Great post. Number 8 made me think that purposefully revisiting photos, notes, and screenshots that were collected on the fly might be an underrated pastime.
The onslaught of information makes us filter out a lot of what our past selves considered to be of the utmost importance…
Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the main reasons we don't create meaningful 'culture' anymore is because we don't stop for a second to reflect on what we're building on. Instead, we're just spammed with the next best trend every day. Documenting is key!!
I've been reluctant to get a MUBI subscription because I don't know how many films will have captions. If all films are captioned, then yeah, I'll subscribe, but if only the foreign language films are captioned . . . .
Hey Oga! I'm pretty sure all films have captions :) I'm a HUGE fan of captions personally (for many reasons but generally I also use them even when I watch English films) so I don't think you'll have an issue. Unless they don't support a certain language you're looking for?
"Every six months, force yourself to rewatch your earliest work. The full-body cringe that follows will either destroy you completely or fuel your evolution into someone who actually understands visual storytelling."
What happens if you revisit your early work and think, "You know... That kid was onto something?"
Did you know that before Mubi was a streaming site, it was a film discussion forum and blog? It had a lot of value for film education. I had written, now blissfully taken down (because they had major errors) 30 Min Film School posts for them, as well as hosted the "Mubi Forum User's Top 20 Films of All Time" poll, which still exists here:
There was even a brief period where Mubi reached out to some forum filmmakers to try to create little startup production office / film education program nodes that I was in discussion with, but fell through. Soon after they closed the forum entirely and disappeared for a minute, before showing up as a streamer that only hosted 30 movies at a time: one movie per day for a 30 day run.
I didn't get back involved until Mubi Go grabbed my attention. Now I don't believe I know anyone there anymore, but I'm impressed they saved the brand name to make it something valuable. Whenever I'm watching stuff by myself, Mubi is where I browse to find things I wouldn't know about, for instance recently Kit Zauhar's excellent two features.
I actually did not know that - I'm about to go into a rabbit hole haha. Thanks so much for sharing! I love MUBI GO - I'm terrible with keeping a habit, any habit, and I feel GO keeps me in line.
Another banger of an article, Sophie, complete with an affective endorsement that feels authentic, and delivers on a logical call to action. MUBI is lucky to have you. Your critical-yet-clear writerly voice is a breath of fresh air in a packed elevator atop a skyscraper, and I’m loving the 1000’ view from here! Thanks for aiming at high heights and taking us along for the ride!🌟
I don’t know how many times I’ve read that Lumet book, but it’s just so incredibly insightful and useful and also subtly teaches you how to stay a human being whilst making films…
Congratulations on being sponsored by Mubi too - it would seem you were destined to find (and support) each other.
If substack is where good film criticism is now happening, I rarely encounter it though (despite my best efforts to find it and repeated requests on Notes).
So I'd welcome a similar list pointing out other film substacks you like or would recommend to other cinephiles if possible.
Reading this essay is a little like scrolling at 2 a.m. after too much wine—half confession, half manifesto, half infomercial (yes, that’s three halves, but that’s the math of the internet now). The essay admits the dark truth we all know but rarely say out loud: cinephilia is mostly inefficient, humiliating trial and error, like Tinder but with worse lighting.
What I was trying to say but largely failing at is....great stuff.
Sophie, congratulations on your partnership! I think this is a really cool thing that can happen with a newsletter.
Would you mind talking a little more about how the partnership works? Do you, for instance, get a certain percentage of the subscription revenue every time somebody uses the link you provide to sign up for Mubi?
Hey Mikhail! No, it's a fixed fee based on my editorial piece/writing and my audience (similar to what you would pay someone as a way to commission them).
Oh man, I just love your writing so so much. Another great post. I'd take your grad level film studies course any day!
Courtney 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍 Thank you!!!
Dahomey is a MUST WATCH on Mubi! One of the most interesting docs that I’ve seen in recent memory. I wish it got more shine.
Also so many great tips here!
Adore Dahomey! And thank you so much 🥹
This is brilliant—the list itself and the MUBI recognition for your work here! Well-deserved, Sophie 👏🏻
♥️♥️♥️
This is very cool and well-deserved - congrats Sophie
Thank you so much, Ed 🥺🥺♥️
Cool list. As someone going through their own DIY film school right now (after attending actual theatre school for my undergrad), I dig this.
