Cable television subscribers to Turner Classic Movies probably already know about the plethora of cinema goodness routinely offered on the network. The TCM smartphone app is something else entirely spectacular, but it also might spawn an unhealthy addiction.

The app allows cable subscribers to watch much of the network’s classic movie schedule on demand, and you can stream them all to your television using Chromecast or other devices.

The addictive part is how they release content. Instead of a monthly or even weekly lineup, the app adds several movies a day, usually based on their TV schedule. They don’t all drop once daily either; there might be something new every time you open the app.

Most movies have a one-week viewing window. You can add titles to a watchlist, and each little movie icon will tell you when each title expires. The expiration note provides added drama in how you select your movie. For example, I was so stoked to see “Forbidden Planet” drop that I wanted to start watching it right away, but “It Happened One Night” expires tomorrow! If you don’t stay ahead of those expiration dates, you might find yourself staying up way past normal bedtime.

The app itself also provides a rich assortment of supplemental materials, including TV intros, trailers and clips, production history and trivia, and essays on the overall cultural impact of the movies. Fans of old Hollywood gossip will also find plenty of juicy morsels about the stars while they were working on the movies. Hey, at least it’s better than hearing about the Kardashians.

TCM recently finished their “31 Days of Oscar” schedule, which packs too many classic movie heavy hitters for even the most devoted cinephiles. I tried to keep up, packing in several blind spots I’m embarrassed to admit. Newer movies are just so much more accessible, and outlets like Hulu and Netflix basically pretend moviemaking didn’t begin until about 1985.

I don’t have the space to cover everything I watched in these last few weeks, but I’ll hit on some of the highlights, including a couple of those titles I really should have seen years ago.

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942)

Orson Welles’ follow-up to “Citizen Kane” was notoriously edited down from the director’s preferred cut. The existing version runs about 90 minutes, but it’s still an incredible piece of work, with methods of cinematography and sound design celebrated and imitated to this day.

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966)

Probably the biggest blind spot of this entire endeavor — I’d never seen any version of this story before. The film version, directed by the great Mike Nichols, contains four stunning central performances, led by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Unlike many of the movies on TCM, this one hasn’t aged a bit. What am I supposed to say here? You already know it’s great.

A STAR IS BORN (1954)

Both the 1937 version and this version with Judy Garland were available on TCM (shown in a double bill). I only watched the 1954 version this round, so now I have three versions of “A Star is Born” I admire but ultimately struggle to love. My Lady Gaga love might be showing, but I also much prefer last year’s soundtrack, and yes, that includes the “butt” song Gaga’s character sings on “Saturday Night Live.”

THE BIG CHILL (1983)

Speaking of soundtracks, I never bothered with “The Big Chill” because I chose to listen to Jack Black’s character in “High Fidelity.” In that movie, he smack talks “The Big Chill” soundtrack, and so I assumed the movie also didn’t deserve my attention.

Anyway, aside from that annoying “Oscar clip” of all the characters dancing in the kitchen, “The Big Chill” succeeds because of its cast — one of the best ever assembled — featuring Glenn Close, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger’s mustache and many more.

Side note: “The Big Chill” seems way too new to be on TCM, especially when it lines up in your watchlist alongside these other titles. For a while, the app also had Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” from 2011. It’s a terrific movie but a little too fresh for classic status.

HIGH SOCIETY (1956)

A musical remake of the 1940 classic “The Philadelphia Story.” The older version is a much better movie, but you can’t just shrug off a movie starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong. If anything, “High Society” needs more music, especially from Armstrong, who is reduced to just a couple of numbers.

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954)

This is actually my third viewing of this musical… I’ve never liked it, and yet I keep going back to try and figure out why. I’m just not into the music, for whatever reason.

GRAND HOTEL (1932)

Sometimes you just can’t get into a movie, and this Best Picture winner featuring Greta Garbo and many other stars of the time couldn’t hold my interest. I blame Wes Anderson for making the richly colorful “Grand Budapest Hotel” a couple years ago. Once something gets Wes Anderson’ed, it’s hard to look back on the OG without the modern whimsy in your brain.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942)

An entertaining pairing of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy about a sports writer who struggles with the professional success of his spouse. Some of their conflict seems ridiculously out-of-date now... er, actually, even in 2019 there are trolls on the Internet griping about “Captain Marvel” being about a female superhero, so maybe some folks could still learn a lesson or two here.

The bonus content on the TCM app provides some added insight to “Woman of the Year’s” most glaring problem. The studio scrapped the original ending because they worried audiences would think the Hepburn character was too successful and good at everything. So, against Hepburn’s wishes, the shot an ending where her character fumbles around the kitchen so badly she can’t even make a cup of coffee.

Then there’s the whole “returning the adopted kid to the orphanage” plot, but that’s a whole other column. Forget that for now, and give all your money to the folks at TCM.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com