Gary SteelWitchdoctor loves MUBI already, but now the newly-available-in-New-Zealand art film streaming service has become even more compelling.
For those of us who love international film festival fodder but live away from the big city centres (or simply don’t want to sit with rain-sodden crowds in dank cinemas in the middle of winter), MUBI is simply amazing.
Fairly new on the block, this streaming service recently became available in New Zealand, and apart from offering up a steady supply of art films when none of the other streaming platforms is doing so, it has a unique hook: MUBI gives viewers a beautifully bite-sized selection by only making a month’s worth of films available at any time.
What does that mean? Well, there’s a new movie introduced each day, and each day, one movie exits MUBI. This is a compelling innovation because even with only 30 or so films available, the way the streaming service curates its content means that you desperately want to see most of them.
The kind of movies featured echo the content of film festivals and film societies around the world. There are films from intriguing and obscure locations, a range of recent releases along with special seasons of particular directors’ works and some unbelievably cool classics from the dawn of cinema right through the decades.
It’s the curation and respect accorded to the “works” that helps to make MUBI such a great thing to spend a mere $9.99 each month on, and now it just got even better.
Last week the service added its LIBRARY, which means that in addition to the usual curated section, film fiends can dig down into art film history and dig out specific titles they want to watch.
Personally, I’ll still be making most of my selections from the 30-day curated array, even though I do get a bit stressed out when I’m struggling to get through a film before it vanishes after its month-long run. Presumably, that won’t happen now as I’ll be able to go fetch it from the library!
Some will prefer to browse and watch whatever they want whenever they want, ala all the other streaming services, and the decision to open their library up to the public reflects that I guess.
“From MUBI specials and retrospectives to our double-bills and other exclusives. All hand-picked by us. As always,” goes the blurb.
At the moment, the MUBI library is only available on its website but will be coming on Android and iOS apps and hopefully on Apple TV (pretty please).
- Check out MUBI and its Library here.
