Like many movies these days, the hotly anticipated Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie is being released straight onto a streaming platform.

But that platform is the slightly less well-known Roku, and unfortunately for fans in a number of countries, it is not even available on there yet and may never be.

Australia is one such place, and one enterprising Twitter user, presumably based down under, decided to ask Weird Al himself what they could do to watch it.

His answer was probably the last thing they expected him to say. Although, given that this is Weird Al we are talking about, perhaps it wasn’t.

Weird Al’s advice to Aussie fans who want to watch his movie

The Twitter user in question goes under the handle of @bj_carter, and he asked Weird Al quite simply, ‘How do I watch in Australia?’.

Weird Al, who was doing a Q&A on behalf of Roku, gave an answer that is unlikely to have thrilled his paymasters. He said, “Roku’s working on it. In the meantime, there’s VPN (Very Probably No) way to watch it legally. I’m sure you have a TORRENT of other questions, but I have to move along, sorry.”

So, just to clarify, Weird Al is definitely not advising Aussie users (and doubtless those in other countries where his movie is not available on Roku) to use a VPN to unblock a Roku stream from another country.

He is also definitely not suggesting that users could torrent the movie too.

Let’s face it, the response is classic Weird Al, and it is clear from the responses his Tweet generated that his fans love him all the more for it. The executives at Roku who will have funded his movie perhaps not so much.

Weird Al’s previous

The truth is that Weird Al has form on this, so frankly, those Roku executives should have seen this coming.

Back in 2005, he released a song entitled ‘Don’t Download This Song’ talks about the overreaction of many international legal systems to copyright infringement.

It includes such lines as “It doesn’t matter if you’re a grandma or a seven-year-old girl. They’ll treat you like the evil, hard-bitten criminal scum you are” and “Don’t take away money from artists just like me. How else can I afford another solid gold Humvee?”

Even though this is his money we are talking about and his ‘solid gold humvee’, it is clear that Weird Al’s moral stance matters more to him. A rare quality indeed in a 21st century celebrity.

How to watch Weird: The Al Yankovich Movie in Australia

So, how should you watch Weird: The Al Yankovic Movie in Australia and other countries where it is not yet available?

Weird Al himself mentions Torrenting, and while that is an option, it is not a risk-free one. Making, downloading and possibly uploading a copy of the movie via a Torrent platform could be in breach of the law where you are and can come bundled with malware and other nasties.

In most countries it will be, so it’s one we certainly don’t recommend.

A better option could be to use a VPN to unblock a Roku stream from a country like the USA or the UK, where it is available to watch now on The Roku Channel.

ExpressVPN is a good bet for this. Just sign up, download the app, connect to a UK or US-based server, open The Roku Channel as normal and start watching. Other VPNs worth considering include NordVPN and Surfshark VPN, which are both also good at streaming content from overseas.

While Roku doesn’t exactly encourage this approach in the way that Weird Al has, it is certainly not illegal to use a VPN, and there is little risk of a security problem emerging as long as you choose a decent VPN like the ones we have recommended.

We also couldn’t see anything in The Roku Channel’s terms & conditions prohibiting this, but you would need to check yourself and adhere to any local laws which are outside the scope of this article.

What is Weird: The Al Yankovich Movie about

Weird: The Al Yankovich Movie is a biographical parody film that is loosely based on the life of Weird Al himself but which is mostly mocking biopics in general.

It features real characters like Madonna and Pablo Escobar in totally fictionalised and completely hilarious storylines.

The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as Weird Al, as well as the likes of Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood) and Rainn Wilson (The Office). There is a cameo from Weird Al himself, too, of course.

It’s a great movie, and what better way to watch it in countries like Australia, where it is not yet available to stream on Roku, than by taking the advice of the man himself?