Netflix move over. Say hello to Mubi. That is a movie website that makes available one movie each day (and remains accessible for a month) for streaming through a computer. (So far Mubi is not available through Roku or similar devices. The work around I have discovered is the HDMI cable which turns our television screen into a laptop monitor.)
The way I discovered Mubi was by conducting a search for the best Turkish movies. (I’m sure that will send lots of readers over to Mubi.com.) And true to form, Mubi just finished a series of recent Turkish movies. The missus and I watched recently “My Marlon and Brando” (very good) and “My Only Sunshine” (grim but worth seeing, especially if you have any interest in or affection for the Bosporus). We also watched a charming, small Italian movie, “Mid-August Lunch” (highly recommended).
For $4.95 a month, Mubi is prompting us (okay, me) to rethink Amazon Prime streaming as well as Netflix (for dvds). The reason is that Mubi brings to the screen a variety of international movies, both old and new, that you would never go out of your way to find. It has the dynamic that makes a film festival worth attending — the serendipity of movies from around the world and not financed by the big distributors only available for a short time. And that short shelf life (a month instead of two nights) is another aspect of Mubi that (all about) I like. Instead of having a 40 film queue with Amazon or Netflix that you never use because you know those titles will still be there next week, next month, or next year, with Mubi you have a bit of a gun to your head (oh, the thrill); if you don’t see what they now are featuring you may not see it again. It almost brings back to streaming the small bit of anxiety that still attends real live movie theaters — where you can’t count on a title being around next week when you get back from vacation.
Old Life rating: outstanding.
Old Life 
Are you getting a commission from these Mubi people?
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George, I wish.
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Are you in Seattle, Dr. Hart? This Guild 45th theater is in my hood here in Seattle – Wallingford specifically. Or is there another one?
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Matt, no, just a random google search, but thanks for identifying the sign.
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I had 15 track meets on the DVR. Power outage. DVR fried. Meets gone.
There’s something to be said for creating some urgency to get to things.
Saw the Ebert documentary “Life Itself” at the Tivoli theater in Westport (Kansas City) on Friday. I liked it (I had listened to the audio book). Steve James does a good job intertwining the book’s content with Ebert’s decline and eventual death.
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I saw Steely Dan live for the first time Saturday night. I’m still processing that. I’ll write a blog post on it when I have some time and my thoughts all come together.
You know it’s a good group when the concert is over and you can think of another 10-15 songs you wish you would have heard.
They opened up with “Black Cow” and played “Kid Charlemagne” for the (one) encore. Hey, they’re old dudes. The crowd was 80-90% boomers.
On the way back to our lodging the wife & I considered a late night stop at a waffle house. Westport was still buzzing and you could hear loud music coming from the bars. We came to our senses and settled for the McDonald’s drive-through. Two hamburgers, small fries, a water.
We got back to the rental apartment and were mesmerized by a Lily Allen concert on TV before going to sleep after 1:00 a.m.
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My buddy Mike. Now you know.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20140727_Dick_Allen_fans_come_together_to_boost_Hall_of_Fame_candidacy.html
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Sorry to say that i think Mubi has deteriorated over these last months, since they did limit the range to just one film/day. Many of these are shorts, and not worthy of an evening’s viewing. One used to be able to go trough their entire archive and choose. Steaming in itself discourages cataloguing, so i am going to check out Netfilx now. Amazon prime is mediocre.
sad and disillusioned by the fall in quality over the last 4 years
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