The cinephile’s life is exhaustiveㅡgrueling. Even for one whose cinephilia is his livelihood, it is less a vocation than a way of life; in the same way that reading is the way of life for a bibliophile, a writer, or a literary critic. You carry it wherever you go. You live with films, practically. The invention of the “network”, or the internet, makes that all the more true. And having virtual lives in addition to his non-virtual one, the cinephile today leads a more convenient but doubly demanding life.
No. I mean it beyond every cinephile’s unspoken responsibility of live-tweeting every film awards show, pedantically captioning every Instagram photo with art film titles, and indefatigably debating on Reddit whether Stanley Kubrick is a hoax bigger than his cinematic achievements. What I mean here is that we have a wide selection of tools now to do more, which makes our lives easier, but having them available to us (often for free) puts us in a position that compels us to use them, for better or for worse.
On this article I share some of the great places I’ve found online where a cinephile might very much enjoy spending his time on. Scratch off Rotten Tomatoes, too; you know that’s not doing anyone good, don’t you?
Letterboxd ㅡ because, elegant film logs and lists
Film logging is an important activity to many cinephiles. Whether it’s wholly cosmetic (borderline egoistic) or merely a structured means of recording is beyond this writing, but one of the more admirable features on Letterboxd’s modest features is the community it is able to build. It becomes somewhat of a social network for cinephiles. The four blocks which every user is required to fill says more about the person than the text box for the brief bio itself. It limits Dogme 95 critics to friend someone who appear ardent partisans of Lars von Trier, and enables the same demographic to enlighten these critics, and vice versa.
MUBI/Fandor ㅡ because, art films
MUBI has been billed “Netflix for arthouse fans”, but the description I believe fits Fandor better. It shares a more similar structure of programming to that of the streaming giant, than MUBI’s unorthodox watch-in-30-days-before-it-expires setup. That said, both services feature great films hand-picked by great film curators. Free trials are available, too. Click here for a free 30 day trial for MUBI; and here for Fandor*.
*unfortunately for our Filipino readers, Fandor’s service is currently unavailable in the Philippines.
iFlix ㅡ because, unlimited movies and T.V.
The largest online T.V. service in Southeast Asia, iFlix stores in its databases hours after hours of movie and television entertainment. The product itself is at-par with the more globally known service Netflix, and therefore should be easily familiar to many. Their collection is impressive, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters, popular courtroom dramas, and, interestingly, a considerably wide selection of Filipino indiesㅡwhich, to us and we assume to most of you reading here at Film Police Reviews, is always a plus. Click here to get a free month at iFlix!
The Film Theorists ㅡ because, science
Matthew Patrick originally uploaded conspiracy theories on video games; one of his most famous being a video on the medium’s seemingly unprogressive nature, specifically for the L.G.B.T.Q. community. His new YouTube channel, The Film Theorists, works similarly to that of its Game counterpart: pick a topic specific to the subject of film, identify an interesting scientific problem, and hypothesize in the form of modestly edited video essays. From the formula to winning an Oscar to the actual plausibility of Dr. Frankenstein reanimating a corpse, Patrick, or to his fans more known as “MatPat”, has made some compelling scientific arguments from watching films. In short: yay, science; yay, cinema.
Video essays are quite ubiquitous now versus three years ago, that I’m compelled to cite some of my favorite ones here: Tony Zhou, who produces terrific film analyses on his “Every Frame A Painting”; kogonada, the video essay extraordinaire who has been under the commission of institutions such as B.F.I. and Criterion; and Evan Puschak, whose video essays tackle cultural topics aplenty (his essays on film, literature, music, and art, however, are of greatest interest and thought), among others.
Click The City (the App) ㅡ because, movie screentimes
Click The City is a mobile app that offers convenient features for the casual moviegoer: it shows daily screening schedules of all major theaters in the Philippines; allows for online booking of movie tickets (a feature, as of this writing, that’s exclusively available to Robinson’s Movieworld theaters); and enlists the help of resident film critic Philbert Dy, indeed one of our most prolific film reporters, to review almost every film that plays in Philippine theaters. The app is available in both Android and iOS devices.
