Out of all my online hobbies, watching full movies is on my A-list. And here’s the thing: everyone can do too, but not everyone know how. So in today’s post I’m gonna present the two websites I use, and how to use them.

First, go Surf the Channel

Image property of SurfTheChannel.com

Yep. Number one on the list is SurfTheChannel.com. The site, commonly called STC, isn’t actually a video streaming host. It’s more like an older version of Yahoo!: just a plain old link directory (it doesn’t even have that web 2.0 feel). It indexes hundreds of thousands of links to full movies, updated TV episodes, talks, and lots of other online videos you won’t usually find on YouTube. And searching on it is just a trickle, too; just type and hit enter… well, basically. Here’s how.

1. Go to http://www.surfthechannel.com.
2. If you’re looking for a popular TV show, be sure to check the links on the front page… but if not, you can proceed to step 3.
3. On the search box on a fairly upper part of the page, type the name of the TV show/movie you want to watch, then hit enter. (Tip: It’s the box that says ‘Enter search term here…’)
4. On the page that loads, select the category of the video you’d like to watch (Another tip: It’s usually under the Film & Movies… unless you want to watch an automotive demo or something else)
5. On the next page (this is the link index), find a link that says ‘Watch This Video!’ (Whoo, a plus tip: If there is an American flag beside a link, it means that the link is hosted on a US-based video streaming site, ie. Megavideo). If you have extra bucks, you’d prefer to click ‘Buy This Video’, usually takes you to Amazon and such.
6. If you clicked ‘Watch Video’, wait for the next page to load completely, this means that you’d have to wait for the browser to indicate ‘done’ OR THE LINK WON’T WORK. Then, click ‘click to go to host website’. (Tippitty tip: Ignore the ‘Download this video’ link. It’s just an ad or something that doesn’t really take you anywhere useful.)
7. And, congratulations! You’re ready to watch a free full video. You’d usually prefer Megavideo over the Asian sites that are listed too, but of course in the case of no alternative, a dot-cn site would be okay too… after all, they let you watch movies in English.

Here’s the last tip on STC: If you’re looking for something that just came out yesterday, don’t even bother. Usually you’ll find it weeks after release. But it’ll undoubtedly get there eventually.

Second, YouTube

Image by stan.uio.no

YouTube?! Yes, Y-O-U-T-U-B-E. YouTube. You’d never think that you’ll find full movies on YouTube (think Viacom and the copyright stuff), but actually you would. But not literally, because you’ll find full movies in chops, pulled into one long playlist. Now, wanna find that darn movie? Here’s how.

1. Log on to http://youtube.com as you normally would.
2. In the search box, type the name of the movie you wish to see, ending with ‘full movie’, and preferrably the year of release (without the quotes, ie Taken full movie 2009). Hit enter.
3. Now, scroll down on the middle part of the first page… you’ll usually find it there, and it often has a part number on its title’s end, like ‘Taken part 1/12‘. It’s also usually within a playlist.
4. Now, go for the first video. Yup, part 1 of everything. Now, as soon as you finish watching the first video, click ‘Next Video’ on the right side of the page. This will trigger YouTube to automatically play everything in order.
5. Sit back, and enjoy! Watch your favorite movies right from YouTube. (I wonder though, why they don’t receive copyright complaints… or if they do, why they don’t remove the videos.)

Tip: It takes years before a movie is uploaded to YouTube. So unless you don’t want to deal with Megavideo and Chinese sites, just head for STC. It’s way faster and way more updated.