If you have a Roku or another device that allows you to receive streaming services, you know the options out there in the digital landscape can be overwhelming. Put the paid services aside (Hulu, Netflix, Prime, HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+ and others) and there are still dozens of free services.

For me, Tubi has the best selection and its library is filled with films that may be much more difficult to find on other services.

Now, there is a whole bunch of cheesy exploitation films on the service – something of course I enjoy as well – but there are numerous movies from great filmmakers.

For instance, Billy Wilder’s film “The Apartment,” which is part romance, part comedy and part heart-breaking drama – is currently on the service. Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are tremendous in multi-faceted nuance characterizations.

Some films stay a long time on Tubi, while others are rotated in and out. Catch “The Apartment” while you can.

I just watched the amazing “Sweet Smell of Success,” a film starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis as a vicious New York columnist and a publicist who works with him. It has probably Curtis’ best performance.

The late Peter Bogdanovich made a very unheralded film that is quite entertaining and intriguing called “The Cat’s Meow” about an enduring Hollywood legend: did publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst accidentally kill film producer Thomas Ince? Filled with authentic period touches – the movie is set in 1924 – the movie can boast of a great cast and solid performances.

I just watched two of my favorite Woody Allen movies – his library is well represented on Tubi – “Radio Days” and “Broadway Danny Rose.” The first film is a very sweet and nostalgic look at growing up in the New York City in the 1940s. The second film stars Allen as a well-meaning theatrical agent who represents some questionable acts.

Comedies such as “Animal House” and “Bowfinger” are also being featured right now.

There are also many good documentaries on the services such as “That Guy Dick Miller” about the ubiquitous character actor and “Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead” about the National Lampoon.

Tubi has become my go-to free service. If you don’t mind commercials – as a baby boomer how could I not tolerate commercials? – then you should add this to your other streaming services.

Can you go home again?

I recently had the great pleasure of attending a meeting of the Night Owls Tent of the Sons of the Desert, the international association that honors the lives and works of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy (L&H).

For the uninitiated, Laurel and Hardy remain one of the top comedy duos in film. They were active as a team from the last days of silent movies to the early 1950s. Their best films came from the 1930s when Laurel was at his peak as a writer.

When I was growing up, their two-reel comedies, as well as their feature films, were regularly shown on TV. That era in programming has long since passed, unfortunately.

In the early 1960s, an association was formed with Laurel’s approval and since then in this country and others, L&H fans have gathered to eat, drink and most importantly, honor the boys. Watching a film of theirs is also part of the program.

The late Hal Stanton introduced many people in the region to Laurel and Hardy through his TV shows in the 1970s on WWLP. Stanton was also a founding member of the organization and started a tent to serve Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.

I’ve not been a member since the early 1990s and I happily accepted an invitation to attend a meeting two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and there were people there I knew from back in the day. We toasted Stan and Ollie, sang the song “Sons of the Desert” and saw movies.

I paid my dues for the next year and rejoined on the spot.

If you’re an L&H fan, check out the website for The Night Owls Tent at https://sites.google.com/site/nightowlstent/home.