(JUAN.of.a.KIND)

Here we go then…

We are changing our name.

That’s right. We win a Webby and the first thing we do is change our name.

But here’s the thing… We really like it. And some people might actually be able to type it (a lot of friends around the world struggled to be honest). And by making it easier more people will get into great cinema. Which means that maybe - just maybe - one day we won’t have to stand films like the remake of 2012 … Although we would watch it and rejoice speaking terribly about it… (Why do we always end up talking about John Cusack films? ) Anyway, where were we? Oh, our name… 

mubi.com

It’s a grower.

“Money’s growing like grass with the mass appeal.” (c) Gang Starr. Or at least I imagine that this is what the Mubi team is hoping. Remember when Nintendo literally dumbed down the name of its then appropriately titled and secretive Revolution console to the simplistically infamous Wii upon its release? Well, this is worse since the auteurs has actually been in operation under said branded name for a couple of years now. And anyone who is a cinephile and not just a film buff (there’s a big difference) knows just how perfectly appropriate “the auteurs” was as a name and identity for by far the best film site/community on the net. Also, “Mubi” rhymes with booby and newbie. How sadly amusing.

But I think we’ve all grown accustomed to our favourite websites making significant changes in the name of business without first asking its users (who helped to build up the database and social community) how they would feel about it. So naturally, in time this name WILL grow on those who do not like it (since things will reach a point where we just won’t care anymore). But to anyone who doesn’t understand the term “auteur” or (God forbid) might have some trouble spelling it (2 major reasons for the name change), then perhaps the content of theauteurs.com (now mubi.com) might not be up your alley (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).

But in the end, it’s simply a name change and not a paradigm shift of the entire cinephile culture that makes up the incredible site (to which I owe much credit in further expanding my film knowledge during the 10 months that I’ve been a member). Nor is it a significant global problem, just an irritant to us film geeks that have grown to love the auteurs for what it represented, including its now defunct original name. On the flip side, let’s hope that this simple re-branding and potential increased accessibility (via a “hip” linguistic bastardization that we’ve seen time and time again on the net) does not result in the integrity of the site being damaged and transformed into the mindless trolling community that permeates the archaic IMDb.com forums [post deleted by administrator]. The high quality of the site, the film knowledge of the auteurs community and the overall exclusivity were no doubt unique. And I, for one, will be watching things very closely.

So I now fully expect the much requested and more precise half-star rating system to be rolled out asap as a way of helping us to forget about this pointless name change debacle (and also so I can get started on the process of giving more precise ratings to the near 1000 films that I’ve rated to date). Sometimes, it all really is in the name.