Yay, that's great to hear Andrew!
Sophie! This is major ✨👏🏽✨ thank you
🥹🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️
Great post. Number 8 made me think that purposefully revisiting photos, notes, and screenshots that were collected on the fly might be an underrated pastime.
The onslaught of information makes us filter out a lot of what our past selves considered to be of the utmost importance…
Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the main reasons we don't create meaningful 'culture' anymore is because we don't stop for a second to reflect on what we're building on. Instead, we're just spammed with the next best trend every day. Documenting is key!!
I've been reluctant to get a MUBI subscription because I don't know how many films will have captions. If all films are captioned, then yeah, I'll subscribe, but if only the foreign language films are captioned . . . .
Hey Oga! I'm pretty sure all films have captions :) I'm a HUGE fan of captions personally (for many reasons but generally I also use them even when I watch English films) so I don't think you'll have an issue. Unless they don't support a certain language you're looking for?
Here's what I could find: https://help.mubi.com/article/31-will-movies-have-subtitles-in-my-language
All of them are captioned
Thank you for the reassurance! We have MUBI on our Roku. Maybe it's time to sign up!
"Every six months, force yourself to rewatch your earliest work. The full-body cringe that follows will either destroy you completely or fuel your evolution into someone who actually understands visual storytelling."
What happens if you revisit your early work and think, "You know... That kid was onto something?"
Did you know that before Mubi was a streaming site, it was a film discussion forum and blog? It had a lot of value for film education. I had written, now blissfully taken down (because they had major errors) 30 Min Film School posts for them, as well as hosted the "Mubi Forum User's Top 20 Films of All Time" poll, which still exists here:
https://mubi.com/en/lists/the-mubi-forum-users-top-20-poll-2012
There was even a brief period where Mubi reached out to some forum filmmakers to try to create little startup production office / film education program nodes that I was in discussion with, but fell through. Soon after they closed the forum entirely and disappeared for a minute, before showing up as a streamer that only hosted 30 movies at a time: one movie per day for a 30 day run.
I didn't get back involved until Mubi Go grabbed my attention. Now I don't believe I know anyone there anymore, but I'm impressed they saved the brand name to make it something valuable. Whenever I'm watching stuff by myself, Mubi is where I browse to find things I wouldn't know about, for instance recently Kit Zauhar's excellent two features.
I actually did not know that - I'm about to go into a rabbit hole haha. Thanks so much for sharing! I love MUBI GO - I'm terrible with keeping a habit, any habit, and I feel GO keeps me in line.
Mubi Go has def enabled weekly cinema trip habit for a couple years now.
Another banger of an article, Sophie, complete with an affective endorsement that feels authentic, and delivers on a logical call to action. MUBI is lucky to have you. Your critical-yet-clear writerly voice is a breath of fresh air in a packed elevator atop a skyscraper, and I’m loving the 1000’ view from here! Thanks for aiming at high heights and taking us along for the ride!🌟
I don’t know how many times I’ve read that Lumet book, but it’s just so incredibly insightful and useful and also subtly teaches you how to stay a human being whilst making films…
A fantastic read Sophie.
Congratulations on being sponsored by Mubi too - it would seem you were destined to find (and support) each other.
If substack is where good film criticism is now happening, I rarely encounter it though (despite my best efforts to find it and repeated requests on Notes).
So I'd welcome a similar list pointing out other film substacks you like or would recommend to other cinephiles if possible.
Congratulations! Well-deserved for one of the best writers on film today. Hope this helps expand your audience.
Reading this essay is a little like scrolling at 2 a.m. after too much wine—half confession, half manifesto, half infomercial (yes, that’s three halves, but that’s the math of the internet now). The essay admits the dark truth we all know but rarely say out loud: cinephilia is mostly inefficient, humiliating trial and error, like Tinder but with worse lighting.
What I was trying to say but largely failing at is....great stuff.
Sophie, congratulations on your partnership! I think this is a really cool thing that can happen with a newsletter.
Would you mind talking a little more about how the partnership works? Do you, for instance, get a certain percentage of the subscription revenue every time somebody uses the link you provide to sign up for Mubi?
Hey Mikhail! No, it's a fixed fee based on my editorial piece/writing and my audience (similar to what you would pay someone as a way to commission them).
Thanks! Would be really cool to get some commission like that based on my Substack writing.