PassThePopcorn (PTP): News

[TRACKERFANCLUB]

Happy Eighth Birthday!

Over the past eight years we have managed to build something truly special together. PassThePopcorn is the largest archive of quality cinema in the history of the world. We are a group of passionate cinephiles from all across the globe, come together to share what we love. In doing so we became much more than just a torrent site. We became a community. 

In the wake of What.CD's untimely demise it's become crystal clear just how much this community means to us. We've discovered artists, directors, and entire genres of film we never knew existed. We've laughed and cried together. We've built friendships, some which may last a life time. On this, our eighth birthday, I'd like to focus on where we've come from and the path that lies ahead.

The closure of What.CD shocked us all. I'd like to personally thank all of the staff and users who made the site what it was. What.CD was simply incredible, and the world has never seen its like. They will be sorely missed in the many years to come. We've added two commemorative party hats for those who wish to show their solidarity. In the fallout from What.CD's closure one of our hosts also went under, bringing the tracker with it. It took a while to recover, but we're happy to announce that the tracker is back up!

So where do we go from here? We're not going to run away. We're going to stand strong together, with our heads held high. Come join us for the journey. We're going to start off our ninth year alive with a bang!

Security Upgrades and Donations
Given the recent events at What.CD we've decided to implement new security measures to further harden our infrastructure. The safety of our users has always been -- and will always be -- our top priority. Doing so will likely require additional hardware, and before last month we hadn't met our donation goals since February. Every month we fall short staff make up the difference out of our own pockets. While we're in no danger of closing down, the costs are definitely adding up. At this time we're asking that anyone who is financially able to consider making a donation. We are a strictly nonprofit tracker, and not a single staff member makes so much as a penny from our work here. 100% of donations go to keeping the site alive.

Starting soon, HTTPS will be forced across the entire site. There will now only be one address for PTP:https://passthepopcorn.me. We've also implemented failed login attempt alerts to notify you if anyone tries to gain access to your account. There will be some additional downtime in the coming days as we continue to implement new infrastructure and safety measures.

Calling All Developers
Have you ever wanted to help build new features and improve PTP? Well, now you can! Chosen candidates will be given prebuilt local environments to work in, and will not have access to any user information. Please send us a staff message if you would like to apply. Make sure to include your experience working with the following technologies: php, sql, javascript, sass/css, docker, and git.

PTPImg is Back
You guys have waited a long long time for this, but PTPImg is now back! There's a lot more shiny features on the way, including an improved registration system, but it's ready for you to test out and start using now!

Banning Pre-release Material
All pre-release material is banned for the indeterminate future. I understand that this will upset many of you who are looking forward to screener season. But given the events of last year, where a user was arrested after leaking a studio copy of the Revenant screener, we can't in good conscience condone anything that would put the site or our users at risk. Especially given the extra attention currently being paid to us in the wake of the What.CD raid. This policy is final for this year, but may be re-evaluated down the road.

Encouraging Personal Encodes
Personal encodes are now properly labeled, and there's a new top 10 listing for our most prolific release groups. We sincerely appreciate everyone who is releasing personal content here. Keep up the good work!

4K Content
We now officially support 4K and UHD encodes, and they have their own group. New upload rules to follow.

Looking for Documentary and Journalism People
We're putting out an open call for documentary and journalism students/professionals who would like to conduct staff interviews (on site, not publicly distributed) and discuss the journey our community has made over the years. If you, or anyone you know, fits that description, please send us a staff message. We've gone through an awful lot together, and in order to fully understand that history we first need to have it documented.

Exporting Bookmarks
Ever wanted to save a copy of all the films you've bookmarked at PTP? Now you can!

RSS Changes
All RSS feeds now utilize https links. Additionally, they include the torrent's release name to allow for robust filtering.

Birthday Picks
We have something a bit different for you this year, and I think you'll like it. Normally we spend this time showing you guys movies we love. But what about the ones you want to share with us? This year we've decided to freeleech the top 30 of PTP's Best Movies of All Time, as decided by you, our userbase. We've also given our torrent checkers, GP team, and FLS a chance to share some of their favorite films. We hope you enjoy them!

