I’m quite late to the table on The Auteurs, an on demand film streaming and social networking website mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up. I probably should have given it a closer look, since I’ve certainly noticed Glenn Kenny’s continued editorial contributions to the site, but I didn’t really get in there and start digging until over the weekend, when I noticed CNN’s story concerning a partnership with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation to exhibit restored lost classics.
“The basic ambition behind The Auteurs,” writes CNN’s Mairi Mackey, “is to make high quality cinema accessible to a young, global audience by making it available on demand cheaply…The Auteurs’ particular niche is auteur-driven cinema combined with social networking.” The site is the brainchild of former Goldman Sachs banker Efe Cakarel and was funded by Argentine millionaire Eduardo Costantini of Costa Films. It features a novel community component where you can create a profile, designate your favorite films and interact with other users as well, creating a “platform for discovery,” as Cakarel puts it in the CNN piece.
As Mackey notes, there are other sites, such as Jaman.com, that offer previously hard-to-find classics for a low rental (or, in Jaman’s case, purchase) fee. Jaman even has a partnership with TiVo. But what makes The Auteurs so exciting, in addition to this new and certainly coveted partnership with Scorsese, is its affiliation with the Criterion Collection, which curates a monthly film festival of sorts. This month is a special “Cannes Winners” festival, offering such Croisette victors as “Black Orpheus,” “Harakiri” and “L’Avventura” — for free!
I remember the revelation that was Netflix nearly 10 years ago. The DVD home video format made transporting movies from A to B a lot easier, so it was inevitable that a mailing service would be introduced. It also finally put me, a doe-eyed film school student, in contact with a number of films I had always wanted to see but never did, because their availability on VHS was almost non-existent. Now, of course, things are even more streamlined with the online video revolution. Michelangelo Antonioni is right there, at the click of your finger. Fascinating.
I’m just getting started on my profile. Nothing rated or anything yet, but you can have a lot of fun personalizing it, filling in your favorite directors and films and so forth. More of this, please. Go on over to The Auteurs and check it out.
Comments
16 responses to “The Auteurs: Your online cinema, anytime, anywhere”
Yeah its a fun site with some good discussions and some great films on there, the free movies are usually pretty good, especially for free.
Love the design and the connection to Criterion.
Jaman is a good service but the designs pales in comparison to The Auteurs.
I also heard about the site early on during Glenn’s posts on The Notebook blog.
With Marty now associated with it (since Cannes I think), I hope they get even more publicity. I think they even offer a Criterion credit if you rent the movie from The Auteurs, you can get $5 off a purchase of the same movie from Criterion’s store. True I never buy directly from Criterion, but it is a nice option.
I’d obviously like more of the titles to be available to watch, but studios get in the way, I’m sure.
I see you’re missing Ingmar Bergman on your “Favorite Auteurs” list. ;)
BTW: my profile – http://www.theauteurs.com/users/61314
What I like is few and far between when it comes to Bergman. But what I like I REALLY like.
Yeah more movies would be nice, but it all depends who has distribution and what territories they can be distributed online… I can only imagine their legal meetings to settle on the contracts.
Wow, thanx Kris for introducing me to this site. Awesome
I love this site…I was a bit late to it as well but now I’m addicted.
Really? I’ve seen somewhere around 15 Bergman features, and I haven’t seen one I didn’t like. And about nine or ten of those I absolutely adore. He’s my favorite director of all time.
“Persona”
“The Silence”
“Cries and Whispers”
“Hour of the Wolf”
“Winter Light”
“Fanny and Alexander”
“The Seventh Seal”
“The Virgin Spring”
“Shame”
Flat-out masterpieces. Then again I see you like Godard, so our tastes definitely differ. ;)
I prefer audacity to reserve more often than not. Which is why my favorite Bergman (and one of my all-time favorites, in fact) is “The Seventh Seal.” Respected “Persona” but didn’t really like it. The rest, for me, are disposable. But I think his influence has been unmistakable and necessary.
They need to add more directors/movies. As much as he might not the most popular director on a site like this, Steven Spielberg needs to be included.
He’s on there with A.I., but that’s it.
I caught Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Three Monkeys on their site when it was free and have been a fan ever since. Although, I have to admit, I’ve only been watching the movies they offer for free each month. I’m a poor college grad; what can I say?
I’ve been a member of The Auteurs since the first few days after the site opened, but didn’t start using it fully until recently. I love the idea of social networking for film fans and this is the best place for that on the net, at least that I’ve found.
Glad to see you getting behind it, Kris.
For what it’s worth: http://www.theauteurs.com/users/17598
Even slower on the uptake than Kris on this one, but I’ve just set up my profile too. Not sure how much I’ll use this, but it’s fun — and it sure looks pretty.
[…] risks when it comes to making a film, and this short certainly resembles that. He is the king of auteur cinema, in that his films often have a signature and/or are reflected of the the filmmaker’s […]