 2019 Hollywood failure 'Cats.' After convincing yourself a live-action musical about humanized bird murders is worth sitting down to watch, you give it a shot.
You are lying down with a big bowl of popcorn and your favorite fluffy socks on top of you.
The movie loads.
You click on the movie to watch it. After the ads, the movie loads.
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. Hulu did not deliver on their promise.
This is not acceptable.
I can handle the lack of good movies, the subpar algorithm, and possible malware-laden ads. However, 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 it is necessary to face reality and take things for what they are.
This site offers free movies that have minimal ads and a decent layout. It is easy to check out their library.
But two things can be fixed to make glitter cover their turd library.
Make sure the links in your article are accurate and up to date.
It can be tough to find something to sink two hours of my life into. And when I finally decide what it is, it is frustrating that I am redirected to another movie. To me, this seems like the most important fix for the quality of life.
Make sure the filters are accurate so that the data is 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. At the very least, the most popular movies on the site itself should be easy to find - its data the site should already have.
At first, the filters seemed to be helpful. However, when I refreshed the page, I was offered a different list with the same movies.
Valuing the quality of the filter over verifying each link 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 site is not great.
The library's layout is easy to navigate, but it lacks compelling movies and the links might be incorrect.
Despite being a free site, some things on this site are worth putting up with. However, the downsides of this site make it hard to recommend to friends.
I will 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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