I can’t believe Hulu Plus now has the entire Criterion Collection. Criterion of elegant dvd covers, thoughtful linear notes, and prestigious $40 price tags? Is no movie devotee’s preciously accumulated, though admittedly dusty, collection safe from the hounds of accessibility? Will your average viewer just blithely switch between an old Family Guy and The Seventh Seal? gasp.

(Though of course none of Wes Anderson’s films which have Criterion editions are on there. Clearly Wes is the last bastion of keeping the pearls behind stiffer paywalls than “Plus.”) {Though many of Wes’s personal favorite Criterions are available.}

I aspire to have watched many more Criterion films than I actually have, and suddenly $8 is not seeming so unreasonable of Hulu after all.