Above The Line makes MUBI

I don’t remember how I found MUBI or when, whether it was some predetermined destination or among the much happenstance that comes with dreaming, breathing and believing in movies at all hours of the day and night.  I stumbled, half certain I’d recover, dazed and confused just enough I realized that once trippingly discovered I was hooked, almost surely guaranteed to return or in my case, never leave.  I joined the ranks of the curious and callous movie watchers, the novice and intermediate opinion makers all nestled together lovingly, sometimes loathing the proximity, to share and to absorb the back and forth of movies and such.  There are enthusiasts, cinephiles and the like, cineastes and everyday movie people too.  You might not like it all the time or feel welcome from time to time, you might find puffy chests and stern chins of superiority and no-nonsense, but the only requisite is a love of movies and a willingness to share your thoughts and be prepared for others to ask you why.

MUBI: “not just about discovering wonderful new cinema or classic masterpieces. It’s also about discussing and sharing these discoveries, which makes us like a small coffee shop—a place where you can gather and talk about alternative endings, directors’ cuts, and whatever those frogs in Magnolia meant. Heated debates and passionate arguments are welcome“.  That’s what is written on the proverbial bathroom wall of MUBI, the why and what for and pay heed all those who enter, please have something to say, contribute.  The fact is that MUBI is experiential, it is all-dive-in required, no tip-toes in the water to test your sensitivity level.  MUBI is fine dining, no priced menus, no start with an appetizer and figure out if the main course is worth the price or eat small and hit a drive thru up on the way home.  MUBI is because of you and your willingness to be real because it demands you too.  Fake it or pretend your way to the middle and your goose is cooked.  If you’re paying attention you’ll be welcome, you can get up close and personal to the minute scuttlebutt, the latest buzz from the prestigious film festival circuit or underground blathering about some obscure masterpiece restored to brilliance.  Inside and outside you’ll find it’s a place for seriousness and fun, just not hanging around in the back of the room waiting for someone else to make your mind up for you.  MUBI invites you in but demands participation in order to be fully entertained, a chance to pick what you like and compare it to what other people like, find your dislikes next to your dream picks, watch and discover and talk about what’s happening in the world, around the clock.  Everything else is better done elsewhere, like Facebook.

MUBI came to be in 2007, raised from the stuff of elevator pitches and late night fantasy celebrity mixers, popcorn colored aspirations and a deep passion for cinema by Turkish entrepreneur, former investment banker for Goldman Sachs and regular contributor to the The Huffington Post Efe Cakarel.  MUBI is made possible by the support and backing of Celluloid Dreams, The Criterion Collection and Costa Films, in addition to MEDIA Programme of the European Union, and maintains an exclusive partnership with The World Cinema Foundation and SONY Electronics.  MUBI is a true world player and based in Palo Alto, London, Paris, and New York.

MUBI isn’t a Facebook for movie people.  It’s a starting place, like that out-of-the-way trail to somewhere with the promise of curious company along the way and more to be found when you get there, that somewhere of discovery, learning and escape made possible by sharing in the collective magic from the movies of our lives.  Sitting down at the table of MUBI is akin to celebrating your favorite restaurant, the sort of place devoid of angry vegans, obsessed carnivores – or if present, such tangled souls are willing to entertain their differences as a source of conversation and debate, not condemnation and bitter acrimony.  I find something new and interesting every time I visit, the odd people and peculiar conversations that mostly meld, usually come to some conclusion or hopeful optimism.  There’s just so much to be had about the movies you love, the movies you’ve never heard of, and ways of looking a little closer at what you think and how you feel about the moving picture soundtrack of your life.  I found an article today in their Notebook, a kind of digital magazine publication, and it really got me to thinking, like the last time I went looking for something about Clint Eastwood‘s anti-western Unforgiven only to be distracted by an article “The Delay of Death – Pasolini’s Trilogy of Life on Notebook | MUBI” that detoured me to “The Best Movie Posters of 2012 on Notebook | MUBI“.  It’s like that, the MUBI, a source of inspiration and observation, a place where you can take a penny and give a penny while shopping for news, looking for conversation and sharing your opinions of the experience.  Sometimes people are listening, sometimes they perk up their ears, respond, smile, snap back and dig in for more.

In MUBI I am user #381491.  “I write to keep the monsters at bay, to quell the urge to set fires and dig holes to see if what’s buried in my dreams lives down there. At heart I want to tear things apart and shore up the river, build sand castles in rocky earth and throw the biggest rocks I can find at everything and everyone. Some day I want to dispel the ugly truth and prove my silly suspicions – wrong is wrong and right is right and we know the difference no matter how many fires we light. Until then I’ll claw about the shores of indecision and mottle the good drinks, enjoy the seconds because that’s all we really have.”

A really great feature of MUBI is the filmography section.  Here you can contribute mini reviews of your favorite, and not so favorite films.  You type in the film of your choice, select it from their extensive database, and plug away.  You get 420 characters to make your case.  You can include a rating of 1-5 stars, become a fan or list it as a film you want to see.  Of course the MUBI system allows you to connect with Twitter and Facebook.  I’ve contributed dozens and dozens of reviews, some that I’ve expanded to full reviews here, others left there, enough said.

You can also include LISTS, favorite AUTEURS, included reviews and links to external REVIEWS, such as here.  You can also check out my articles, posts and entries in the FORUM.  There’s so much to be gained and shared and discovered.  I invite you to join me in the MUBI.

Articles I’ve contributed to MUBI:

Selling Lucasfilm to Disney is Like Selling Apple to Microsoft.

Christopher Nolan: Master and Commander of Cinema

Blu-ray: Not Just a Name but a Beautiful Future.

Hollywood Blockbusters Make Victims of us All.

Tom Hardy: Brawler, Charmer, Hollywood Courtier.

Related articles

• 2012: A Year Of Multiple Disasters (ejaife.wordpress.com)
• Picturehouse partners with Mubi (variety.com)
• Cahiers du Cinema Top 10: ‘Holy Motors,’ ‘Cosmopolis’ Best Of 2012 (movieline.com)