James R | On 08, Oct 2016

Not getting your arthouse fix from Netflix? Wish there were more indie films on Amazon Prime Video? Every week, we round up the new releases on MUBI, the subscription VOD service that hand-picks new and old classics from around the world.

Following MUBI’s exclusive release of Mathieu Amalric’s The Blue Room on Sunday 25th September and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden, MUBI is kicking off the first online retrospective of Lav Diaz’s work.

Here’s what’s new and coming soon to MUBI:

 

This week on MUBI

Lav Diaz Retrospective: Evolution of a Filipino Family

Lav Diaz was born in 1958 and has been making films since the late 1990s. His 2013 film Norte, the End of History, received acclaim when it was entered into Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. His three subsequent films have also received much critical attention and awards, with 2014’s From What Is Before earning him the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival, plus a nomination for the Asian Film Award for Best Director. His film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery competed for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival and won the Alfred Bauer Prize. The Woman Who Left competing at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and won the Golden Lion. He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010 and the Prince Claus Award of The Netherlands in 2014.

Now, after his win of the prestigious Golden Lion award at Venice for The Woman Who Left, MUBI is kicking off a year-long retrospective of the director’s work, showing a new film from the director’s filmography each month chronologically. Evolution of a Filipino Family is described by MUBI as his greatest epic. 10 years in the making, exploring Philippine nationhood through one family’s saga.

The King of Marvin Gardens – 9th October (TBC)

Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern play estranged siblings – one a depressive late-night-radio talk show host, the other a con man – in this tragic crime drama.

Dodsworth – 10th October (TBC)

William Wyler’s 1937 romantic, starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton and Mary Astor, sees Sam whisk away his wife on a getaway to Europe to celebrate his Europe – but the pair begin to grow apart.

Standard Operating Procedure – 11th October (TBC)

Nobody does docs like Errol Morris. Here, he asks probing questions about the infamous photographs taken of US soldiers humiliating and torturing Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison.

Fried Green Tomatoes – 12th October (TBC)

Jon Avnet’s 1991 drama follows a housewife who is unhappy with her life and befriends an old lady in a nursing home, becoming enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know.

 

Other new releases on MUBI

Baden Baden

The climax of Rachel Lang’s Ana Trilogy, this feature debut balances comedy and tragedy to create a unisex heroine for the ages with echoes of Frances Ha. Read our full review.

MUBI has also added the first two parts of the director’s trio: For You I Will Fight, a short from 2010, which explores the uncertainty of late adolescence, and White Turnips Make It Hard to Sleep, which sees Ana trapped in a fading relationship, gradually coming to terms with the idea of letting go. Salomé Richard stars in all three.

Margot at the Wedding

After the sublime The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach returned with Margot at the Wedding, another intimate insight into dysfunctional family life. It follows Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who is about to marry Malcolm (Jack Black in a rare serious turn). Witnessing their knot tying is her estranged sibling, Margot (Nicole Kidman), separated from her spouse (John Turturro) and mother of one. While recent triumph Frances Ha was winningly warm, sympathy has often been a rare commodity in Noah’s universe and Margot at the Wedding is a textbook example – everyone is detestable. The sniping escalates as the cast play off each other with superb sincerity. If you can stomach the awkwardness, this is a compelling car crash to witness.

Phenomena

An American (Jennifer Connelly) at a Swiss finishing school calls on insects to help a paralyzed scientist (Donald Pleasence) fight a monster.

Dario Argento’s horror from the 1980s stars Jennifer Connelly as an American at a Swiss finishing school, who calls upon insects to help a scientist fight a monster. Accompanied by music from Iron Maiden & Goblin.

These Three

MUBI begins a weekly William Wyler retrospective with These Three, which follows school teachers Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, both in love with Dr. Joe Cardin. But the malicious lie of one of their students involves all three in a scandal which disrupts all their lives.

Mr. Nice

Bernard Rose’s comedy/drama/biopic is loosely based on the 1997 cult autobiography by Howard Marks, with Rhys Ifans in the title role.

Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean

Matthew Mishory’s 2013 film is an intimate, dreamlike portrait of the screen icon on the cusp of achieving fame.

 
A monthly subscription to MUBI costs £5.99 a month, with a 30-day free trial.

 

Last chance to stream: Titles leaving MUBI soon

Pretty Persuasion
Available until end of: 8th October

The Odd Couple
Available until end of: 9th October

Man on Wire
Available until end of: 10th October

Oliver Twist
Available until end of: 11th October

10,000 km
Available until end of: 12th October

Ready to Wear
Available until end of: 13th October

I Know Where I’m Going!
Available until end of: 14th October

Obsession
Available until end of: 15th October

Schultze Gets the Blue
Available until end of: 16th October

Johnny Guitar
Available until end of: 17th October

 

 

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