01 The Godfather [1972]
02 12 Angry Men [1957]
03 The Shawshank Redemption [1994]
04 Pulp Fiction [1994]
05 Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo AKA The Good, the Bad and the Ugly [1966]
06 The Godfather: Part II [1974]
07 Shichinin no samurai AKA Seven Samurai [1954]
08 Fight Club [1999]
09 Alone in the Wilderness [2004]
10 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back [1980]
11 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi AKA Spirited Away [2001]
12 Cidade de Deus AKA City of God [2002]
13 The Matrix [1999]
14 Goodfellas [1990]
15 Mononoke-hime AKA Princess Mononoke [1997]
16 Hillsborough [2016]
17 Seppuku AKA Harakiri [1962]
18 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb [1964]
19 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest [1975]
20 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968]
21 Baraka [1992]
22 Schindler's List [1993]
23 The Shining [1980]
24 Stalker [1979]
25 The Dark Knight [2008]
26 Rear Window [1954]
27 Ikiru [1952]
28 The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 [1992]
29 Gu Ling Jie Shao Nian Sha Ren Shi Jian AKA A Brighter Summer Day [1991]
30 Apocalypse Now [1979]

FLS Picks
Our FLS team works quite hard on the site. From helping a user with a torrent problem to writing site wiki tutorials and everywhere in between, they do it all. We wouldn't be where we are now without them and we'd like to say thanks by offering them a chance to pick one of their favorite films to put into the spotlight.

Seppuku AKA Harakiri [1952] by Tamjuk

I think of this movie when I open my staff inbox.

The Man from Earth [2007] by Siege

A story told in one room to a small group of people. Simple and incredibly engaging. 
Also it's in the 'Nuked Approves!' collection so you know it's good.

Smokey and the Bandit [1977] by FluffyUnicorn

Sometimes our favorite movies aren’t always the ones that change your life or take you on a spiritual awakening, but the ones where we can take our brains out of our heads and kick off our boots because that's what we need. Invite some friends over and grab a case of Coors. Enjoy the quintessential Good Ol’ “gonna do what they say can’t be done” movie.

GoldenEye [1995] by Snow

Respect the simple things in life. Space weapons, gratuitous explosions, tank chases, armored trains...

McCabe & Mrs. Miller [1971] by Blackstrap

R.I.P. Leonard Cohen

Lucky Number Slevin [2006] by TheHabidasher

Goodness! This had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! Such an engaging story. A little on the violent side, I had to close my eyes for a few of the scenes but this was a very well-done movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I hope you do too 

Checker Picks
Torrent checking and Golden Popcorn evaluation are two of the most important concepts that we have at PTP. This rigorous process ensures quality encodes are kept on the site and the latter group helps to decide everyone's favorite, Golden Popcorn encodes! We love the users that volunteer to help out with these processes and are very lucky to have them.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. [2015] by lerk08

A surprisingly fun, cheesy, and solid flick.

Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta AKA Laputa: Castle in the Sky [1986] by Komic

You probably need a break from 2016 too.

In a Lonely Place [1950] by disko

Movie that made me love film-noir genre.

The Wizard of Oz [1939] by F00D

I was barred from seeing this until I was 14 as the monkeys scared my father when he was young, now I watch it once a year.

Pociag AKA Night Train [1959] by pafnucy

A classic thriller from the Polish Film School.

Les parapluies de Cherbourg AKA The Umbrellas of Cherbourg [1964] by Divius

Let's get a hyper stylized Jacques Demy musical among these picks to class things up and leave you heartbroken afterwards. Gorgeous movie, and I'm not just talking about Catherine Deneuve. This should get everyone in the mood for La La Land as well.

In Conclusion
Fuck going quietly into that good night. We're not going to just survive. We're going to thrive.

Much love,
The PTP Staff