MUBI - Not Your Average Film Streaming Platform... [Review]
MUBI is an online streaming service that caters to film lovers, their total library is around 150,000 films and includes everything from OG black and white films from the 30's all the way to the freshest picks from the latest film festivals from around the world.
If you sign up via the link I'll sprinkle through the article, you will get a full month of unlimited streaming for free. And when you get a free month, I also get a free month! The very definition of win-win.
Introduction
If you love film and are tired of the same watered-down mainstream story-lines being recycled over and over with an ever increasing amount of CGI, MUBI might just be the platform you're looking for.
MUBI has often been referred to as "a film students' streaming service" because they offer films that your average audience just doesn't get the exposure to. They offer the hidden film festival treasures, influential classics, and even some of the best more well-known films of the current day.
Their new Library feature has compiled hundreds of films that they have shown over the years into one fairly easy to navigate interface on their website. Unfortunately their full Library feature has not been added to their mobile app yet - as far as I know.
All films have been curated by the MUBI team, and they don't like to fuck around. Film is their artform and they select films for film lovers; not just random pieces of entertainment to have in the background as the soundtrack for a Friday night tinder love affair.
My Experience
My experience with MUBI so far has been excellent. I was introduced to the platform by a friend of mine who used to study film. And now the both of us study films on MUBI because these are proper films, ladies and gentlemen.
One of the coolest things I love about the MUBI experience is the fact that they don't have your generic film categories like comedy, romance, and action. Oh no. A lot of their categories are centered around certain directors, whether that includes films that they have made or films that have inspired the works of those directors.
Even I don't know some of the directors that have their own categories, so here is a list of the more user-friendly category titles: Modern Masterpieces, Films About Films, Spotlight on India, Film Festival Favorites, and American Indies: A Style of Their Own.
Their selection includes the entire range of the history of film all the way from the 1927 sci-fli masterpiece Metropolis, to the classic war film Apocalypse Now, to the more recent romantic film Call Me By Your Name that came out in 2017.
Like I said earlier, you can get an unlimited 30 day free trial. Which is a pretty sweet deal to check out what the platform has to offer.
Their unlimited monthly membership costs less than $10 USD. Compared to the other streaming platforms out there this is pretty damn good. Especially considering you can sign up for an entire year for less than $70 USD.
Through their mobile app you can download films to watch offline which is pretty cool. So when this pandemic/apocalypse really kicks into high gear, movie night at this guys' place. One roll of toilet paper will get you in.
They also have a community where you can go and discuss films, write and share your own reviews, and you can even view different playlists created by other users as well as create your own. You can follow other users to get notified when they add films to their playlists, and it's kind of like their own little film lovers social media platform where you can talk about what you've seen right after you watch it all in the same place.
If IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes had a pow-wow next to a fire under a starry night sky in the middle of a mountainous wilderness, they might be able to come up with something as cool as MUBI. And apparently you can watch this shit with a playstation. What?!
Conclusion
MUBI is a great alternative streaming service to the more popular options like Netflix or Amazon Prime etc. There probably won't be any superhero movies, you can't binge watch seven hours of The Walking Dead, and you might actually walk away feeling something. Yes, MUBI can bring the feels.
Some of the films they offer are so weird and niche market that sometimes even I wonder how they found them, but their selection can be appealing to just about everybody. You'll be able to find something you love whether you're just starting out on your journey into the realms of film appreciation or if you're so deep into the art that you somehow manage to watch everything on one of those old ass vintage film projectors where you have to turn the crank in order for the image to be a "moving picture." For some reason I imagine that guy in his dimly lit attic, smoking a cigarette, and wearing all black with a beret that's tilted a little too much to the one side.
I have nothing but good things to say about MUBI since I became a subscriber at the beginning of 2020. And now that they've upgraded their Library to include even more great films? I might have to set weekly limits for myself.
So if you feel like you deserve a little time away from the volatility of cryptocurrency and would like to elevate your film viewing to another level, I highly suggest taking advantage of MUBI's 30 day free trial. Their monthly membership is cheaper than most platforms right now and with such a higher quality of streaming options, you might just get introduced to your new favourite film that you haven't even heard of yet.
*This article will also be posted on Publish0x and Uptrennd.*
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