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Viddsee ㅡ because, Asian shorts
Short films have a modest but loyal audience base, and much of that Viddsee has already captured. Their library boasts hundreds of Asian shorts that have played in film festivals worldwide; and the Viddsee team is hard at work in acquiring more to stream on their website. This function is hugely beneficial to filmmakers in Asia, where both commercial and institutional support are mostly scarce. Independent short films, after making rounds at their respective festival circuits, have no platform to continue showing their work. This is where Viddsee comes in and acquires them for streaming, giving the filmmaker the ability to showcase their work and in the process make money. If you haven’t checked out Viddsee, I strongly advise that you do.
Slash Film / Birth. Movies. Death. ㅡ because, cinephile communities
I admire cinephilia sites. They add to the discussion of film where a news/P.R. blog machine do not. In this respect, F.P.R. (Film Police Reviews) aspires in doing the same thing. Community blossoms from two-pronged interaction, and that usually begins among cinephiles through the discussion of film. Slash Film, I’m particularly fond of. Every bit of news they post is annotated with commentary; you’re hearing news from a commentator rather than a reporter, as if the movies is this big football field and every one is playing a part to make the game as thrilling as it could be. Birth. Movies. Death. I like for their thorough and humorous remarks on various film subjects. I’m also inclined to add here TwitchFilm, MUBI’s Notebook, and Fandor’s Keyframe.
David Bordwell’s “Observations on Film Art” ㅡ because, insights on film
David Bordwell is the co-author of Film Art: An Introduction, indeed a staple introduction to anyone interested in the medium of film. His ongoing blog “Observations on Film Art” archives a prolific years’ worth of insightful writings on cinema. Bordwell shares the blog with his spouse Kristin Thompson who co-wrote the aforementioned book.
In addition to “Observations on Film Art,” I have a few film blog suggestions: Noel Vera’s “Critic After Dark”; Richard Bolisay’s “Lilok Pelikula”; Simon Santos’ “Video48”; Erich Kuersten’s “Acidemic”; Jonathan Rosenbaum’s blog; and Benjamin Wright’s “Wright On Film”.
No Film School ㅡ because, you can’t afford one
The value proposition in the name “No Film School” is clear enough: the good staffers of the site, in addition to their thorough interviews with filmmakers and other key figures in cinema, wade through the internet for insightful content on film. The content range from incredible super-cuts, video essays, to infographics, on the subjects that range from filmmaking, cinephilia, to film theories. An incredible feat in No Film School’s way of curation is their intent on adding to the discussion the third-party material begins. It’s a form of recommendation, a response, and the intention is teaching. Check out their Facebook page too.
RocketJump Film School ㅡ because, you need to remember filmmaking is fun
Building a free online film school is no small task, but the folk at RocketJump Film Schoolㅡthemselves a group of film school graduatesㅡhas been at hard at work on the overwhelming responsibility, and does a terrific job at it. They house an entire library of filmmaking guides, all fruits of their indefatigable efforts to make the studying of film free, and most important, fun. Ryan Connolly shares a similar goal with his web series “Film Riot” which is focused on discussing D.I.Y. to low-budget filmmaking.
Vimeo ㅡ because, stalwart community of digital filmmakers
Vimeo has been linked to YouTube with thoughtless comparisons. Vimeo, a lot of people seem to fail to understand, is a different machine. It’s engineered to support video creators that favor the showcase of their work; for example, 3D animators, video editors, filmmakers. Thusly, the community in the website is comprised of such people as well, making it a suitable community for filmmakers and cinephiles alike.
Over to you.
These are links to websites that I think are staples to anyone who loves film. If you know of others that you think should be included in this article, please leave them in the comments. I’ll be constantly updating this article as I wade further into the internet.
