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Better yet, Kanopy’s giant movie library isn’t crammed with trash just to pump its numbers up. Out of nearly 7,000 movies on Kanopy, roughly 2,600 of those hold an IMDB score of 7 or above. Over on Prime Video, only roughly 2,000 movies in its 12,000-strong library fit that category. A quick scroll through the Kanopy’s library reveals gem after gem. There are some of the freshest horror and arthouse flicks, like Only Lovers Left Alive Pig, and Dogtooth. There are all-time classics, like Rashomon, Kansas City Confidential and Glengarry GlenRoss next to modern masterpieces such as The Father, Minari and The Nightingale. Documentary fiends will also be happy to see some of the greats in there; Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and Paris is Burning are just a few I’ve spotted trawling through the library. For film nerds, Kanopy is your only streaming option for some of the most revered (and studied) films in history: Tarkovsky’s Stalker and Solaris are both exclusive to Kanopy right now, as are Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, and Kurosawa’s Rashomon. At the very least, Kanopy is a must-have for film students. In fact, Kanopy will be a bit too high-brow for some. You’re not going to find the latest Fast and the Furious movies, or anything from the Mission Impossible series in Kanopy’s subdued collection. That’s not a dig on those flicks (we love them dearly) but Kanopy simply isn’t the place to find the latest blockbusters. Unfortunately, those tend to be held under lock-and-key by Australia’s various paid services. Likewise, Kanopy isn’t the place to go for the latest TV shows. There are series available, but they make up a very small portion of Kanopy’s overall library and mostly consist of documentaries like The Vietnam War and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Device compatibility is where Kanopy drops the ball, especially in comparison to local services like SBS On Demand and ABC iview. Kanopy isn’t available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Fetch TV or Foxtel iQ, and the only smart TV it offers direct support for is Samsung. SBS On Demand and ABC iview are available on almost twice the number of devices. That shouldn’t matter much, you only need one compatible device to stream, but a lot of people still rely on their gaming consoles or smart TV to stream.
