High Quality Alternatives to Netflix.....................p. 15

Unlike Netflix, MUBI’s aim is not to get as many people to sign up for their service, but to create a strong community of cinephiles who are willing to dedicate their full attention to every film broadcasted on the platform. Hence their role is to provide for a specific audience a content of high quality, not a source of addiction (at least not an easy “fast food” kind). Professional film critics and journalists that are employed by MUBI create comprehensive sections of film, with each section focusing on a specific topic. Here’s a brief look at a few of them:

1. Festival Focus: Locarno Film Festival • Night and Fog (Alan Resnais, 1956, France) • Three Colors: Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993,

France) • The Double Life of Veronique (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991, France) • Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997, Iran) • The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001,

Austria) • Battleship Potemkin (Sergey Eisenshtein, 1925,

Soviet Union) • +20 more

2. And the Oscar goes to…: • The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940, United States) • My Night at Maud’s (Eric Rohmer, 1969, France) • All About my Mother (Piedro Almodovar, 1999,

Spain) • Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008, United Kingdom) • +20 more

3. Women with Movie Cameras:

• Recorded Exam (Kim Bora, 2011, South Korea) • Shiva Baby (Emma Seligman, 2020, United States) • Songs My Brothers Taught Me (Chloe Zhao, 2015,

United States) • Farewell Amor (Ekwa Msangi, 2020, United

States) • Women Reply: Our Bodies, Our Sex (Agnés Varda, 1975) • +50 more It’s unique

Most of the movies on MUBI you will not even find on Criterion Channel – it is truly a unique platform. The number of young filmmakers that are only featured on MUBI is a little bit scary, especially considering how good they are. Its collection of well-acknowledged films is just as stunning.

Hundreds of special features, commentaries and shows such as “Moviegoing with… [insert a famous director name]” are just a few reasons why there is no platform like Criterion. Regarding the films they have, there is an absurd number — 2741 — of well-acclaimed works from old Hollywood (including any silent film you can think of) and the international cinema scene.

It’s trustworthy

Never was I unable to find myself something to watch on MUBI for the evening. The service automatically suggests a film or two that link to the one you have just watched. Aside from adding the film to a specific playlist, you can also see the playlists of other MUBI members, and see if others’ tastes match your own. What does this promote? Trust and exploration, a more careful attitude to the habit of film watching, and establishment of your subjective taste.

Just like MUBI, Criterion also has a number of playlists called “Collections”, though these are not created by viewers themselves. A few examples of those are “New York Shorts”, featuring 22 court-metrage made in New York, and my personal recommendation – “Cannes ’68: Cinema in Revolt”, which depicts films which were pulled out by directors due to civil unrest in Europe in 1968. Even though films on Criterion are usually older, they are essential for understanding any independent work of the modern cinematic scene.

It’s always fresh and cool

Every month, MUBI completely changes its repertoire, discarding previous pictures and uploading new ones. Besides reducing costs, the 30-day model gives the platform momentum and its members - a fear of missing out. Moreover, it stresses essential aspects of the film industry: films must stay up to date and must strive to be contemporary (by that I mean Steve Reich’s understanding of contemporary: “All great is contemporary. If it’s alive and still kicking, then it’s contemporary.”).

Why Do Adults Play Teens in Movies?

- Isolde B

We all watch movies and TV shows with teen characters, but very frequently the actors look, and are, much older than the role they are playing; why is that? Take the 28-year-old actress Olivia Newton-John who played the 17-year-old Sandy in Grease. Leonardo DiCaprio at 28 played Frank, a 17-year-old, in Catch Me If You Can. Here are several reasons for this and the advantages and disadvantages that come with them.

advantages

There are fewer work restrictions for adults: Adults can work much longer hours than teens. In the U.S., minors cannot work more than 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week while adults can sometimes work about 15 to 18 hours a day on a series. In addition, teenagers must have time to do their schoolwork which puts another limit to how much time they can spend on set. They also need to be accompanied by a guardian. It is clearly easier for productions to cast adults as they can get so much more done with no restrictions.

Lower insurance costs for adults: If there are stunts and physical work to be done on set, the insurance cost is lower for adults than teens. Looking at it from a budget perspective, casting adults can be cheaper for the production. Adults are seen as more experienced and mature: Directors need mature people that can wait quietly and patiently for long periods of time, so they usually go ahead and cast adults. They also believe adults have more experience acting and have lived through more. These directors must believe that the actors’ acting skills make up for their adult-like appearance as they must prefer having better actors over having actors whose age is authentic to their characters’. Puberty: Puberty is unpredictable and can quickly change an actor’s body. Directors need continuity. Half of their takes could have an actor’s voice be higher than the other half of them and that’s a risk for directors.

Legal relationships: To avoid any issues concerning legal relationships if directors are going to cast adults as teens they are likely to do so for all teen characters. In addition, if they cast both teens and adults for teen roles the audience will probably notice that something is off. On the other hand, if they only cast adults and tell the audience that these are teens, at least they will all look the same age, even if they will look more like adults than teens. Again, the production looks for continuity and balance.

Wider Appeal: Usually, if teens roles are cast with teen actors, younger people will tend to watch. It seems that casting adults gives a wider appeal, opening up shows and movies to an older audience and widening the demographic. A larger audience is targeted, and it is more beneficial for the production.